Sometime last year my sister introduced me to chia seeds, which have now become a staple in my house. I can almost never find them in regular grocery stores as they are always either sold out or not carried. So primarily I buy them in bulk online.

To me, Chia seeds don’t really have a taste, and I typically don’t even notice them in my food at all, & they are so small you can mix them into almost any meal you make.

Chia seeds are primarily beneficial for their high fiber content, and they are high in omega 3’s. The body is also able to digest them whole vs flax seeds which have to be ground up before eaten in order to obtain the majority of their nutritional benefits. nutritional benefits of chia seeds.

Chia granola bars

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup old fashion granola

3 tablespoons chia seeds

½ cup butter divided

¼ cup honey

About 1/8 cup brown sugar

½ cup to ¾ cup raisins

I start by mixing the peanut butter, honey and chia seeds and then I add the granola and about ¼ cup of butter. Mix well.

Take a little bit of the butter to grease your pan and sprinkle about half of your brown sugar along the bottom of your pan. This does not have to be even.

Next press your granola mixture firmly into the pan. In a lot of granola bar recipes they call for your pan to be lined with parchment paper this will help you to lift the bars out of the pan. Sometimes I do this sometimes I don’t. It’s definitely not something you have to do and if you want you can also use foil.

Cook your granola bars for about 12- 15 minutes at 350 degrees remove and let cool. If you are looking for a vegan alternative feel free to substitute out the butter and honey, but keep in mind this helps keep everything together in bar form later on so you may want to increase your peanut butter just a little.

While I am not a vegan ( practicing Pescatarian for 17 years) I typically only eat seafood about twice a month and try to limit my dairy as I have a sensitivity to it. While begin a vegetarian or vegan is a lot easier today than it used to be , you would be surprised at how uninformed people are. I have told people in the past that I couldn’t eat dairy prior to going over to their house for a meal only to have them serve me cheese tortellini and shrimp that was made with butter. This is hugely awkward; people really take it personally when you won’t eat their food. Because of this I prefer to live a more lax lifestyle.

Despite my sensitivity to dairy, I still love it , especially yogurt and cheese.

Eggplant ( from the garden ) Lasagna serves 8

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 cup plus ¼ cup mozzarella cheese

3 tbs chia seeds

1 jar marinara sauce

Eggplant – thinly sliced ( the thinner you slice the eggplant the better this will work also make sure you don’t use a piece that has a lot of skin on it as it will not cook properly)I also like to add in more vegetables so I include white onions, sweet peppers and portabella mushrooms

Fresh basil and oregano ( I used box wood and purple basil from my garden)

Any additional seasoning that you like, I’ve used complete season and Greek seasoning on occasion

( Disclaimer ) If you ever wonder why I don’t use Rosemary in ANYTHING it’s because I have an aversion to it, in the past I have eaten rosemary dishes that have made me sick and I just can’t stomach rosemary at all. Sorry

Directions

Mix together the ricotta, mozzarella and chia seeds.

First you will want to grease you pan and set aside. (When cooking Italian dishes, I prefer olive oil. I am an oil whore I probably have close to 10 different kinds of oil in my house. )

Put about 1/8 the jar of marinara at the bottom of your pan followed with your first layer of eggplant and vegetables cover with a layer of your cheese mixture and top that with about 1/3 your jar of marinara and some of your basil. I prefer to do thick cheese layers vs lots of thin layers .

Continue to do this until you reach the top of your pan and the end of your ingredients and dump the remain marinara all over the top

sprinkle the rest of your basil and ¼ cup of mozzarella

cover and bake at 375 degrees until it boils.

Nutrition Facts Serving Size 284 g Amount Per Serving Calories 269 138 Calories from Fat % Daily Value* 15.3g Total Fat 24% 4.1g Saturated Fat 20% Trans Fat 0.0g Fat 16mg Cholesterol 5% 358mg Sodium 15% 21.7g Total Carbohydrates 7% 8.9g Dietary Fiber 36% 9.5g Sugars 11.8g Protein Vitamin A 17% • Vitamin C 36% Calcium 31% • Iron 26% Nutrition Grade B+ * Based on a 2000 calorie diet Nutritional Analysis Good points Low in cholesterol

High in calcium

High in dietary fiber

Very high in vitamin B6

High in vitamin C

Another possibility for Chia is adding it to dressing.

Chia Seed Ranch Dressing



Take 1 cup mayo or Greek yogurt

1 cup buttermilk

a handful of fresh parsley

and 1 tablespoon ranch dressing mix

add 1 tbs of chia seeds to the rest of your Dressing ingredients in the dressing and blend for about 1-2 minutes until the parsley is finely chopped

Chia Pudding

1/2 cup chia seeds

1 & 1/2 cup soy milk ( or almond )

1 tsp Special Dark Cocoa

1/2 tsp truvia all natural sweetener ( I think stevia is more common however i prefer Truvia as it has less of an after taste .

First you will want to take you chia seeds and add them to your milk. stir until they are mixed together.

Let sit for about 5 minutes and stir again with a fork for about 30 seconds. Add a tsp of cocoa and a 1/2 tsp of sweetener and mix again.

You can eat plain or add a whipped topping and mint for garnish!

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