Puddin' Love

Pudding for Breakfast?

Between runs and work I've been 'uncooking' up a storm! It's harder to eat just veggies/fruit here, as I've said before; so I rely on more dehydrated foods to fill up with goodies. Sundays in particular the kitchen gets trashed! Today I made raw granola, raw 'bread,' flax crackers and a double batch of almond milk.. oh yeah.. and CHIA PUDDING! Mmmmm. I made the pudding this morning as my pre-run fuel. I made a LOT of it! I'm about to finish it off. Yum. I was telling my Aunt about the many wonderful things you can make with Chia and they are all waiting for recipes. As a kid I used to LOVE Tapioca pudding (any pudding except chocolate really) out of the J.E.L.L.O. Box. Last year for a potluck we made REAL Tapioca pudding, it was indian style, and wow, it was amazing. Chia is similar to tapioca. The farther in advance you make it, the more puddin'gy it gets.

Yer Tis:
1 Cup Almond Milk (I make mine unsweetened)
2 Heaping Tbs Chia
1/8 tsp-1/4 tsp pure Vanilla Extract
1 Cup full of whatever goodies you want.. berries, buckwheat groats, granola, shredded coconut etc.)
Stevia or whatever to taste...

Ok, the first one I made is my usual vanilla pudding.

So stir Chia into the milk with a fork. Be sure to stir after 10 minutes or so to avoid clumps.. then just let it sit and do it's thing! Each Chia seed will gel up. Stir again, place in the fridge. Once chilled, add your favorite toppings and enjoy! I stirred in a tiny bit of dried Stevia.

If you have a thing for Banana's, add 1/8 cup more milk, and 1/2 a ripe banana, maybe an extra splash of vanilla and maple syrup and you've got naner pudding.

If you like Chocolate, reduce the vanilla a bit, add 1/2 tsp of Carob, Cocao or Cocoa powder.. sprinkle in chips and enjoy! May want to sweeten this one.

Variation: I stirred in some raspberry chunks really well and added more coconut. SO good and with lots of fruit you don't need any sweetener.

Looks like a Peppermint Frosty Martini doesn't it!?

Spring Cabbage Slaw

Picnic Anastasia Island

While I was in Florida, I indulged in fresh produce allll day long. Florida Bananas, Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Blueberries, Strawberries, Peaches, Tangerines, Grapefruit, Kale, Squash, etc. etc. Oh my gosh, the list goes on. I ate SO much fruit. It was heaven. I browsed the Farmer's market listening to live music for well over an hour shopping.

This tangerine tree to the left is at my Aunt's house. I even brought some grapefruits from her trees home with me. MMMmm.  Well, now I'm back in Alaska and produce is a little harder to get. Much less LOCAL produce. So, my diet comes back to a lot of root veggies and greens. Which is great, yes. But I do miss the fresh fruits in a bad way. All of our berries are frozen, our bananas are the conventional gassed kind, and watermelon.. basically doesn't exist. We do get a lot of produce from Washington (Full Circle Farms) and California. We can get greens from the neighboring farm (or from our own once they are ready). This area is definitely bountiful in berries during summer. Looking forward to that! It was much easier to keep a raw food diet in Florida though. Now I'm eating sprouted grain tortilla's and eggs again (loaded with raw veggies) when I'm feeling slack. I definitely rely on more dehydrated raw foods here. I definitely feel the difference in my energy. I ate 5 various citrus fruits alone yesterday. Which are $2.77 lb here. So, that was rather indulgent. It's so much more expensive to eat produce here. :(
Last night I made a delicious Red Cabbage Slaw. I generally avoid all sugar not found in fruits/dates etc. But I did use a bit of Agave in this. I found some very interesting (and disheartening) info on Agave and how your body metabolizes it similar to HFCS. Who knows. For now, until I have time to research it more, I'm cutting it out.

Delicious and Beautiful!

Spring Cabbage Slaw
1/2 Red Cabbage sliced into thin shred
1 Carrot Shred
1/8 cup Raisins (soaked)
1 Leaf Kale Shred
1/4 cup Cubed Cucumber

Dressing:
2 Tbs Red Wine Vinegar (or ACV)
1 Drizzle of Olive Oil (or sesame if your feeling like asian slaw)
2 Tbs Onion Chopped
1 Clove Garlic
1/4 Tsp Celery Seed or Salt
3-4 Cranks of Ground Blk Pepper
1/8 Tsp of salt (or more to taste)
1 squirt of Agave Nectar (could use honey)

Process all dressing ingredients until onion is tiny.

Mix all veggies in a bowl, add dressing, stir. Let sit for 10 minutes at least in fridge. Enjoy!