My Favorite Chia Seed Pudding

I was originally thinking of calling this "The Best Chia Seed Pudding," but I really hate it when food blogs do that.  Really?  Yours just happened to be the best?  Okay.

Anyway, in the past, all my chia seed pudding were kind of bland, regardless of the toppings.  Some toppings were better than others, but the underlying pudding itself was still blah.  And then I put in full fat coconut milk.  And the results were glorious.  It's also super-filling.  I eat breakfast at ~8:30, and this will keep me full for about four hours.

This chia seed pudding is vegan, gluten-free, keto, paleo, no sugar added, and delicious.  Which is the most important part.  And endlessly customizable.  Here I'll provide the basic recipe, plus some of the variations I've been making.

First:  the golden ratio for chia seed pudding is 4 parts liquid to 1 part chia.  So for this, since full fat coconut milk is so intense, it's 1/2 cup coconut milk to 2 tablespoons chia seeds.  You can probably use light coconut milk and get the same flavor, but I don't recommend the coconut milk beverage that comes in cartons.  It's too bland.  Also, full fat coconut milk is pretty thick.  You might want to thin it out by doing almost 1/2 cup coconut milk and then finish it off with the liquid of your choice (I use almond milk, because that's what I have).  So, put your chia seeds in a cup, bowl, mason jar, whatever.  Add the liquid.  Stir stir stir.  Stir more.  Add a splash of vanilla, stir more.  Put it in the refrigerator overnight.  In the morning, put ~1 teaspoon of cacao nibs on top.  The cacao nibs are crucial.

Above are two different variations I've made.  Top:  passion fruit.  Bottom: pumpkin pie.

For the passion fruit, just take a passion fruit and pour it over.

For the pumpkin pie, add a tablespoon of canned pumpkin to the pudding when you're adding the liquid.  Also add a dash of pumpkin pie spice.

My current favorite is peanut butter & jelly.  When it comes out of the refrigerator, I add a handful of raspberries and stir them in, sort of crushing them as I stir.  Then I drizzle some TJs mixed nut butter over (but you could use whatever you want).  So good.

BuzzFeed Clean Eating Challenge: Day 12

So, today was my last full day of this, so this will be my last post on the subject. Tomorrow I'm off to New York, so I'll do breakfast, lunch, and the afternoon snack. I guess this little experiment worked, in that I lost the weight I wanted to lose, but it's definitely not sustainable, as I've been super-hungry. I'm glad to end early and eat some pizza and bagels! I'll get to today's recipes, and then wrap up at the end.

Breakfast: Blackberry Yogurt Parfait. A repeat from earlier in the week, and still good.

Lunch: Black Bean Chili with Carrots. Leftover chili from last week, along with the smokey paprika yogurt, which I used half of in the chili and half as a dip for the carrots. I felt really full after eating this, but then got hungry very soon after.

Afternoon Snack: Unsalted Peanuts with A Pear. I feel like some of the snacks were just random things put together to meet a caloric goal. My pear was overripe.

Dinner: Asian-Style Cod in Parchment with Bok Choy. This had so much potential, and failed so utterly. I don't know how big they think a bok choy head is, but 6 was way too much. I used three and they barely fit. I had to use more parchment. The sauce was too lime-y, and I ended up giving the veggies to Carl and eating a handful of pecans.

Evening Snack: Almond milk with dark chocolate. Again, a repeat.

Overall, there were some good recipes, but I think I need more fat and carbohydrates in my diet otherwise I get hungry and cranky. It was also a bit meat-heavy, and I prefer to minimize the meat I eat, both because of the environmental impacts and the fact that I don't like handling raw meat. I want to try and continue eating fewer cookies, and this was a good way to sort of quickly reset. I would also like to minimize the carbohydrates, but we'll see. It was also a lot of work, in terms of prepping and cooking and cleaning for so little food. I hate washing pots and pans, so I like to make things that will last me a few days for dinner. It's also a bit limiting in terms of eating out with friends. I'm hoping I can maintain the weight loss and come up with fun, filling meals in the future.

