Wow, work was crazy this week! Normally, I have it pretty low-key, but there was so much going on, I was constantly busy. I can’t believe it’s Friday already!

I did take a few photos of my food, but honestly, there wasn’t anything terribly exciting or that you haven’t seen from me in the past, so I’m not even going to post them. Lots of Chobani, salads, kale chips…easy but satisfying grub.

I’ve been nursing my shin splint, but I did find what I think was the cause - my laces! The lace was putting pressure on a tendon/muscle right on the front, middle of my ankle which caused some radiating pain up my shin. I realized this when I felt instant relief after taking off my sneaker during my cooldown stretch. I’m happy I found the cause, and I just don’t lace up all the way, but the shin splints are still there because it’s one of those chronic injuries. I got in 3 runs this week, so I’m taking Friday/Saturday off from running.

I’m loving my runs, though. I’m starting to look forward to them again like I used to. I need them in my life. They are such a good stress reliever for me, and I love the “me” time. I am loving my cooldown, too. I’ve been running at the local track, just in case my shin splint got too bad, I didn’t want to be too far from home. This way, my car is right there. At the end of each run, I’ve been having a little savasana right in the middle of the track. I just lay there, eyes closed towards the sky, and take it all in. My favorite song to listen to during this is: Forgiveness by Patty Griffin - one of my all-time favorite songs ever!!! If you haven’t heard of it (or her!), please give it a chance. Very, very good.

I’m so glad that the runs are giving me a chance to reconnect with music. I lost my connection to it because life got in the way, and it used to be such a HUGE part of my life - I play(ed) the piano and guitar, sang in a band, you name it. And yes, I do karaoke whenever I get the chance! I pulled out all my old cd’s and loaded them to my iPod. So many memories. All good, too. When did music lose its meaning to me? I’m sad about this, but I’m determined to get it back.

And just because I didn’t want this to be an entirely pictureless post, here’s me and my DH on our honeymoon:

Let’s start with a little review, shall we?

When I went to the running store the other day to see if I needed new shoes (more on that later), I noticed a Natural Foods store next door. I had never been there before, so I decided to take a quick little tour. It was small, but it definitely had a bunch of great things, including a nice little bulk section which I will take advantage of in the future! I bought a couple things and while checking out, they had a basket full of free samples. One of them was for Kyo-Green Drink Mix. I don’t have too much experience with green drinks, but I grabbed this sample because I plan to add them to my nutritional profile, hoping that they’ll keep me healthy and give me more energy during my marathon training.

The suggested use is to mix with 6-8oz of juice or water. Instead, I threw it into my Green Monster smoothie, which are super-smooth now thanks to my Vita-Mix:

So, how was it? It was pretty good. It definitely gave a bit of a grassy taste to my GM but not in a bad way. I didn’t need to choke it down and just enjoyed it as I do my daily GM.

So, if it doesn’t add any beneficial taste, why bother with it? Taken from the Kyo-Green website:

• Organically grown barley grass and wheat grass, Pacific kelp, brown rice, and the treasured green algae, broken cell wall chlorella.
• Tasty natural source of vitamins, minerals and chlorophyll.
• The barley and wheat grass are harvested at the peak of their nutritional value in the fertile Nasu Highlands of Japan.
• Premium chlorella is grown in natural mineral springs.
• The kelp is harvested from the northern Pacific.
• FOS is a great prebiotic, or food for friendly flora in the intestinal tract.
• Licorice is known for its famous anti-inflammatory potential. In addition, it proves beneficial as an anti-peptic ulcer agent, as an antioxidant, and remedy for many infectious diseases.
• Vitamin C and Beta-carotene increase nutrition and add extra antioxidant power.
• Laboratory analysis confirms product to be gluten free.
• Kyo-Green’s unique combination works more effectively than any single individual component taken by itself giving Kyo-Green an advantage over other products which contain just single ingredients.

