To make Chia gel, just add liquid to chia seeds, its as simple as that, no mystery. This is because Chia seeds absorb liquid and this also makes the seed soft.

Raw, unsoaked chia seeds are hard and crunchy. They can be eaten raw, the taste being very mild and nut-like. Making a chia gel softens the seeds and makes them easier to eat and more versatile for use in recipes. An added benefit is that the soaked Chia seeds absorb the flavour of whatever liquid they are soaked in, making some interesting flavour combinations possible.

You can soak chia seeds in water, milk, nut milk, fruit juice, stock, gravies, eggs, vegetable juice, or whatever other liquid you would like to try.

Its fine to vary the thickness of the gel by adding more or less liquid as you wish..

I prefer to soak my chia seeds whenever I use them whole unless I want a crunchy texture.

To make a basic chia gel.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons of chia seeds
• 1 cup of liquid

Method

1. In a bowl, add the seeds to the liquid, and whisk them in with a fork or whisk.
2. After a few minutes you will need to whisk the gel again to make sure  seeds
3. don’t clump together in the bottom of your bowl. Leave to stand for 10 to 15 minutes.
4. This enables the seeds to absorb the liquid.  Two tablespoons of chia seeds to one cup of liquid makes a very thick gel.

To make a fruity chia gel

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons chia seeds
• 1 cup of fruit juice. I like to use orange/mango. Any fruit juice will do and you can also use your own freshly made juice.

Method

1. Whisk together in a bowl and leave to stand, making sure to stir to prevent clumping.
2. I like to use fruity chia gel as a topping over cheesecake, icecream or yoghurt.

It can be eaten on its own. Kids seem to love its fruity taste.

Ideas

A good idea is to have some water based chia gel on hand in the fridge to add as an egg or butter substiute to cakes or cookies, one tablespoon of gel replaces one egg. Replace half the butter with an equal portion of gel.  Prepared chia gel will keep for up to 2 weeks. To make an egg substitute I use 3 teaspoons of chia seeds to one third of a cup of water to replace one egg

Salads are usually served at the beginning of a meal, but they can also make healthy, low-calorie meals. Keep them interesting by changing the ingredients each time. Start with a bed of low-calorie greens and add lots of vegetables, fruits, and other healthy toppings:

Most salads begin as a pile of leafy green vegetables. Since greens are low in calories and are a good source of fiber, it’s a great way to add volume to your meal without adding a lot of calories. There are different varieties of lettuce, such as iceberg, leaf, spinach, escarole, romaine, or butter. The darker lettuces offer more vitamins than pale iceberg, for example. Spinach has iron, and all varieties are low in calories. One cup of shredded lettuce has about five to ten calories.

Almost any raw vegetable can be cut up and added to a salad. Green beans, snap peas, carrots, radishes, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, asparagus, artichokes, avocados, slimcados, tomatoes, and cucumbers are all great suggestions. You need five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables per day, so eating a salad is a good way to meet those needs. Brightly colored vegetables have flavonoids, and the dark green vegetables are lowest in calories — about 20 calories per half cup serving.

Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, apple slices and raisins can add vitamins and antioxidants to your salad. The delicious burst of flavor and sweetness they add may also reduce the amount of high-calorie salad dressing you use. One-half cup of apple slices has 30 calories, and one-half cup of berries has about 40 calories.

Add a small amount of protein with a chopped or sliced hard-boiled egg, or one serving of lean beef, cooked shrimp, tuna, chicken breast, or strips of cheese. Make sure to measure your proteins, since meats and cheese have more calories than fruit or vegetables. Avoid fried meats like chicken strips or battered and fried shrimp. They contain too much fat and lots of calories. A quarter cup of chopped chicken meat or one egg will add 75 calories. Half a can of tuna will add about 80 calories. Two ounces of cubed or shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese may add up to 200 calories.

Sprinkle a few nuts like walnuts, pecans, almonds, or cashews for a nice crunch. Just a few nuts will do, about one-eighth cup of nuts adds about 90 calories. Walnuts are a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, and all the nuts add protein and heart-healthy polyunsaturated fatty acids.

