Why Make Food At Home?

As mainstream trends move toward ordering, delivery, and pre-packaged everything, why should anyone consider making food for themselves? There are plenty of great reasons, and they don’t need to take up all of your time. Most of the trends involve spending less time on making, and more time on eating. After all, that’s the fun part! (for most people) However, there are pitfalls among the pre-made items that can be easily avoided when you make something yourself at home. With the right tricks applied, you don’t even need to spend much time at all. Find out what to avoid, how to make-at-home faster, and all of the benefits with this handy article. Learn how the chia seed helps make home-made foods easier and more nutritious at every turn. You’re in control: It’s your body, it’s your taste, it’s your menu, why shouldn’t you be the one in control of what goes into it AND what stays out of it? When you make something yourself, you’re in control of what’s going into the food. Don’t want artificial colors? No problem. Pass on the preservatives? That’s just fine, because it’s in your home, not on a truck travelling to sit on a shelf somewhere. You also control what goes IN. No manufacturer is going to include extras because they drive up the cost of the product. If you want to sneak chia seeds into your kids’ berry smoothie for breakfast, you can. If you want to use food combining to make spinach taste like a chocolate shake, you can. Having a bit of hidden pumpkin puree in soup or chili to thicken it, and add fiber is great…but only you’ll know to do it.

Trying to lose weight? Looking to fight inflammation? Want to feel better in general? Avoiding excess sugar is the easy way to help with all three of the above goals. However “surprise sugar” is here to sabotage them. But, just what foods have sugar in them? You’ll be surprised at how many supposedly savory items have high fructose corn syrup or another type of sugar in them. • Salty, savory crackers: You’d think these wouldn’t need any sugar at all, but read the ingredients on your favorite brand just in case—more types than you’d think add sugar. • Apple sauce: popular snack with real fruit? Well, it is popular, and it IS apple, so you’d think it would be sweet enough, but, it’s often doused with HFCS. • Dressing, ketchup, bbq sauce, steak sauce AND pickle relish: Sure, some sauces are “Sweet n’ sour” or “Sweet n’ hot” (in the case of bbq) so you’d expect some sweetener, but even the savoriest of dressings tends to have some added sweet. • Canned soup, canned fruit, flavored yogurt, and even…canned tomatoes? Yep. Various brands have been known to sweeten all these unlikely candidates. Of course, you expect it in canned pie filling, but no one suspects the tomato tin.

While this list is just a start, you can easily use it to see how people who are told to “avoid excess sugar” in their diet actually have a much harder time doing so, than anyone would expect. This type of sabotage is especially easy when the sugar’s hard to taste. Always read the labels first, and don’t take anything for granted. Then…if you don’t like what you see, you can find out how to make it yourself. New modern methods, tips & tricks may make things much easier than you expect. Fresh is best: When it comes to food, fresh is best for flavor AND nutrition, most of the time. However, fresh is also difficult (and can be expensive) for companies who have to pack, ship & have their product waiting on the shelf. They are not inclined to use fresh ingredients, since they present more of a hassle. How about fresh chia? MySeeds Chia stays fresh thanks to antioxidants that help prevent the healthy omega 3 oils in the seeds from becoming rancid. Unlike other seeds, such as flax or sunflower, chia remains fresh much longer because of its antioxidant power. It remains fresh for up to 2 years, if stored in a cool, dry place. But…no one keeps just one bag that long, because it is so useful. To get the best flavors you can use fresh foods which would ordinarily spoil when you make things yourself. You can also avoid heat-treated foods where the heat would ruin some of the nutrition, like canned fruit, pre- packaged soups (tend to be over-cooked), and bottled juice. (for safety, all of these must be Pasteurized, but heat ruins some enzymes & can reduce vitamin content) You’re free to make half-the-fat chia strawberry-lemon muffins with real berry slices that would become moldy after sitting on a truck and a shelf for two weeks…plus much more. Yes, you CAN bake with half the fat with chia seeds. Chia gel is an excellent substitute for butter or oil in many baked recipes. It looks the same, cooks the same and even tastes the same but has half thef fat, and more fiber.

Save a calorie Often, foods and drinks you prepare at home can be much lower calorie (but with about the same taste) as café or pre-made items. One of the best examples of this phenomenon is special coffee drinks. The popular “pumpkin latte” from cafes in the fall can have between 400 and 1000 calories, and zero actual pumpkin! On the other hand, a pumpkin-spice fall coffee drink you make yourself…made with real pumpkin, can have 1/3 the amount of calories. However, it doesn’t stop there, your drink can also have fiber, beta-carotene and protein when you add chia and real pumpkin. The only goal of restaurants, cafes and pre-packaged food sellers is to get you to order the food again. They’ll put in whatever they have to, including trans fats, totally artificial flavors, hydrogenated oils, and anything else that’s not good for health but instead, good for only flavor or the bottom line.  When you’re in control you have the ability to select things that not only taste great, but are good for you too. You can also save a calorie with chia. The combination of soluble and insoluble fiber in chia, along with its omega 3 oils and complete protein help you feel full faster, and stay feeling satisfied longer. By mixing chia into your foods, or having a chia drink before a meal, you won’t be as hungry. Chia is an excellent weight loss helper.

