For the love of dessert.

Do desserts make you feel naughty? In the past, when I was always dieting and counting calories, I always thought I was being “bad” when I ate dessert. Now, I see dessert as an essential part of the meal.
When I tell myself I can’t have something or can only have one bite of that triple chocolate brownie, it is all I think about. Processed sugar is so not cool. It puts us all on a roller coaster. It spikes our blood sugar so high that we feel great until it falls below normal and we crash and crave more and more and more. Sound familiar? I just went through this cycle with all the Easter candy in the house. After a few days of feeling sluggish, kinda depressed and after two new pimples on my face I said “Enough!”
When I was a youngster one of my most favorite candy was a Mounds. I just adore coconut and chocolate together. To me they go together just like peanut butter and jelly. I am a huge chocolate lover. I have realized through the years if I give myself some good quality chocolate from time to time I don’t need to gorge on Mounds bars. Nice, huh?
The other day, I was playing around with this new superfood called chia seeds. (Thanks Michelle for the inspiration.) “Superfood” is this term us health nuts use for nutritionally dense foods. With these chia seeds, I made a pudding that taste just like a Mounds. It was amazing! Check out the recipe below. It seriously takes 1 minute to make. As a busy momma, these are my favorite recipes. 🙂
Chia seeds. Like from the chia pet? Yep.
Chia, is familiar to most of us as a seed used for the novelty of the Chia Pet™, clay animals with sprouted Chia seeds covering their bodies. Few people know, however, of the seeds tremendous nutritional value and medicinal properties. Plus, they taste good!
Chia is very rich in omega-3 fatty acids, even more so than flax seeds and salmon. And it has another advantage over flax: chia is so rich in antioxidants that the seeds don’t deteriorate and can be stored for long periods without becoming rancid. And, unlike flax, they do not have to be ground to make their nutrients available to the body. Chia seeds also provide fiber as well as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, copper, iron, molybdenum, niacin, and zinc. Yep, again, you don’t have to get your calcium just from milk.
Chia seeds are popular for weight loss. They reduce food cravings by preventing some of the food that you eat from getting absorbed into your system. This blockage of calorie absorption makes them a great diet helper.
They can also help your diet by making you feel full. This is because they absorb 10 times their weight in water, forming a bulky gel. This gel consistency is similar to a pudding. All you have to do is add the flavors you crave.
They are also great for athletes because the “chia gel” can hydrate the body.
Also, there’s evidence to suggest they can reduce blood pressure.
This recipe makes excellent use of chia seeds for their pudding-making properties, aside from super nutritional benefits. Be creative with them! You can really add anything to them to make any pudding flavor. Oh, you can find chia seeds at Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Sunny Bridge or even order them online. I haven’t seen them at Giant Eagle… yet. 🙂

Chocolate Coconut Chia Pudding
Ingredients:
1 small container of unflavored coconut water (like single serve Zico)
1/4 – 1/2 cup chia seeds
1/4 cup dried coconut
1/8 cup dairy free mini chocolate chips
cinnamon to taste
Directions:
Throw everything in a bowl… mix it up and let it sit for 25 min or so. Or make it the night before and let it sit in the fridge. So incredibly good!

What is your favorite dessert flavors?
Two more days to enter to win a copy of one of my favorite cookbook. Loads of healthy dessert recipes here my friends. 🙂