This weekend we tried Chia seed pudding two ways. The first was a vanilla pudding that was made with coconut milk, vanilla, coconut sugar and Chia seeds, of course. We left the Chia Seeds whole for this recipe. The second was a chocolate Chia pudding with homemade almond milk, cocoa and coconut sugar. The Chia seeds blended for this version. Once blended, the kids particularly enjoyed watching the pudding go from a liquid substance to a thick pudding as the Chia seeds expanded. The taste results were collected the winner was . . . vanilla Chia seed pudding!!!
So why am I trying to incorporate Chia into our diets? Jess Ainscough cites many health benefits including:
- being gluten free,
- being high in dietary fibre, making it great for digestion and healing digestion issues.
- containing 20% Omega 3 ALA (making it a super food for the brain and heart–and having eight times more Omega 3 than salmon!),
- containing 20% protein,
- being a complete protein with all 8 essential amino acids,
- being high in antioxidants (higher then blueberries!),
- containing five times more calcium than milk, great for dairy free diets,
- containing seven times more vitamin C than oranges,
- containing three times more iron than spinach,
- containing twice the potassium content of bananas,
- being a food for healthy skin, hair and nails,
- having a positive impact balancing blood glucose levels (making it awesome for diabetics)
- making a great egg replacement. Just combine with water to form a gel, and add it to recipes that call for egg.
We are just starting out using Chia, what are your favourite Chia recipes?
- 1 cup almond milk
- 3 tablespoon Chia seeds
- 1/2 tablespoon of cocoa
- 1 tablespoon of coconut sugar or sweetener of choice, adjust sweetener to desired level
- Measure out all ingredients and place in blender
- Blend on high speed for approx. 1 minute
- Remove from blender and put in a bowl or mason jar, place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, or until consistency is pudding like.
- Enjoy!
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 3 tablespoons of Chia seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1tablespoon of coconut sugar or sweetener of choice
- Measure out all ingredients
- Combine together in a mason jar
- Give it a good shake, and place in the refrigerator.
- Put in refrigerator until it becomes semi-solid, should be the consistency of tapioca
- Enjoy!!
We are just starting out using Chia, what are your favourite Chia recipes?
