Hello There...

Welcome to my blog. I'm a full-time mommy of a 4-year-old & a 0-year-old, part-time waitress and a rookie blogger. Living on a farm with my son, daughter and husband among dogs, chickens, ducks and other various wildlife keeps life interesting and anything but normal!



Thursday, June 11, 2015

The Good News & The Bad News: Agave and Chia

The Good News: Chia seeds are legit a really good choice for healthy eating. The are loaded with tons of nutrients including fiber, antioxidants, omega 3 fatty acids and protein. They really don't have much flavor so adding a tablespoon here or there doesn't really affect the taste of your food - but it packs it with extra healthiness! I read a few articles about them, but this one was the most straight-forward, easy to understand. I'm excited to start using these in more of my baking and cooking. In fact, I made a blueberry smoothie this morning and added a good heaping tablespoon.

Blueberry Protein Smoothie
1 Packet EAS Vanilla Protein powder
1 cup Almond Milk
A whole lot of blueberries - I used probably 2 cups, but I needed to get rid of them because they were nearing the end of their freshness - so it was smoothie or garbage, so I just used them all.
1 tablespoon Chia Seeds
Ice

I blended this all together in my ninja blender and it tastes great! I had one of my chocolate chip muffins with it for breakfast - I am still nursing the smoothie because it's huge! It filled up like a 24 oz mason jar. I mean, it's HUGE.

Win for the chia seeds! I plan to add them to oatmeal and I see a lot more smoothies in my future! Thanks to some couponing magic, I have about 20 packets of EAS protein powder in my pantry that I got for FREE! It was actually a huge money maker. At the time I only bought it because they literally paid me like $1.50 to take 2 packets out of the store- I had multiple coupons so I have a whole bunch of the stuff just taking up space in my cabinet. I'm excited to finally use it!

The Bad News: Agave nectar is probably the worst possible choice for a "natural" sweetener. I'm literally better off using granulated cane sugar. Big healthy fail on that one. It's so yummy though, and much easier to use than honey. Oh well. Glad I decided to do a little research before I kept using it! I have a whole bottle unopened in my pantry - I wonder if Woodman's would let me return it?

Turns out it's really high in fructose which is not easily digestible so it is also really high in carbohydrates - exactly what I'm trying to stay away from! I also read a bunch of articles about Agave nectar and really didn't find anything positive about the stuff. This one had the most helpful information.

So there you have it.

Oh, more good news: I DID get up and run this morning! It was short because I found a great new jogging stroller on a Facebook rummage site that I went and picked up right away because I always miss the good stuff! So I cut my run short so that I could get my hands on that...and it is awesome! I love it-can't wait to take princess for another [longer] run later when the boys are at softball.

Happy Thursday everyone!
-The Farmer's Wife-

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