Cha-Cha-Cha Chia

Can we all sing along in our heads to the Cha-Cha-Cha Chia Pet song from the commercial that usually is only aired at like 2:43 a.m. on really lame cable channels? While showing pictures of a small, green, sprouting alfalfa pig-meets-groundhog type creature? Ok now that we got that vibe goin’, let’s talk about Chia Seeds.

As you may recall, I recently jumped on the Dulse Flake bandwagon. Oh, but wait, there’s another bandwagon hotter than a Bikram studio for me to jump on. Chia Seeds, and actually Chia Pudding to be exact.

It seems all the cool kids are doing it. Kristin’s got her Holiday Chia Pudding recipe.

And, then Angela just posted this lovely Repair & Recover Recipe. Really, chia seeds can repair me? Or help me recover? Clearly she doesn’t know what my days are like. I fear it’s gonna take a smidge more than seeds to repair and recover from daily life with a two year old, but sure, we’ll start with the seeds.

Elise just posted about sprinkling seeds on her salad. One factoid that I didn’t know was that unlike flax which needs to be ground for you to receive full benefit, the chia seeds don’t. How cool. What a time saver. Who wants to clean seed particles out of your fave coffee grinder or Vita-Mix, anyway?

And, how could I forget HEABs, homegirl loves her chia seeds. Just check out her Chia Seed blog tag. She puts seeds in everything from oat bran to rhubard smoothies. Now that’s bang for your seedy buck.

So without further ado, let’s talk about what I did. I mean if all the other kids jumped off the bridge, would you? Yeah, actually maybe I would…

Anyway…

*I started with 2 Tbsp chia seeds
*Added 1/2 c lowfat vanilla almond milk (TJs find, Pacific brand)
*1/4 c water
* Stirred

Then I added
*Dash of Vanilla
*1/2 Tbsp Agave
*Pinch Stevia
*Pinch Cinnamon
*Stirred some more

I let the bowl sit on counter for 15 min, stirred a few times. Compuslive stirrring goin’ on. Clearly not necessary, but I’m Type A, what can I say.

Then refrigerated for about a half hour. Didn’t think it was really thick enough, so I added another 1 Tbsp of seeds.

After about 6 hours in the fridge, I had a solid chia mass. Not so solid that it was too thick or anything, but it was definitely dense. Probably could have done without that panicked 1 more Tbsp addition. There was my Type A compulsiveness rearing it’s ugly head again.

Flavor was spot on, just the density was maybe a little too thick. Stick with the recipe folks, 2 Tbsp seeds to the 3/4 c liquid. I’m trying that again later today and will report back.

Chia Porn

After it was all said and done, Scott thought (oh by the way…this creation is largely for him, sort of like an ice cream substitute) he’d like it even better in the freezer. So after 45 mins in the freezer, it was like a cold rock, but he loved it. And the huge mound of Cool Whip on top didn’t hurt either.

I would definitely give Chia Seeds and Chia Pudding Two Thumbs Up! This is a bandwagon I’m really glad I jumped on. Easy, healthy, and there’s something fun about watching the seeds swell and balloon up. Kinda like my fingers do if I eat anything remotely close to sodium.

Moving right along…

I didn’t subsist solely on chia, I hit replay on dinner from the previous night’s raw feast. Well, almost. Lots of you wrote in a bit incredulous that I actually ate raw B.S. Probably not something I plan to repeat, but hey, I survived, despite giving my jaw a good workout.

This time I lightly steamed the B.S. and the Yellow Squash. Also appearing as supporting actors were Red Pepper and Zucchini.

Next Up, the Sun Warrior Brown Rice Protein Powder (BRPP) that I bought that just arrived. I know some of you feel that juicing your greens, eating your nuts and seeds, and nut butters is enough. But for my body, I feel depleted and weak without some added protein. I only do one scoop per day (kinda like crack, just one hit per day…kidding!) and it definitely helps me feel stronger and more in-balance, so I go with it.
Nutrition Info for all you Nosey Bodies

Here’s what one scoop of Sun Warrior Chocolate looked like in my shaker cup in 4 oz of water. Note that I used Jay’s scooper, not the Sun Warrior scooper. It’s probably buried deep in the can and I didn’t feel like digging through a vat of dust in search of it.
And for comparison’s sake, here’s what one scoop of Jay’s Vanilla BRPP and 4 oz of water looks like.
The Verdict: I really like the Sun Warrior Chocolate BRPP!

It’s hard to compare Jay’s Vanilla and Sun Warrior Chocolate because the flavors are so different, vanilla vs. chocolate.

I think that Jay has a much more distinct stevia taste that I did not notice with Sun Warrior. So if you are not into stevia, I would say Sun Warrior is your friend. However, I never thought I was into stevia either, and I actually like it now, weird, huh.

The Sun Warrior Chocolate is sort of dark chocolatey to me…definitely not overly sweet, which was nice. I could always make it sweeter with a dash of my own stevia.

I will say that I don’t think the Sun Warrior mixed up quite as quickly as Jay, it took me maybe another 15 seconds in the shaker cup, but not a biggie. But we’ll see how that goes tomorrow.

Enough about protein, let’s talk yoga! Continuing on with the backbending I was doing in yesterday’s yoga, here’s me in Reclining (supta) Hero (virasana) pose.

Here’s my Tip of the Day: For all you runners out there, please try to stretch your quads, hammies, and calves after running, especially if you do hills. Running tightens up your legs, it shortens all the muscles. Yoga asansas like this one elongate and lengthen your muscles, which means happy legs, and less running injuries! Even if you can’t recline all the way, use pillows, blankets, just get yourself into some kind of deeper stretch. Oh, and the more you hate a pose, the more you probably need it, so keep practicing. And to answer one reader’s comment/question, Does yoga get easier? Resoundingly, yes, it does, stick with it!

And of course, as I mentioned yesteday, after any kind of backbending, do a counter pose, like child’s pose (balasana) or here’s me in a seated forward bend. Extra credit if you can contract your quads while stretching and leaning forward. Extra, extra credit if you can flex your feet, too.

So I wanna know…What was something that you used to hate, not just regarding working out, but that you’ve totally come around on, and now you love it? Even couldn’t live without it?? Do Tell!

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s chocolatey adventures…

:)
Averie