August 23, 2010
Happy Monday!
I loved hearing your blog crush confessionals. It’s not too late to be a total creeper and chime in!
Late last week, I tweeted out that I’d made a tasty chia breakfast pudding using this stuff:
Meghann has been requesting the recipe ever since, and here, at last, it is.
What you see in the photo above is my friend Brendan’s Vega Shake & Go smoothie infusion, courtesy of the HLS swag bag. It’s no great secret that I’m not great fan of powdered supplements: I don’t regularly use a green powder or other smoothie infusion, and on the whole I prefer to load up my smoothies with nut butter or hemp seeds than with a formula. With that said, I recognize that smoothie infusions and powdered supplements can be mighty helpful when one is traveling (such as when I had the Vega smoothie infusion at the airport last week). And the reason I love and support Vega products is that they’re as close to having real food on the go as possible: Brendan has taken tremendous care to ensure that the whole line is vegan, plant based, mostly raw, and made with whole foods.
I mentioned last Monday that I’ve been on a bit of a chia seed pudding kick lately: it’s my hot weather answer to hearty bowls of oats. When I don’t have time to made something as scrumptious as Heathy’s blueberry chia pudding, I take the simple route, and I mix 2 tbsp chia seeds with a scant 1/2 cup nut milk, stirring every few minutes until it’s thick and resembles tapioca. I leave it in the fridge overnight, and in the morning, I take it to work, mush it up with bananas and berries and perhaps a little nut butter. It’s delicious, filling, and oh so easy.
As soon as I got my Vega Shake & Go, I knew I’d be marrying it with chia seeds in the near future. The genius of this stuff is that it can be mixed with a little water to make an instant smoothie: no blending or fruit is even necessary for either flavor or nutrition. But when one has a little more time on one’s hand, the Vega Shake & Go makes a nice addition to smoothies, puddings (check out Evan’s banana version), or parfaits.
Or, if you’d like a breakfast treat that also involves every healthy bloggers favorite trendy “superfood,” go ahead and mix 2 tbsp of Vega Shake & Go (any flavor is fine, but I used the chocolate) with 2 tbsp chia seeds, and a scant 1/2 cup of water. Shake or mix it every few minutes until it’s thick and congealed. You can either eat it right away, or leave it in the fridge overnight and take it to work in the morning. You don’t need sweetener, you don’t need a blender, and you don’t need time. This is a perfect breakfast on the go!
Topping it with sliced berries will make it look a little fancier. But they’re optional, too 🙂
There’s something undeniably fun about laboring over a bowl of oats, a parfait, or even mixing a killer smoothie. But it’s also nice to make breakfast with nothing but the twirl of a spoon. When that breakfast is rich in calcium (the chia seeds are a GREAT source — almost 20% of an average woman’s recommended value) and protein (15 grams), so much the better. Thanks, Brendan, for making life on the go a little easier for us vegan and raw folk.
HLS attendees, have you used your Vega Shake & Go yet? How? Any other Vega fans in the audience?
xo
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Gena, I’m just having this pudding now. It’s yummy and I like the mouthfeel of it. I was thinking of replacing the water with some hemp milk or almond milk to see if that makes it a bit “creamier” and/or richer.
Either way, I know I’ll be eating lots more of it.
Thanks so much!
I just tried this this morning! Thanks for the idea. I’ve been drinking the vega as a shake, this is so much more fun. I added a little peanut butter and bananas on top. I’m a sucker for chocolate and peanut butter.
I’m a huge Vega fan. I can’t believe how much tasty nutrition is packed into the whole food health optimizer! Thanks for this recipe, I’ll definitely try it soon.
Oh my gosh, that recipe actually sounds SO GOOD. We have tons of Chia seeds in the pantry and until now we’ve only ever used them in smoothies and bread. I’m totally trying this tonight so I can have it for breakfast tomorrow morning!
This is a wonderful post. I can’t wait to get some chia seeds and try it out!
i just tried mine today and lovvvvvved it. can you believe i’ve still never had chai seeds. i know, slack’ah blogger here.
I have a sample of this in my pantry that’s been sitting there for months. I think I’m finally inspired to use it!
Thanks so much for the congrats! I’m beyond excited about this next step in my life and career. And yes, you were right there as the plans were being laid! Orientation is this week – eek!
P.S. I went to Bonobo’s a couple weeks ago for one of their fabulous nori rolls. Thanks also for introducing me to them!
I’m a huge fan of anything remotely pudding-like (hence my love of thick smoothies and creamy oats) so this looks amazing. I bet it would tasty with some raw almond butter on top too:)
Hi Gena,
Thanks for this post! Chia has been on my “to try” list forever – now I will make an extra attempt because I am pregnant and looking to add more calcium – I had no idea it was such a great source!
Kelly
Wow – what a great swag bag that must’ve been!! I love all the Vega products I’ve tried – such an amazing brand & company!!