One tablespoon of regular commercial salad dressing will add 50 to 80 calories, so be careful to measure how much you use. A large salad may look like it needs a lot dressing, but remember that one-quarter cup of dressing could add up to 300 calories. Low-fat and reduced calorie dressings are available or you can add some freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice to your salad.

Here’s an example of a big healthy dinner salad:

• Two cups of green leaf lettuce.
• One-fourth cup raw green beans.
• One-fourth cup snap peas.
• One-fourth cup chopped tomato.
• One-fourth cup sliced carrots.
• One-fourth cup apple slices.
• One-fourth cup blueberries.
• One-fourth cup chopped chicken breast.
• One chopped hard boiled egg.
• One ounce of shredded mozzarella cheese.
• One-eighth cup walnut pieces.
• lemon and lime wedges.

This salad has lots of vitamins, antioxidants, phytochemicals and fiber and comes in at just under 400 calories. Serve this salad with a glass of iced tea or a big glass of sparkling water with lemon.

Wow, Wolf totally accidentally hit the wrong button there

My bad.

Essentially, we got an ask saying a lot of the recipes involving ground meats could be replaced with vegetarian and vegan alternatives such as soy crumbles and veggie ground rounds.

But yeah.

Score one for the absent-minded mutt.

-Wolf

I’m not sure what kin would want this, as I’m not one myself, but it’s vegan/vege and tastes pretty good for those who want something very sweet and cool in summer.

INGREDIENTS

• Two bananas
• a couple of tablespoons of soy (or whatever milk you like) milk (enough to make it slightly liquid/smooth)

—to taste—

• a swirl of maple syrup
• natural colouring (plum juice, etc)
• sprinkle of unrefined natural sugar

–end of to taste–

RECIPE

1. Break the bananas into pieces and place in the freezer. Leave for about two/three hours. 
2. Place into a food processor, add milk and blend until a kind of paste.
3. Add all of the ‘to taste’ ingredients, or some of them (whatever you like). Blend again.
4. Place in a container with a lid and put back in the freezer for about 1/2 to a full hour.
5. Eat and enjoy!

It isn’t the exact same texture as ice cream, but it taste good. 

Sure! I’d be happy to keep my eye out in the future. If you’re looking for something more specific, I’d be happy to look it up right now as well!

-Fox

(via Stuffed Mushroom Recipe | Quinoa Recipe | Gluten Free Recipes - The Healthy Apple)

(via Vegan Baked Spiced Apple Recipe, Recipe for Vegan Baked Spiced Apples)

Hope you guys all had happy holidays!

This is one recipe I made for my family. The side of my family that visited this year is southern, and my grandmother used to make these baked apples that were basically sugar and butter and, well, apples. These days, my family are quite the lot of health nuts, so I found this healthy version that tastes not only as good, but better (in my opinion, at least) than the original sugar-and-fat-and-more-sugar version. 

Belated Happy Holidays! 

-Fox

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 large firm, tart apples such Crispin, Winesap, Granny Smith, or Jonagold
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 cup maple syrup or agave nectar
• 1/4 cup golden raisins
• 1/4 cup finely chopped, toasted pecans or walnuts
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup apple cider (or 1/2 cup water if not available)

Preparation:

Things like roast seeds, peas, granola, etc. are great because they’re small, crunchy, and savory. Also grapes, especially thick-skinned ones like muscadines, because they’re small and have the the outer shell and then a squishy inside. 

For squishier things like worms, we have gelatin recipes in the insect tag that could probably just as easily be made with vegan gelatin. 

I would link you to all these recipes but my laptop keyboard is going haywire for some reason today (it took me like half an hour just to type this out). You can find what i’m talking about in the birdkin and insect tags. I’ll try to edit this post later if my laptop stops acting up. 

(For the above-mentioned reason, this is the last ask I can answer for today until I can fix it, sorry!)

-Fox

EDIT:
It’s cool, I’m sure Wolf and I can handle it until you get things fixed.
-Lion

(via justthefood.com…the blog: Home Made Inari topped with Spicy Sushi Sauce)