Have you ever tried tadpoles?

We were at our friends' place the other week; they have a Breville juicer and are enjoying juicing green smoothies for weight loss and overall health factors. I tried some of one - all I tasted was the cucumber...and I like cucumber! It was a mix of kale, celery, cucumber, green apple, ginger and lemon (in case I want to remember the recipe someday).

We're not ready to invest in one or in the veggies required, but definitely a great inspiration. They were also saving the veggie pulp and making their own crackers; all I tasted was the kale (aka GRASS FLAVOR) so I wasn't into them, but I was told they are great with hummus!

Other things I managed to try that night included squash soup (Too much curry! Arg! I'm such a wuss with spice!) and what turned out to be my favorite, chia seeds!

But they have a little story (doesn't everything with me?)...our friend asked me if I had ever had chia seeds, and then took out a giant jar from the fridge. I'm still mentally stuck on the seed idea, and thinking of a dry good - then he asked if I had ever had tadpoles... WHAT. He poured a small glass, but after the tadpole comment, I was laughing and disgusted all at the same time and almost couldn't even try them. I managed to have a sip, and HEY THIS IS LIKE A FUN DESSERT. They had added some home-grown ground stevia (!!) so it was a slightly-sweet drink, just only palatable in small sips for me (OH NOES THE TEXTURE). I'm odd with textures of some foods like that.

Now I want to get my own chia seeds and add them to my diet as something to hold me over while at the office in liquid-y form and trying to graze ALL THE TIME. I know it is a stress and boredom reaction; I am usually fine when we are busy or at home with watching what volume of calories I consume. I read up on them and you can add them as a crunchy topping, or hydrate them into a slurry-like drink; they form a gel around the seed that makes it possible to 'drink' them, in the same way one 'drinks' jell-o - it isn't a pure liquid but your ingest it like it is one. You know, the gel you make when you apply the weeds to the terra cotta surface of a chia pet...yes I ate your chia pet seeds.

We are golden AND delicious. 

I also made bread! This was before the chia adventure but along the same lines... English Muffin Bread! The original recipe makes four loaves but was fine to be cut in half to make two. I used yeast-in-a-jar that I apparently bought thinking I would be THE BREAD MASTER OF MAKING BREAD but only used once; I had to follow the manufacturer's directions on the container to make sure it was alive. I did this BEFORE adding any of the flour, just in case it was dead; dead-yeast-sugar-water is easier to throw out than 5.5-cups-of-flour-plus-dead-yeast-sugar-water.

How did it taste? Great! It was a success. The taste this recipe emulates isn't the Thomas' muffins we are used to - it is a fresh muffin taste; have you ever gotten English Muffins from the refrigerated section? This makes bread that tastes like those, only much easier on your wallet (5 ingredients!)

I tried freezing some pre-cut slices, but they don't reheat to their original glory easily. I found they need to be microwaved AND toasted. It doesn't mean I'm not eating the frozen pieces though, and I would definitely use this recipe again.