My daughter and I have been taking some small steps towards eating healthier this year by introducing more raw foods into our diet. While I would never be a Raw Food purist, it is wonderful to discover new ingredients that are a fun addition to everyday meals. I tend to eat smaller servings of food throughout the day, eschewing the traditional three course meal plans that I grew up with. A few of Katie’s friends are vegan and because of this we’ve discovered a whole world of new ingredients and recipes that I can’t wait to share with you here for the next few days. I’ve reorganized my menus at the top and you’ll see I’ve adding separate tabs for Gluten-Free and Vegan|Raw. Now you won’t have to search through my recipes to find these types of recipes!

We’ve had Chia Seeds in our pantry for a year or so, sprinkling them on cooked oats and granola and now we’ve discovered a lovely new treat that looks and tastes more calorie-rich than it actually is. Take a look at the Chia Seed’s nutritional profile from Wikipedia:

“According to the USDA, a one ounce (28 gram) serving of chia seeds contains 9 grams of fat, 5 milligrams of sodium, 11 grams of dietary fiber and 4 grams of protein. The seeds also have 18% of the recommended daily intake of calcium, 27% phosphorus and 30% manganese, similar in nutrient content to other edible seeds such as flax or sesame.”

You can sprinkle chia into your smoothies, stir it into yogurt or add it to your vegan energy bite recipes and best of all, because it is tasteless, it will take on any flavor you’re mixing it with. This little change will make your diet heart healthy, just in time for Heart Month!

There are so many variations you can mix up when making Chia Puddings. Once you catch on to the simplicity of them, you’ll be creating your own recipes in no time! You see, over night Chia Seeds will absorb liquids and become much like tapioca but with a satisfying little crunch. So shake them up with any liquid like almond milk or coconut milk, leave overnight and the next day you have a little healthy pudding!

We began with this simple Vanilla Pudding recipe, mixing them up individually, stirring the ingredients right in the cups from our yogurt machine. They’re the perfect size for 1/2 cup of almond milk plus the addition of two tablespoons { one ounce } of chia seeds means you’re getting all of the benefits you’ve just read about! The screw top lid makes them transportable as well.

We hope you give these a try, you’ll be surprised by how great they taste. I can’t wait to share with you our other variations on these nutritious little pudding cups!

Vegan|Raw Chia Vanilla Pudding

 

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Ingredients

• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 2 tbsp white chia seeds
• 1/8 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tablespoon agave syrup, brown rice syrup or honey*
• cinnamon, to taste
• tiny pinch of nutmeg

Instructions

1. In a small cup, pour in 1/2 cup almond milk. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Screw the lid on and shake vigorously. If you are not vegan, honey adds a nice flavor.
2. Refrigerate, shaking or stirring every now and then.
3. The pudding could be set within three hours or so, but we left ours in the fridge over night to set.

Notes

I prefer using white chia seeds because they allow the creamy white to shine, but you can using any chia seed color in this recipe.

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Good news for Canadian readers, it seems the Artful Blogging magazine is finally available at Chapters|Indigo, I hope you get the chance to pick up a copy and read my article! xx