In the spirit of stretching and trying something new – I want to introduce to you the miraculous CHIA SEED and the following recipe as a way to push you outside of your ‘shake from a box’ breakfast cereal or ‘I’ll just have eggs again’ boredom streak.

Temperatures are rising, and I heartily dislike turning on the stove when it’s 85 degrees at 7:30 in the morning. Instead of turning to traditional cold breakfast cereals which are heavily processed, and loaded with not at all healthy ingredients, I turn to this: Chia Breakfast Pudding.

Yes it’s totally different. Yes it may be a little weird, but you know what? It’s tasty, it’s easy, and it’s incredibly healthy, and those are three things I like very much! Breakfast smoothies have been my hot weather staple breakfast for a while, so I’m looking forward to mixing it up with this concoction of superfoods as a new way to power through my morning with a ton of energy.

The featured ingredient in this quick breakfast recipe is Chia seeds. Chia seeds are tiny black or white seeds that are nutritional powerhouses – they are an excellent source of calcium, omega-3 fatty acids (particularly ALA), protein, and soluble fiber. In fact, chia seeds have 6x the more calcium than milk by weight! These tiny seeds were cultivated by the Aztecs and Mayas and was considered a staple and sacred food, used by athletes and warriors for sustained energy – reason enough for me to try them!

simple, hearty, and delicious chia breakfast pudding

Chia seeds have a very unique quality (similar to flax, but more pronounced) in that they attract and hold on to large amounts of liquid – as much as 12 times their weight in liquid! When chia seeds get wet, they swell and soften and have a gel-like consistency. This mucous-like property (gross sounding, I know… bear with me…) is considered a “demulcent”- something that’s soothing to the mucous membranes in our body. Chia is great when you’ve got a sore throat! But more than that, chia has a ton of protein and is a fun food to experiment with. This simple breakfast recipe is a good introduction that’s both easy, fast, filling, and tasty!

This recipe is a blank canvas – experiment with different fruits and nuts and even spices! My favorite is apple cinnamon, but raisin pecan, or peach and blueberry are just as good.

Chia Breakfast Pudding

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons chia seeds
1 heaping tablespoon raw buckwheat groats
1 tablespoon hemp seeds
1-2 tablespoons finely diced dried, unsulphured apples
dash of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of sweetener (if desired)
pinch of sea salt
1/2 – 1 cup milk (almond, rice, oat, dairy, etc)

Preparation:

1. In a breakfast bowl, place all the ingredients and stir to combine. Wait 2-3 minutes before eating to allow chia seeds to “gel”.  Add more liquid if a thinner consistency is desired. Enjoy!