Okay, great, but why do I need all of the above? (taken from http://www.doctorajadams.com/KyoGreen.html)

Basically, this stuff is loaded with phytonutrients which are super-good for you in so many ways.
They are heavily laden with chlorophyll, which has the ability to neutralize and remove toxic pesticides, drug residues, and other unwanted chemicals from your body. They make up for deficiencies in the diet, and enhance the effects of dietary supplements. They help to cleanse the colon by eliminating acidic conditions that can be damaging to the digestive system. They provide rich nourishment at the cellular level. Phytonutrient greens have been shown to enhance immune health through stimulating the activity of the body’s natural killer cells that attack disease-causing free radicals. Researchers have recognized that diets [herbs and foods] that are high in dark green chlorophyll appear to reduce the risk of a number of diseases. Phytonutrient greens contain phytochemicals, which are the biologically active substances in plants that give them color, flavor, and natural disease-resistance. Phytonutrient [plant nutrients] greens are proven in natural healing. Phytonutrient greens are an effective anti-inflammatory; good detoxifier and blood cleanser. Drugs and surgery should be a last resort, not initial treatment

Kyo-Green is a very healing natural food! It provides rich nourishment at the cellular level. Phytonutrient greens have been shown to enhance immune health through stimulating the activity of the body’s natural killer cells that attack disease-causing free radicals. Researchers have recognized that diets [herbs and foods] that are high in dark green chlorophyll appear to reduce the risk of a number of diseases. They attack the cause, not the symptoms.

Pretty impressive, huh? I’m going to see how I feel the rest of the day after using it and compare it to days that I just have the GM in the morning. I’ll let you know the result. Of course, if Kyo-Green would send me a few more samples of their other products, I could do a full review. (hintedy-hint-hint)

Now, onto the other issue in the title: why am I falling apart?
Reason #1: Well, I started to get anterior shin splints in my left leg late last week. I rested the leg, massaged it, iced it, etc. over the last few days. I went out and did some short, easy interval runs on Monday and they came back. I decided to take 2 full days off and just really focus on massaging, rolling with a can of beans (my coach said it was close to a foam roller and I always have these), icing, tracing the ABC’s with my foot, etc. I went out yesterday and did the same easy intervals, and I felt pretty good until my last walking portion. You see, it doesn’t hurt when I run, just when I walk because my foot is flexed a bit more with the walking motion. It’s a little painful after my workout, but about 10 minutes later, it’s totally fine. Even if I stretch it right now, I wouldn’t know it hurt. So, that is why I went to the running store, which led me to the natural foods store. The good news is that my shoes seem fine. I’m thrilled beyond belief that I get to keep my hideous NB 882’s for a bit longer.

Reason #2: I keep getting a twinge pain in my left shoulder blade. I started getting this after I had C, and it was from sitting in the same position holding her too long. A couple visits to my friend the chiropractor, and all was well. I would just go back every month or so for a readjustment. The last week, I’ve started getting the twinge daily. I’ve been to see the chiro. twice and it’s perfect for the rest of the day. After sleeping, I wake up with the twinge again. I know it’s our mattress. The thing sucks! We’re waiting for the manufacturer to come out and look at it. It has huge dips in it and is only 4 years old. Crazy horrible for something that was $1500!!

Reason #3: Immediately after ordering our hot tub on Wednesday, I walked outside and got a pain in my eye and my nose started running. I thought maybe it was just allergies because, well, it’s the season. I don’t normally get allergies, but I have once or twice in my life, so if I’m gonna get them, it might as be this week, right? It didn’t get any better after sleeping, so on the way home from the chiro yesterday, I made an impromptu stop at my eye dr. Good thing I did! I have a corneal ulcer on my right eye (my good eye! - I have a permanently scarred cornea on my left eye from wearing contacts when I was 16). He immediately put me on some super-strength antibiotic drops every half hour, and he’ll be seeing me again tonight to make sure it’s healing. The good news is that I stopped in and got treatment, it shouldn’t be anything permanent, and it had already started healing. Phew! Do not screw around with your eyes - I learned that lesson once already!

So, this is getting long, and I’m getting hungry. See ya after lunch!

Tags: eye, green monster, kyo-green, running, shin splints, shoulder

After lots of himming and hawing about colors and model, we finally settled on this one, but with a tan interior:

It won’t be here for about three weeks, but that’s ok since we have a bit of work to do to get its new home ready. It was a bit pricey and probably a teeny bit of an irresponsible purchase, but we have some tax money to spend and we’ve been doing really well paying off debt the past couple of months. So we splurged! Plus, with the half marathon training I’ll be doing, I’m really looking forward to the hydromassage that this will give me. CAN’T WAIT!!!

