I am now entering my tenth month of maternity leave and I have to say I am in a rut. I was exclusively breastfeeding until five months, and up until then I was losing weight to the point where I was skinnier than my pre-pregnancy body. Now that Emilia is eating more solids and I’m starting to wean her off of the breast I find it harder for me to maintain my body weight at a constant.
I also have a problem. A serious problem. It’s called chocolate. When my body craves it, I go into an overload that is unhealthy. Let’s just say, don’t buy me Nutella. I will literally take a spoon and scoop it out like it’s ice cream (I have my own jar, then a jar for the rest of family).
Lately I’ve been on the hunt to find quick fixes to satisfy my cravings. I’ve eaten a gazillion types of snacks and in the end I always find myself back to eating good ol’ regular stuff. Sometimes substituting ingredients to make it healthier doesn’t always work out. It doesn’t trigger whatever serotonin levels there are in my brain to say “Ahhhh, this is good”.
That is until I found chia chocolate pudding. I enjoy chia pudding in the morning with granola, fruit and my hemp seeds, but it does not satisfy my cravings during the day or at night. Yes I know, no eating 3 hours before bed, but honestly I can’t always follow it.
So I used my overnight chia pudding recipe, but this time I add a tablespoon of organic cacao powder. In the morning I throw it in the blender with a banana to get that smooth pudding texture and it’s divine.
I really recommend you try this if you have a sweet tooth and are trying to cut back. It’s really hard not to indulge when it is so much easier and we are pressed for time. I am not saying I’m not going to eat regular chocolate anymore, but I’ll definitely keep it controlled.
Chocolate Chia Pudding
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of unsweetened almond milk
- 1/4 cup of organic chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon of organic cacao powder
- 2 teaspoons of ground Ceylon cinnamon
- 1 banana
- 1 pinch of sea salt
- 1 tablespoon of maple syrup
- Optional: 2 teaspoons of ground espresso (you don’t have to, but it will elevate the chocolate flavour. You have to buy the specific ground espresso for baking, not right out of your coffee machine)
Directions:
- Before watching your favourite show, grab a bowl and a whisk and combine almond milk, chia seeds and cacao powder.
- Place it in the fridge and forget about it until tomorrow morning.
- In the morning, place the contents into a blender along with one whole banana, cinnamon, maple syrup and a pinch of salt.
- Blend until mixture is completely smooth and you don’t see the chia seeds anymore.
- Place it in a cup and add whatever toppings you want (I enjoy banana slices and hemp seeds)
Enjoy!
Antonietta xo
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