BuzzFeed Clean Eating Challenge: Day 11

Overall today was far better than yesterday, but I'm getting really antsy to get back to eating things that aren't just veggies and small amounts of protein. Recipes here.

Breakfast: Kale and Banana Smoothie. A repeat from earlier in the challenge, but I added cinnamon to it this time and it made the smoothie far more flavorful.

Lunch: No Mayo Tuna Salad in Romaine Cups. I used Napa cabbage, since I wasn't buying a head of romaine for four leaves, and there was so much cabbage left over. I also used a 7 oz can of tuna, since that's what we had, and it seemed silly to save two ounces. Plus, the caloric intake for the day was on the low side.

Snack: Banana Avocado Pudding. I was very wary about this, given my last foray into avocado based puddings. This turned out to be not so bad, though. I also added cinnamon, which I think might be key to everything. I would have preferred a more chocolatey pudding, but overall I was pleasantly surprised. Probably wouldn't make this by choice, but it was fine. It was, however, more of a smoothie by 3:30 PM, since I made it in the blender at 9:30 AM. Speaking of the blender, I remembered to clean it the fancy Vitamix way (even though it's not a Vitamix). Put a few drops of soap in, fill it up halfway with water, and then turn the blender on a low setting. It cleans out a lot of the gunk, and then all it needs is a quick wipedown on the sides and lid.

Dinner: Snap Pea Salad with Radish, Feta, and Hard-boiled Egg. No radish for me. All of the dinner salads just seem so small for dinner. I'd rather eat a smaller breakfast portion (closer to 200 calories) and then have larger lunches and dinners. None of this breakfast like a king, dine like a pauper crap. I think because I generally eat a fairly late breakfast.

Evening Snack: 1 oz dark chocolate. I used my 70% dark chocolate chips. I ate them slowly to savor them, rather than just popping the whole serving in my mouth at once. I guess it sort of helped.

I also ate a few rogue strawberries and some potato chip crumbs, as I continue to experience low-level hunger all day. As I near the end, I've been trying to figure out how to make this more sustainable in the long-term. Most of my breakfasts actually fit in, but I need lunches and dinners that will work, and that I can eat with Carl, because I'm tired of cleaning so many dishes.

BuzzFeed Clean Eating Challenge: Day 10

Today I hit the wall. I wasn't excited about any of it, and the lunch debacle really set the tone. I've been hungry all day, despite it being one of the higher calorie days. Recipes here.

Breakfast: Cauliflower Hash with Fried Eggs. Fine. Again, it was a pretty good way to use up leftover roasted cauliflower. In a unique turn of events, I actually undercooked the eggs.

Lunch: Arugula Salad with Eggplant, Avocado, Feta and Chickpeas. I took two bites and gave up. What a waste of fancy feta cheese. I can only eat eggplant under very specific circumstances, and cold, mushy leftover roasted eggplant is not once of them. I went across the street to the coffee shop and ordered the kale-chickpea salad. It also had quinoa and carrots, with a yogurt dressing in a very small container, so presumably of similar calorie content. It was not very satisfying. At least it was baby kale.

Afternoon Snack: Bell Pepper with Hummus. I don't like bell peppers, so I had leftover carrots from Friday.

Dinner: Kale and Shrimp Bowl with Mushroom and Avocado. Fine. Similar to the spinach and shrimp I make, but I usually pair it with some sort of carbs, so it's more satisfying. This was a really low-calorie dinner.

Evening Snack: Blackberries. Blackberries, still delicious.

This really was not enough food to sustain me for the day, especially because I exercised. I know all these veggies are supposed to be filling, but they're really not. I ate a few potato chips to tide me over, but it wasn't enough. I need more carbs.