Speaking of the half marathon, I’m hoping to get my training posted on here today. Hopefully, it will be an interesting and insprational read for those of you contemplating doing something like this. I mean, I’m not a natural born runner. It’s difficult for me. Seriously, look at my stats on my little Nike+ widget in my sidebar. I’m not fast at all (that MPH number does have about 10 minutes of warm-up and cool-down factored in, but still). I’m dealing with extra weight that I need to get rid of. I’m going to be dealing with the summer heat during the bulk of my training. It’s going to be a challenge, but I have faith in myself that I can get it done. I’m driven, and I believe that I don’t need to be a super-athlete to acheive this goal.

Breakfast this morning was boring: banana and coffee.  - only because I’m planning a run in about 20 minutes and I didn’t want to have too much but enough to fuel me for about 30 minutes of running. Hopefully lunch will be a bit more exciting

Tags: jacuzzi, marathon

And the winner of 5 Apple Cinnamon Prana Bars is:

Comment #9!! from Maren:

id love to try prana bars! apple cinnamon sounds good, but im sure they all are!

Maren, I’ll send you an email, and if you could send back your full name and mailing address, I’ll get the bars out to you.

Thanks to everyone who participated!

In other news, we were just so very busy this weekend. C’s recital is in a few weeks, and they’ve switched her regularly scheduled Monday morning class to Saturday morning so they can learn the finale dance. This isn’t a big deal since we’re usually up, but I’m used to our quiet Monday morning class. Saturdays at the dance studio are a completely different story - about 100 cars and 200 kids because the moms need to bring all the siblings who are normally in school = complete chaos!

Then, on Sunday, we headed back to the studio bright and early for photo day. I was so nervous about this day. I had to curl my two year old’s hair and put makeup on her face!!! This is probably the last thing you want to do to your sweet little girl’s face as a mom, unless you’re into the pageant thing, which we’re not, but I know it’s necessary with all of the lighting. Just a little blush and eyeshadow for my tired beauty, mid-yawn, complete with bags under her poor little eyes:

Poor kid! She was a champ at the photos though and laughed hysterically at the photographer making a frog beanie baby fall off his head. I can’t wait to get the photos!

In other news, we’re in the midst of purchasing a hot tub, and that took up the rest of our weekend. It’s just a matter of picking the colors and getting it ordered. I can’t wait to use that on my sore running muscles.

Speaking of running, I think it may be time for a new pair of sneakers. During today’s training, I started getting some anterior shin splints on my left leg. I’m hoping it’s just the need for new sneakers, even though I can’t really afford them after all the other goodies I’ve been splurging on lately. I guess if it’s for my health, it’s ok, right?

Foodwise, things were simple today. Nothing you haven’t seen before, and I was mostly clearing leftovers from the fridge.

Breakfast: some crappy little Larabar that’s made for kids. It was ok. Just 120 calories, but I was on the run to meet DH to look at a hot tub so it was a quickie thing that did the trick.

Morning snack/pre-run: banana

Lunch: large salad with ceci patty

Snack: chia pudding with blackberries, cashew cream, honey and walnuts

Not sure what’s on the menu for dinner yet.

Later gators!

Tags: dancing, giveaway, hot tub, prana bar, shin splint

Take a peek at my sidebar. See anything new? That’s right, I’m running the Peak Performance 1/2 Marathon with Team in Training!!! I’m really excited about doing this, especially since I’ll be running in memory of my grandfather, who was such a special person in my life and was stricken with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Now, I know this is going to be a challenge, since I start to fade when I hit the 2 mile mark right now, but I’m confident I can do it. Now, running challenge aside, I also have the fundraising challenge to contend with. I am getting an early start on it, and I have five months to raise $2200. Can I do it? I hope so. I’m in the midst of thinking of creative ways to raise some money, and I’ll be sure to share with all of you. If you have any creative fundraising ideas, please do share them with me!

If you would like to donate, I would be more than grateful. Just click here to donate. If not, that’s really okay, too, but I do hope you will continue to read my blog and go through this physical and mental challenge along with me. I’m sure it will be an interesting ride! Oh, and if you want to see what I look like, take a peek at my fundraising page. That’s my grandfather walking me down the aisle on my wedding day - almost FIVE years ago now. Geez, the time flies!

Now onto lunch:

Lunch was a fast, messy repeat because it was almost 2:30pm before I sat down to eat!

Another Ceci Patty “wrapped” with collard greens, shaved carrots, broccoli slaw and tahini, with a juicy orange on the side.

