Chia Pudding Fun!

@conscious_cooking

One of my favorite power-breakfasts is a Chia Pudding Parfait. Packed with protein, antioxidants, and healthy fats (and naturally sweetened) this little treat is always a winner to provide satiety and a natural nutrient-boost. Yummy breakfasts are an essential part of my monthly 10-day Plant-powered Clean Eating Challenge. This is one of everyone's favorite recipes in the program for breakfast, lunch, or a snack. 

To celebrate this versatile, easy-to-make, and fun-to-eat meal, I started a fun little hashtag project or "party" on Instagram, inviting people to create and share their #chiapudfun. It was so wonderful to see everyone's posts, the colors, flavors and food art. I would love to see your creations too! 

Here's the recipe:

FOR THE NUT MILK
1 cup raw, unsalted nuts of choice (cashews, almonds, pistachios, walnuts, etc)
3 cups filtered water
1-2 pitted medjool dates, or 3 T pure maple syrup

• Soak the nuts overnight in plenty of filtered water. 
• Rinse and drain the nuts, discarding the soaking liquid
• Add all the ingredients to a high speed blender. 
• Blend until smooth. Note: Cashews don't usually need to be strained through a fine meshed sieve, or muslin nut bag. Other nuts, such as almonds may need to be strained to remove the meal, if you prefer a smooth milk and pudding. 

FOR THE PUDDING - PER PORTION
1 cup nut milk (as above)
3 T chia seeds, white or black
Optional: Add flavor – Cacao, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, matcha, etc

• Combine in a bowl or a jar, stirring well and let rest for 20 minutes or overnight 

Now, the fun part! 

Dress up your pudding in layers of: 

1. Fruit or Vegetables – Berries, citrus, banana, kiwi, beets, sweet potato, etc
2. Creaminess (optional) – Plant-based yogurt / cream / mousse, nut butter, etc
3. Other toppings – Good-for-you granola, puffed grains, nuts and seeds, etc

Featured below is a selection of beautiful creations from my Instagram hashtag party that some of my IG favorite accounts posted to join in on the fun. Click on each one to see all the ingredients they used! Feel free to continue the party by sharing your own creations on Instagram with the tag  #chiapudfun. 

Have fun playing with your food! Cx

@foodpicjp

@husbandsthatcook

@plantbasedartist

@thejamlab

@umamikitchen

@vanillaandbean

@wifemamafoodie

Clean Foods for a Clean Gut

Since ancient times people have been preserving their own foods. Fermented foods are a natural probiotic which helps promote great gut health by improving digestion, removing toxins and harmful bacteria with a natural variety of microflora and enzymes. Having kimchi, sauerkraut, pickled vegetables, kefir, or kombucha daily will have lasting benefits to your good health. 

Leaf-to-Stem Goodness

There is an abundance of fresh herbs, especially in summer. If buying a big bunch and only using a few leaves as a garnish, and letting the rest go to waste, think again! These recipes utilize both the leaves AND the stems (and lots of it!) to make the most of these nutrient-dense, alkalizing, and immunity-boosting small (but mighty) plant foods. Enjoy!

Crazy for Cashews

Have I told you lately how much I am in love with Cashews? This versatile nut it perfect for any dairy replacement – As a milk, cream, cheese, it's pretty incredible! As you know, I love making my own nut milk, it's so easy to make, and tastes so much better than any store-bought version. Lately, I've been making mostly cashew milk because I've been so busy. You don't need to strain the nut meal out after blending, so it's much quicker. If I had a Vitamix, it would even be faster, as you don't need to soak the nuts before blending.

Frozen Treats – that are Yummy AND Healthy!

Yes! Summer is here and we're always in need of a cold, refreshing treat. Here are a few incredibly simple recipes for healthy ice-cream alternatives! What's not to love about homemade, no added sugar, dairy-free, frozen treats? 

COLORFUL COCO-CUBES
Fresh fruit or herbs, the more colorful, the better
Coconut water 

• Cut the fruit into small pieces, and place into individual ice cube tray compartments. 
• Fill with coconut water.
• Freeze for 3-4 hours, until solid.
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Kimchi

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Integrating fermented foods and beverages into your diet is necessary to help improve your digestion, strengthen your immunity, prevent diseases and fight inflammation.