BuzzFeed Clean Eating Challenge: Day 9

The combo of prepping breakfast, lunch, and my snack this morning took way too long, although I guess I did kind of dawdle this morning, too. Recipes here.

Breakfast: Sweet and Savory Apple Omelet. I'm not sure what part made this savory. Maybe the olive oil? I liked this, but the olive oil was kind of weird. It was too strong a flavor. I'd use butter or coconut oil if I made this again. Also, I felt like it really needed brie. Again, omelets are pretty time consuming to make. My flip got messed up, too.

Lunch: Raw Collard Wraps with Turkey Meatballs, Dijon, and Avocado. I didn't use a whole tomato here, just a a few slices. I couldn't really get mine to roll. The collard green didn't really add a lot, so by the last one I just took it off and threw it out. I still really like the meatballs. I should do more wraps for lunch once this is over.

Afternoon Snack: Blackberries and Yogurt. I eat fruit and yogurt a lot normally, but not blackberries. They are delicious and I should eat them more, but they tend to be on the expensive side. Lunch was surprisingly filling, and I didn't end up eating my snack until 5 PM.

Dinner: Fried Quinoa with Snap Peas, Mushrooms, and Scrambled Eggs. I rushed home because I thought this would take FOREVER to make, but it only took 30 minutes. I was pleasantly surprised. They did want me to use way more pans than necessary, though. I liked this way more than I thought, since I'm not a big fan of mushrooms, but they don't really have a strong flavor when cooked that long.

Evening Snack: Pear with Almond Butter. I ate this in a restaurant while everyone else ate real food and it was kind of awkward. I'm still kind of hungry, though.

Overall, I feel like I have way more energy and I'm a lot less tired. This may be in part because I might have mild anemia, and I've been eating way more meat than usual. It might also be the joy that the semi-warm weather and the late sunset brings to me.

BuzzFeed Clean Eating Challenge: Day 8

I think the hardest part of this is the emotional aspect. I alluded to this earlier, but I oftentimes use food (specifically sweets) to make myself feel better. It's been a particularly stressful time for me, which has been exacerbated by trying to plan around specific meals. I didn't get home from my office today until almost six (yes, I am aware it's Sunday) so didn't get to eat until nearly 8, since it took two hours to do all that roasting. It's why I generally like to make meals that last for a few days, so I can just reheat. Anyhoodle, recipes for today can be found here.

Breakfast: Blueberry Yogurt Smoothie. This was kind of tart, and boy did it make a lot. I probably should have cut the yogurt, since again, I'm using low-fat instead of non-fat. It was hard to drink the whole thing in 10 minutes, but I didn't want to be late to yoga.

Lunch: Shakshuka. This used leftover sauce from last night, so was actually pretty quick to make. I overcooked my eggs, though (notice a theme?). They were still translucent, I went to change clothes, and when I came back, BAM! Overcooked. Still good, though. We've eaten this before, and while I think it's often served with challah, it was fine without. This will probably get made during Passover (well, not this version, specifically).

Afternoon Snack: Strawberries with Almond Butter. Again, my almond butter is super-dry, so it didn't really drizzle. Also, the strawberries weren't that great.

Dinner: Roasted Eggplant with Chickpeas, Cauliflower, and Lemon-Parsley Yogurt. Eggplant is best covered with tomato sauce and parmesan cheese, but this was fine. Lots of roasted veggie goodness.

Evening Snack: Two Dates Stuffed with One Almond Each. Meh. I'm not a fan of dates.

One thing I've noticed is that I think I've been eating too quickly in the past. I'll wolf down dinner, and then still be hungry, so I'll get seconds. This past week I've been eating more slowly, and I haven't still felt hungry after eating. Also, next week is spring break, which is part of why I picked these two weeks to do this, but I'll still be in my office, so I guess it won't be that different.