Need something that’ll keep? Think frozen. Freezing fruits and veggies instead of cooking/canning them keeps more nutrients. Banana getting spotty? Don’t throw it out, peel, plastic-wrap and freeze. It won’t even turn brown. Then, it’s great for banana bread/cake, smoothies, and cookie recipes. Frozen berries let you enjoy great taste all year long, along with other seasonal fruits like peaches, mangoes and more. Home made fruit popsicles are also a fantastic snack choice on a hot day. Since they’re frozen, they’re for sure a “make ahead” but then, they’re always ready when you want to grab one out of the freezer.

Fresh is easy…when you have cool tips! Drinks—Chia seed drinks are so beneficial. They’re a great way to get your daily value of fiber, and…the daily value you want of great flavor! Most make- at-home drinks are as easy as pour & stir. Here, you can see the calorie cutting ice latte featuring 1/3 the calories at less than half the price. It tastes just as good, and you can prepare it in the morning to have in the afternoon. Why have a soda when you can enjoy Pomegranate Lime Chia Fizz with a twist of ginger? This bright, fizzing drink is a super soda substitute that’s got so much fresh flavor you won’t need HFCS-loaded cans any more.

Breakfast—You already know most cereals have a batch of sugar, and so do all sorts of ‘toaster pastries’ meant to be quick in the morning. Instead, consider smoothies, overnight- oatmeal (like mango-lime or pb&j--both shown here), yogurt (Greek with raw honey, fresh/frozen fruit & chia for fiber), eggs for protein & chia for fiber (like the Easy Chia omelet & minute scramble) or make-ahead healthy chia granola, breakfast fiber cookies with your favorite mix-ins or even (for a special time) the total health chia peach pancakes—no ingredient is bad for you? AND its pancakes? You win! Smoothie bags: Pre-prep your smoothies for even less time spent in the morning. In a zip top bag, add your ingredient mix (like spinach, chia, banana, pineapple & a mango slice) and freeze. In the morning, just dump the bag into the blender, add your non-dairy milk of choice & blend away. Overnight oatmeal: This breakfast winner needs to be on everybody’s list. It’s gluten free, it’s blender-easy, it can be hot or cold, the texture of oatmeal or the smooth, creamy texture of a smoothie. The merits of overnight oatmeal make it a clear winner over cereal. Fruity, nutty, chocolaty or any mix of the three are easy to accomplish. Don’t mistake this stuff for grandma’s oatmeal when you’re having pumpkin pie breakfast bowls, peach-raspberry smoothies or chocolate almond butter parfaits with layers of coconut whipped cream. Enjoy it all without high fructose corn syrup, or even any added sugar.

Now that you know these make-at-home tips, and that a healthy breakfast can be ready in about a minute (literally!) are you ready to start enjoying better taste and better nutrition? You don’t need to waste time hunting all over the internet for cool, quick recipes with chia. We’ve got everything mentioned here, and much more available for you (sometimes instantly!) with Chia Instant Bonus Book Free Instant Chia Cook Book Kindle Chia Book Selections and even Hardcover Cook Books Want a specific recipe you see here? You can Contact Us & we’re happy to help.

Yogurt—Plain Greek yogurt is best on the health scale, loaded with protein, probiotic bacteria, calcium and more. But, it’s too tart for lots of people. Instead of grabbing a cup of HFCS filled, artificially colored and candy- topped yogurt, make your own blends with an inexpensive container of plain Greek yogurt & your favorite mix-ins. Raw honey (fights allergies, is better for you than sugar) takes the edge off the tartness (as does stevia, the leaf-based sweetener) and blending in the season’s fresh fruits (or frozen fruit) will take care of the taste. With your blender, you can prepare cool tastes like strawberry-banana, peach- raspberry, and more. Add fiber with chia seeds, and you won’t even know they’re there. This is an excellent way to get kids eating chia for the omega- 3s and

Dressing—Mixing your own dressing is often as easy as measure, shake & pour. Anyone can do it, and you can enjoy many more salads (or enjoy salad at all, if you think you don’t) with the wide range of homemade dressings.  Go beyond Ranch & enter the colorful menu of salads involving fresh fruit like strawberry- spinach with balsamic vinegar dressing, peach-blueberry summer salad, and much more.