insult fretful: Banana Oatmeal Chia Pudding ? Little House On The Vegan Prairie

With almond butter, dried cranberries, and sliced almonds. Yum!

Friends, colleagues, and comrades,

Quite a bit of time has lapsed since my last blog entry and even longer since my last recipe installment! For this, I apologize. It has been one crazy summer, unfortunately mine did not include John Cusack (movie reference, whoa!). My jobs and the exhaustion and stress that come with them have kept me from being able to devote any time at all to this blog, let alone to thinking creatively about food or even wanting to pretend that my kitchen is a chemistry lab/art studio. Also, living with quite a few people and sharing a large (but often occupied and cluttered) kitchen space really puts a damper on wanting to be in the kitchen at all or even wanting to be creative about food.

To be honest, this past year I?ve survived on mostly large salads, easy pasta dishes and stir-frys, and a variety of sandwiches and fruits. In other words, foods that don?t put me in the kitchen for more than 20 minutes. It?s been frustrating and at the same time really empowering because it?s basically forced me to eat a lot of food without prepping and in raw form. I think I?m healthier for it, sort of. But, I sure do go through a lot of produce (as if that?s ever a problem for healthy vegans)!

So just to catch up, because I know y?all totally care about my personal life?since my last post, I quit one of my jobs?the big one, the one that was making me very miserable and tired and unhealthy. It has been a month and since then a lot of really great things have happened including lots of sleep, lots of eating, lots of exercising, lots of traveling, lots of food sharing, lots of dog kisses, cat snuggles, and even baby sparrow cuddles, and lots of hang-outs with crucial friends, old and new, advocates and otherwise.

It?s been a really uplifting, healthy experience for me and I?m very happy to be able to wake up and take care of myself first, for once. One of the ways I?ve been practicing self-care is by making sure I eat a really good, nutrient dense breakfast. No more running out of the house with a piece of toast or a banana in my hand. I know, it sounds cliched, but it?s so important and so true that breakfast is a very important meal, if not the most important.

But I know you?re really here for the food so let?s talk about it!

I?ve been eating a lot of loaded non-dairy yogurt breakfasts as of late. Basically, almond milk/coconut milk based yogurt with? heaping portions of nuts, dried and raw fruit, hemp seeds, raw oats and my favorite?chia seeds. It was in noticing what chia seeds do when they are mixed with liquid and allowed to sit for some time?they become soft and almost gel-like, like tapioca?that I thought to bring you this next recipe. This recipe is so simple, anyone can make it, any time. All you need is a jar and a refrigerator, really. It takes only minutes to prepare and minutes to eat, and it conveniently fits in jar that you can take with you if you?re on the go!

When I had this yesterday, I calculated that it has at least 20 grams of protein (that?s half of my daily requirement!), 43% of my daily iron requirement, 49% of my daily calcium requirement, and 25 grams of fiber. Not to mention a ton of Omega 3?s and antioxidants thanks to the chia! Whoa. I can?t tell you how much this breakfast fueled my body for the day. I was sustained by this well after noon and, having planned to dedicate hours on my feet in the kitchen baking and to running errands, it was the perfect energy boost I needed to get my day started off right.

Here are two more awesome facts: when you make this it means that breakfast is ready right when you wake up and it?s delicious. Want more? This can easily be made into a chocolatey dessert?just use chocolate flavored non-dairy milk. Or, for you coffee lovers, you can make this a mocha-licious morning treat! I?m not a coffee drinker at all, but I tried my hand at a coffee version and the results are in?it?s caffeinated and it?s good. I added spices to my coffee version (which you can leave out if you wish) because being raised by a Dominican mother, you know to always put spices in your coffee, especially nutmeg. So what are you waiting for? Make your breakfast tonight and enjoy it tomorrow!

Ingredients:
(makes about 1.5 cup = 1 serving)

1/3 cup oats
2 tbsp chia seeds
1 ripe mashed up banana
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup non-dairy milk
ground cinnamon, as desired (about 1/2 to 1 tsp is good)

Optional add-ins (to be added after refrigeration):
2 tbsp almond butter (or peanut or cashew butter)
any assortment of dried fruit and nuts
raw fruit, chopped

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a 16 ounce jar or small Tupperware container. Refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, mix in additional ingredients, if desired. Serve cold and enjoy!

Dominican Coffee-Flavored Banana Oatmeal Chia Pudding

Ingredients:

1/3 cup oats
2 tbsp chia seeds
1 ripe mashed up banana
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup coffee flavored non-dairy milk (recipe below)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg, (freshly ground is best!)
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 tbsp agave, optional

Coffee flavored non-dairy milk
Ingredients:
(makes 1 cup)

1? to? 1 and 1/2 cups non-dairy milk (I used almond)
2 tbsp ground coffee

Directions:

In a stove top espresso coffee maker (pictured below) or a French press, make the coffee. If you?re using an espresso coffee maker, the milk will reduce to about 1/2 cup, if that is the case, when the coffee is done add another 1/2 cup of milk to get a total of 1 cup. If you?re using a French press, this will not be an issue, just use 1 cup at the start and press.

Combine all ingredients in a jar or Tupperware container and refrigerate overnight. Serve cold, add more sweetener if you wish (as you would coffee), and enjoy!