BuzzFeed Clean Eating Challenge: Day 7

I've reached the half-way point! Actually, since I'm going to New York next Friday, I'm not doing the last day and a half (although I might work the recipes in to the next week), I'm actually over half-way done. Today was pretty good. I also went shopping for the rest of the week. The total bill was ~$91, although I was overcharged for my mushrooms, since the cashier rung them up as Shiitake, when they were Crimini, which were $7/lb cheaper. I found this out when I was already at home, and the extra $6 wasn't worth going back to fix. I also included some of Carl's lemons/limes in this total, and the new bottle of olive oil, which should last six months. Averaging over the two weeks, it was about $110/week, which is a little pricey, but I also think that I will have so much food left over. I actually didn't buy any romaine this week, since it was just supposed to be used solely for lettuce cups, so I'm going to use leftover Napa cabbage. I also didn't buy the arugula, since I had so much left over, along with blackberries. Anyway, today's recipes can be found here.

Breakfast: Asparagus with Poached Eggs. I hate asparagus, so I used broccolini. I wasn't paying attention, so I overcooked my eggs, which was probably for the best, anyway, because broccolini isn't great for sopping up runny egg yolks. This would have been significantly better with bread to sop up the yolk. In fact, I've made this with challah rolls, and the sweetness of the challah really makes it delicious.

Lunch: Kale Salad with Tomato, Feta, and Black Beans. Too much kale and tomato. All of these salads with tomatoes have included a whole tomato along with a citrus vinaigrette, which is a lot of acid. Also, the salads have been made with bitter greens, and I really can only do spinach or romaine in salads.

Afternoon Snack: Almonds and a Clementine. Pretty straightforward.

Dinner: Turkey-Basil Meatballs with Collard Greens. I added parmesan to this, since it was in the picture but not in the recipe. The meatballs were really good, although I may have slightly overcooked them. The greens were a little bitter, though, and I had to really coat them with the tomato sauce.

Evening Snack: One Ounce Dark Chocolate. Again, pretty straightforward. I just ate the fancy chocolate chips that were in my cabinet.

On to week 2!

BuzzFeed Clean Eating Challenge: Day 6

Today had challenges. I strayed from the menu, once on purpose and once on accident. Recipes here.

Breakfast: As I mentioned, I switched today's and yesterday's breakfast, so today was the Cauliflower Omelet. This was a much quicker omelet than the scallion one from the other day, and a good way to use up limp roasted vegetables. For some reason the two teaspoons of olive oil today was able to lubricate the pan more, and I was able to flip the omelet, although in a cheat-y way (I slide it on a plate and then turned the plate over).

Lunch: Arugula Salad with Green Beans, Salmon, and Dijon Vinaigrette. Things fell apart around lunch. I had to go to this stupid seminar thing that I really didn't want to go to, and it was from 12-2, i.e. in the middle of lunch. I felt weird being the only person eating lunch, and I didn't want to have everything smell like salmon. Also, this seminar was so awful, and to make myself feel better I ate three small cookies and some extra fruit. Then I ate lunch at two. I dressed the salad at noon, though, which in some ways was better, because all the arugula got coated and so it wasn't as bitter.

Afternoon Snack: Carrots and Cucumber with Hummus. I didn't eat all of this, because see above re. cookies.

Dinner: Black Bean Chili with Greek Yogurt and Zucchini Ribbons. More mistakes were made here. It was late when I got home, so I skimmed the recipe and put the whole can of black beans in when the recipe only called for half. More fiber, I guess. I liked the paprika in the greek yogurt, because it's super-smokey. I also added the green onions to the yogurt. The zucchini ribbons reminded me that I have a spiralizer that I bought on a whim that I've never used, and now I kind of want to do so.

Evening Snack: Blackberries with Pistachios. Didn't actually eat this, because of the cookies, the extra beans, and the late dinner.

I feel a little sad that I cheated, but not that sad. Sometimes life gets in the way of healthy eating, and that's ok. And at least now I know I don't have a gluten problem, since I have had no adverse effects from eating those cookies.

