Eat chocolate for breakfast? This delicious pudding is good for you!

chia pudding

Creamy Chocolate Chia Pudding

This is a great way to sneak chocolate pudding for breakfast! At only 133 calories per serving (4 servings from this recipe), 8 g of fat and 5.3 g of protein, it’s a great start to your day….umm- you could add a handful of berries to make Mom happy!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Chill Time: 8 hours- overnight

1 1/2 cups of almond milk- unsweetened
1/3 cup of white chia seeds
1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
2- 4 Tablespoons maple syrup (to taste)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk cocoa powder, chia seeds, cinnamon, and salt together in a mixing bowl until well combined. Carefully add almond milk and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Add maple syrup by tablespoon until it is sweet enough for you! Chill, chill and chill (covered in the fridge for at least 8 hours) until it is thick and delicious.

Stir well before serving. Leftovers can last two days covered in your fridge.

Terri Coles from The Huffington Post wrote this great list on the benefits of adding chia seeds to your diet on June 03, 2013

  • Combat Diabetes: Chia is being studied as a potential natural treatment for type-2 diabetes because of its ability to slow down digestion. The gelatinous coating of chia seeds develops when exposed to liquids- this might also prevent blood sugar spikes.
  • Fiber: Just a 28-gram or one-ounce serving of chia has 11 grams of dietary fiber — about a third of the recommended daily intake for adults.
  • Omega-3: Chia seeds are packed with omega-3 fatty acids, with nearly five grams in a one-ounce serving. These fats are important for brain health.
  • Stronger Teeth and Bones: A serving of chia seeds has 18 % of the recommended daily intake of calcium. This is a great way to maintain bone and oral health and prevent osteoporosis.
  • Manganese: Manganese isn’t a well-known nutrient, but it’s important for our health. It’s good for your bones and helps your body use other essential nutrients like biotin and thiamin. One serving of chia seeds has 30 % of your recommended daily intake of this mineral.
  • Phosphorus: Providing 27% of your daily value for phosphorus, chia seeds can help you maintain healthy bones and teeth. Phosphorus is also used by the body to synthesize protein for cell and tissue growth and repair.
  • Protein: Chia seeds are a great source of protein for vegetarians and have no cholesterol. One serving of these super seeds has 4.4 grams of protein, nearly 10% of the suggested daily requirement.
  • Fights Belly Fat: The stabilizing effect on blood sugar that occurs with regular intake of chia can also fight insulin resistance. This can be tied to a decrease in belly fat according to the website Live Strong.
  • Sleep Better- Be Happy: Tryptophan, an important amino acid, is also found in chia seeds. It is essential for the manufacture of serotonin which regulates our appetite, sleep, and moods.
  • Improve Heart Health: According to the Cleveland Clinic, chia seeds have been shown to improve blood pressure in diabetics, and may also increase healthy cholesterol while lowering total, LDL, and triglyceride cholesterol.

Here are great reasons to eat chocolate chia pudding-  Happy Breakfast!

Diana

First Post 3 AM

 

3 am

 

What is it about 3AM? It’s an hour with schizophrenic intentions- you could be lying in bed enjoying the peaceful sounds of water lapping on an imaginary beach in Greece or…..you can be wrapped, sweating, in tangled blankets, questioning every decision you ever made and cursing the fact that there seem to be several new decisions that need to be made- immediately!

Didn’t write that important email before you crawled into bed last night? Did you binge watch your favorite show instead of deciding how much money there was in the bank, or calling your mother, or having that all important discussion with your husband/ daughter/ neighbour? Were you supposed to quit your job, cut your hair, walk your dog, or make a life change before bed last night?

I am not belittling the issues that keep us up all night- we all experience serious concerns over health, family, personal issues, money and business problems. These are not the thoughts that occupy me at 3AM- mine tend to be about toothpaste choices or where my dry cleaning is! Why are all 3AM worries so equally large? Why do they cause a crazy death spiral of anxiety that can have you pacing the floor until dawn (should I hire a housekeeper? what colors for the garden this year? what is wrong with my computer?)  And why can we solve them in 5 minutes or less at 7AM?

Is anxiety standing between you and peaceful sleep? I have just finished a great book by James Altucher- The Choose Yourself Guide to Wealth- that suggests as part of a personal practice, when you are feeling anxious,  you should repeat ” I notice I am feeling anxious ”  and then think of one thing you feel grateful for. This exercise can help to distance yourself from your scrambled mess of emotions and sheets and works to  distract me from my exaggerated worries in the early morning hours. This is far more helpful than getting up and pacing. Although it really hasn’t helped me solve any of my  3AM problems- I can fall back to sleep so that they become manageable 7AM problems and solutions are far easier to find!

Sleep well!

Diana

Altucher, James The Choose Yourself Guide to Wealth 2015