I no longer grab for the loaf of bread or the bagels or get out my rice cooker to fill out a meal or make it more convenient.
As a matter of fact, until yesterday, I had my toaster wrapped in plastic and stored away in my garage. Who needs a toaster when you haven't purchased a single loaf of bread or English muffin or bagel in 2 years?
And then I watched, as I do every morning, the Today Show and saw a segment with Joy Bauer that featured sweet potato toast. Her's was covered in peanut butter, which I don't eat, but it got me thinking.
And the thought that ran through my head first and then again and again was "I miss avocado toast...sigh..."
Sprinkled between my longing for avocado toast were thoughts about the convenience of toast, of tuna melts and breakfast sandwiches and after school snacks and things the kids can hold in their hands and eat on the way to their many activities.
And so, I braved the cold of the garage and dug out and unpacked my trusty toaster, sharpened my chef's knife and decided to experiment with sweet potato toast.
I did not want to go to the market, so I only used things I had in my fridge and pantry for my first trio of toasts. Sadly (or not), I was home alone, so there was no one to test my creations on. On the bright side, every last drop of mashed avocado was MINE!
I love the ease of sweet potato toast and I loved the results of my first 3 creations.
The most difficult part of this was deciding how thick to slice the sweet potato and how long to toast it in the toaster. I decided that my favorite sweet potato toasts were cut to just under 1/4" thick and were toasted 2 1/2 times on high. That got them done in the middle with just a touch of brown crispiness around the edges, but left them sturdy enough to pick up to eat. No utensils was a must for this experiment!
I made a breakfast toast of scrambled eggs, salt and pepper, topped with a bit of parsley for pretty.
I also created a lunch toast of tuna salad with line-caught tuna, hard-cooked eggs, dijon mustard, homemade paleo mayo, celery and pickled cucumber, salt and fresh cracked black pepper.
And, of course, I made my favorite mid-morning or after-school snack - Avocado Toast. I just mashed a ripe avocado, added a squeeze of lime (not even half the lime), a good sprinkle of kosher salt and cracked black pepper. Then I drizzled on some homemade dump ranch. It was heaven. Then I made a tuna salad, mashed avocado combo with the leftovers...oh my!
The toaster now has it's place of honor back on my counter. I think it is going to be getting a lot of work now that I have discovered the yumminess and ease of making Sweet Potato Toast!
