August 16, 2010
(last updated January 27, 2020) 
Well well well. It feels awfully strange to be doing a regular ‘ole food post! If you guys missed any of the epic HLS recaps, fear not. You can read them here, here, here, and here. Enjoy.
Lately, I’ve found myself in a breakfast rut. It’s still steamy outside, which means that my appetite for hot cereal is low. And yet I’m getting increasingly tired of smoothies – not enough texture, not enough variety! Fruit alone won’t do it for me, and there are only so many bowls of buckwheaties I can eat. Hmmm.
Thank goodness that I recently found Heathy’s blueberry chia pudding! This has quickly become my breakfast of the moment. I’m loving fresh blueberries this summer, and this is a great way to show them off. The recipe, which you can find here, is simple: basically, it’s blended chia gel and blueberries. I simplified it a bit, eliminating the lucuma and maca, but kept all proportions the same.
Perhaps the best thing I took away from the recipe was the most obvious, too: how to mix chia gel. I’ve always made chia puddings “to order,” or I’ve just thrown chia seeds in oats or smoothies. Now I know that, by mixing 5 T chia seeds with 2 cups of water, you get a loose gel that will keep in the fridge for two solid weeks. (I like mine a little thicker than Heathy does, so I use 5 T chia seeds to 1.5 cups of water.) Whenever you like, you can use some of the gel in puddings, or you can mix it with almond butter, banana (or other fruit) or even some cocoa powder and stevia for a sweet treat.
I like to make Heathy’s pudding and top it with bananas and buckwheaties. Check out this lovely morning meal:
:
Blueberry pudding, buckwheat clusters (that’s buckwheaties mixed with a touch of agave and dehydrated quickly), and banana.
Not quite as purple as Heathy’s pudding, but that’s just office lighting foiling my photo shoot. I promise, the color is gorgeous!
On Saturday, Caitlin and I began our spiel on blog food trending/peer pressure by asking audience members to stand up if they had tried any of these oh-so-trendy healthy ingredients/dishes:
- Green smoothies
- Banana Soft Serve
- Oats in a Jar
- Breakfast Parfaits/Overnight Oats
- Sun Warrior protein
I think we might have added:
The ingredient that seemed to get most people standing was – you guessed it – chia seeds. These guys are the healthy eater’s object of lust—at least until something else sweeps in and takes their place—and there’s no more refreshing way to enjoy them than in Heathy’s delicious pudding. I intend to try it with other berries, too – probably with strawberries tomorrow morning! Try it, and let me know if you like it as much as I do.
xo
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I love the colors! Looks amazing!
I tried the chia seed thing.. but maybe I did something wrong. I used ground chia seeds in a ratio of 5 tbps of chia to 1.5 cups of water. It made a really thick gel. I mixed the half cup of gel with half cup of frozen blueberries. My (cheap) blender couldn’t handle it so i poured in a little bit more water. I sliced a small banana and put in a small hand full of dehydrated buckwheaties + some agave for sweetness. It was pretty good but I couldnt finish it.. it filled me up too much to the point where I was uncomfortable for about an hour. I was just wondering if it makes any different to use ground chia seeds.. should the ratio of seeds to water be different?
Oh, this was definitely a blender issue! The recipe isn’t cut out for cheap blenders, I’m afraid. If I were you, i would stick with tapioca like (unbleded) chia puddings.
I’m in a smoothie rut and need to try the pudding, it sounds wonderful. Also still need to try buckwheaties. Ugh, wish I had more time to prepare breakfasts in the morning!
I’m soaking chia seeds right now to make this gorgeous pudding. Coincidentally just bought blueberries today!
I just broke my breakfast rut with a cold oatmeal recipe. Mix together 1/2 c rolled oats, 1/2 cup frozen raspberries, 1-2 tbsps chopped walnuts. Cover it unsweetened hemp or hazelnut milk. It’s like simple muesli, I guess. Been loving it as a dessert with a tablespoon of dark chocolate chips or a few dabs of coconut butter mixed in, too!
I made a yummy chia ‘banana pudding’ last night with chai, almond milk, stevia, bananas and vanilla. I love chia seeds!
You are seriously enticing me with those buckwheaties. They look so nice and crunchy!
This looks delicious and easy. I’ve been in a breakfast rut too. I have little motivation in the morning and trying to come up with something new is always tough. I think this would be really delicious with raspberries. I prefer those to blue. Hoping I can make this something this week.
I want to love chia seeds in breakfast puddings. I just can’t!
