Chia Pudding Delish!

Eric and I have been eating a new favorite for breakfast, Chia Seed Pudding.  I really love it and it is packed with awesomeness.  Just 2Tbsp has 10g of fiber.  That's awesome!  It also means, I don't recommend too many of these puddings in one day, unless you REALLY need to get things moving.

This is a low carb breakfast or snack recipe that I look forward to every morning.  I may think about it while going to bed at night, but I love food A LOT so that makes sense.

I'll give you my recipe and then I'm providing a link at the bottom to the website where I got my recipe beginnings.

Here are the ingredients.  Chia seeds are pricey but they last a really long time because of how little you use.  I keep them in the freezer.  They soak up moisture and become tiny little balls of power.  I use Swerve, but other sweeteners can be used.  The original recipe called for honey because it was a Paleo recipe, but my blood sugar numbers aren't where I'd like them, so I chose a sugar replacement.  Eric on the other hand has UNWAVERING blood sugar, he annoys me so much.  He likes to put maple sugar in his pudding WITH the Swerve.  It makes it super sweet.  He knows I'm not adding it into his pudding if I'm the one making it.  

You'll also need, pure vanilla extract, cinnamon, almond milk (I'll go into that more later), and a jar with a lid.  I like to add chopped pecans with it, but it is optional.

2 Tbsp of chia seeds go into the jar.

I use my small blender for this next part, but you can skip the blender and just put all of it in with the chia seeds first.  I think the blender helps disperse the cinnamon better.

In the blender, I add 1/2 c of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1/4 tsp of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp of vanilla, and 1/2 tsp of Swerve.  I then let it blend for about 10 seconds.  

The next part is important, so pay closer attention.  Have a fork ready.  Pour the liquid in with the seeds.  Start stirring with that fork.  You want to keep the seeds from joining together and forming a clump of seeds.  Now stop stirring, wait three seconds and start stirring again.  Repeat this a couple more times.  I usually take a spoon and slide it down the side of the jar to push any wayward seeds down into the liquid at this point.  Then put on the lid and pop it into the fridge.  I make these at night right before bed.  They get all thick and puddingly while we are sleeping.  

Here they are just resting in the fridge.  I definitely prefer the smaller jelly jars to the 16 oz jar.  It just looks like I'm eating more so it tricks me into feeling like I've eaten a bigger breakfast.

Here is my pudding from this morning.  I like to add chopped nuts.  They are low carb because the majority is fiber carbs which are digested and do not affect blood sugar.  Now the package says 1/4 cup is 4g of carbs (3 from fiber).  I probably use half of that.  You can use other toppings as well, like, berries, almond butter, or add a little shredded unsweetened coconut.  You can decide.  It all depends on how many carbs you want to consume.

Doesn't it look sooooo yummy!  

So you may have noticed the two types of almond milk in my ingredients picture.  If you didn't, then shame on you.  STUDY THOSE PICTURES!  While shopping for almond milk for our pudding, Eric found an almond milk with blended banana already in it.  It is delicious, but will up the carb count.  The unsweetened vanilla almond milk has <1g of carbs for 1/2 c.  The banana almond milk has 7g for 

1/2 c.  You have to decide.  When I am craving some banana nut bread, I will use the banana milk and call it banana nut pudding.  It is DELICIOUS! 

I wanted to include the nutrition facts for the chia seeds.  

They are a good source of protein, calcium, and iron. 

 I add them to smoothies too. 

Vanilla Chia Pudding or Banana Nut Chia Pudding

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

INGREDIENTS

- 2 Tbsp chia seeds

- 1/2 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk or banana almond milk

- 1/2 tsp Swerve

- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

- 1/4 tsp cinnamon

TOPPINGS

- pecans

- almonds

- berries

- shredded unsweetened coconut

- almond butter

INSTRUCTIONS

1.  Add chia seeds to a glass jar (with a lid).

2.  In a separate container or blender add all the other ingredients and stir or blend for 15-30 seconds.

3.  Stir with a fork vigorously for five seconds.  Stop for three seconds and then stir vigorously again. Do this a couple more times.

4.  Put the lid on top and place in the refrigerator overnight.

5.  Right before eating, put on your desired toppings.

Enjoy!

I found my recipe start here.

Planning That Perfect Party Six Months From Now

I was tidying up in our upstairs bonus room and found that a sweet little five year old got into my card stash.  She has already started making her birthday invitations.  I believe she has already made 7 of them, all on get well cards.

