Cinnamon reminds me of everything fun.  It has spice, sass, flavor, playfulness.  I love it.  Lately, I have been enjoying this pudding for breakfast.  Cinnamon keeps blood sugar levels in check, and is a great anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant spice, and helps with many other things in the body.

It is one of the oldest spices known, and used to be more valuable than gold.  Who knew!!!

Did you know it is actually the brown bark of a tree?  A cinnamon tree!

Cinnamon has manganese, fiber, calcium.

What's fun about this recipe is that it is super simple to make, and has just four ingredients.  What's not to love?  

This is it:  chia seeds, coconut milk, maple syrup, cinnamon.  Et voila.  You are done.  Mix and fridge it up and then have it for breakfast in the morning.  Or add a spoon and take your chia pudding to go!

Excellent nutrients are in this pudding.  Chia seeds are packed with omega-threes, have lots of fiber, especially insoluble fiber (good for gut health), protein, manganese, phosphorus, copper, selenium, iron, magnesium, calcium.  Chia seeds are a super food!  Two tablespoons of chia seeds (the amount in each serving here) have 11 grams of fiber;  the coconut milk adds a silky texture, flavor and has B vitamins, lauric acid, and adds more nutrients to the mix; the maple syrup has manganese, zinc, iron, potassium, calcium...and the cinnamon has anti-viral, anti-bacterial properties as well.  Lots of great health benefits in this pudding.  Enjoy!

Please note that this pudding can last 1-3 days in the fridge.

Cinnamon Chia Seed Pudding with Coconut Milk
(serves 4)

Ingredients:
• 8 Tablespoons organic chia seeds
• 2 cups organic, unsweetened coconut milk
• 4 tablespoons organic maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons organic cinnamon
• 4 mason jars with lids

1. Open up mason jars and place lids to the side.  
2.  Add two tablespoons of chia seeds to each mason jar.  
3.  Add 1/2 cup of coconut milk to each jar with the chia seeds in it.  
4.  Stir each mason jar and set aside for 15 minutes.  
5.  Add 1 tablespoon of maple syrup to each mason jar chia mixture.
6.  Stir and set aside for another 15 minutes.
7.  Add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to each mason jar chia mixture.
8.  Stir and set aside for another 15 minutes.  
9.  Stir once more so that the cinnamon is fully mixed into the chia seed, coconut milk, maple syrup mixture.  Set aside.
10.  After a few minutes, stir one last time, and cap each mason jar with a lid, and put in fridge.  Let chia pudding gel over night and enjoy your pudding in the morning!   Yum!

Options:
Can use almond, soy, cashew milk, instead of coconut milk.
Can use stevia, coconut sugar, rice syrup  instead of maple syrup.

Enjoy!

december 1, 2015 • recipe 10
an original recipe by Carol Giardino • all rights reserved