Tag Archives: chia

  1. Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Butter Cups

    Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Butter Cups

    Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Butter Cups

    Happy Fall Equinox!! It’s here, my most favorite time of the year. So much change is in the air right now as we are moving from the busy, summer months of being outside and going non-stop, into the cooler, slower months of comfort and cozy. Staying in, watching movies, cuddling up with a hot mug of homemade soup and of course, pumpkin spice everything!

    Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Butter Cups Read the rest of this entry »

  2. Pineapple Coconut Energy Bars

    Pineapple Coconut Energy Bars

    It’s quite fitting that my fifth and final recipe for this series of healthy travel snacks, I created with Albertsons, is being written from around 37,000 feet in the air. I am flying from California to the East Coast where I will be spending a total of 10 days between Maine and New York. As usual, I have a large selection of healthy snacks packed away for my travels. While I find when flying I have to be a bit more selective with my snack choices, homemade energy bars are always a must. They are super travel-friendly and so simple to whip up the night before my trips.

    Pineapple Coconut Energy Bars

    Pineapple Coconut Energy Bars

    By now I am sure you’ve caught my tutorial on how-to make your own homemade energy bars, but if you haven’t get to it. It’s the perfect formula to create the perfect bars for your favorite flavors. These bars were one of the few that I have made more than a few times and inspired the ideas of the adaptable tutorial.

    These tropical-inspired bars are a great, healthy snack for bringing along on your vacation, but they are also a wonderful way to bring the vacation to you at home. Coconut and pineapple always summons the tropics. Think fancy frozen drinks with umbrellas on the beach.

    These particular energy bars are made nut-free, but you can certainly add nuts to fill them out a bit more, if you prefer. Almonds, walnuts, pecans – these are all great options.

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  3. Chocolate Chia Seed Superfood Pudding – Gluten-free and Vegan

    Chocolate Chia Seed Superfood Pudding - Gluten-free and Vegan

    Does anyone else find that they crave chocolate more than ever in February? With all the Valentine’s Day recipes in blogs and magazines and all the treats in stores, I feel like I see the stuff everywhere! Of course, a good quality chocolate treat isn’t bad for you, in moderation, but why not a chocolate treat that actually has tons of additional, wonderful health benefits, even?

    Chocolate Chia Seed Superfood Pudding - Gluten-free and Vegan

    Today as part of my ongoing Restricted Diet series with Free People, I am sharing a super simple to make, raw Chocolate Chia Seed Superfood Pudding that will knock your socks off. The best part about this pudding, besides it being chocolate, is that you can really make it you own. Select your favorite toppings, add some cinnamon or cayenne for a little heat, whip up some coconut cream for topping, the possibilities are endless.

    Chocolate Chia Seed Superfood Pudding - Gluten-free and Vegan
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  4. I’m Back!! Overnight Chai Oatmeal – Gluten-free, Vegan + Sugar-free

    Feet on the dashboard, loving life.

    I am finally back guys and I have never been happier to be home and sitting at my desk! We actually got home on Friday but it has taken a few days for us to get through mountains of mail, email, orders, voicemails and well, just life! I hope you enjoyed all the lovely guest bloggers that were kind enough to post here on Tasty Yummies while I was away. It was so fun for me!

    Our Booth at Flatstock 33 at SXSW in Austin, Texas

    Our Booth at Flatstock 33 at SXSW in Austin, Texas

    Us at our Booth at Flatstock 33 at SXSW in Austin, Texas

    Our road trip to SXSW was so wonderful, overall one of the best we have ever taken. It had a few bumps along the way, but it is always so nice to be on the open road with the person I love more than anything, to see our friends from all over the world, meeting and chatting with customers and clients new and old! Plus the insanely warm weather, delicious food and rowdy nights don’t hurt either. This yearly trip is by far one of my favorites. This year’s 4-day Rock Poster Convention, Flatstock, was our most successful one yet. All of our hard work in preparing our booth and products felt like it really paid off. Oh and in addition to all the awesome work goodness, we even got to attend a private party at Willie Nelson’s ranch with a client.

    Hotel room yoga. Sirsha-asana.

    In between all of the work and hangouts I was able to sneak in some yoga where I could either in hotel rooms or at a great little studio I found around the corner from our hotel in Austin, and we were able to stay on track with our eating both by enjoying all of the foods I made for us and a couple of trips to the Whole Foods flagship store. All in all a really great trip!

    Celebrating Life

    Unfortunately, on the way home from Austin, as we were making our way back to Louisville to spend time with my husband Mark’s family for a night before the last leg of the trip home to Buffalo, we got a phone call when we were just 5 hours away that his Grandmother, “Momo” had passed. We all knew this day was coming and although it was a sad one and she will be deeply missed, everyone was happy that she was no longer suffering. Mark and I were lucky enough to have stopped by the hospital on our way down to Austin, and we spent a few hours with her. She knew we were there and was able to speak with us, so we both feel insanely blessed for those precious moments. Thankfully we were able to extend our trip by a few days to attend the funeral, be with family and celebrate the life of one of the most amazing women I have ever met. It’s funny how life works.

    Reunited with my Seri!!

    So after two weeks on the road with many emotional ups and downs, when we pulled onto our street all I could think about was cuddling with my pets, who I missed dearly, getting back to my daily yoga practice, juicing, cooking in my kitchen, sleeping in my own bed and of course, all the amazing client projects we have lined up for the coming months. Even though I am doing a simple and quick cleanse this week to get my body back to feeling like itself after all of the traveling, I plan to finally have some recipes for you this week and next.

    What is your favorite part of coming home after a long trip?

