My husband and I have recently fallen in love with breakfast chia puddings because they are both nutritious and filling. I love the ability to quickly throw together 2-6 servings of chia puddings at the beginning of the week and know that for a few days breakfast is already to go right when we wake up. It only takes about 10 minutes of hands on time to put together chia puddings.

In my experiments with making my own versions of chia puddings, I started adding a protein powder to make it more filling. I thoroughly enjoy Standard Process’ SP Complete Protein Powder because it also contains a blend of kale, Brussels sprouts, alfalfa, carrot powders, as well as flax meal, calcium, and magnesium besides the protein.

Here is my latest fruit based chia pudding recipe. I added a fresh banana for sweetener, but some will still prefer to add a little extra sweetener such as maple syrup to this recipe.

Ingredients (serves four)

• 2 cups fresh raspberries (or heat up 2 cups frozen in a saucepan)
• 1 banana
• 2.5 cups milk alternative (I like to rotate these: cashew milk, coconut milk, hazelnut milk, hemp milk, etc)
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 cup chia seeds (or 2 Tablespoons per mason jar)
• 1.5 tsp ground ginger (or try swapping with 1 tsp of ground cardamom or 2 tsp fresh thyme for other flavor profiles)
• four servings protein powder such as Standard Process Complete
• Optional: 2 tsp maple syrup
• Optional: top with a handful of walnuts when serving

Directions:

If using frozen raspberries, make sure to heat them up before blending. Frozen fruit tends to block the chia seed’s ability to puff up in the breakfast pudding, leaving you with a runny pudding and crunchy seeds. So make sure to heat up frozen fruit.

Blend all ingredients except the chia seeds in a blender. Pour equally into four mason jars. Put 2 Tablespoons of chia seeds into each mason jar, and whisk thoroughly to combine. Put a lid firmly on each mason jar.

Wait 15 minutes and shake each jar thoroughly, then put in the refrigerator overnight.

In the morning, enjoy your breakfast pudding. Serving options: eat as is, or add a little extra nut milk and/or some chopped walnuts.