BuzzFeed Clean Eating Challenge: Day 4

Today started off pretty well, but ended poorly. Recipes here.

Breakfast: Scallion and Feta Omelet. A little onion-y, but I got to use my fancy fresh, local, sheep's-milk feta, which was very tasty and creamy. Omelets are kind of time-consuming, and maybe not the best weekday morning breakfast item. Also, two teaspoons of olive oil is not enough oil to be able to flip the omelet, which is a skill that I am not great at under the best of circumstances, so this turned out to be a little more like scrambled eggs, but still fine.

Lunch: Greek Salad with Lentils and Lime Vinaigrette. I misread the directions and used up all the lime vinaigrette yesterday, so I just used oil and balsamic. I also don't like bell peppers, so I left those out, but overall a pretty good salad.

Afternoon Snack: Mango-Banana Smoothie with Chia Seeds. I think my banana or mango was underripe, because this was kind of bland. I was surprised at how well it held up in my thermos in the refrigerator, though. Unfortunately, my office is really cold so it was hard to drink a smoothie today.

Dinner: Roasted Chicken Breast with Fennel and Spinach. I tried to choke this down, but it triggered my gag reflex, so I basically just ate the chicken. Fennel is kind of a strong flavor, and the spinach was just really dry.

Evening Snack: 2 dates stuffed with one almond each. Eh.

Because I knew that dinner was going to be iffy, I ate the random left-over half of a banana, as well as the half of the orange left-over from the other day. It helped soothe my desire for sweets.

BuzzFeed Clean Eating Challenge: Day 3

Today's food was pretty good, and filling. Except for before dinner (which I'll get to later), I was satiated all day. Recipes can be found here.

Breakfast: Blackberry Yogurt Parfait. Since I used low-fat yogurt and not non-fat, I reduced the amount of yogurt from one cup to 3/4 of a cup. I should have also reduced the flax, since it was a little bit dry, but not too bad. I liked this, but I also eat something similar for a snack many days. I really liked the blackberries, but they're usually expensive so I don't normally get them. I should eat them more. A good, filling breakfast.

Lunch: Asian Chicken Salad with Tamari-Lime Dressing. Again, I don't think these people have any idea how big certain foods are. This called for half a head of Napa cabbage, which would feed about four people. I just chopped up leaves until my container was full. Pretty good lunch. The "tamari" (I actually used regular soy sauce) cut down the lime in the vinaigrette and made it way less citrus-y. I liked this.

Afternoon Snack: Lemony Avocado. This was supposed to be 3/4 of an avocado with lemon juice, but I used an extra bit for dinner last night. I have texture issues with avocados, so I mashed it up with the lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and then used it as a dip for carrots. I didn't have enough carrots to eat it all.

Dinner: Cauliflower Steaks with Lentils. I really liked this. I probably undercooked the lentils, but I was super-hungry. I will definitely add paprika to my lentils in the future, and maybe soy sauce. It was a little on the sweet side, so I'd probably reduce the honey.

Evening Snack: Almond Milk Heated with Dark Chocolate. All my chocolate sunk to the bottom, which was fine. This isn't a very filling snack, but I also had it basically an hour after dinner.

I was very satisfied with today. Tuesday is my exercise day, and I was able to do my three miles on the treadmill, although I did feel a little tired by the end. That might have been tired muscles from yoga, though. Unfortunately, I didn't read the recipe and found out the lentils take an hour to cook at 7:30 PM. Thus, by the time everything was done I was very hungry and then wolfed it down.

Buzzfeed Clean Eating Challenge: Day 2

In the interest of full disclosure, I forgot to mention yesterday that I ate the skin off the chicken instead of disposing of it. I did the same today when I got my second chicken breast. #Sorrynotsorry. Now, on to today. Recipes can be found here.

