Craving Something Sweet
I don't know why - but the other day I started craving pudding. It's a sweet treat that I have always enjoyed but rarely have any more. One, I never want much of it and two, while I do enjoy my sweets - I am trying to eat more healthy sweets and less processed sugars.
I have gotten better with this at breakfast - I've been having fruit smoothies every day for breakfast with about a tablespoon of agave nectar for sweetener upon occasion and have loved every one (though I do wish I had a better blender that actually blended in the seeds).
The simplest, and one of the best is frozen pineapple chunks with coconut milk and a little agave. This reminds me of a pina colada and is just totally yummy :) I have no measurements as I blend in the cup I drink from. It's about 1 1/2 cups of fruit though and usually enough liquid to cover it. Milks make it thicker and juices/water thinner. Upon occasion I add chia seeds as well. Yes, I know it looks odd - but it's good!
I've also blended blueberries and blackberries with soy milk. This is the combo that got me addicted honestly.
A tropical fruit mix is also good, cherries and blueberries are wonderfully sweet on their own - and any berry mix is always enjoyable. The possibilities are endless - mix in some fresh fruit or some yogurt too, you really can't go wrong.
I've been enjoying these for about a month now and have started buying and bagging fruit that I keep in the freezer so that I can grab a pre-measured bag and just add liquid and blend. I've bought frozen fruit and fresh fruit. Really - if you can buy the fresh fruit while it's in season and freeze it, you'll probably be pretty set. It's a great thing to do with extra fruit so it doesn't go bad as well. Frozen blueberries and grapes I personally love as a snack on their own too (green grapes are sweetest). I've purchased frozen fruit sometimes, it can be easier as there's less prep...
Anyways - this time, I wanted something sweet, but wasn't in the mood for another smoothie... I was in the mood for pudding. I had heard of a few different kinds of "healthier" pudding and figured I'd give it a try.
This one sounded amazing - it was the first time I had thought of a healthy pudding actually. Sadly I must admit, I do not have the talent to get the coconut out correctly nor did the pudding come out correctly. The flavor was good, but the texture was pretty bad (totally user error)... I will try it again, but I will wait to have the proper tools - a better blender and an easier way to get the fresh coconut meat would make a huge difference.
So I'm sharing my two simple puddings - both made in small batches so there's not a ton left over. The first is 2 servings and the second 3 - 4.
First, I'd been thinking of trying this one for awhile - so glad I finally did!
Coconut Chia Pudding:
2 Tbl Ground Chia Seeds (you may want more if you want it thicker)
1 Cup Coconut Milk
2 Tbl Agave Nectar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
You could leave the chia seeds whole like this recipe (also very good) - I just wanted to try it ground. Personally I don't mind the texture of the whole seed, but I wanted to see how close this could get to a smooth texture, like normal pudding. It is very close. If I had a better blender I'm thinking it could be a perfect pudding consistency.
I simply mixed all the ingredients together and then let them sit together in the fridge for an hour to chill. It starts to thicken pretty quick - this was just after mixing...
Then, just like that - cold, yummy, coconut pudding! Though it does look a bit odd with the dark flakes in it. I really could sit and eat all of it in one setting.
Thinking of the whole chia seeds made me think of tapioca, which led me to my second pudding creation...
Coconut Mango Tapioca Pudding:
1/2 Cup Coconut Milk
1 1/2 Cup Mango Puree or Mango Juice
1/4 Cup Small Tapioca Pearls
1 Tbl Agave Nectar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
You may recall my post on making tapioca in the crock-pot. Well, this is a spin off that one. What can I say - it's less work :)
I combined all the above ingredients in my dip crock-pot, plugged it in, and let it do it's magic. In 3 hours, it was done. At this point it's still a little thin - but it's still good if you want to enjoy warm, fresh tapioca. It will continue to thicken as it chills in the fridge - this is a tangy, sweet treat that sure hits the spot!
It does take a little time, but it's simply oh so good! And so simple to make. You can make it in the morning for dessert later in the day, or after work for a sweet treat tomorrow :)
I have gotten better with this at breakfast - I've been having fruit smoothies every day for breakfast with about a tablespoon of agave nectar for sweetener upon occasion and have loved every one (though I do wish I had a better blender that actually blended in the seeds).
