Make Your Own Chia Drink

In a world that loves the "Super Food" of the week, I tend to take in the fads with a grain of salt. Everything is healthier than everything else and what is amazingly healthy for you today is poison tomorrow. There's so much back and forth its hard to keep up. I do not pretend to have any sort of medical training, unless you count my First Aid badge I earned in the Girl Scouts, but I know what has been helpful to me and what I like. I tend to subscribe to the common sense theory for dieting. Alfredo sauce is never the healthy option, water is better for you than sodas, and when faced with the option between potato chips and carrot sticks the healthy choice is obvious. Every now and again I find a fad that I end up really liking and I incorporate it into my kitchen. One of these fads is chia seeds.

Yes, as in ChiaPet.

But these little seeds pack a nutritional punch. These little guys are a good source of fiber, protein, omaga-3 fats, calcium, and also contain decent amounts of vitamins B1, 2, and 3, zinc and potassium. I am not going to claim that they help you lose weight, cure anything, or prevent anything because, frankly, I can research it all day and find a million arguments saying that chia seeds will help you grown nine inches in just two weeks. I am going to say that nutritionally they have an amazing resume that is pretty much all (if not exclusively) positive. I also like them because of their assistance as a laxative, which without getting into too much detail is something that is important to me.

Because of their popularity, you can buy chia this and chia that at your local grocery store pretty easily. One of my favorite ways to consume chia seeds is by drinking them. Chia drinks at the store can cost $4 or more per single serving bottle. Ouch. Ounce for ounce that's some of the most expensive liquid on Earth. The good news is, it is really simple to make chia drinks at home for a fraction of the price.

I can make eight servings for $5 buy buying chia seeds in bulk and picking out my favorite juice. I use my mason jars (a favorite kitchen necessity of mine) to make ready to drink single servings. You can use anything you like to drink out of, but be prepared to have the container unavailable to use for at least one day and make sure it's okay with hot and cold temperatures.

All you need is:

- Raw Chia Seeds (1 tbs + 1 tsp per serving to be made-- I buy in bulk from the grocery store and keep them in an air tight container on my counter)

- Water (8 oz per serving to be made)

- Juice (8 oz per serving to be made--- also, I recommend 100% juice options whenever possible, read the label as many beverages labeled "Juice" contain little actual juice)

- Standard mason jar plus lids for each serving to be made

Step 1: Heat the water. I use my tea kettle to heat up my water to just before boiling, basically I take it off the heat when I can hear the water moving around but the kettle hasn't whistled. You can also run hot water from your tap, or just really any water you want. I heard that the chia seeds start to gel faster in hot water but haven't tested the theory. Step 2: Pep your mason jars/glasses/drink receptacles. Add 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon to each jar. You can mess with your seed-to-liquid ratio until you get the consistency you like. This ratio provides a good gel, but it's not quite at pudding consistency.

Step 3: Pour 8 oz of water into each jar. The seeds will start to gel almost instantly. Give the jars a good stir just to get things moving. At this point I leave my jars on the counter for a few hours to let them cool uncovered. Once they hit room temperature I put on the lids, finger tight, give the jars one quick shake and then put the jars in the fridge overnight. If you want to leave your jars/glasses uncovered that's totally cool. I close up my jars for convenience and to prevent them spilling in the fridge if they get knocked over.

Step 4: The next day (or at least six hours later, your seed/water mixture should be a nice pudding like gel) add 8 oz of your favorite juice to the jars. Give the jar a good shake/stir and you're done!

With this seed-to-liquid ratio the final product is the constancy of drinkable yogurt. More seeds or less liquid will yield a thicker drink and if you add enough seeds you can make it into a nice fruit pudding. For these drinks I like having mason jars, or really anything with a screw on lid. I keep the jars in my fridge and can grab one whenever I want and take it on the go without hesitation.