Breakfast: Overnight oats with Blueberries and Chia seeds. Pretty standard. I used blueberries that we had frozen from when we went blueberry picking in August. I also used low-fat yogurt, since that's what I had. When I usually make this I use only a teaspoon of chia seeds, and a higher almond milk:yogurt ratio, which makes it a little more liquid-y. I think I prefer that, but overall a good start to the day.

Lunch: Kale, Chickpea, and Fennel Salad with Orange Vinaigrette. I was surprised at how few chickpeas were supposed to go in this. A quarter of a cup is half a serving of chickpeas. Also, after shaving some of the fennel, tasting it, and realizing it sucked, I skipped the fennel. This was not very filling.

Afternoon Snack: Sliced tomato with Basil and Feta. This was a lot of tomato, and then there was even more tomato for dinner. Too much tomato, and I like tomato.

Dinner: Napa Cabbage Wraps with Tomato, Chicken, Mango, and Avocado. I made this into a salad. Again, the vinaigrette was too citrus-y. I think the people that wrote this recipe have no idea how much juice is in a citrus, because I felt like the salad was drowning. I also used half the avocado, because I was so hungry, and there is no way I can eat 3/4 of an avocado plain as a snack tomorrow (I have texture issues with avocado). I couldn't finish this due to the high acid content, and I was starting to get really full.

Evening Snack: Two clementines. Not a lot to say, other than I only ate one.

Today was hard. Lunch/afternoon snack were not very filling, and I was so hungry by the time dinner came. I ate some pineapple while getting it ready, but since I only ate one clementine, I'm fine with it. I also had to skip cookie time/pub with the speaker, because I knew I would crack. Trivia wasn't as bad, because I don't always get food, but I did feel weird eating my clementine.

Vegetarian Enchiladas

This week, we had green tomatoes in our farmer's box. Last time I got green tomatoes in the box, I made a green tomato and swiss chard gratin. There are very few recipes that I don't finish, but this was one of them (oddly, the other one of recent memory also had swiss chard, so I might just hate swiss chard). When I saw green tomatoes on the list this time, I thought, "oh, crap. What am I going to do with them?" Additionally, we get four ears of corn every week. We are up to our eyeballs in corn. We have a bunch frozen in the freezer, and yet it just keeps coming. So I wanted something that would make use of both things. Googling recipes for green tomatoes I found that you could make enchilada sauce with them, so we went in that direction.

Enchilada Sauce

Ingredients

• Olive Oil
• Medium Onion, diced
• Garlic, minced
• Approximately 2 lbs green tomatoes, quartered
• 4 Peppers, roughly chopped (we used bull's horn peppers, because we had a lot from our box. They were mildly spicy, so this had some heat. You can use whatever combo of peppers you want.)
• Half a bunch of cilantro, destemmed
• 1.5 teaspoons Salt
• <0.25 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1.5 teaspoons cumin
• Juice of one lime
• 4 cups broth (we used veggie bouillon, since I've not yet made broth this year. You can use chicken, as well)

Steps

1. Put all ingredients from tomatoes to lime juice in a blender and puree. This may take multiple batches.
   
   
   
   
   
2. In a medium/large stockpot, heat the olive oil and saute the garlic and onions until fragrant.
3. Add the pureed tomato mixture and chicken broth into the pot and bring to a boil. Once it's reached a boil, lower the heat. Let simmer uncovered until it's at the thickness you want. We simmered for an hour and a half, or so. Stir occasionally and give it a taste every so often. If it's too sour, you can add some sugar. We didn't, since enchilada sauce tends to a be on the tart side. Once it's done, feel free to blend further. I used an immersion blender, because any time you get to use an immersion blender it's a good day. You can also put in in the regular blender, but you have to be careful about steam and overflow.

The finished product. Ours turned into a red sauce, even though we used green tomatoes, because the peppers were red.

Now, on to the enchiladas!

