CHIA SEEDS, REAL FOOD ENERGY SHOT

The New York Times reported last Saturday that teeny tiny Chia seeds have gone mainstream:  30 Years After Chia Pets, Seeds Hit Food Aisles  Like coconut products, chia seed cultural cuisine was  fairly limited to  semi-tropical, albeit desert-like locales.

Making a Chia Smoothie is easy, but better tasting once the multi-colored seeds have expanded in liquid, even plain water, overnight.

Chia ENERGY SHOT SMOOTHIE

Prepare the night before going to bed

• Add 1 teaspoon to a glass of your choice of juice.
• Or add  to pureed fruit (like apple sauce).
• Let the seeds soak in the juice or puree overnight.

In the morning

• Stir the juice and the expanded seeds
• Drink the juice and seeds

CHIA'S REAL STORY

I first read about the real story of Chia seeds in the bestseller “Born to Run” by Chris McDougall.  Had it not been for all those years of quirky TV commercials for  Chia Pets, I would not have given McDougall’s research on Chia seeds a second thought-It just seemed like too much hype.

But Chia Seeds were once an important Native Peoples food commodity throughout the Western Hemisphere. In fact, I think that the seeds were so much a part of the Native Peoples consciousness, that Chia Pets almost seemed to have been divinely designed to keep them at the forefront of all of humanity’s consciousness.  That’s just my theory!

THE 411 ON CHIA NUTRITION

Chia seeds are chock full of protein and essential fatty acids. One tablespoon provides 20% of the daily requirement for carbohydrates.

Also, Chia seeds can be used to prepare baked goods. There are a tremendous number of Chia seed recipes online all over the internet.

 Here is the link to the USDA Report on Chia Seed

IN THE EVENT OF A DISASTER

Chia seeds also make a good long-term storage food product for your disaster survival pack. The small seeds are easily packed.  Dried coconut flakes and Chia seeds are part of my own disaster survival pack.

Pat Thomas for THE COCONUT LOVERS MOJO until next time…