Some fermented drinks and foods to include in your diet are kombucha, yogurt, kefir, miso soup, sauerkraut, pickles and kimchi.

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Nutty for nut milks!

Originally I posted this as part of my long Juice Fast entry, but it is really so good and a regular favorite, that I thought it deserves its own post! I promise you, it is THE easiest and most impressive food/drink you can make! And 1000 times better than any store-bought version, with the exception of Lulitonix, a local NYC brand, where I got the inspiration from. 

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My Juice Fast

I never thought I could do this, as I love food so much! The other night, my friend Robert suggested we do a 3-day juice cleanse together. I thought about my recent food choices, I've been eating less and less meat and dairy, trying to cut out (or not depend so much on wheat), so it made sense to do this now and give my 40+ year old body a break! I looked up all the things that might improve going on a liquid veggie diet: aside from weight loss, immunity boost, healthy skin, better sleep, loss of joint aches and pains, clearer eyesight... the list goes on and on. That all sounds perfect, so why not give it a try? I have my trusty juicer from my Hong Kong days, let's do it!

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Check out 9-year-old, "Veg"'s blog, Never Seconds. In the spring, she was forced to stop taking photos of her school lunches and posting them, but the ban caused an uproar from her supporters, and she's able to continue her plight! Her blog has expanded with posts of meals that kids around the world have sent to her. I love her rating for each meal (health-o-meter, number of mouthfuls, pieces of hair...). She also tries to replicate some of the food that her fans send in, very inspirational! 

A Grape Snack!!!

A month or so ago, a neighbor came out of the building with a cupful of frozen grapes, and offered for us to try. It was truly the most refreshing snack, especially on a hot, hot day. We have a continuous stash in the freezer now, and can't get enough. Grapes are another one of those superfood fruits. Low in calories and high in nutrients and anti-oxidants, how can you go wrong? There are numerous health benefits from simply eating grapes! 

Just wash them and stick them in the freezer for a few hours. 

Guacamole & Salsa

This party-portion is double the salsa recipe
and 6xs the guacamole recipe

A perfect summer party snack, and so easy to make (I know I always say that, but it's true!). Once you've tried these freshly made dips, it will be hard to go back to the store-bought versions. You know that making them from fresh ingredients that this is super healthy. The recipes are very flexible in terms of amount of each ingredient. Adjust to your own taste or with what you have on-hand. Also make these to accompany a Mexican dinner. Visually, I prefer an all-green guacamole, using green heirloom tomatoes, but the taste is the delicious with either.

Mad about Mangoes

It's mango season, at least at our local grocery store it is! There is a mountain of champagne or Ataulfo mangos on special. The green ones are not ripe yet, choose the nice firm mango-yellow ones. If the skin is wrinkly or has black spots, it is already a bit overripe. The fruit flesh is slippery to handle and can be squished easily at the tiniest bit of pressure, it can be a bit tricky to prepare. Here is the easiest way to tackle this, and how they are generally prepared in Asia.

Potluck Quick Fix

After a busy day, I needed something fast and easy to bring to the class potluck. What better than chopping up some tomatoes, onion and herbs, and toasting some bread. It was easy to carry the topping in a plastic container and the prepared bread sliced in the bag it came in. I brought a platter and it was a cinch to assemble a few upon arrival and whenever more was needed. 

Winter Salads

Even if it's winter, salads are not out of the question. Using heartier leaves, such as kale of napa cabbage, chunks of roasted butternut squash or other winter veggies and lots and lots of nuts, you can have this as a side, or even just with a bowl of rice. The recipe below is one I re-created from a dish we tried in a restaurant in Florida one holiday. 

Pesto

Fresh homemade pesto is the easiest thing to make. Particularly in when you can get lovely big bunches of fresh basil from the Farmer’s Market. I don’t use as much garlic as many recipes call for, as the taste tends to linger a bit. Make a big batch and divide it into portions of an ice cube tray, wrap and store in the freezer for future use. It's great to have these summer flavors in the wintertime. The kids love a quick pesto pasta in their lunch boxes with peas and any leftover chicken. A food processor is helpful, but you can always chop by hand, it will just take a lot longer. Mix it up and try a variety of leaves, lemon basil, Thai basil, cilantro/coriander, or even arugula! I like to use lime to keep the leaves from oxidizing and doesn't overpower the flavor of the fresh leaves.