Corn, Black Bean, and Spinach Enchiladas

Ingredients

• Olive Oil
• Half an onion, diced
• Garlic, minced
• One can black beans
• 2 ears corn, shucked
• Half a bag of frozen, chopped spinach
• Cumin
• Juice from half a lime
• Corn tortillas
• Green Tomato Enchilada Sauce (see above)
• Shredded cheese (we used the Mexican cheese blend from Trader Joe's)

Steps

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.
2. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil in a large frying pan until fragrant. Add the black beans, corn, spinach, and cumin. Once cooked, add the lime juice.
3. Pour a small amount of the sauce on the bottom of a square baking dish.
4. Fill the tortillas with the filling, and then roll the tortilla. Place it seam down in the baking dish. Continue until the dish is filled.
5. Pour more enchilada sauce over the tortillas until they are covered. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.
6. Bake 15-20 minutes, until the cheese is golden brown.

The finished product! Garnish with avocado, diced tomato, and sour cream (we used low-fat Greek yogurt, since it's tangy).

Note: You will have lots of extra sauce. You can just freeze the leftovers for later. We also had some leftover filling, since our baking dish only held six enchiladas.

Chickpea of the Sea

Because of the environmental toll that meat takes on the environment (in general, but especially factory farming), I am trying to cut back on my meat consumption. Lunch has always been hardest for me, since making sandwiches is so easy. This is a pretty easy substitute for tuna, although for me it requires a bit of planning ahead. It takes a bit longer to make than tuna does, so I like to make it on Sunday night. This recipe makes 2-3 lunches, since I also pack a fruit and some yogurt.

Ingredients

• One can chickpeas
• Olive Oil
• Mayonnaise (or Vegannaise)
• Celery (I use 2 stalks)
• Mustard
• Pickles (I use 3 sandwich slices)
• Salt and Pepper

Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Place them in a bowl, add some salt and pepper, and then mash them up. I like to mash them before adding the celery for a smoother consistency. Slice up your celery and pickles to the size you want, and then add them to the mashed chickpeas. Glug in some olive oil, add mayonnaise and mustard to taste, and stir everything together. If you don't want to use mayonnaise or Vegannaise, you can just olive oil, although I haven't tried that. Serve as a sandwich, on crackers, on cucumber slices, plain...

Chia Pudding

To quote The Who Pink Floyd (oops!), "How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?" When it's a breakfast pudding made from chia seeds! Or anytime, really, I just like the quote. Chia pudding is best when you have time to let it sit overnight. I like this for summer, since it's refreshing.

Anyway, chia pudding is a weird sort of thing. I first saw it on goop, and her recipe was kind of bland. It was also chewier than I wanted it to be. So, after scouring the internet, I think I've stumbled upon the best liquid:seed ratio. I'm using slightly more than a 4:1 ratio--0.5 cups of liquid (I use unsweetened, plain almond milk) to 2 tablespoons of chia seeds. Then I add a few more splashes of liquid. This makes one serving. Just pour your liquid over the seeds (I used a leftover jam jar that I had lying around, if you're a hipster you can use a mason jar. I've also used regular bowls). Stir. This step is key. That way, all the seeds will get mixed in, and you won't have a weird clump at the bottom of your bowl/jar. You can also stir in fruit. Here, I put in strawberries, but the possibilities are endless! I definitely recommend some fruit. I also put in a sprinkling of vanilla powder. I keep forgetting to put in cinnamon, but I bet that would be tasty, too. I'm thinking of trying cocoa powder and bananas. Once it's topped and stirred (stir a lot!), put it in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning you will have a delicious breakfast!

Spaghetti Squash with Shrimp Scampi

I think I've mentioned this, but it is squash season. That's basically all you can get at the Boulder Farmer's Market at this point in the season. And while I like squash, sometimes you need to do something different with it. Enter spaghetti squash with shrimp scampi.