I’ve never tried any Vega products, but would love to and clearly need to keep them in mind for traveling. This looks wonderful and thanks for the quick chia pudding tips.
Well that’s easy! Thanks for sharing a sweet morning treat!
I didn’t go to HLS..so no swag bag!
I haven’t seen that stuff, and its proabably good cause I assume it is horribly expensive.
I wish those neat products weren’t so expensive. Honestly, gets me down to not be able to get neat stuff like that.
If you have any free ones, I’ll take em off your hands for ya…u know, just to help ya out 😉
I have so much respect for the Vega brand and the food and health philosophy that Brendan espouses. Although I’ve not tried any Vega products yet! They’ve always seemed a little on the spendy side (as most of these types of products are), and like you I haven’t been big into supplements… Though I recently have tried my hand at protein powder, I still don’t consider it a diet staple like I know some people do. This chia pudding recipe does sound like a nutritional powerhouse though! Perhaps I’ll give it a whirl (or swirl 😉 ) with my new protein powder.
How fortuitous! I’ve been digging the chia pudding you posted the other day, and looking for new ways to use those chia seeds I found at the farmer’s market. Bought some chocolate shake and go online yesterday to prepare for an out of town trip. This looks like it would make a really good camping/traveling breakfast. Can’t wait to try it! I am a fan of Brendan’s products, I use the oil on my salads, eat the bars, and use the protein in my smoothies. I like the taste of the smoothie infusion better than the WFHO. I only wish I could buy the stuff around here – I normally buy it online.
Ive tried the vega bars and love them.
What do you think about Amazing Grass? I’m kind of addicted.
Just made the chia pudding with one scoop of Amazing Grass Chocolate . . . yummy!!!!!
Great idea! i use vega WFHO, but don’t always feel like a shake so this will be a great alternative. Thank you.
I love the Vega shake and go formulas! This recipe sounds great! I can’t wait to try it out:)
Ooooh Brendan’s a cutie-pie! Being Vegan – It does a body good. 🙂
I am on a Vega “vanilla chai” smoothie kick. I mix a scoop of the WFHO with water, bee pollen, and a frozen banana. I love it. Sometimes I want a filling breakfast, and I can’t stand green smoothies. Vega is the answer. Especially if you’re lazy like me. I think Brendan’s done a good job of putting together a bunch of ingredients I wouldn’t know how to combine without a bunch of research I don’t have time for, and I like getting all those ingredients (maca, chlorella, etc.) a few times a week, without having to keep so many jars in the cupboard.
I do think Vega is an acquired taste. I can’t imagine it would be love at first sip for someone whose tastes haven’t been refined by years of kale-apple-ginger juice. I still can’t stand the Vega bars, much as I love Brendan and his sane and studied approach to raw foods.
The first thing I thought when I had the Vega was that it tasted like chocolate pudding…and this is exactly that!! I need to try this for breakfast (or dessert!) one day this week! I love Vega products in general. Their bars even give my beloved Laras a run for their money, I must say!
I’m a vega fan! I use their sachets of smoothies mix to dump into water to supplement a fruit breakfast when I am on the road.
That looks like a great recipe. I’m a fan of all Vega products.
mmm i love chia pudding, i’ve been hooked on your chai flavored recipe! so good! however, i am a chocolate girl at heart, might have to muster up the $ and try this vega mix. i soak some almonds in my chia pudding overnight so i get some chewy, almond goodness in there as well!
I love Vega too! I use all of the products…for fitness, for nutrition, for yummy snacks!
I’ve used the Shake-and-Go similar to your chia pudding. Here was my recipe:
1 heaping tbsp Vega Shake-and-Go Vanilla Almondilla
1 tbsp ground flax/chia mix
1 cup liquid (water, almond milk)
1 tbsp hemp seeds
1 spiralized pear
1 spiralized apple
Combine Shake-and-Go, flax/chia, and liquid. Let sit while you spiralize the fruit. Combine everything and enjoy! 🙂
People sure do rave about the vega products! I need to get my hands on some!
I have the Choc Shake and Go too! When I make choc chia pudding, I normally just use cocoa powder but have used Amazing Grass choc superfood in the past, but of course, good thinking with the Vega Shake and Go, too.
Vega fans? Well, if you consider that I have read both Thrive books and have more pages dog-eared than not, and always go back to re-read them and scour them, yes, I am a fan 🙂
Oh and chia seed pudding frozen rocks Scott’s socks off. I can pass it off as “ice cream”. After 10 years and lots of healthy, and sometimes wacky, ideas I have tried out, hey, it works and apparently is close enough to ice cream for him these days.
🙂
Excellent post, Gena! I think I’m going to have to add chia pudding to my breakfasts… This looks so wonderful.
I’ve used VEGA protein powder for ages (I actually prefer the plain hemp protein to any of the flavors). I find the flavor is mild and it fills me up for AGES. I still use it regularly, but now rotate with rice protein. Still haven’t tried pea protein–dying to try it, too.