Holiday Chai Seed and Eggnog Pudding

Holiday Chai Seed and EggNog Pudding

I love holiday deserts but too much sugar and processed food makes me lethargic and kind of grumpy.  But having no treats during the holiday season is no fun, so I improvise and substitute.

Chia seed and Eggnog pudding is a yummy little desert that is gluten free, low in sugar, high in fiber and big on happy holiday taste.

Ingredients:

    2 cups Soy eggnog- feel free to substitute coconut, almond or hemp milks

    1/2 cup Chia Seeds

    1 Banana

    Fresh nutmeg

    1 glass quart canning jar with lid

Put chia seeds and egg nog into quart jar.  Cover and shake well.  For the next 15 minutes shake periodically to keep chia seeds suspended.  If you let sit, they will clump and no one likes clumpy chia seeds- right??

   Keep in refrigerator until you are ready to eat.  When ready for a treat, pour the chai seed mixture into a bowl, add fresh sliced banana and a sprinkle of fresh nut meg.  The sugar content will come from your banana and eggnog. 

Hints:  If you want a thicker chia seed pudding just add less liquid.  Also, if you want plumper seeds, soak your chia seeds overnight they will absorb more liquid.

     If you want a sweeter treat- use a sweeter eggnog, riper bananas or add a bit of sweetener.

My discovery of  chia seeds came from one of my all time favorite books called Born to Run by Christopher Mc Dougall.  This is a great book to read while eating chia seed pudding!

Hope you enjoy and happy holidays!!!

        Denise

The Abundance of Less

While thumbing through the November Forbes Magazine, I came across an add for Run Simple.  The heading read:  "Simple Saves.  Complexity spends $1.2 Billion of your money every year.  The world's top 200 companies lose 10% of their annual profits to managing complexity.  Not overcoming, but managing."

This got me thinking about the value of clearing out our clutter and simplifying our lives.  If we can gain 10% more time, energy & money by simply letting go of our extras and our complicated, that would be a pretty good goal way to go into 2015- don't you think?  By doing less, having less and keeping our lives simple we will actually gain at least 10% of our lives back.

This holiday season, consider doing less, keeping our days simple, our business simple and our lives simple.  And by the new year, instead of being tired and having more stuff, we will all have more. There is abundance and freedom in less.  Simple gives us breathing space to live.

May your life, your holidays and your abundance flow with a simple ease.
             Denise

True Beauty

     In cleaning there are no amounts of chemicals you will ever add to your home that will make it healthy.   Cleaning is about the removal of soils, germs and life's residues. Cleaning is not about the addition of chemicals and neither is beauty - authentic beauty.  

    You will not find your beauty in a bottle- no matter how much it costs.  True beauty is more of a practice than a purchase.  It is about living to nourish your life.  It comes from deep breathing, honesty and play. True beauty comes with sparkly eyes, a bright smile and a creative spirit.  True beauty comes from within.

  When my grandma Ella was 92 she was in a nursing home.  She spent her days in a wheel chair and was legally blind- from macular degeneration.   She was wrinkly and old but she was absolutely beautiful.

    Maybe she couldn't see anymore but she could listen to the nurses tell of their children and lives.  She could try to memorize Martha Stewart recipes by heart in hopes of one day trying to recreate in her kitchen. As she sat she would ponder, wonder and mull over life with open curiosity and not from a place of judgment.  She was blind but her eyes sparkled with curiosity.  When she would try to remember something she would look up.  I always thought it looked like she was trying to mentally shake apples from the branch over her head as if they held the answer to her question.

    On paper, maybe it doesn't sound like she was beautiful but if you happened to spend an afternoon with her, you would have witnessed her radiance. She had an authentic and internal beauty that would make the models on the cover of vogue dull in comparison.

    Beauty- true beauty is a practice of loving others, unbridled curiosity and patience.  Finding beauty in yourself helps you to see the beauty in everyone.  Discovering the beauty in each person you meet helps you to see your own inner beauty.  And when you nurture this beauty, this spirit of yours, you can get away with the fraction of skin care products!!!

 As always wishing you a happy and healthy home,

                     Denise

"We are taught to look to "experts" for our answers, only to find out that they often have no real-life experience on the subject.  When all is said and done, change begins with you.  Strength, willpower, responsibility, commitment and integrity grow from within and blossom only under your direction."

                                             Amilya Antonetti

                                              Why David Hated Tuesdays