Okay, I’m off to do a tad bit more work, and then it’s the weekend!! Yay!

Tags: ceci patty, running, tnt

it looks like we’re in store for a dreary weekend. At least today and tomorrow are scheduled to be dreary.

I’m sorry I was unable to post yesterday. Work was crazy, as it always is for me at the end of the month. Here’s a quick recap of the day in eats (minus photos, but you’ve seen it all before on my blog):

Breakfast: chia pudding with banana, blackberries, cashew butter, walnuts and honey

Lunch: Smoothie of orange, banana, mango and collard greens

Snack: Prana Bar

Dinner: TGI Fridays - 2 beers, 3 nachos, bbq chicken salad with no dressing, bite of dh’s burger

Yes, we went out to eat last night, just as we do every Thursday. It’s our one splurge night, and that splurge was nothing compared to what I used to get. I’m sure the salad wasn’t the best for me, but it was one of the best options on the menu. And boy, was it tasty! Yum!! It’s also on special for $5 right now, so I hope to get it again soon. I splurge on Thursday nights, enjoy it, and get back to exercising and eating all the healthy foods I can the rest of the week.

In other news, I had to say goodbye to an old friend this week:

(photo courtesy of google images because I had already thrown my blender away)

After many attempts to make this blender functional, I had to send it to the trash. I think I spent $40 for it about 3 or 4 years ago, so it was time. The plastic that held the blade in place cracked, but I kept using it because it seemed to work fine. Well, the other day gross brown liquid kept leaking out from underneath the container when I used it. GROSS! I decided to run it without anything in it, and my assumption was right - some of the gross brown liquid made it’s way into the container. My stomach turned right on the spot. I’m sure I’ve consumed some of that gross brown liquid!

Luckily, my new best friend at Vitamix sent me this beauty to try out and review for all of you:

I’ve made two smoothies so far with it, and let me tell ya, they are so thick and creamy! I can’t believe the power in this thing! I need to do some more playing around with it before I can do a proper review; however, I can tell that we are going to be great buddies. Maybe even BFF’s!

Tags: vitamix

First things first: Prana Bar Giveaway!

See my review of the delicious Prana Bars here.

What you’ll win: Five Cinnamon Apple Prana Bars

Three ways to win (one entry each):

1. Just leave a comment telling me which flavor you’d like to try.

2. Link back to this post from a post on your blog.

3. Add me to your blogroll. Then, leave a comment here about adding me.

Details: The winner will be chosen on Monday, May 4, at around noontime via Random Number Generator.

Good luck!!!

Now onto some food!

My lunch was soooo good today!! I cooked of one of my Ceci Patties from yesterday in a little olive oil. While cooking, I prepared 2 collard green leaves into wraps according to the wonderful directions by Gena. Please, please give collards as a wrap a chance. They are sturdier than using lettuce leaves, and when filled with delciousness, the bitterness of collards lends a nice zing to the filling.

My fillings today consisted of:

• smear of tahini
• shaved carrot (too lazy to grate or mandolin, so I just used a peeler)
• broccoli slaw
• grape tomatoes
• Ceci Patty

This was so filling and delicious, I can’t get over it. Salty and smoky from the cumin, yet still refreshing and light from all the veggies. I don’t have that heavy feeling after eating this. Some commented that it was similar to falafel, and I’m sure it probably is. I’ve never tried falafel, even though I waitressed at an Armenian restaurant in college that served it. I don’t think I ever wanted to try it because it was deep fried. I think know I was missing out!

I had a couple carrots on the side - I snagged 5lbs of organic carrots for $2 last week. I need to start using them before they go bad.

Tags: ceci patties, collards, giveaway, prana bar

Wow, what a drastic difference in today’s temperature. Yesterday, my car thermometer read 94 degrees at 4pm. Today, it’s about 49 degrees at 10am. I was freezing when I started my run this morning. Um, did you catch that? I ran this morning!!! I was up before anyone else in the house and ran 2.75 miles (including 5 minute warm-up and cooldown). I really want to make this a habit because the weather here is going to start getting warmer and warmer, and I can run so much better when I’m not dripping buckets and gasping at thick, humid air. Also, check out my little Nike+ Runner over there. She’s keeping track of my running stats.

