Remember this icon of from the US bombarding late night commercials? You too, could own a Chia Pet:
The always popular Chia Dinosaur...or...
a Chia Hippo...?
But did you know that you can get:
a Chia Kung-Fu Panda?
or
Homer Simpson?
or
a Chia Professor?
Not only are Chia seeds good for Chia Pets, they also turn out to be good for you! Chia is grown for it's seeds, in crops in warm places like Mexico or Guatemala, or Australia.
According to Wikipedia, "chia" comes from the Nahuatl word chian, which means oily.
Chia seeds can be eaten raw as a whole seed, providing protein, fats and fiber, and they provide a lot of omega 3 fatty acids. A lot of goods for such a tiny package.
The seeds are tiny - about the size of poppy seeds, and you can find them in these packages in Canada (with the other seeds, like flax, gluten free flour, etc):
One of my goals this month is to update my breakfast to a protein shake. Now, for someone who really doesn't like the taste of protein powder, and someone who needs to have a full stomach after breakfast, I was skeptical.
But together with Emilia (who came over to my house initially so I got it done! - such service!), I got one going:
Here is my recipe - Ashley's Bloody Fantastic Peanut Butter and Banana Che Che Che Chia Shake:
Step 1: Measure out 1-2 tablespoons of chia seeds and flax seeds:
Step 2: Put them in a blender:
Step 3: Grind 'er up.
Step 4: Remove ground seeds from blender, put in small bowl to side.
Step 5: Add approx. 8 ice cubes (up to you how thick/cold you want it).
Step 6: Add 1/2 c. skim milk
Step 7: Add 1 banana - broken into pieces
Step 8 (my favorite): Add 2 tablespoons of peanut butter (or your fave. nut butter)
Step 9: Add 1 scoop of protein powder
Step 10: Add ground seeds from Step 1-4.
Put on lid:
Grind it all up - mine sounds like it's grinding bones with those ice cubes...
Mmm...ground up nutty goodness... transfer to your adult sippy cup of choice - this one was from Starbucks:
Then off I go.
With this shake, it's sweet from the protein powder (I use vanilla), but I don't taste it otherwise, and this baby fills me up for a couple of hours.
What shake are you going to make?
Check out this recent commercial for the Chia Pet!