This post could not be more perfectly timed! I have been on a huge chia tapioca pudding kick! My favorite flavors are the strawberry and blueberry. Thank you Gena!
Oops, that anonymous comment above was from me. 🙂
Woo-hoo, I made two of the eating trends…haha, is that a good or bad thing? No pressure people, but Oats in a Jar are beyond amazing if you haven’t yet tried them…especially with chia seeds. 😉
Speaking of chia seeds, your blueberry puddings look amazing Gena. I know I would love them, especially with the buchwheaties!
These both look incredible Gena. 🙂 I loooove me some chia pudding, and though I usually stick to green smoothies or green juice for my breakfasts (or if I’m lazy then just fruit) I think this would make a great week-end breakfast. 🙂
ok, so I’ve had this bag of chia seeds in my cupboard for awhile now, and have not been brave enough to try them. I always thought I would end up with a gooey chia mess! Will have to try the blueberry pudding dish. Looks great! (by the way… how long will chia seeds keep?)
Great looking breakfast! I have been struggling with breakfast ideas lately too. Usually I have a green smoothie, and I have noticed that is the gentlest on my stomach early in the day, but I do get tired of them. Toast is ok, but sometimes too heavy, so maybe I will try a pudding like this.
It’s kind of funny that chia seeds were the most popular, since they’re also the most tasteless as well! Don’t get me wrong, I love adding them to smoothies and oatmeal, but I think green smoothies and banana soft serve are way more fun 🙂
Buckwheaties…I think Im the only vegan left who hasnt had these or tried them. For some reason, I just never buy buckwheat groats. For some reason….hmmm…probably b/c I have never planned or intended to buy it but really need to work on that! haha!
I havent made chia pudding in ages. I actually make it and then make it extra sweet, freeze it, and call it “ice cream” for the hubs. He loves it! Well, he’d love haagen daaz but this is a dairy free zone so it’s either nana softserve or frozen chia pudding. It’s amazing that honestly though, he doesnt even want dairy anymore. It only took 10 years+ LOL
🙂
i love the color! gorgeous!
Gena,
Thank you for chatting with me this weekend. You are so incredibly insightful and well-spoken. I could listen to you talk for hours. I feel like I have so much to learn from you too. I will probably be emailing you soon about my strange experience at RAW this weekend. I think I might be developing something IBS-ish too and I am SCARED! I will be sure to read through your blog pages first though.
Soak your Chia Seeds in Fresh Coconut Water, for a sweeter taste.
Also try a Making:
Chia Coconut Water Milkshake
Ingredients
3 Tablespoons of Ground Chia Seeds
1 or 2 Fresh Coconuts
1 Cup of Ice more or less to taste
add coconut meat if you like a more creamy rich texture.
1. Blend Ground Chia Seeds in a 4th cup of Coconut Water
until smooth.
If adding coconut meat blend it with Seeds and
Coconut Water
2. Add the rest of the Coconut Water. blend
3. Add Ice. blend
4. Drink and Enjoy!
I’ve seen this on Heathy’s site. So beautiful!! I love chia seeds. I lived on tahini/cinnamon/chia seed pudding when I first went raw.
Thank you for igniting my love for buckwheat again with your bars!! I seriously had a jar sitting in my pantry for months and finally had the inspiration to use it. 🙂 The bars didn’t stay together, even with your modifications, but maybe that was because I added extra dried fruit? Regardless, it was delicious! It’s in the D right now. I’m sure it will make amazing granola.
I am on a mega buckwheaties kick lately. But it is nice to mix it up with puddings as the base. I love the color the blueberries make. Almost like this blackberry pie I made today. Magenta-like.
looking good! those crunchies make me crave O.L.D. buckwheat krispies!
That looks so good! The colors are luring me in 😉
that might be the most gorgeous pudding i’ve ever seen! really though…how could you not want to eat that? beautiful 🙂
This looks great! I love the way you enjoyed it! Heathy is awesome, I love her and her recipes!
looks gorgeous. I just made buckwheaties in my dehydrator yum!
I love the colors! Too bad for office lighting as I’m sure yours looked beautiful.
I actually discovered chia seeds ages ago, when my mom started eating them after meeting with a nutritionist as a part of her treatment plan. Reading blogs has taught me so many more uses for them however.
Thanks for posting this. I know what I”m having for breakfast tomorrow…
The color of that pudding is friggin amazing!!!!
Can you believe I’ve yet to try chia seeds?!