Ingredients
Spaghetti Squash
Shrimp (number of shrimp depends on the size)
Cherry Tomatoes, halved
Garlic
Butter/Olive oil
Lemon
Artichoke hearts (optional)
Parmesan Cheese

First, roast your spaghetti squash. Pre-heat the oven to 425-450 degrees F. Poke some holes in it with a knife and stick the whole thing in the oven on a baking sheet covered in tinfoil and let it roast for about an hour. The skin should be easy to pierce when it's done. Take it out, cut it in half, and fork out the insides so that it looks like noodles.

To make the shrimp scampi, sautee your shrimp in garlic and butter (I also added some olive oil) until they turn pink. When they're done, remove from the heat, and squeeze the juice of your lemon over the shrimp. Toss the squash and tomatoes in with the shrimp and the sauce. You can also add the artichoke hearts now, if you're using them. It's now ready to eat. Add lots of Parmesan cheese, and you have a squash dish that isn't too squash-y. We had it with a side of crusty bread, but this dish is Paleo (if you use olive oil instead of butter)/Gluten free without it.

Quick and Easy Tomato Sauce

Last Monday was Earth Day. It was also Meatless Monday. Reducing meat consumption is a great way to help combat climate change, so I try to stick to having vegetarian meals on Monday. I whipped this up in about 15 minutes. For one serving, I took the leftover canned tomatoes that I had in the freezer (about two whole tomatoes, plus some sauce) plus half of a fresh tomato and heated them in a pot with some minced garlic, a little olive oil, and some basil leaves. The tomatoes were broken down pretty well, but I decided to give them a mix with the immersion blender to make the sauce even smoother. You can serve this with basically any pasta. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese (the real kind, not the crap from Kraft), add a nice slice of crusty bread, and voila! You have a simple, easy meal that's entirely meatless and vegan if you forgo the cheese. Delicious!

A Passover Feast!

For Passover, I try and keep Kosher. As someone of Ashkenazi descent, this means no grains, no rice, no corn, no legumes, and no string beans. Given that everything these days is made with soybean oil and corn syrup, this gets difficult. Why do I do this, since I'm not technically Jewish nor am I ver religious one way or the other? I don't know; I take it as a personal challenge. Luckily, quinoa is not a grain. It is actually a grass, just like wild rice. The first night of Passover, things went really well in my quest to keep Kosher. I made a nice salmon with quinoa and broccoli, so here it is!



Start by cooking the quinoa. This can be done over the stove or in a rice cooker. I used a rice cooker, and then towards the end, I put the broccoli florets in the steamer basket. Make sure you use fresh broccoli, not the old stuff in the back of your vegetable crisper. That's what I did, and it brought the dish down. After the quinoa and broccoli were done, I mixed them together and added some red wine vinegar. Don't forget salt! I sometimes do, and this could have used it.

Now for the salmon. This was the highlight of the meal. I tried a little experiment, and made an impromptu grill on my stove. I have a tortilla warmer, which I heated over a burner and then wrapped the fish in tinfoil and put it on the warmer. You could also do this in the broiler. It should take about 15-20 min for the fish to cook through, depending. I like my salmon a little on the rare side, so I think I had it cooking about 7 min on a side.



I used tinfoil for easy clean up, but it's not necessary. First, I rubbed some olive oil into the fish, and then sprinkled it with salt and pepper. I also sliced up some onion, and sprinkled some minced garlic on, as well as some dried Italian herbs. If you have fresh herbs, those would be better. Since I had some parsley, I also tossed some springs in the package. If you have a lemon, that adds a tangy flavor to the salmon. You can get creative with what you put on the fish. Once I had it seasoned to my liking, I wrapped it up and tossed it on the "grill."

While I was waiting for the fish to cook, I assembled the quinoa and broccoli.

After this meal, my attempts at keeping Kosher became less than successful. Oh, well. There's always next year!