So, on to this morning’s eats. I’m sooooo loving my chia seeds from Navitas Naturals. Once again, I made a chia pudding:

I know, you really can’t see anything “chia” in those pics, but it’s there. I soaked my chias in hemp milk before bed (although, I think they’re perfectly edible and full of gelatinous goodness after about 20-30 minutes).

In this delicious bowl:

• 1 tbs chia seeds from Navitas Naturals, soaked in 4 tbs hemp milk and a splash of water
• sprinkle of cinnamon
• 1 tbs walnuts
• 1 small banana, sliced
• 1/2 cup blackberries
• drizzle of honey

All I have to say is YUMMMMM!!!!

On another note, I’ve had coffee the past 2 mornings in a row. Ugh. I gave it up (along with all things caffeinated) over a month ago. I was just in the mood for it. I love having a cup outside in the morning. I should really try to get back to my decaffeinated green tea. So much better for me.

And on another note, I’ve been totally infatuated with blackberries lately. Sometimes when I buy them, they’re really tart and not enjoyable to eat, but this past week, I’ve bought about 5 containers of them because they’ve been so sweet and delicious. Come to find out, they’re really, really good for you and a wonderful antioxidant (not too shocking since it’s a berry!):

Nutritional info (from Prevention.com)

Blackberries, 1 cup (144g)
Calories: 75
Protein: 1g
Carbohydrate: 18g
Total Fat: 0.6g
Fiber: 7.6g
*Good source of: Folate (49mcg)

Grab a cup of sweet blackberries and enjoy!!

Tags: blackberries, chia seeds, running

Since it’s so beautiful out today, it feels like I should be eating some grilled food. DH hasn’t gotten the grill up to par for the season yet, so I did the next best thing (or maybe the third best thing): I made ceci* patties in a frying pan. LOL! *ceci (pronounced che-chi) is italian for chickpea. Now, I’m nothing close to being Italian, but I used it for two reasons. Reason #1: C loves Spongebob and is always pretending to make pretty patties, which are decorated crabby patties that they made in an episode (ceci sounds more like pretty than chickpea does); Reason #2: If Cecilia ever wants to be called “ceecee”, I will insist it be spelled Ceci since that’s the closest spelling to her name. Now, I am never going to come right out and call her that, but if she wants that to be her nickname, it’s her choice. And even then, I’m not sure I will call her by that. Anyways, onto more important things - the recipe!!

These are super-easy to make, inexpensive and delicious! This recipe makes about 4 patties, depending how big you make them.

Here’s the ingredient list:

• 1 can ceci, rinsed
• 1 egg (swap for a flax/water mix if you’re vegetarian/vegan)
• 1/4 cup onion (any that you have, I used red)
• 1/8 cup whole wheat flour (I tried to not use the flour and almond meal instead, but they just wouldn’t stay together)
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tbs cumin
• salt and pepper to taste
• couple sprigs of parsley
• 1 tbs olive oil

Put a frying pan on medium low heat while you get all of your ingredients together. Put everything (except olive oil) in the food processor:

And mix until it looks like this:

Add your olive oil to the pan, form the above mixture into patties and place in hot pan (should hear a slight sizzle, but not too much - if so, your pan is too hot, so back off the heat a bit). Cook for about 5 minutes each side until golden brown and it feels slightly firm when pressed:

(the one on the left contains the flour, the one on the right just the almond meal = breaks apart in pan).

Serve with a salad or on a salad (which is what I eventually did) or on a bun and have some fun (sorry, it rhymed):

The above salad consisted of:

• 3 cups mixed greens
• handful grape tomatoes
• some cukes
• mango salsa as the dressing (recipe below)

I stored the remaining “batter” in the fridge and will use throughout the week. It will be great when I’m not sure what to have to eat or I’m starving and don’t feel like being a slave in the kitchen.

Now, if you’re in the mood for something totally refreshing on a super-sweltering summer day, make some Mango Salsa!!!

Here’s the quick recipe for it:

Ingredients:

• 1 mango diced into teeny tiny bits
• 1 jalapeno diced into teeny tiny bits, trim away any of the white “vein” and seeds since this is where the heat lives. If you like heat, add as much as you like!
• small piece of red onion diced into teeny tiny bits
• juice of 1 lime
• cilantro, chopped (if you have it; I didn’t have any and it was still delicious)

Mix everything together in a bowl:

YUM!!!

You could probably do this in a food processor, but I like mine a bit chunky. I’ve always done it this way and didn’t want to risk ruining it because I was totally craving this type of refreshing goodness.

