Once upon a time I had no clue what chia seeds were. A friend had posted a picture along with a pudding recipe a while back that peeked my curiosity. Then when at my first birth as a doula, my client's husband and sister were preparing some chia seeds in water. When he saw that I was interested he offered to make me some too. They were good, but I knew they would taste better as pudding.
I admit that I didn't think my son would be up for trying the pudding. Still, I decided to offer it since he likes honey, almond milk and vanilla. The chia seeds
were the only new thing. Left alone, the seeds are like any other seed. Add them to liquid though and they take on a new form. Kind of similar to the texture of tapioca. This was the part I wasn't so sure of. This would be my son's first time trying anything of this nature.
Pudding ingredients:
4 tablespoon raw chia seed
1 cup milk of your choice (I use almond milk)
1-2 tablespoon raw honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk of your choice (I use almond milk)
1-2 tablespoon raw honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
Mix ingredients together. Let it sit in fridge for at least 2
hours.
Near the end I took the
pudding out to mix it again. My son immediately became curious. So I took a bit
from the batch and encouraged him to try it. First he tried a taste
with his finger, and decided that it was good then went for tiny bites
from there. After the spoonful was gone he kept bugging me for
more. :-)
The finished product:
My son enjoying the pudding:
He ate about half of what is in the picture, which is a huge step in the right direction. I'm hoping that he'll be open to having more in the future.
Have you ever tried chia seeds? What ways do you prepare them?
My main food kick for some time now (I probably should not admit how long for this one) is what I call a ricepot -- basically a huge pot of rice, seeds, spices, chicken and other stuff now as it evolves -- that I make every two weeks or so and dish out of daily. About a year and a half ago, I got a big bag of chia seeds, and I add a handful of them into the mix. Ricepot was originally also the base of my stir-fry, so people might try adding it to things like that.
ReplyDeleteThat's as far as I have gotten with it, although from time to time I see things that intrigue me a little. Recently I saw someone suggest chia seed as an egg substitute in recipes. Have you tried that?
Maybe I'll make my own version of ricepot to see if my son likes it. I'm in need of something I can easily warm up when he is not wanting what I make for dinner. Right now we've been alternating between very limited options.
DeleteI haven't used chia seeds as an egg substitute yet, but have used ground flax for that purpose. It even mirrors the texture if you use hot water and let the mixture sit. I'm sure chia seeds would do the same since they gel up once added to liquid.