Chocolate chia seed pudding

I've been wanting to write about the dinner and lunch items I've been eating this week, but I am currently spooning away this concoction:

And loving every second of it!

Meet Protein Chia Seed Pudding! In the "healthy" food-blog world there has been a uprising of chia seed recipes in the past year and I have jumped on the bandwagon in the past few months. I now use chia seeds in my oatmeal every morning to really "pump up" my oats and I also use them in all of my smoothies.

If you don't know about chia seeds, here's a bit of background. They are native to Mexico and Central/South America and the name actually comes from the aboriginal, Nahuatl word meaning oily. When soaked in water they "puff up" and produce a gelatin-like coating, but ground chia seeds can be used in baking. They are high in omega-3's and fiber which is why they have become a common health food today.

But you may also remember the ever-loved Chia pet which sprouts the seeds and makes an alfalfa-type plant.

 

Now, back to the delicious pudding.

Here's what you need:

3 Tbsp chia seeds

1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder (about 16 grams)

1/2 - 3/4 cup milk (or water)

2 Tbsp cottage cheese

And any other flavors you might want, a dash of vanilla or cinnamon would be great!

Blend all the ingredients in a blender adding more liquid if necessary; I had to splash a little more in as it was blending. Then let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes so that seeds are able to "puff up" in the liquid. I waited as long as it took me to do the dishes and then I dug in!

As you can see I added some chocolate chips on top for an extra treat!

If you've never eaten chia seeds this way before, the texture might surprise you a bit, it does have a gelatin-type texture, but I think it's refreshing. Especially when you use cold liquid in the mixture, it's reminiscent of real chocolate pudding.  

Notes:

If you don't have protein powder, a mixture of cocoa powder and sweetener to taste would substitute just fine. 

I hope you enjoy the recipe and join the chia-craze!

For more chia seed pudding recipes, visit pure2raw, they have tons of puddings and other great ideas for chia seeds too!

Did you ever have a chia pet? Do you use chia seeds in food?

iHerb coupon!

I have been meaning to post for the past few days about some of the delicious things I have made and been eating! School has been pretty busy and the time I've been spending on the computer has made blogging seem more like work that fun, so hopefully in the next couple days I will be able to post a recipe or two.

I wanted to write really quickly today to tell you about iHerb.com, it's a great site to get supplements and vitamins at good prices. They have tons of other things too like chocolate and peanut butter (and who doesn't love those two things?!).

I recently placed an order and got a coupon for anyone who's making their first order on the site SIJ735. This coupon will get you $10 discount on your first iHerb order of $40 and up—or a $5 discount on your first iHerb order less than $40.

Sounds pretty sweet right?! Hope you take advantage of the great deal and stock up on some vitamins and goodies! :)

Thanks for reading!

Chicken muffins and workouts

This week, the workout plan has changed from just lifting and cardio to adding in more supersets (two exercises back to back) and circuits (more than 2 in a row), sprint intervals and active rest. It's pretty much the "cut cycle" of the plan and I'm so excited that it's underway!
It always feels so good to start workouts that are meant to make you powerful but lean! Some of the combos are really killer too: leg press + jump squats = serious leg burn!
And the weather has been so nice here that running outside is enjoyable again! No more hacking and coughing with a mucus-lined throat because of bitter cold air...that's gross and I'll be happy when spring really arrives, so I don't have to worry about it again for 6 months.

On another note, I'm a big fan of packing my lunch, not only because it's cheaper, but much healthier than any options at my school...unlike big universities, we don't have five different cafeterias with multiple cafés and restaurants to choose from.
One of my favorite things to pack for lunch are chicken muffins! I know that you're thinking that sounds gross, but it's really just chicken meatloaf made in a muffin tin for easily packed, already portioned chicken!
I made another batch yesterday and they were a big hit with the boyfriend, I was worried he was going to eat them all! He especially liked them with hot sauce "frosting" as he liked to call it.

I'm going to copy and paste the recipe from here, Jamie Eason is not only one of my fitness model idols, she's also a genius!

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs ground chicken
• 3 egg whites
• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp dry yellow mustard
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp chipotle pepper spice
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp garlic powder (2 cloves minced)
• 1 small onion (finely chopped)
• 2 celery stalks (finely chopped)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Spray muffin pan with canola or olive oil.
3. Mix all your ingredients together in one large bowl.
4. Roll the mixture into balls and place in muffin pan. Muffins should be about the size of a racquetball.
5. Bake for 40 minutes.
Makes 12 muffins. Serving Size: Women: 2 muffins Men: 4 muffins
 

The only thing I changed this time was that I didn't have celery, so I just omitted it. It's more for moisture than flavor, so I used a little more onion. Also, while I was on break, my mom gave me some smoked paprika and I added 1/2 tsp of that. She warned me that it was really strong and kinda spicy, but I unfortunately added too little this time and its flavor is not very noticeable, I would recommend at least a full teaspoon next time.

If you try the "muffins" I hope you like them! I think they make a perfect protein source for almost any meal on the go!

 Look at those cute little chicky muffins :)

Be Flavorful!
Roni

Teriyaki Chicken after a long break

It seems that mid-terms and Spring break have made for a long hiatus from blogging...whoops! One would think that over break I would have done more blogging, but that just wasn't the case. I didn't even cook very much because all of my family and friends wanted to go out to eat with me. I'm not really complaining, but I ate a little more pizza than I should have :)

Anyway, this week is my boyfriend's Spring break and he came back down to Durango with me. Last night we made a great dinner: teriyaki chicken, stir fry veggies and baked spinach hummus!

*Sorry for the poor quality of all my photos, our apartment seriously lacks natural light!*

The recipe for the hummus came from here and it was so wonderful! Westin and I really enjoyed it both last night and this afternoon for lunch. As for the chicken, it's a super easy recipe and it makes the chicken so tender and juicy!

Here's what you need:
Clean Teriyaki Chicken

1lb chicken breast (I used 1lb tenders)
Marinade:
2Tbsp each low sodium Teriyaki sauce and Agave
1Tbsp EVOO
1tsp garlic powder
1Tbsp Sriracha hot sauce (optional)
1/2 C chicken broth

Combine all marinade ingredients in a 9x9 baking dish, add the chicken. Let it marinade in the fridge for at least 2 hours, but no longer than a day.
After the chicken has been marinading, preheat oven to 375 F and bake chicken for 25 mins.

That's it! Super fast and easy! Great to pair with brown rice and veggies. Yesterday, I sauteed 1/2 an onion with some frozen peas and green beans. The marinade for the chicken is a great drizzled on the rice and veggies! After it's been cooked of course, to get rid of any bacteria.

Over all it was a great dinner with lots of flavor, we paired the hummus with some pita chips.

Which, by the way, are super addicting! Beware!

Here's the hummus fresh out of the oven...

And here is it the next day...
We devoured it and loved every second of it!!

Enjoy!
Roni