One Addition: Chia Seeds

Every week I'm going to write a post called "One Replacement/One Addition". It's basically going to be me writing about things that have made my journey to health more simple. I want to share because, after a year of wading through health/fitness/clean eating crap, I have sifted out some really helpful stuff. I don't wish the "sifting" job on anyone because it gets exhausting. So hopefully this helps!

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This week, I'll start with chia seeds. This one is so easy. You can buy them in bulk at your local grocery store, providing they have a health food section. (AND I STRESS: BUY THEM IN BULK. The prepackaged ones are twice the price...) When bought from the bulk section, they're relatively inexpensive (considering one serving is two tablespoons). The other great thing about them? They're tasteless. You can add them to smoothies, soups, salads, oatmeal, chili... the list goes on. And honestly, you won't even notice that they're in there. What else? Fitness magazine says they're an appetite suppressant. AND they expand with the help of water. To up to ten times their original size. What does that mean? You feel full faster. As far as I can see, that makes a chia seed one of the cheapest, most natural "diet pills" on the market.

What do they give you? Energy. Protein. Omega 3 fatty acids. Fiber. Iron. Calcium. The Dr. Oz website says that there' three times as much calcium in a serving of these puppies (one ounce) than in a serving of skim milk. I'm not saying run away from drinking milk, but why not just add these to a salad and get some more bone-strengthening calcium in your diet?

I started with chia seeds because they're easy to add. I can't tell you enough that there is no reason not to start incorporating them into your diet. Again: they are tasteless, they expand, they suppress your appetite... Why not give them a shot? I'm putting a recipe up that I got from the Fitness Magazine website that I've tweaked a little bit.

Healthier Raspberry Cheesecake Oatmeal

• 1/2 Cup old fashioned oats
• 2 Tablespoons chia seeds
• 1/2 Cup water
• 1/2 mashed banana
• Splash of vanilla extract
• 1 Tablespoon neufchatel cheese (you can buy it in the same part of the store as regular cream cheese.)
• 1 teaspoon powdered sugar
• 1 T raspberry jam.

1. Preheat oven to 375º.
2. Mix oats, chia seeds, water, vanilla, and banana and put into an oven-friendly dish.
3. Combine neufchatel cheese and powdered sugar and put into baggie. Put raspberry jam into another baggie.
4. Cut holes at the end of baggies and squeeze lines onto top of oatmeal of neufchatel cheese mixture and jam. Then, if you want to make it pretty, you can drive a knife through the line in the opposite directions.
5. Pop it into the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before eating.

I made it a couple weeks ago. BEAUTIFUL!