Vanilla Chia Pudding Bowl

• 3/4 cup almond milk, unsweetened (or any other kind of milk)
• 2 – 3 teaspoons maple syrup or honey
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 – 4 tablespoon chia seeds*
• Nuts, berries, fruit, coconut flakes for topping (optional)

Chia Seeds are my favorite Superfood. Another discovery from my local organic supermarket “La Vie Claire”. The saleswomen was telling me how it is used in Vegan recipes to replace the eggs. I’m no Vegan, but I had seen a lot of these in breakfast recipes in the past so I felt like trying them out.

Below you’ll find a recipe for Vanilla Chia Pudding. It’s the easiest recipe I’ve ever made, it literally takes 3 minutes. I always follow one rule in my cooking, and that is to first get acquainted with the product before getting into a new recipe I may fail due to lack of knowledge on the product.

So I read up, and here is what I found on Chia seeds: these tiny little grains are able to drink impressive quantities of liquid, allowing them to not only create consistency in your dish but also volume. When soaked in a liquid they puff up and take all the liquid for themselves.
This is important when you use them as a replacement for eggs in your recipe, because this means you need to first grind them into a powder so that they won’t soak up all the moist in your recipe.

For our pudding, we want them to soak up the milk so that the mixture will become pudding. So the dosage of chia seeds and milk will be key. For a thick pudding, add 4 tablespoons, and for a more soupy pudding, 3 tablespoons will be enough. Having tried both ways, I have a personal preference for 4 tablespoons, because I like to have something to bite into.

Chia seeds are great for your body. Chia means “Strength” in the Mayan language. They were known as the runners food because runners or warriors would use them as fuel while running long distances or for battle.
It’s pretty amazing how many benefits are in these yummy little seeds: full of protein, great source of fiber, good for the skin and preventing it from ageing, support to the heart and digestive system, contains Vitamins A, B, E and D (which some of us lack of, like me!), calcium, potassium, magnesium and are a rich source of anti-oxidants! It has also been linked to healing Diabetes apparently.

I usually have it for breakfast, with fruit on top. Bananas work well, or also blueberries but you can put whatever fruit or nuts you have on hand. For those with a sweet tooth, or for a kid-friendly breakfast, you can also put chocolate chips on top ;-).
It usually fills me up really quickly, and it’s great for when I have a gym class planned. Keeps my energy level up longer than my usual breakfast.

But please do be warned, if you have a sensitive digestive system, the first time eating them might be a bit difficult on you. Let’s just say that I’m not kidding when I say they are full of fiber. 🙂

Once you have this recipe down, you can have a blast with other ingredients, I’ve been saving a few on my Pinterest food board that seem like a lot of fun if you want to check it out In the mood for food!