10 Vegan Breakfast Ideas (Low Spend Month Version) (Compilation #54)

Necessity is the mother of invention, and variety comes through restriction; choose your platitude! You see the same ingredients appear a lot here, because this is from my low spend adventure, but I still managed to serve things in different ways. Redundancy is up to you, really, as there are so many ways to combine the same ingredients.

1. Bagels with Tofu-Cashew Cream Cheese, Cucumbers, and Everything Bagel Seasoning

I think I may have found my new favorite vegan cream cheese--and it's so easy to make at home for so much cheaper than the prepared stuff! Plus it's got protein. Okay, hard sell, maybe, but really, this was delicious. The cheese recipe is at Okonomi Kitchen. I spread that thickly over a toasted bagel from my freezer, then topped it with sliced cucumber and some everything bagel seasoning. This is delicious.

2. Berry Cheesecake Smoothie Bowl (Gluten Free)

Some of that vegan cream cheese, blended up with a frozen banana and frozen strawberries, made an amazing cheesecake smoothie bowl base. On top of that, I had some berry granola with freeze dried berries, some crushed cashews, hemp seeds, and chia seeds. Though I doubt I would have made this without the low spend challenge, it was utterly delicious and I'm so glad I had it!

3. Millet Almond Butter Waffles with Blueberry Compote (Gluten Free)

Long ago, millet flour was on sale, and I bought it. I was sure I would find something to do with it. And then I forgot about it. But when I was working on spending less and using what I had, it was time to do something with the millet flour. That's why I found this recipe for millet almond butter waffles at Unconventional Baker. I made it with soy milk, which is why I didn't label this as soy free, but it easily could be if you needed it to be. I had an overripe banana in the freezer (also from who knows when), too ripe for smoothies, so that was perfect, too, for a recipe that calls for one ripe banana. And I had some blueberries in the freezer, too, so that sounded like a good thing to include with this breakfast. So I scaled down this blueberry compote recipe from Five Heart Home to have with the waffles, and then mixed some more almond butter with maple syrup to drizzle over the whole lot. This was a lovely breakfast.

4. Creamy Polenta with Berry Compote and Non-Dairy Yogurt (Gluten Free, Nut Free)

You can't really see the polenta well here, but I promise it's there! See it peeking out on the right side of the bowl? This is a recipe I found at World of Vegan. I'll try it with grits, too! I absolutely loved this. I used soy milk and soy yogurt, but you should use whatever makes you happy. The recipe didn't explain when to add the chia seeds, so I just dumped them into the compote about halfway through the cooking process. This was a meal of layered proteins: soy milk, chia seeds, and soy yogurt all helped to make this a balanced meal for me. Aside from the yogurt--which would totally be optional--it is also relatively frugal, as the other ingredients are not at all pricey. The compote is made from frozen berries, which was just what I needed in my minimizing-fresh-berries days of reduced expenditures.

5. Breakfast Nectarine, Barley, and Amaranth Summer Rolls with Chocolate Peanut Butter Dipping Sauce (Soy Free)

These could likely have been more beautiful, but not more delicious! The basic recipe I followed was from Diary of an Ex-Sloth, adjusted to suit what I had. So it's a mixture of amaranth and barley that I cooked in plain water (I didn't have maple water) with slices of nectarine and some shredded coconut rolled up in rice paper and served with a sauce of melted chocolate and peanut butter. I'll willingly admit that the sauce may be the thing that made this such a good breakfast, but what's wrong with that?

6. No-Bake Raspberry Nectarine Crumble (Gluten Free, Soy Free)

It may have been a low spend cycle, but I was still allowing myself a few special purchases now and then, within my strict budget. Nectarines and raspberries were calling to me as summer was winding down, so I bought some of each and determined to maximize their impact. Still, it wasn't have-the-oven on weather, and even if it was, I would not want to waste fresh fruit on something baked; that's what frozen fruit is for.  So bring in this recipe from the Vegan Atlas. You cook up the oats-and-walnut crumble topping--something of a granola, I'd say--on the stovetop. Then, you cook your nectarines (or peaches) on the stove, too, but not so long that they fall all apart. Finally, you assemble your breakfast: Nectarines on bottom, topped with fresh raspberries, and sprinkled with the crumble. It's delightful! I had this with herbal tea and non-dairy Greek yogurt to round out the meal.

7. Chocolate Cream Cheese Banana Toast

I'd long had this recipe from Clean Food Crush on my list of things to try veganizing, so when I had leftover tofu-cashew cream cheese, I went for it. The spread is made from hazelnut butter, cream cheese, cocoa powder, maple syrup, and vanilla. I topped it with fresh slices of banana and some hemp seeds. It was great! I had two slices on multigrain-and-seed toast, and it was the perfect breakfast.

8. Raspberry Tofu Mousse with Non-Dairy Yogurt and Chocolate Shavings (Gluten Free, Nut Free)

To fill my berry cravings at least partially with frozen berries, and thus save money, I chose to make this recipe from Liz's Healthy Table. I topped it with some soy-based vanilla Greek yogurt and some dark chocolate shavings and it was absolutely delicious. It was more of a pudding than a mousse but I will not complain. I could have just had the mousse, but I rounded the meal out with some toast, because I am a carb fiend.

9. Banana Mochi Waffle (Gluten Free, Nut Free, Soy Free)

From an easy recipe at All Purpose Veggies, I bring you banana mochi waffles. I made one big one instead of a bunch of little ones, because I was in a hurry. I stuck one raspberry on top for the photo, and then, to eat it, I spread it all over with peanut butter and drizzled some maple syrup over that. It was great! It did stick to my waffle maker a little but I managed to convince it to dislodge.

10. Blended Nectarine Overnight Oats with Raspberries (Gluten Free, Nut Free)

This recipe is from My Foods for Thought, though of course I modified it by blending up the oats and chia seeds with everything else. This was so good. I had some Pero (a grain "coffee") on the side and it was perfect. This was the end of my raspberries, but oh, what a good run we had!

Though spending little and eating well takes more mental energy than I can consistently expend, I am proud of myself for what I've been accomplishing.