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Chia seeds?

Apparently a very source of omega 3, good for bunged up bowels but most importantly ( at the moment) bloody brilliant for making low carb jams - Im on a jam making mission at the mo and so far have made blackberry, strawberry, blueberry and strawberry with vanilla jams - all in all, whats not to like?
 
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Juicyj said:
Hi @badcat - do you mind sharing your recipe for jam please ? :)
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They are all similar but probably need different amounts of erythritol depending on the sharpness of the base fruit
This is how I made the blackberry one
260g blackberries roughly divided into 200g portion and 60g portion
Juice of 1-1/2 lemons
2 1/2 tbsp chia seeds
Enough Erythritol to achieve the level of sweetness you want ( I used 2- 3 tbsp adding as The cooking went along)

1) put the larger prtion of blackberries, and lemon juice in a pan with enough water to barely cover the berries, cook until fruit is soft, checking sweetness and adding erythritol as you go along
2) put the other blackberries in another pan with some water, cook until just beginning to soften but still whole, drain and reserve
3) add the chia seeds to the contents of pan 1) then put in a blender until the chia seeds and fruit are well blended ( I use a vitamix which takes about a minute, other blenders may take longer
4) allow to cool - the jam will continue to thicken as it cools
5) when cool enough, add the reserved whole blackberries, then bottle
Works fine with raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and blueberries although the latter 2 maybe need a little less water. Im going to try it with apricots later
The berry ones come out 10cal and 1g carbs per 10g serving.I like it on buttered low carb toast or mixed with some greek yogurt and toasted almonds
 
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I use them as a breakfast option when I need a change from eggs.

Normal go to chia breakfast is as follows:

About 250ml unsweetened almond milk - I use the Provamel brand
2 TBSP chia seeds
a drizzle of vanilla (fluid)
1 tsp ceylon cinnamon

I usually heat up the almond milk for 2 -3 minutes, then stir in chia seeds continuing to stir until not clumped together and the mixture starts to thicken up. Add in vanilla and cinnamon and stir. I usually add then maybe some homemade nut & coconut granola and almond butter. Its quite a nice breakfast actually and sometimes I have it as a dessert, too which I might add some 90% dark chocolate. There are many variations you could go for...

I find the above will raise my blood sugar 2.0mmol/L or so, so I don't have it that often anymore. As I say, sometimes I just need a break from eggs!
 
I use Chia seeds with Coconut milk, so add them to the milk, whisk well and put into a large yoghurt container and leave over night, the mixture goes quite firm so then add greek yoghurt and blueberries and eat for breakfast.
 
Thanks for sharing @badcat we have a glut of plums here so would be interested to try this :)
 
Juicyj said:
Thanks for sharing @badcat we have a glut of plums here so would be interested to try this :)
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Update - I just tried it with apricots, sadly howhere near as nice as the berry versions - the chia seeds came to dominate the colour and taste so think if I was making it with a stone fruit again I might try using white chia seeds rather than the black / mixed ones and maybe having a 50:50 or even less split on the fruit so more whole fruit contributes to things - very much trial and error

2nd update. Improved tastewise when i added more stewed apricots but the colour of the base mix was just plain wrong - note to self, buy some white chia seeds
 
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I like chia seeds with joghurt for breakfast, they r nice !:)

@badcat Thanks for recipe, definitely giving it a try !
 
I bought a kilo of the black chia seeds last year. I used to soak some overnight in hazelnut milk and add to porridge. but then I found porridge spiked my bs so stopped eating it.
I had most of the kilo bag in kitchen cupboard for months, not knowing what to do with them. But a couple of days ago i soaked some overnight in hazelnut milk, added some double cream next day and a little strawberry milkshake syrup, and had it for dessert after supper. Quite nice. I've got some more soaking in coconut almond milk in the fridge now, and will have it for dessert tonight.

Some people do sprinkle them over food or desserts, but you should really soak them first as they do swell up, and could cause intestinal blockage.
 
For anyone interested, here is nut based granola I make which includes chia seeds:

Coconut oil - 100ml
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp cinnamon

Melt coco oil and add stir in other ingredients. Set aside.

In a food processor, pulse 10 times or so the following mixture:

200g coconut strips
100g almonds
50g pumpkin seeds
100g macadamia nuts
50g walnuts

empty mixture into a large bowl, add the following:

2 TBSP chia seeds
any other small seeds e.g. sunflower
Cacao nibs I just throw in a good handful
2 TBSP cacao powder

Then combine dry mixture in large bowl with melted coconut oil mixture. Add sweetener if using, I just used 1 tsp of a stevia/Erythritol mixture I have. Combine everything well and then put into a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake in oven for 30 minutes at 140C turning after 15 minutes.

I store it in the fridge.
 
I use them as a back up when I have absolutely no idea what to eat... soak them in almond milk, put some cinnamon in. They aren't my favourite things by a long shot, but I do find them useful to have around. I find they help bind low carb pancakes together.
 
In 2007, I had a stroke and my BP was 227/125 - the nurse told me she had never seen anyone who had such a high reading and lived! Anyway, I changed my lifestyle and altered my diet. Chia was a great addition as it directly was the cause of dropping my BP by about 20 points

The reason I say this is because if you also have high BP they are fantastic, but if it is at all low, handle with caution!!

Sent from my Lenovo TB2-X30F using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app
 
I'm confused when I looked at the nutritional info on my seeds it says 43g per 100g,isn't that high? Or is it ok because there's no sugar.
 
Netty144 said:
I'm confused when I looked at the nutritional info on my seeds it says 43g per 100g,isn't that high? Or is it ok because there's no sugar.
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I haven't got the bag but I would think the carb content is mainly fibre so it's ok. And you wouldn't be eating much. Three or four tablespoons at the most soaked in hazelnut/almond/coconut/soya milk swell up and make a good pudding - add sweetener, milkshake powder or syrup if you want to make it sweeter.
 
I made chia and sesame seed porridge,2 tbs of each so your right it is fibre and small qualities,thanks for your reply, the site is amazing .
 
I'd never heard of chia seeds before joining this group :confused:
But I was curious after reading about various recipes :bookworm:
So I bought some from Aldi's a few days ago.... and decided to give the no-cook quick choc pud a go :wideyed:
My 1st attempt didn't go too well, but still edible and yummy! :hungry:
2nd attempt, better but still not quite right.... bit too firm! (But yummy!) ;)
Maybe on the 3rd attempt?! ... Like baby bears' porridge!? :D
 
Prem51 said:
If it's too firm just stir in a bit more of whatever liquid you used to soak the chia seeds in, or some double cream. :)
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Thanks @Prem51
I still liked it even though firm! :D It reminded me of homemade sweets I used to make with my mum.... can't remember what the main ingredients were, but desiccated coconut in there! :hungry:
 
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