Choccie Cherry Chia Pudding

Happy Monday everyone!

I want to express my sincere gratitude for the wonderful response to my last post, Recipe Index. I added the index icon to the top of the right sidebar for your convenience:) Thank you all so much:)

I have been so inspired by the chia pudding trend lately among fellow bloggers! What chia pudding trend, you say? Check it out!

Cinnamon Raisin Breakfast Chia by Nikki of Yummy Raw Kitchen

Chia pudding by kelli of Animal-Friendly Eating

Chai Chia Pudding by Michal of lil Earth Muffin

Goji Chia Pudding from Raw Goddess from The Adventures of Raw Goddess Heathy

Chia Seed Porridge with Bananas and Raisins by Antony of Antony in London

And I am only going back about a week!!! If you, or someone you know has posted a chia pudding recipe you would like to see added here, please let me know:)

Of course I can never forget my first;)
Chocolate Ecstasy Tapioca Pudding from Slosh-uh on Gone raw!

And here are a few more posted on Gone Raw

Here is a coconut one to try.

How about a warming chia pudding :)

Goji chia pudding

Chia Chocolate Chip pudding!

Chia Mulberry Goji Pudding

Chia pudding is a wonderful way to get in some healthy chia seed. Here is my recipe, inspired by all of the above!

Choccie Cherry Chia Pudding

2 tablespoons chia seed
1 tablespoon hemp seed
1 teaspoon cacao powder
1 teaspoon agave, or sweetener of choice
10 pitted cherries, chopped or halved
1/4 cup brazil nut milk*, or milk of choice:)

*Brazil nut milk:
12 brazil nuts, shelled:)
1 cup water
vanilla and sweetener, optional

For 1 cup of milk:
Blend all ingredients, strain, or not...lol

1. For chia pudding, mix chia, hemp, cacao.
2. Add nut milk. Add as much as desired, but at least 1/4 cup.
3. Stir until combined.
4. Sweeten to taste.
5. Add cherries, and an extra sprinkle of that healthy hemp:)

Chia pudding is a great recipe idea to make your own.

There are endless combinations, just put in what you like:)

Raw Cherry Garcia® Soft Serve

One of the first raw desserts I ever tried was turning frozen bananas into a creamy treat. I first learned of doing this from Living on Live Food (p.516).

Thank you to Alissa Cohen for introducing me to this simply awesome raw dessert.

Of course, the raw food world was forever changed by this post from the lovely Gena of ChoosingRaw:)

Over the last several years, I must have made this hundreds of times, and tried so many different add-ins and flavor combinations.

Here is my favorite:)

You may remember my Halloween version...lol!

For flavor inspiration, I love to check out all the flavors at the Ben and Jerry website. Today I tried a raw Cherry Garcia® soft serve!

The base of the ice cream is of course frozen slices of banana. I used about 4 bananas, and pulsed them in the food processor using the "S" blade to about the size of peas. I added some pitted cherries, about 1/2 a cup, and 1/2 a teaspoon of cherry extract, and continued processing until a soft-serve consistency was reached. I did stop to scrape down the sides several times.

To this mix, I tossed in some raw chocolate chunks, and small handful of chopped cherries. Three or four more pulses mixed it all in. This makes 2 servings for me.

The chocolate was just some leftover Christmas Chocolates:)

This was awesome by itself, but so much better with a little chocolate sauce and a sprinkle of chia seed:)


Since I like to have mostly fruit for breakfast, I must confess this is what I had today. Is chocolate considered a fruit?

I just love raw food:)

Cheery Cherries:)

This mornings' breakfast was determined by the fact that there were over 3 pounds of cherries in the fridge:) I have been wanting to try the yummy looking Cherry Cacao Cobbler by bitt on gone raw. This recipe is great! It is very quick to make, and really brings out the flavor of beautiful fresh cherries.

ETA: since the goneraw.com website works intermittently lately, here is the recipe(copied and pasted)
 

I had some leftover crust/ crumb mixture, so I made little scoops of chocolate almond, vanilla, and cherry ice cream. I took a pitted cherry and pressed it into the scoop, and shaped it into a ball again. I then rolled each ball in the crumb mixture, and put them on a cookie sheet to freeze solid. The chocolate almond were my favorite.

Cherry Bombs!

Thanks to bitt for the great recipe!

Life is just a bowl of cherries

...so here are a few ways to get rid of the pits!


I do love my little collection of things that make life easier. With several pounds of cherries in the house this week, the cherry pitter got quite a workout!











The little hand held stoner is great for small amounts of cherries. You may find helpful to hold it low over a towel to prevent spatters, as the pit 'shoots' out. Most kitchen stores should have it hanging with the gadgets. If you have many cups of cherries, you may find the larger model is well worth the investment. Last year, it was found in the regular supermarket for under 15 dollars. Click here to see if it is available near you. This is also a likely item to find at garage sales and thrift stores:)
*both of these stoners may occasionally miss a pit.

If you need some ideas, check out these cherry recipes from gone raw.
...omg, I just looked at them myself and really wish I had more cherries!

edited to add...made the cherry cacao cobbler and it was wonderful! Here is my post on it:)

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Dads this Sunday!!!