Chocolate Pudding

A day off from teaching is a day that I get to spend doing a couple of my most favorite me-time things: cooking and lifting!  With the latter done early today, I had lots of time to make a mess in the kitchen (no joke here!) and ended up coming up with a paleo-worthy sweet treat.

The recipe is ridiculously easy and so damn good!  I'm not sure how much self control I'll have later on! 

Recipe makes 3ish cups

Ingredients:

•2 cups of water

•1/2 cup raw cashews, almonds, walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts

•1/4 cup raw cacao powder

•1/3 cup chia seeds

•10 Medjool dates pitted

•2 teaspoons Himalayan salt or Kalahari desert salt (sea salt is fine if you don't have the others but I prefer them because they have a stronger salt flavor)

•Cacao nibs, raw coconut flakes, coconut creme, date creme, fresh fruit, or whatever the hell else you want to throw on top. 

Put everything in a high-powered blender and let that fucker blend on high for 2-5 minutes. Yeah that may seem like a big gap in time but whatever kind of blender you have will determine how long this will take. If it seems really thick, add a little more water, maybe 1/8 of a cup at a time. Don't worry if it seems a little too watery because the Chia seeds will thicken it up. 

If you have a shit blender, you should put things in little at a time and you should probably chop the dates, otherwise they may get stuck. If you have a vitamix or similar, your pudding will warm up a bit but hey, that's ok!

When everything is blended and smooth, you can either put your pudding into 1/2 size glass bowls, dump it all into one larger glass bowl, or just put your face it it! 

Don't store this in metal because it will react and change the flavor. If it's a choice between plastic and metal, use the plastic and go get yourself some glass food containers!

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.

Chocolate Chia Pudding

Chia has quickly become the newest superfood on the market and with all the nutritional benefits, it's no wonder!  Any way you can eat chia is great!  This recipe was born out of my experience with buying a chia pod.  First off, a 6oz pod cost me $3.50!  That's a whole lot of expensive!  The flavor was good but I didn't like the slimy texture.  I went about experimenting in my kitchen.  Lucky for me Iiked the first attempt!  Cheers!  Angie

1 cup of nut milk

1 tablespoon of ground cacao

1 tablespoon of maca powder

1 tablespoon of lucuma powder

2 tablespoons of mesquite powder

6 tablespoons of chia seeds

Mix everything except the chia seeds in a blender on low just long enough to incorporate all the powders.

Pour into a glass jar.  (A pint canning jar is  perfect!)

Stir in the chia seeds, cap, refrigerate until set.  I usually let it sit over night.

I usually make my own nut milk but I do have a go-to store bought that Iove!

Spicy Chocolate Pudding

I love using avocados for a pudding base.  They carry flavors well, especially chocolate.  While I'm sharing the amounts I added, the flavors in this recipe can be tweaked to your liking.  

2 Haas avocados

1 banana

1/4 cup of whole chia seeds

1/3 cup of raw honey

1/8  cup of cacao powder

2 tablespoons of cinnamon 

Ground chipotle powder to taste

Cream avocados,banana, and honey in a food processor.  While the processor is on, add spices and cacao.  Mix for about 3 minutes or until creamy.  Taste pudding and adjust flavoring as desired.  You can add more honey if needed.  Once flavor is to your liking, put pudding in a bowl and stir in the chia seeds.  Store in the fridge in a non-reactive bowl.