Peach Chia Pudding

With the abundance of fresh fruit we get from our CSA, The Good Food Collective, we have plenty to grab for a quick snack.  

Doing other things with fruit is always a challenge for me, mainly because I'd rather eat it fresh.

The chia pudding I made using almond milk as a base was so delicious that I decided to try this same concept with fruit.  I was originally going to use plums but chose peaches instead because I had some that were every soft and juicy.  (Plus I used most of my plums to make dessert for tonite!)

This recipe is so easy and takes very little time. Best part......only 3 ingredients!

8 peaches

Chia seeds

Water

Clean the peaches well enough to get most of the fuzz off.  You don't need to peel them!  Cut them into chunks and put them in a blender with a half cup of water and blend gently.

Check the amount you have once the peaches are done.  If there isn't an exact amount in cups, add enough water to round up to the nearest cup and blend just to incorporate the water.

Pour 1 cup of the peach juice into separate glass containers.  (I prefer Ball canning jars and plastic lids.)

Add 6 tablespoons of chia seeds to each jar and stir gently.  Cap them and refrigerate over night.

MP3 Fresh Juice

1 whole mango, peeled and pitted
2-3 peaches, pitted
1 pear
1" round of pineapple (you don't have to peel if you are juicing but if you decide to blend you will have to peel!)

Process all the fruit through your juicer or if you want, you can put in in the blender for a bit of a thicker drink. 

Fruit Prep

People ask me how I prep my fruit for smoothies.  I try to do as much prep as possible when I get my fruit so when it's time to make a smoothie, its quick and easy.  I shop at our local public market every Saturday.  I buy as much of my produce there as I can.  It's cheaper and most of it is local to the area and/or state.  I freeze most of it, much to my husband's dismay.  My freezer is jam packed! 

Below is listed how I prep my fruit for smoothies.  Some of it, like citrus, I leave on the counter.  Any fruit I use for the juicer, I keep fresh on my counter.  I usually go through it pretty quick but if something starts to get soft, then into the freezer it will go. 

Make sure you wash all of your produce well.  There are several products you can buy such as Veggie Wash, Vermont Soap Organics, Biokleen or you can make your own.  I typically use Veggie Wash but if I don't have any then I use fresh lemons.  I just throw one in my juicer and them pour the juice into a sink filled with cold water.  You can also use distilled or apple cider vinegar.  Use about 1/4 of a cup in a sinkful of cold water.  I soak my produce for about 10 minutes then rinse and dry.  The only produce I don't soak are berries.  They are too delicate.  I just rinse them briefly.

BERRIES
This includes blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries, boysenberries, cranberries, and grapes.

Gently rinse your berries.  Use the pointed end of a veggie peeler to pluck out the green part of the strawberries and cut them in half.  All others, including grapes you can leave whole. Lay your berries flat on a cookie sheet and freeze.  Once they are frozen, put them in bags quickly and refreeze util needed.  Grapes, cranberries and gooseberries can be put directly into a bag and frozen. 

You can store your berries by kind or you can make a mix of several kinds.

POMAGRANATES
Remove the seeds from the fruit and store them in the freezer.  These will not work in your juicer so save them for the blender.

CHERRIES
De-stone them and bag them and freeze them.  If you don't have a cherry stoner, invest in one.

APPLES & PEARS, PEACHES & NECTARINES
Leave the skins on your apples, pears, peaches, & nectarines!  There is a lot of nutrients in those thin skins!  Chop them into 1" cubes and take the seeds out.  Lay on a cookie sheet in a single layer and freeze.  Store in freezer bags and store in the freezer.

BANANAS
Peel bananas and cut into 1" chunks.  Place on a cookie sheet in a single layer and freeze.  Store in freezer bags.

MANGOS, PAPAYA, PINEAPPLE, MELONS
Peel skins off, cut into 1" chunks, layer on cookie sheets and freeze.  Store in freezer bags.  A note on the papayas, you can eat the seeds!  Store them separately in the freezer.  Add some to your smoothies for a burst of protien.

CITRUS
I keep all my citrus on the counter.  Use a carrot peeler to gently peel the zest off of your citrus.  The white pithy part has a lot of vitamins in it so leave it on.  (Juicer note....you don't have to peel the zest off of lemons and limes when you juice them.)

SHAWN'S SAVIOR Smoothie

This smoothie recipe was shared by my friend Shawn who is a stay-at-home-dad.  With 2 little ones and a couple of dogs in the mix he needs all the energy he can get!  Thanks Shawn!

1 orange, zest removed
1 handful of grapes
1small apple cored but unpeeled
3-5 small carrots chopped
1handful of spinach
4 or 5 strawberries
3 peach slices (or use the whole thing if you like)
1handful blueberries
2 handfuls of ice
a little water

If you have a Vitamix or similar, you can put everything in at once, in the order listed.

DRINKING UP SOME SUN Smoothie

1 cup OJ juiced fresh
2 peaches or 2 nectarines or 1 of each pited & diced
1/2 a mango chopped
4 apricots pitted & chopped chopped
1 banana
a 1-inch pineapple slice
a handfull of sliced almods
2 tablespoons each of hemp and flax seeds

Juice the orange and put the juice in the blender with the rest of the ingredients.  If you don't have a juicer then just put the orange in the blender with everything else.

CINNAMON SPICE SLUSH Smoothie

I bought some fresh peaches at the market last Saturday and decided to throw them in a smoothie. I made it very simple to keep the sweetness of the peaches.

1 cup of hemp milk or almond milk
1 small banana
1 & 1/2-2 fresh peaches (use the skin too!)
1 teaspoon of cinnamon (or more to taste
6-12 ice cubes

Get the milk spinning on a medium speed. Add the banana and peaches and cinnimon. Turn theblender up to an ice-chopping speed and add the ice one cube at a time. Watch out for brain freeze!