For those of us who eat like grade school children, healthy foods rarely grapple for attention. Facts are facts. Nuts do not make milk. Tofu is coagulated soy milk curd pressed into white blocks, not meat. And it doesn’t taste like meat you liar. Fake cheese doesn’t melt on nachos. And rarely will you encounter vegans in the wild who don’t supplement with candy.
It’s no mystery that the 2013 chia pudding craze escaped this wellness-challenged girl. I would no sooner have grabbed a bunch of tiny seeds and sprinkled them about than eschewed macaroni and cheese. Or turned down a warm baguette slathered with real butter. Or passed off some sort of bean spread as an acceptable condiment.
Word on the street is chia pudding is experiencing a resurgence. And appreciation from those previously unaware of its existence. It’s a no-brainer breakfast for the girls known to not eat until afternoon. Evidently, our tummies are getting sick and tired of surviving on only coffee until 2 p.m.
The magic of tiny chia seeds is a feeling of fullness. As for nutrition, they pack a punch. Who knew? Lots of fiber. Good for heart health and intestinal health. A weight loss helper, egg replacer, and increaser of bone mineral content, whatever that is.
And an ace at mitigating the heartburn of forty-nine cups of coffee before noon. So, what exactly is chia pudding? There are all kinds of recipes out there. Here’s one to start. It makes two servings. Two days of breakfast down. How will we deal with all this efficiency?
1 cup milk. Please use actual milk, from an animal. If you insist on the fake stuff, whatever, you have to live with yourself and the embarrassment.
4 tablespoons chia seeds. Find them at Trader Joe’s. No luck at my regular grocery stop.
1 tablespoon maple syrup. For yum factor. And some days, sugar truly is your only friend.
Sprinkle of cinnamon.
Now here’s the trick. You put all the ingredients in a sealable jar, like the mason variety. Once dumped in, shake it. A lot. The chia seeds will float about the mixture. Put it in the fridge. Come back in two hours and shake it again. Leave it until morning.
In the morning, pour half the chia mixture into a bowl. This should be done once coffee acid starts to burn your empty stomach and esophagus. Top the mix with granola, sliced bananas, blueberries, raspberries, and pomegranate seeds. It’s a seed-apalooza!
Trust a chick who abhors all things health and wellness, it’s yummy. Now you can go back to not eating anything else until two in the afternoon with a calm tummy. It’s a bonus that it’s good for you. If you measure that sort of thing.
Lecture on eating well over. Time to turn our attention to turkey, ham, stuffing, gravy, potatoes, green bean casserole made with cream of mushroom soup, cranberry sauce from a can and pie. Oh, and theme cocktails. You know, all the healthy stuff.
The Duchess Diaries 