Cha Cha Cha Chia Seeds!

Tonight after my Pilates/yoga/bootcamp combo class I had this surge of extra energy and decided to take a few minutes to get creative in the kitchen. I didn't want to make anything too complicated, in case my surge of energy decided to pass quickly.

Oh She Glows informs readers that the site features crowd-pleasing vegan recipes, and Angela, the mastermind behind all these delicious recipes isn’t lying!

I have made granola adapted using one of her recipes and I’ve already talked about her delicious Vegan Cheeze Sauce earlier this month in my Cheezy Three Green Bake recipe.

As I’ve been using Blogger more and more to maintain the Vegan in the Middle of Nowhere blog, I’ve also started to build a reading list, and it’s a little like Christmas morning to check what new recipes and features are up on my selection of vegan blogs right there in one place. It’s brilliant.

On Monday morning I clicked on the new Oh She Glows post about chia seeds right away and haven’t stopped thinking about the recipe for the Chia Seed Breakfast Bowl since. Pair that with the overstock of ripening bananas in my kitchen and that I just happened to purchase chia seeds for the very first time on my last shopping run to Bozeman and it was a given that I had to try this recipe. The Community Food Co-Op, located on West Main Street in Bozeman, stocks chia seeds in their bulk section and the staff is always kind and friendly whenever I’m searching the shelves full of tempting items like tea, coffee beans, granola, dried fruit and fun, nutritious stuff like chia seeds!

The ingredient lineup for the Chia Seed Breakfast Bowl from Oh She Glows

Here’s the link to the Chia Seed Breakfast Bowl recipe over at Oh She Glows, http://ohsheglows.com/2013/02/18/chia-seed-breakfast-bowl/.  I’d suggest that you give it a try for a quick, nutritious and delicious breakfast option, or even as a midnight snack. The chia seeds thicken and gel, almost like a flax seed “egg” that you would use in vegan baking recipes. The mixture of chia seeds, bananas, almond milk and other ingredients forms a thickness very similar to pudding after it is refrigerated for a few hours or overnight. The tiny black seeds also have a slight crunch and remind me of tapioca, or drinking a yummy glass of bubble tea. And don’t be fooled by their tiny size, these crunchy little numbers pack a powerful punch of omega-3 fatty acids and dietary fiber. Gotta love those heath benefits!

Mashed bananas, almond milk, vanilla, cinnamon and chia seeds ready to all be mixed together!

Angela’s recipe has suggestions for toppings and in the list initial ingredients, she uses cinnamon. I also added in a few dashes of nutmeg and a generous tablespoon of stevia to my Chia Seed Breakfast Bowl mixture for some added sweetness. Stevia is naturally calorie free and derived from plants.

I'll post a photo of my Chia Seed Breakfast Bowl up on the blog tomorrow after the mixture has had time to sit in the fridge overnight.

The "before" photo

Go get creative in the kitchen with chia seeds soon!