MM here! As I was preparing meals for the week, I was really missing my old breakfast standby of overnight oats, so I decided to make some chia pudding for breakfast tomorrow.
What are chia seeds?
Chia seeds are tiny edible seeds that come from a plant in the mint family that is traditionally grown in Mexico. Chia seeds have gained a lot of popularity in recent years because they are so full of Omega-3 fatty acids, protein, fiber and anti-oxidants (you can read more about chia seeds from the experts over at WebMD). Chia seeds are not something I eat everyday, but I definitely enjoy a great chia pudding with breakfast now and again!
In the Mississippi Delta (and other such places), where do you get chia seeds?
When I first started buying chia seeds, I really had to hunt to find them and when I did find them somewhere, I would stock up. I had the best luck in the exotic foods aisle of TJ Maxx, and barring that I would buy from Amazon or sneak off to Whole Foods when my work trips would bring me to a big city. In the past six months, though, our local Kroger has beefed up their natural foods aisle and has started carrying chia seeds, which is wonderful (though sometimes I still buy my chia seeds at the TJ Maxx just out of loyalty).
Why would I want to eat this?
If you are new to chia seed pudding, don’t freak out and stay with me! Chia pudding has a texture sort of like tapioca and takes on the flavor of whatever you put in it. I usually make mine with vanilla extract, coconut milk and mango, which is pretty magical. Eating chia pudding is a fairly similar experience to eating one of those vanilla pudding cups that used to come in your school lunches in elementary school, but with zero chemicals and all the healthy sources of energy.
So, how do you make this magical pudding?
There are lots of recipes out there for chia pudding and if you are like me, you might feel a little bit overwhelmed as you try to sift through them all to find one that will be simple, Whole 30 compliant and still delicious. After some reading and some experimenting, I have learned that all chia puddings follow the same basic formula:
2 cups of liquid + 1/4 cup of chia seeds + flavor + time = magic
You can double that recipe, or halve it, but you have to keep the 4 parts liquid to 1 parts chia seed ratio right or you end up with not magic. VERY not magic.
A note on time: All of these recipes require at least an hour in the fridge for the magic to happen. I like to make mine on Sunday evenings and then it is ready to rumble the next morning when I have a case of the Mondays and am in need of a pick me up.
My favorite combinations:
I pretty much always make the same base:
2 c. coconut milk + 1/4 c chia seeds + 1 tsp vanilla extract
And then I mix in whatever sounds most appealing the next day: frozen mango; banana; sliced apples and cinnamon; pecans; shredded coconut; almond butter; coconut manna. THERE ARE SO MANY CHOICES. You really can’t go wrong, as long as you get that ratio right!
Doesn’t that look delish??
With Golden Beets & Turnips For All 
