Chia Chocolate Pudding

Merry Christmas!

Here we are in Ithaca, NY with Eric Husband's family. I love vacation time with his family because everyone's a great cook and the food is superb. We always have an "Iron Chef" competition with specific ingredients we have to use in our meal. It gets pretty heated, quite viscous, everyone trying to out-do each other. This year the ingredients to incorporate are Cardamom, Potatoes and Fish. Challenging, I know. My night to cook is tonight, so I'll let you know how it goes.

This is the final installment in the Healthy Fixes series, at least for now.

Ok, remember Chia Pets? The set came with chia seeds to plant in grooves on ceramic animals or cartoon characters. When the seeds sprouted, the leafy greens looked like fur or hair.

Now- this blew my mind- not only are chia seeds edible, they are mega nutritious. Not only that, but when stirred into liquid, chia seeds form a gelatinous goop that is super fun to eat. It texture reminds me of...pudding. If you are a texture person in a way that prohibits you from eating things that are slimy or lumpy then maybe skip this recipe. But if you like bubble tea and tapioca then you just may love this.

First, a word about Chia Seeds. Chia seeds can be ground into powder and used as an egg substitute in vegan baking. They're also gluten free. They are high in dietary fiber (42% of the day's requirement!) and Omega-3 fatty acids. They also include antioxidants, vitamins, calcium and protein. Chia seeds stabilize blood sugar and fill you up, giving energy for hours, making them a good diet food. They include good fats, and for 145 calories and 9 grams of fat in 1 oz, there's tons of nutrition to be had.

The recipes:

Chocolate Chia Pudding

Sprinkle 2 tablespoons chia seeds into 1 cup chocolate almond milk, and stir until all the seeds are wet. Place in fridge and let soak at least 2 hours, overnight is good. Stir them occasionally at first to make sure all the seeds are soaking up the milk.

That's all! Eat with a spoon or slurp with a straw.

Vanilla Spiced Chia Pudding

Sprinkle 2 tablespoons chia seeds into 1 cup of milk. Add dash of cinnamon and cardamom, with a squirt of agave nectar or honey. Let soak in the fridge for at least two hours, overnight is good. Stir occasionally at first to hydrate the seeds.