I Can't Believe They Like It: Chia Pudding

We always loved our ice cream, so we were in need of a sweet creamy treat to take it's place now that dairy is out for a while. We buy coconut milk ice cream on occasion, but I was looking for an everyday item that could go in the kid's lunchboxes. Enter: Chia Pudding. The texture of chia pudding is like that of tapioca pudding, so that made me nervous. I have seen recipes for this concoction before, but had never tried it. The first batch I whipped up was chocolate. Jackson tried it right away (cause it was chocolate). Don and Maddy were harder sells. I made a second batch of vanilla/cinnamon and that was the deal breaker. I won Don and Maddy over with the vanilla batch. You have got to try this. It's our sweet savior in this house.

Chia Pudding
1/4 cup of chia seeds
1 cup non-dairy milk

Combine in a blender and let sit in the fridge for an hour. It will thicken and at that time you can add your extract flavoring of choice, sweetener of choice (ours is stevia), cinnamon, fruit..whatever.

A Few New Favs

I have so wanted to get caught up with this blog because I have so many new recipes and endeavors that I am taking on and I want to share them with everyone. Since our food sensitivity testing as a family, life has changed a little. None of us are eating any gluten, dairy, or eggs. We are hoping to reintroduce them in 3-6 months with the hopes that our bodies will be better able to tolerate them after a brief rest from them. Until then, we will keep doing what we are doing. Jackson is currently on a rotated diet and he is eating more foods! Yeah! If you know Jackson, this is a huge milestone. Some of his favorites are corn crusted perch, applegate beef hotdogs, and turkey burgers with bacon mixed in. (Thank you How To Eat Like A Dinasaur Cookbook). The first night we ALL had the same dinner, I cried. Moms of picky eaters everywhere and people who really know me can completly understand this reaction:) The suppliments and change in his diet has had a very positive effect on him and for that I am so thankful. Tonight is pizza...and yes, Jackson will eat that too. However, his pizza has olive oil, garlic, and bacon on it. For a persnickity child, he sure has a grown up food pallet. Here are a few of our favorites:


Banana Split Oatmeal
rolled oats
bananas
hemp hearts
strawberries
honey

Make oatmeal according to directions. Add sliced bananas, strawberries and hemp hearts for crunch, 
Sweeten with honey if you think necessary. I find the bananas give it enough sweetness. Serve in a sundae cup....kids loved the sundae cup, especially at breakfast time.

Chocolate Shake
1 can chilled full fat coconut milk
1 frozen banana
1 large handful of spinich
1 packet of stevia
2 dates
1 avacado
1 cup ice

Blend everything thoroughly in vitamix and add a little water until you get to a consisitancy that you like. We had this last night as a "special" after the kids Spotlight theater showcase and they liked it. Sweet and super healthy all at the same time.

Nut Butters
Any type of nut (we do cashew, peanut, pecan, sunflower seed)
any type of mild oil (grapeseed, sunflower, coconut)

Add oil and nuts to vitamix or food processor and process until smooth. Add more oil as needed to get to right consistency. You can add in chocolate chips, cinnamon, vanilla flavoring, raisins...the skys the limit. Delicious. You will never buy nut butter again!