breakfast + brunch/ little bites of goodness/ this is life/ vegan

Strawberry Milk Chia Pudding

Name: Strawberry Milk Chia Puddings
Cook time: 1 h 5 min
Yield: 6 - 8
Ingredients: 400ml coconut milk (or milk of your choice); 150ml coconut water; 200g strawberries; 1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder; liquid stevia to taste (I used 8 drops) or your preferred sweetener to taste; 1/2 cup chia seeds

Good morning / afternoon / evening. How are you, and how are things? Are you here and are you good? I ask, because I feel a little bit elsewhere, my mind scattered somewhere between here and who knows where. My eyes are a little bleary and I’m not moving with my usual pep; you see we have just arrived home after being away for close to a month and it is taking me some time to get back into the flow of things.

After whipping around the world and seeing so many things I am back to my little desk by the window, and the usual weekly routine. The only trouble is, I can’t really remember what that routine is just yet. All of the weekly timetables have fallen out of my mind and I really need to do some yoga! Who am I, and where am I? I totally need to get back into the swing of things.

Going away on an adventure is an amazing thing, but the coming back can also be ‘interesting’. Interesting in the sense that it is an opportunity to have another look at how you live, but also in the sense that how you live can feel a bit crunchy or just a bit bland. And maybe it’s all just adjustment and changing gears, nevertheless, transition time can be hard.

I have always found it tricky getting used to being back at home. I think it comes from knowing that there are so many different lives going on around the world and we could be living in any one of those ways, but we have chosen ‘here’, which sometimes doesn’t always seem as lovely as life must be ‘there’. Reality is always going to feel different to adventure, and although I love to try and see magic in the every day, and in the things all around me, sometimes this is easier than others. Finding this kind of magic is definitely an embodiment, a state of being, and one that I need to get back in to.

We have had to hit the ground running. Timetabling, appointments and important things to do. That may be a good way to get me back to normality quickly, but right now I want to find some space to make everything feel like home again, maybe a more evolved version, a fuller way to live or be. That’s one of the many amazing things about travel and probably why so many people visit far flung lands, it teaches you how you can do things (normal things) differently. So to try and bring me back I’m starting with little things that always make me feel more at home – things like lighting the candles at dinner every night and playing some good music. I have goals too, like getting through all the mail and trying to keep the dining table clear! Simple little things that are actually achievable, yet somehow anchor me to the moment and make me feel better about the space I am in.

Breakfast is also a good place to start, but on these normal days breakfast is almost always a rush. It needs to be taken care of with speed, but still, I hope, with care. If you can sit at the table together even for just a few minutes, it can make the day feel different right from the start. And if you’ve got a tasty breakfast on hand ready to go all the better.

One such go to breakfast in our house is chia pudding. Whip it up the night before, pop it in the fridge and it’s ready to go when you need it. Thank heavens at least breakfast is sorted.

I’ll be honest, I haven’t always liked chia pudding. I know they have been all the rage for quite some time, but it’s taken me a while to get on board. I think the problem was that the first ever one I tried was totally tasteless. It was near the start of the craze, and I guess the cafe I ate it at hadn’t really figured it out yet. I just thought, wow, that’s a gloopy, tasteless kind of a mess. It even had pretty little flowers on it, but unfortunately the taste didn’t live up to the pretty picture.

But a little while ago I visited a different cafe and had a little chia pudding jar that was far out delicious. It totally redeemed chia pudding for me and made me think ‘I could make this’! My kids were early adopters of the chia craze and have loved chia pudding (and those chia pods especially) for ages. It makes a great afternoon tea choice if we pop into the supermarket after school, but for what it is it’s pretty pricey. So I made a version for us to eat home or packed into a little jar for school. A great super fast breakfast, morning tea or afternoon tea solution.

Our current flavour fave is this strawberry milk version, which is ridiculously easy and makes enough to keep you all fed with chia goodness for the good part of a week. The recipe uses coconut milk, and if you like to keep things on the lighter side just pour off the coconut milk from the can without scooping the solid coconut cream from around the top (this is what I do most days) and use stevia to taste. If you would like a more decadent pudding (think weekend brunch) then include the coconut cream and use maple syrup for sweetness.

Strawberry Milk Chia Pudding

Serves 6 – 8

400ml coconut milk (or milk of your choice)
150ml coconut water
200g strawberries
1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder
liquid stevia to taste (I used 8 drops) or your preferred sweetener to taste
1/2 cup chia seeds

In a blender, whizz together the coconut milk (with or without the cream from the top of the can), the coconut water, strawberries, vanilla and sweetener until smooth (like a smoothie).

Pour the strawberry milk mixture into a large glass bowl or, even better, a glass dish with a lid (I use a pyrex container) and thoroughly whisk in the chia seeds.

Place in the fridge for an hour (or overnight) until the chia seeds have swelled. The pudding with keep covered in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Top with some fresh berries or nuts, a dollop of yoghurt and a sprinkling of pollen… or some of those pretty flowers…

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