Chia’rific

Are you ready for some serious chia’rific goodness?

We’ve been eating all sorts of chiafied creations over here. It’s only my duty to share, right?

I was recently sent some great products from the fabulous people over at GNC to review.

Let’s talk about the GNC Total Lean™ Lean Shake™ first.

This is a meal replacement shake intended to be used twice a day for weight loss with the included exercise, meal and diet plan.

A very reasonable, easy to follow plan if you ask me, even though replacing meals with shakes isn’t really my thing. (I’m more of what some might call a “volume eater”- I like to eat the most food as possible for my calories.) I’m not exactly looking to restrict my diet right now either with my marathon training, but I’m also not one to turn away the opportunity to taste test something, especially when it’s chocolate flavored.

I tried out the Lean Shake™ last week as my afternoon snack. The directions say to mix 2 scoops with water. I mixed one scoop with unsweetened vanilla almond milk and added a scoop of instant espresso.

It did a really great job at holding me over until my late dinner. As far as meal replacement shakes go, the taste and consistency were pretty darn good also.

You can click here to read more about this product and the supplement facts.

Now it’s ch-ch-ch-chia time!

Of the many benefits of chia, some of my favorite ones are listed out in this short article that I found.

Simply stated, chia seeds have twice the antioxidants of blueberries, are a great source of Omega-3 fatty acids, are high in fiber, are relatively easy to digest, may help dieters feel fuller longer, may also help endurance athletes by decreasing recovery time and are just plain fun to add to pretty much anything. Whoa, that’s a lot.

So…. I’m sure you can imagine my excitement when I received this huge tub of chia seed from GNC.

We have been putting them to good use.

This morning some seeds made their way into the boys’ oatmeal. (I just sprinkled them in after adding the water and let it sit for a good 5-10 minutes.)

They also found themselves in my

Ginormous Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Bowl

(similar to my go to oatmeal bowl).

In the bowl: 1/3 cup Coach’s Oats, 1 cup water, 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk, 2 stevia packets, cinnamon to taste, 1 tablespoon chia seed, 1 medium apple (cut into small chunks) and a splash of vanilla.

I cooked it for about 15 minutes or so on the stove

until it was nice and thick (and got a few overcooked crunchy parts).

It was delicious and even more so once I got done doctoring it up with some nonfat Greek yogurt, sugar free maple syrup and a tablespoon of peanut butter.

Mmm….

It also went really well with my very first Dark Chocolate Peppermint Mocha from my new kitchen appliance.

I was in heaven. Chia heaven.

A glimpse of heaven that lasted approximately 60 seconds before some workers got into a little altercation about a screwdriver.

Welcome to my life.

Just for fun, here’s all sorts of ways we’ve been chia-fying our lives lately thanks to our GNC friends.

We even have our very first “STUFT in the Kitchen Video” featuring the making of our Mighty Green Microwave Muffins.

Here’s a look at our chia creations:

– mixed in with my green eggs and oats

– in the boys’ great egg oat pancake 

(I promise it tastes like French Toast.)

– simply sprinkled somewhere on my many yogurt bowls

– or sprinkled anywhere for that matter

I came up with this little creation today after I had ignored the umpteenth request for “sprinkles”.

Good bye Dec A Cake.

Hello chia.

(I’m really excited about this. I can’t wait to add some “sprinkles” to the boys’ special birthday breakfast tomorrow. He he! What a treat! Lucky dogs tots.)

Other STUFT chia ideas (not pictured):

– use it in overnight oats

– sprinkle it on peanut butter or make a paste with PB2 and put it on an apple

– add it to healthy cookie dough dip instead of flax

– sprinkle on top of yogurt (anytime, anywhere)

– add it to scrambled eggs

– add it to smoothies to thicken them up (and give them a nutritional boost)

I’ve also read people make a paste with chia seeds and water. I have yet to try that.

All in all, you can pretty much add it to anything, even baked goods.

With that, here’s our little “STUFT in the Kitchen” debut. It’s Joaquin and I making a chia version of a mighty green microwave muffin.

Video notes- Not the best video as I shot it with my phone. It was a little experiment. If we make some more I may need to invest in a good video camera.

Toddler Mighty Green Chia Microwave Muffin

(follow same directions as this Green Microwave Muffin)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup egg substitute (can use 1/4 cup and add a little non dairy milk instead)

handful of fresh spinach

1 banana

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

2-3 tablespoons oats

1 tablespoon chia

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

cinnamon to taste

agave(or other sweetener) to taste

Mama’s Mighty Chia Microwave Muffin

(I used the same ingredients as above, but substituted 1/2 cup pumpkin for the banana, 2 tablespoons of coconut flour for the whole wheat flour and 2 Splenda packets for the agave.)

Just in case you need a closer look at what I did to my huge muffin here you go.

Before

After

He he he!

Okay, I really need to get some shut eye. Big day tomorrow!

Some little guys I know are turning 2!!

Yikes!

I think the celebration will call for some serious chia sprinkles.

Do you use chia? If so, how? I need some more ideas!

Disclaimer: FitFluential LLC compensated me for this sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.