Wow it is late. In the interest of me going to bed at a reasonable hour, I’ll tell you a Julius story, and then let you in on a secret.
I am still eating vegetarian, which means Julius and Will (and Patricia) eat vegetarian for dinner too. After my year of vegetarianism I decided to have fish once a month or so. Some internet research has lead me to believe that eating farmed bivalves is actually pretty good for the environment as far as eco impact goes. Sorry I digress – today we were making coconut shrimp (I know these aren’t bivalves) and Julius really wanted to help me cook. I suggested that he wash and dry the shrimp. He got right to it and started telling a story about how the shrimp were getting washed and ready for bed. I didn’t have the heart to tell him we were going to eat the shrimp and they were already dead, so I played along and asked if they were all shrimp brothers and sisters. He responded instantly, “no they are all cute little baby shrimp”. Will and I looked at each other horrified for a second. If you want someone to go vegetarian just have Julius help you with meal prep.
Okay, now for the secret. I love chia seeds. It started by me trying to find a healthy snack to eat in the evenings. (Okay it probably really started with the chia pet I got when I was a kid…) I was kind of over-doing it on Siggi’s yogurt, which actually has quite a bit of sugar in it. I had a bunch of chia seeds leftover from who knows what in my closet. I’ve tried chia seed pudding before and thought it was good, but remembered it contained a bunch of sugar. (The version I made for Ladies’ night had four times the amount of sugar as my current version!!) Here’s the version I’ve settled on for my go-to late night snack. Since it doesn’t have dairy it provides a significant amount of vegetarian iron, as well as protein!
Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding
- 1/2 cup of chia seeds
- 2 cups of almond milk or coconut milk**
- 1.5 tsp of vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp of maple syrup
Combine chia seeds and coconut milk, stir vigorously until all the chia seeds sink. Add vanilla and maple syrup and stir again. Refrigerate overnight. Makes 5 servings.
**coconut milk has almost no nutritional value but it is low in fat. I find the shelf stable version tastes a teensy bit creamier. Almond milk is higher in calories, but has a lot more nutrients. I also think it tastes much creamier.