Also, I’m not a huge fan of raw onions, but for some reason this combo is sooooo yummy! I urge you to try it.

It’s also perfect as a dip on crackers. Shown here with some flax crax:

If you try any of the above recipes, please let me know how you like them!

Also, what’s your “go to” refreshing recipe on hot, sunny summer days?

Tags: ceci patties, flax crax, mango salsa, recipe

It’s days like these that I LOVE working from home! Yes, working from home can have its downfalls, believe it or not - very little interaction with the outside world, distractions beyond belief, idea that just because you work from home you can do anything you want, desire to live in sweats which minimizes real-world wardrobe very quickly, not leaving your house for 3 days because there’s snow on the ground and you don’t have to shovel the driveway, etc. Despite all of that, when a day like this rolls around (85 degrees and sunny with a nice breeze), I am so very grateful that I can sit on my deck, listen to the birds, breathe some fresh air, and enjoy doing some work without being disturbed by nosy co-workers or some other regular cattle-cube gripe. Ahhh, I just felt a nice breeze.

I can also relax outside and have a delicious breakfast surrounded by some of the best scenery nature can offer:

Catching up on some blogs with my bowl of chia seeds and a cup of coffee (this was my first cup of coffee in over a month!)

And a closeup of my chia bowl. Yum!

This chia mix contained:

• 1/2 cup overnight chia pudding soaked in some water and hemp milk
• 1 tbs cashew cream (cashews soaked in water, processed with a bit more water until smooth with a pinch of salt - almost like a ricotta cream!!)
• 1/4 cup blackberries
• 1 tbs walnuts
• drizzle of honey

This bowl of chia pudding was so absolutely delicious and comforting. I loved it! It’s reasons like this that I am so thankful to be part of the foodie blogworld. How on earth would I ever have learned about eating chia seeds and their benefits? They are soooo incredibly good for you.

Taken from Navitas Naturals website:

Aztec Seed of Strength

A long, long time ago – long before the era of terracotta “chia pets” — the chia seed was cultivated and eaten by the ancient Aztecs, Incans, and Mayans and was considered a staple food alongside corn and beans. “Chia” is the Mayan word for “strength”, and though these cultures may not have had the medical research to back up their health claims, chia is enjoying an escalating renaissance by today’s medical community as well as everyday consumers. Also full of dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals (especially calcium and iron), chia has much in common with flaxseed, with the distinct advantage that its natural antioxidants make its delicate healthy fats more nutritionally stable. Navitas Naturals offers the wonderful chia seed in its whole organic state as well as in a sprouted powder form.

The Power of Chia

Chia seeds are an excellent source of dense nutrition with their healthy omega oils, easily digestible protein, and antioxidants. In fact, chia is so high in essential fatty acids that it contains eight times more omega-3s than salmon, gram for gram. Also full of dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals (especially calcium and iron), chia has much in common with flaxseed, with the distinct advantage that its natural antioxidants make it’s delicate healthy fats more nutritionally stable. Research has linked this valuable food as a being beneficial for many health issues, including diabetes, hypoglycemia, celiac disease, and lowering cholesterol.

Have a Chia Boost

Navitas Naturals Chia Power has a mild nutty flavor, and develops slightly sweet notes when sprouted. It may be used much like flax powder in creating a power breakfast: just sprinkle a spoonful into oatmeal, granola, cereal, or yogurt. It also works very well as a flour substitute and can be used to make hearty breads, crackers, and more. Additionally, chia is considered highly hydrophilic – meaning the seeds have a unique ability to absorb liquid and form a gel (basic chia gel recipe). This makes chia especially good to use as a thickening agent in recipes like soup, smoothies, or enjoyed as a pudding with a touch of sweetener.

Now here’s the incredible Nutritional Info:

One tablespoon of seeds doesn’t seem like much, but when you combine that in a 1:4 ratio with liquid, it makes about 1/2 cup of chia pudding/gel that you can flavor anyway you choose. Look at the amount of protein and fiber in such a small serving!!!

Honestly, do not be afraid to give these a try. Chis is a single ingredient product that is raw, gluten-free, kosher, vegan, and 100% organic. I have officially traded in my oats for Chia in the morning.

Have a wonderful day! I am off to get some work done, and hopefully sneak in a visit with my favorite chiropractor.