Hi, friends! If you’ve been following along you, know that one of my pregnancy cravings has been avocado toast, which is weird because I never liked it before. At first, it was just bland enough to help me get out of the first trimester. Since then I’ve been getting a little more adventurous with my combinations. Today I thought I’d share some of my very favorite combinations because I’ve lived off this stuff for the past few weeks! Before we get started, let’s cover the basics:
What kind of bread do I use?
We usually keep gluten-free bread or TJ’s sourdough bread in the house because Mr. Hungry does better with them, but both of those have been off-putting to me in pregnancy. So I switch back to my favorite DKB, right now I prefer their sprouted bread because it doesn’t have any flax or other seeds in it (which I’m avoiding due to pregnancy). I also recommend Eziekel and Eurkea to my Hungry Hobby RD clients a lot. Just remember to not fall for these labeling tricks.
When Are Avocados Ripe?
My MIL taught me a super awesome trick to know when an avocado is ripe. Take off the stem cap, if it’s green underneath the avocado is ripe and ready to eat. I discovered that avocados are ready to eat a lot sooner than I thought they were. I previously used to press on them, and if they were soft, they were ready, which resulted in me eating a lot of overripe kind of browned avocados.
Aren’t Avocados Fattening?
My grandma LOVED avocados, but she would always indulge in them like they were a giant piece of chocolate cake dipped in fudge. She would say “avocados are fattening, but I love them.” I never paid too much attention because I was young, extremely athletic, and didn’t like avocados that much.
Luckily by the time I got around to liking them, research started to show that avocados are associated with increased fullness and decreased calorie intake throughout the day. This is likely because avocados are full of filling healthy fat and fiber! Another fun fact, avocados contain two times more potassium than a banana, as well as many other nutrients. That being said they are calorie dense, so I typically eat 1/2 large avocado on two pieces of bread or 1/2 small on one slice of bread. (See also nuts and avocado for weight loss or weight gain?)
Now onto my favorite avocado toast combinations!
Cream Cheese Avocado Toast
One thing I discovered right away was that I prefer mashed avocado to avocado slices on toast. I think because when you bite into the toast, the slices are little slimy? It’s not that bad, but I just prefer mashed. I know I’m weird!
This combo comes from Mr. Hungry. One day I was eating my avocado toast, always with the TJ’s Everything But the Bagel seasoning and Mr. Hungry wanted a slice. He requested his slice of avocado toast to have cream cheese under the mashed avocado, and OH M G, it was so good. This is the combo I eat the most often because it’s super easy and hits the spot!
Eggs On Avocado Toast
This combo helped me bring eggs back into my diet this trimester! I started with pasteurized eggs because I’m super paranoid. I prefer a soft scramble, another good reason for pasteurized eggs. A little salt and pepper and this make a delicious breakfast, lunch, or snack.
However, the BEST avocado toast combo is with a fried egg on top, especially a runny egg. I mean, all the yolk, aim I right? Nothing like dredging your bread in that, for real! However, since I’m not comfortable having runny eggs all the time, even with pasteurized eggs, I keep the yolks from being runny.
Still good, oh so good!
Hummus Avocado Toast
I love this combination, which I discovered after a huge craving for Mediterranean food. A layer of roasted red pepper hummus, with avocado, sesame seeds, and bell pepper slices.
Tomato Basalmic Avocado Toast
This is one of my favorite more adventurous conversations. I started with mashed avocado toast, topped it with feta cheese, and cherry tomato halves. Then I splashed it with balsamic vinegar, which was a delicious tangy finish!
These were my favorite combinations over the last few weeks! If you have one that I didn’t mention let me know so I can try it!
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What’s the deal with flaxseeds and other seeds when pregnant? I never heard of this.
There isn’t one, really. If you look it up some sources will say to avoid flax while pregnant. I’m avoiding it because I feel that seed cycling had a profound effect on my hormones pre-pregnancy and don’t want to screw anything up now. I’m just being overly paranoid.
Interesting. Learned something new.