The simplest, and one of the best is frozen pineapple chunks with coconut milk and a little agave. This reminds me of a pina colada and is just totally yummy :) I have no measurements as I blend in the cup I drink from. It's about 1 1/2 cups of fruit though and usually enough liquid to cover it. Milks make it thicker and juices/water thinner. Upon occasion I add chia seeds as well. Yes, I know it looks odd - but it's good!
I've also blended blueberries and blackberries with soy milk. This is the combo that got me addicted honestly.
A tropical fruit mix is also good, cherries and blueberries are wonderfully sweet on their own - and any berry mix is always enjoyable. The possibilities are endless - mix in some fresh fruit or some yogurt too, you really can't go wrong.
I've been enjoying these for about a month now and have started buying and bagging fruit that I keep in the freezer so that I can grab a pre-measured bag and just add liquid and blend. I've bought frozen fruit and fresh fruit. Really - if you can buy the fresh fruit while it's in season and freeze it, you'll probably be pretty set. It's a great thing to do with extra fruit so it doesn't go bad as well. Frozen blueberries and grapes I personally love as a snack on their own too (green grapes are sweetest). I've purchased frozen fruit sometimes, it can be easier as there's less prep...
Anyways - this time, I wanted something sweet, but wasn't in the mood for another smoothie... I was in the mood for pudding. I had heard of a few different kinds of "healthier" pudding and figured I'd give it a try.
This one sounded amazing - it was the first time I had thought of a healthy pudding actually. Sadly I must admit, I do not have the talent to get the coconut out correctly nor did the pudding come out correctly. The flavor was good, but the texture was pretty bad (totally user error)... I will try it again, but I will wait to have the proper tools - a better blender and an easier way to get the fresh coconut meat would make a huge difference.
So I'm sharing my two simple puddings - both made in small batches so there's not a ton left over. The first is 2 servings and the second 3 - 4.
First, I'd been thinking of trying this one for awhile - so glad I finally did!
Coconut Chia Pudding:
2 Tbl Ground Chia Seeds (you may want more if you want it thicker)
1 Cup Coconut Milk
2 Tbl Agave Nectar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
You could leave the chia seeds whole like this recipe (also very good) - I just wanted to try it ground. Personally I don't mind the texture of the whole seed, but I wanted to see how close this could get to a smooth texture, like normal pudding. It is very close. If I had a better blender I'm thinking it could be a perfect pudding consistency.
I simply mixed all the ingredients together and then let them sit together in the fridge for an hour to chill. It starts to thicken pretty quick - this was just after mixing...
Then, just like that - cold, yummy, coconut pudding! Though it does look a bit odd with the dark flakes in it. I really could sit and eat all of it in one setting.
Thinking of the whole chia seeds made me think of tapioca, which led me to my second pudding creation...
Coconut Mango Tapioca Pudding:
1/2 Cup Coconut Milk
1 1/2 Cup Mango Puree or Mango Juice
1/4 Cup Small Tapioca Pearls
1 Tbl Agave Nectar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
You may recall my post on making tapioca in the crock-pot. Well, this is a spin off that one. What can I say - it's less work :)
I combined all the above ingredients in my dip crock-pot, plugged it in, and let it do it's magic. In 3 hours, it was done. At this point it's still a little thin - but it's still good if you want to enjoy warm, fresh tapioca. It will continue to thicken as it chills in the fridge - this is a tangy, sweet treat that sure hits the spot!
I started with the pearls and added the liquid:
After the first hour I gave it a good stir - you really couldn't see much of a difference yet:
After the second hour you could see it was almost done, but all the pearls were not quick right just yet
(sorry it's blurry, I didn't notice until it was too late)
After the 3rd hour it was looking more like tapioca pudding :)
After two hours in the fridge, you can see it thickened a little more
I stole a couple nummy bites and then left it to finish cooling over night.
By morning this is what I had:
It does take a little time, but it's simply oh so good! And so simple to make. You can make it in the morning for dessert later in the day, or after work for a sweet treat tomorrow :)
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