    Overnight Chai Oatmeal - Gluten-free, Vegan + Sugar-free

    This first recipe is something I thought up on one of our long stretches of driving when I was thinking of all the mornings I get home from yoga and I want to get right to my desk and get to working. Many times I will just grab a homemade bar of some sort or make some juice or a quick smoothie. I wanted to come up with another simple breakfast like my overnight cinnamon raisin chia pudding or my banana cream chia pudding (which can also be made overnight). I have seen many versions of overnight oats made in a similar way so I thought up this fun version. Overnight Chai Oatmeal.

    This tasty breakfast treat can easily be put together the night before, popped into an airtight glass mason jar or a covered bowl and left to soak. By the time morning rolls around you will have a delicious breakfast that can be served chilled or warm. You can have fun with your toppings, adding dried fruit or nuts or maybe even some shredded coconut. I just added a small handful of raisins.

    Play around with this spices and get it to your liking. I like my chai spicy, as I am sure you recall from my chai concentrate recipe. I add in a pinch of black pepper, but you can leave that out. Have fun with it and make it your own.

    Much like the chia puddings I make, I cannot wait to make this again and play with different flavor combinations. Imagine sinful chocolate peanut butter overnight oats. Mmmm…

    Have you ever made overnight oatmeal or chia pudding? What is your favorite flavor combo?

    NuNaturals

    When I arrived home from our trip, I came in to a large box of goodies from NuNaturals. They asked me to give their products a try, see what I think of them, develop some recipes with them, etc. I haven’t really done much official research and reading on stevia products yet, but I have been meaning to try them for sometime, as many bloggers who I follow love to cook and bake with it, so I am excited to get to experimenting with all of this. Look for more recipes in the coming weeks using NuNaturals products. I decided to use the Pure Liquid Clear Stevia for this overnight oatmeal, feel free to use whatever your favorite sweetener is, just add it to taste when mixing or when serving.

    Overnight Chai Oatmeal - Gluten-free, Vegan + Sugar-free

     

    [print_this]Overnight Chai Oatmeal – Gluten-free, Vegan + Sugar-free
    serves 2

    • 1 cup gluten-free rolled oats (not quick cooking) – make sure they are certified gluten-free
    • 2 tablespoons chia seeds
    • 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (you can also use soy, hemp, flax-seed milk, oat milk, whatever your favorite is)
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 5-10 drops of liquid stevia (or to taste of whatever sweetener you wish, maple syrup or coconut sugar would be great)
    • 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
    • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
    • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
    • 1/4 teaspoon ground anise
    • a pinch of ground black pepper
    • a pinch of ground cloves

    Mix together all of the above ingredients in a glass jar or a bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight. Serve the oatmeal chilled or slightly warmed up. Top with a dash of cinnamon, some raisins or whatever other toppings you wish.

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  5. Banana Cream Chia Pudding (gluten-free, vegan, refined sugar-free)

    Banana Cream Chia Pudding (gluten-free, vegan, sugar-free)

    This creamy and delicious pudding turned out way better than I ever dreamt it could, I love when that happens. This was another one of those kitchen creations that had me doing the “yum yum dance”. You know exactly what I am talking about, you take a bite before you even sit down, and with the spoon or fork still in your mouth, your hips and butt start swaying and without thinking, you start some version of a song where the only lyrics are “yum”, “mmmmm” and/or “ooooh”. I swear this is something we are born with, I have seen babies under a year do this dance. It’s the best!

    I have been working on a recipe for a healthy gluten-free and vegan banana coconut cream pie and I had to take a detour when I thought of this tasty breakfast treat. Fear not though, the pie recipe is still in the works and I cannot wait to play around with it.

    Banana Cream Chia Pudding (gluten-free, vegan, sugar-free)

    I had a serving of this for an after-yoga breakfast treat this morning and it kept me full for many hours, I love that. This perfectly and naturally sweetened pudding would also be great for a dessert or mid-day snack when you are craving something a little sweet. It’s amazing how wonderfully sweet this is without adding any sugar or sweetener besides the dates. I love that! The creaminess from the coconut milk, almond milk and bananas are all so amazing that most people wouldn’t believe there isn’t any dairy in this. It’s treats like this that keeps me from being intimidated about removing dairy from my diet. I would never miss dairy if I had this pudding once or twice a week.

    Banana Cream Chia Pudding (gluten-free, vegan, sugar-free)

    This week has been a bit crazy and stressful and it’s only Thursday. Hubby had to take a quick and unexpected flight home to Kentucky to be with his Grandmother who is very ill. We have been working many evenings, so we’ve been eating a lot of quick dinners and we’ve been eating up leftovers, so I am starting to get that urge to cook and bake since it’s been a couple of days. We have a weekend full of work ahead of us, but I need to find time to attempt this banana coconut cream pie that I have created in my head. After making this pudding I am starting to think that ground-up chia seeds may be the perfect ingredient to make my pie filling thick and luscious. Hmmm… I can’t wait to get to experimenting.

    How has your week been going? Have you had time to make meals this week? Do you have any cooking and baking plans for the weekend?

    Banana Cream Chia Pudding (gluten-free, vegan, sugar-free)

    [print_this]Banana Cream Chia Pudding (gluten-free, vegan, sugar-free)
    serves 2-4 – makes approximately 3 cups

    1 cup lite coconut milk (the canned kind)
    1 cup unsweetened almond milk
    2 bananas
    2 teaspoons vanilla
    3 medjool dates, pits removed
    2 tablespoons chia seeds

    Puree everything but the chia seeds in a blender until smooth, combined and thick. You may see a few little bits of the dates still, it’s OK. Pour the mixture into a glass bowl or a mason jar, stir in the chia seeds. Make sure to stir well to combine. Cover the bowl or put the lid on the jar. Keep in the refrigerator overnight or for at least 4 hours.
    Spoon or pour into bowls, top with fresh banana slices or banana chips, if you wish. Serve.

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