Chia Pudding–Recipe of the Week
Recipe of the Week!
Chia Pudding . . . made with seeds? What the heck are Chia seeds?
- a superfood of the Aztecs and Mayans
- in the Mayan language chia is derivative of the word meaning “strength”
- warriors relied on it to boost energy and stamina (I’m feeling like a Warrior Goddess just writing this!)
- distance runners believe that chia seeds increase endurance
- a serving has 5 grams of carbs AND 5 grams of fiber!
Simple Chia Pudding Ingredients
- vegan almond milk, soy milk, cashew milk
- chia seeds
- banana, mango, strawberries (optional)
- top with berries, hemp seeds, cacao nibs, maple syrup and any nut you like!
#veganRenee Cooking Tip:
I make my chia pudding in a mason jar so that I can shake it.
Why shake it? The seeds float to the top. If you don’t shake it and simple stir, the seed float to the top resulting in a huge hunk of seeds . . . that won’t come apart. Trust me on this! I forgot to shake and I was so disappointed in my pudding that was too thin next to my “hunk o’chai seed” clump at the top.
As an experiment (I mean recipe developer), when I made (prayerfully created) the green smoothie chia pudding I thought for sure it would be gross–but it wasn’t! Yeah for not eating gross looking/tasting green food. I also thought the second day–it would taste too green, but again it was really yummy. FYI: This is a great make ahead breakfast.
How-to Make Perfect Chia Pudding!
Ok–how simple is this?
3 tablespoons chia seeds –> 1 cup of almond milk (or whatever you chose to use)
Seriously–why did I not make this before?
[Tweet “Renee just taught me how to make an insanely simple vegan breakfast! (and it is a make ahead meal.)”]
Blessed by Breakfast (people)
Editorial note: I’m trying to blog from my phone. I love experiments!
Truth: I am blessed by breakfast because of the wonderful people I wake up with!
My intention is begin the day with love, light and respect. (Somedays are better than others but setting the intention helps when I get off the zen mommy track.)
I have always enjoyed a very simple breakfast–coffee with toast (eating in bed with a newspaper–a bed party of sorts.) My family likes a little more variety so . . . Buying boxes and boxes of cereal made sense–until one day it no longer held the solution.
Many, many factors went into my decision to “ban the box” from our breakfast table. Gradually, I began a morning practice of blessing my family with simple, nutritious, plant based foods for breakfast. Muffins, fruit, oatmeal and toast with yummy jams served with coffee or tea. Doesn’t that sound divine!?!
Each day we are all given the gift of a new day. What will you do with yours?
Blessed by Breakfast: Blessings
I have cooked all my life.
prepping for soup
I know–you are thinking that I’m exaggerating but it is true. I was the smallest and youngest kid in our Polish community–which made me the BEST at washing out the small mouth canning jars! I would scrub out blackish green gunk that was stuck to the bottom and sides of the Mason and Kerr jars. It was not the most romantic job on the farm but those big, round, women loved a clean jar and I felt like I was making a huge difference by the way they smiled as they inspected, then complimented my work.
measuring the apples for crockpot apple sauce
So when I say I have cooked all my life, maybe I could amend that to; I have been around food preparation until it was my time to do the cooking which for me, turned into a creative outlet. I still love how the texture of the inside of a pepper is so different than the inside or planting 8 different kinds of basil in my garden.
I enjoy cooking for my family meals and I especially enjoy eating together–the time after dinner when we are all talking and laughing about the days events or planning new memories. I try to look at it as an opportunity to offer my family the gift of health. I feel blessed to be able to have food and a place to cook it. I don’t have the fanciest pots, pans and bakeware but I make due with what I have. I will admit thanks to Sandy S. who when we were looking for a house said “I hope you get the kitchen your cooking deserves.” her words set the intention for my kitchen. When we moved we found an awesome house–with a great kitchen! I wish now that I could cook for Sandy again in this kitchen :-).
crockpot meatloaf–my most viewed recipe!
I feel blessed when my fridge is full. I feel blessed when my pantry is full. I feel blessed when I make a new, healthy breakfast–that tastes good. I feel blessed that my kids have enough food to eat. I am blessed to have clean water.
my favorite summer salad with basil, spinich, feta and fruit
I know–again with the hyperbole and the gratitude about food . . . but I feel so strongly about my body being blessed by the food that I put into it . . . the first chapter of my book is: Blessings.
My family went crazy over these muffins!
We say grace in our house before each meal and I see the kids crossing themselves before snack. We give thanks. We have our traditional prayer of “Bless us oh Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive, through Christ our Lord. Amen” We also take time to pray for those in our lives–now we are praying for my friend Karen. We lift them up as a blessing to us and give thanks for the gift of having them in our life. This attitude towards breakfast, lunch and dinner becomes a vehicle for gratitude, grace, and blessings. It feeds our soul not just our bodies.
the cabin kitchen–where the magic happens–this is the ENTIRE kitchen and yes that is MORE basil!
This is how it is now–we have evolved to this over many, many years of defining for ourselves what our family “looks like”. I’m sure it will continue to evolve in joyful thanksgiving.
The first chapter of my book: Blessed by Breakfast will be about blessings, grace, and thanksgiving. If you have a prayer that you would like to share–I would LOVE to hear it! Please just put it in the comments below, so that we can learn from each other new ways to begin our meals with a blessing.
Be Blessed in your journey of breakfast, lunch and dinner–may your food nourish your body and spirit.
