Hello my lovely!
It's the tail end of the Easter long weekend, and here I am on another week long break with Aiden - can you believe it? He just had a week off with March break last month, and here we are again!
Don't get me wrong, I love my kiddo, but there's only so much LEGO, crafting, building, wrestling, a park time this mama can handle! I am ready for him to be back in school tomorrow OMG lol
As we speak I'm banging this blog out quickly as the minutes on his Paw Patrol watching climb, and I'm trying to be conscious of this, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to get things done as a mom/entrepreneur/wife/employee/friend.
And let me ask you this? Do you feel guilty about this? I actually don't....I think there's enough mom guilt out there and we really don't need to add to it by making ourselves feel bad about needing a break, or needing to carve out time for work, or saying NO to the kiddos in order to say yes to date night, etc.
Being all things at once is freakin hard....and we need to give ourselves more credit. So let this be permission today for YOU, if you find yourself in this destructive mindset loop, to just STOP and give yourself a pat on the back.
You're doing the best you can, babe!
OK, now to the yummy part. THIS is just heaven in a glass. I have to make multiple batches of this because Aiden and Ty steal this from me. So prepare yourself, and other hungry bellies, by making a few of these ahead of time. They're quick and easy to make, and you'll wonder if you're actually just eating dessert.
But I promise, there's good stuff in here! It's a balanced meal with protein, it's high healthy omega-3 fats from chia seeds, and you've got your carbs in the banana. I've also added some notes at the bottom, in case you want to modify it based on your nutritional needs and goals, so check that out!
I hope you love this recipe as much as we do, so be sure to leave a review if you make it :)
Happy chia pudding-making!
Banana Bread Chia Pudding
Prep time: 10min | Cool time: 2hr+ | Total time: 2hr 10min
Ingredients:
1 banana, half sliced, other half for the smoothie
1 cup milk*
1 scoop vanilla/plain protein powder (I use the AMPED Tri-Release Whey Protein by Isagenix)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon peanut/almond butter*
1/4 cup chia seeds
2 tablespoons peanuts, chopped
Instructions:
In a high speed bender, add half banana, milk, protein powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, maple syrup and almond butter. Blend until smooth, then place in a mason jar.
Add chia seeds, then seal and shake for 5 minutes until well combined.
Open it back up, then add sliced banana and peanuts on top. Seal and refrigerate overnight, or at least 2 hr.
*NOTES:
MAKE IT DAIRY-FREE: choose a plant-based protein powder (I use the IsaPro Plant-Based Vanilla Protein by Isagenix) and milk alternative
MAKE IT NUT-FREE: omit peanuts and peanut/almond butter OR sub for sunflower seed butter
WEIGHT/FAT LOSS GOAL: Use half banana total (1/4 + 1/4), 1 teaspoon almond butter, and 1 tablespoon walnut pieces.