I need advice.  Her birthday is near the end of summer.  She wants to invite her class this year.  She talks about it nonstop.  She has enjoyed many birthday celebrations during class this year and gone to a classmate's birthday party.  How do you suggest I go about doing this?  Maybe a save the date post card to send out in late May.  I really don't think I will have access to phone numbers, so I wouldn't be able to send out reminders.  Maybe I can put a note at the bottom of the postcard for the parents to text me some contact info so I can send them an invitation?  HELP!!!!

Easy Picture Frame

I wanted something Christmasy to sit on our little stool next to our porch swing.  I found some scrap wood and cut it to size.  I wanted it simple.  I love how it turned out.  Then I had an extra piece.  I did the same thing, but Eric cut a groove so I could add a piece of metal to it.  I decorated it with vinyl snowflakes and then made some magnets using ornaments and scrapbooking stickers.  It turned out cute.  I gave it to my sister.  

Mini Gingerbread Village

We made a gingerbread village again this year.  They are mini sized homes, so they are easier and all fit on my cake plate.  I displayed them until after the new year, so it was definitely a win.  

A Little Vintage Redo

I can't just do the easy and buy new things.  I like to torture Eric.

I found this vintage record player table on FB mark*tplace and decided to grab it for $20.  I should have asked for less based on the amount of sanding I had to do.  I should have done more of it too.

As you can see from the picture, the middle metal divider was missing.  Eric cut a piece to fit in  that spot and I painted it.  Funny thing is, I painted it with a turquoise spray paint I had on hand and completely forgot that Emogene's record player was turquoise.  I got very lucky and the colors were about a perfect match.  Emogene loved it!

What do you think?

Have you gotten back into listening to vinyl records?

Christmas 2019

We had a great Christmas.   Here are a few pics into our month of December.

Farming and Farming

 We've been working the farm.  Slow and steady wins the race, right?

Our flocks having started producing.  Eric and I are so proud of them.  We have been eating eggs like crazy and sharing some eggs with others.

 

The colors are beautiful!

This one is oddly shaped.  It looks like Mr. Potato Head.

Our ducks started laying on Christmas Eve.  We woke up to this WHOPPER this morning.  

We are expecting more than one yolk inside that sucker.

Our shallots were ready to harvest.  We've been using them in pretty much every dish we cook.

By the way, the sausage in the pic is amazing.  We buy it at Costco.  It is GF, sugar free, and very few ingredients.  I eat it almost every day.  So yummy! 

Here is the brand.

We were able to eat one of our cabbages for New Years Day.

It was delicious and the perfect size for us since the kids would only do one bite for tradition.  Eric and I had enough for leftovers.

The turnips have obviously been ready.  We have enjoyed the greens on top and turnips too.

The greens are soooo good.  We have turnip and mustard.  

The other veggie side has carrots, onion, and turnips in it.  

This little dog took refuge on our porch during an early morning storm.  

Kimber had been missing for days and we were so glad to reunite her with her family. 

The ducks finally found the pond today.  We give them access to a pool so they didn't search out the pond, I guess.  They don't venture too far from their yard and house, so it took them months to notice we had a pond available.  They still returned to their house and yard near nightfall.  We lock them up every night.  I hope this continues.  I call them by saying "chuck, chuck, chuck" and offer a treat when I do it.  They usually stop what they are doing and come towards me when they hear me call.  I want to continue getting eggs from them, so locking them up and night is important.

The farm life is so enjoyable!  Eric was born to wear overalls and get his hands in the dirt.  I love watching him in the garden and doing farm chores.  We hope to be able to sell some duck and chicken eggs in the future and our next big adventure is goats.  We are saving up for fencing.  

Charcuterie Craze!

My best friend Lesli invited me to a cheese and meat tray creating party.  

I really love creating things so she knew I would love it.

I did!  I've only done two because they are extremely pricey to create when you have none of the pretty and yummy things to put on them.

This is my very first creation.  It was so delicious.  I'm known to make myself mini-charcuterie boards for my dinner.  It's great to munch on while watching a Hallmark movie.

This was my second one.  We brought it to our family Christmas.  We all devoured it.

Surprisingly, wrapping it tightly in plastic wrap kept everything in its place.  

I poured the dip after we arrived.

Have you joined the charcuterie craze?