Chocolate Chia Pudding Dessert

We have previously done a Chia Seed Breakfast Pudding and now it’s time for a slightly different variant that can still be used for breakfast but is also an amazing dessert, and healthy as well and really, that is any woman’s dream, a dessert that is tasty but also good for you. Pretty much everyone by now has heard that “chia seeds are good for you,” they are the new trend and are being included in many recipes, but why are they good for you? Chia seeds are extremely high in fiber, in about two tablespoons of chia seeds you get very close to HALF of your daily requirement for fiber, making you able to reach your daily fiber requirement in a low-calorie way. Chia seeds are also high in omega-3’s or the “healthy fat” as they are known. Omega-3 is an essential fat, meaning it cannot be synthesized by your body, which means you have to get it from your diet. Some of the health benefits of omega-3 are still controversial but regardless of your opinion on them, omega-3 still needs to be a part of everyone’s diet as they play a role in metabolism and inflammation in the body, as well as in the development of the brain, eyes and nerves.

Ingredients:

 ~ 2 tablespoons of chia seed

~ 4 tablespoons of vanilla almond milk or enough to cover the chia seeds

1 banana

shredded coconut

cocoa powder 

I used a mason jar so that I could make this the night before and bring it with me to school the next morning for our lovely 8 am class. 

Put the chia seeds and almond milk in the jar and mix it together well so all the chia seeds get wet and then store in the fridge overnight-you can also make this the morning of as it only takes about 5 minutes for the pudding to form. 

Slice the banana over it to top and sprinkle the shredded coconut and cocoa powder on top. I used about 1/4 of a tsp of cocoa powder.

I've also made it before where you mix the cocoa powder into the milk and chia seeds in the beginning, which also works well.

-A  

Chia Seed Breakfast Pudding

In many recipes, chia seeds are used as a substitute for eggs or even sometimes butter. This is because, as you may have noticed, chia seeds when exposed to moisture, form a gel.

Chia seeds are a good source of protein, so when paired with a fruit, can make a great breakfast.

I was originally going to make a vanilla flavoured pudding, but when I accidentally grabbed the wrong jar and added almond extract, I decided to go with the flow and continue this recipe as an almond flavoured one.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of chia seeds

~¼ cup of almond milk

One banana

A drop of almond extract

Vanilla bean

Almond Slivers

This recipe is really quick to make. Put the chia seeds in a bowl and stir in the almond milk and almond extract. Put in the fridge and let it sit for a couple of minutes, this is great time to go get dressed or do your hair. After a few minutes, go check to see if it has coagulated and if it has top with a sliced banana, slivered almonds and grate some vanilla bean to top.

I was surprised at how tasty this was, but it didn’t completely fill me up, so I paired it with a poached egg.  

-A

Valentine Squash Brownies

Last year Mel and I came up with a no egg, no dairy, practically no guilt brownie that is packed full of zucchini (which contains antioxidants) and fibre! This was our first "Sneak Attack" recipe, as the majority of the recipe is zucchini. It took us five tries to finally come up with a recipe that had the perfect balance between sweetness and healthiness.
These are the perfect Valentine's day treat for your friends and loved ones as they taste yummy and are healthy! Since Valentine's day is a special holiday I topped them with icing so they can be extra sweet for your sweetie :P.

Ingredients:
13 tbsp (slightly less than a cup) semisweet chocolate chips
4 cups of shredded zucchini
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp chia seeds
3/4 cup sweetened apple sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 cup cocoa unsweetened
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup oat bran
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon

(we used different flours to make it healthier and more fibre packed, and we also found this proportion worked best, but you can alternate this for all white flour, quinoa flour or oat flour)

Directions: 
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Step 2: Use a food processor and shred around 4 small zucchini's to make 4 cups of packed zucchini, and put in a bowl.

Step 3: Add the chocolate chips, vanilla, chia seeds, apple sauce and oil to the zucchini and mix well, making sure the chia seeds start to form a gel.



Step 4: Add all the dry ingredients and mix well. At this stage you may think there is not enough of the wet ingredients, but keep mixing and it will eventually all become wet. *Tip: when mixing use more of a pressing action to get the liquid out of the zucchini

Step 5: Spread in a 9x13 inch pan and cook for 45 minutes. (For the Valentine's day hearts I cooked them in a circle cake pan)

Step 6: Cut into squares or for Valentine's day use heart shaped cookie cutters!

The icing didn't turn out as well as I wanted it to. It tasted amazing but I didn't use an emulsifying agent so the coconut oil coagulated and you could see white flakes in the red icing (all you pharmacy students can empathize with how hard those emulsifying labs were!). If I would have left it a white icing though it would have been undetectable!

Icing:
1 cup frozen raspberries
3 tbsp coconut oil
1 cup icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Step 1: Cook the raspberries until completely soft. De-seed in a mesh colander or cheese cloth.

Step 2: Measure out 3 tbsp of the raspberry liquid (you can eat the rest that was left behind!) and put in a large bowl.

Step 3: Add the rest of the ingredients and mix it with an electric mixer. I then stored mine in the fridge for about 10 minutes then topped the brownies.

-A

Healthy Oat and Banana Pancakes

I really love pancakes, all sweet breakfast foods actually, but I don't love how sweet and full of sugar they usually are. Although, I did cover these pancakes in maple syrup, they have no added sugar whatsoever. They are made from ground rolled oats, bananas and almond milk, and that's it! The oats are a complex carbohydrate full of fibre that keep you full, and the bananas add the perfect amount flavour and sweetness. They are really easy to make, taste just like a regular pancake, and best of all, they are a not so guilty pleasure you can eat every day if you like. 

Here's the pancake recipe 
2 cups oats blended into oat flour (could substitute with whole wheat flour, quinoa flour ) 
1 tablespoon baking powder 
1 cup almond milk (any liquid will work) 
2 ripe bananas (easily substitute with 1 cup of other fruit or veggie - apples, pears, sweet potato, squash)  Water (to your desired consistency, depending on how thick you like your pancakes) 
Coconut oil 

Directions 
Blend the oats until flour consistency, place in mixing bowl and mix in baking powder. Blend your banana or fruit with milk and mix with dry ingredients. Whisk all ingredients together and add water until you reach the consistency you like (the oats tend to absorb the water and bulk up so I sometimes need to add water half way through cooking the whole batch).  Heat a pan and use a small amount of coconut oil to oil the pan. Fry the pancakes the same way you would a regular pancake, they are ready to flip when you see bubbles. 

Strawberry Sauce 
10-15 frozen strawberries (can use any fresh or frozen berry)
a little water 
1 tablespoon of chia seeds (great fibre!)

Directions
Heat the frozen berries over medium heat with the water until they are soft and warm. Since the strawberries were pretty big, I threw them into the blender to make a smoother sauce, but this is up to you. Then take off the heat and add the chia seeds and allow the sauce to sit for a few minutes. The chia seeds will absorb some of the liquid and firm up the sauce (this is a great way to make chia seed jam!) 

**Since I knew I would be topping these pancakes with maple syrup I didn't add any sugar to the pancakes or the strawberries. This is a great way to control the sugar content, and a great alternative to the sugary jams you can buy at the grocery store, or the traditional pancake recipes.**

^^ this is what the oats will look like once you have blended them up, a food processor would work too ^^

^^ blend the bananas and almond milk together ^^

^^ whisk it all up and add water to get your desired consistency ^^

^^ all you need to make the strawberry sauce ^^

^^ I eat mine with maple syrup and little plain yogourt ^^

**I'm going to post again about how to make a Valentines Day variation of these! ** 

Enjoy 

-M