I’ve been trying to come up with some new food ideas for Chloe and I had to share this recent success.  I’ve learned in the last week or so that she seems to enjoy her smoothies more if I give them to her mid-day instead of first thing in the morning, so breakfast has been my experimentation time.  We’ve done whole-wheat multi-grain pancakes with great success recently, but I was looking for a more nourishing option.

I had heard of chia pudding, but I hadn’t really looked into it.  When I woke up Sunday morning, knowing that I had plenty of chia seeds in the pantry, I decided to look for a recipe and try it out.  I skimmed many recipes and quickly learned that this is another wonderful and versatile dish.  It can even be made the night before so when you wake up, breakfast is waiting for you in the fridge.

I combined a cup of almond milk (but you could use any type of milk, milk substitute, or even water) with some cinnamon and a mashed up banana.  To that, I added ¼ cup of chia seeds and mixed it all together.  I let it sit for about 20 minutes, and then I scooped some into a bowl for Chloe, and some onto my pancakes.

I had no idea how this was going to be received by either of us – she chowed down!!  She totally loved it and I felt like I’d had a huge success.  I had found a quick and easy meal that is a great source of omega 3, dietary fiber, protein, iron and calcium.  We shared the leftovers for breakfast today, and she still liked it, so I know it’s a keeper.

A couple of stress relieving tips when it comes to meal time:

• Cook once, eat twice – Making a large portion size of something that everyone loves is a great way to cut down on the time you spend cooking.  This is especially true when you get creative (like using the pudding as a pancake topping)!
• Find something everyone loves – It can be tremendously time consuming and stressful to have to create a meal for your child and for yourself.  If you start feeding your baby the foods you love to eat from the start, she will likely enjoy them and you’ll be able to cook one meal for everyone.  Then you can enjoy cooking and eating your meals instead of having it feel like a chore.