Oh me Oh My HOW I L-O-O-O-OVE BRUNCH !!
When I was a mere “tween”, I would occasionally join my dad and grandma for brunch at our local diner. He would go to church with my grandma every Sunday and I would sleep in and meet them for brunch after church!
Total tween move – sleep in as late as possible or until free brunch calls.
Per usual, portion control was outta control at the diner.
This diner serves omelettes that are 3x the serving size and french toast that is drowning in a sea of maple syrup! Before the oversized plates of buttery and sugary delicious-ness arrived, they would provide us with a large woven basket of fresh, warm croissants wrapped in a cloth napkin.
Brunch game ON POINT… !!
I may have been eating in the ‘burbs of Chicago, but it truly felt like a classic NYC brunch – minus the bagel and lox.
Since moving to New York, I’ve noticed that people eat out quite often. Like… for every meal!
When I moved into my apartment style dorm, I realized exactly why that was… The kitchens are SO. DAMN. TINY…!
When I meal prep my overnight oats, I use up the entire 2×2 countertop space with oatmeal, chia seeds, cinnamon, milk, flax meal, greek yogurt, stevia, and a little bottle of vanilla – IF we are lucky! I won’t even try to explain how I meal prep my salads for work… that requires creativity and a few blessings from Sunday church.
Between the end of last semester and my arrival to NYC, I had a surplus of time in the morning. I would ditch the overnight oats and ball out with my own brunch.
As you all know, I crave sweets. Like, BIG time. When splurged on the ( maple syrup with a side of ) french toast for brunch, I would ALWAYS overeat.
But here’s the thing – my metabolism isn’t as fire as it was when I was a tween and the maple syrup pool ain’t helping the waistline sitch… Especially in the midst of bikini season!
SO – here’s the big Q : How do I satisfy my sweet tooth while not exceeding my daily recommended dietary allowance of sugar and carbs before noon…
UGH. The struggle is real. BUT, I have a solution that will BLOW your mind…
CHIA. SEED. JAM.
* Cue the round of applause *
It’s just about the GREATEST creation ever. And guess what? I can actually prepare it in my itty bitty teenie weenie NYC kitchen! Maple syrup is so tween anyways.
When I make the jam in my kitchen, I just mash up the strawberries with a fork and mix in the chia seeds. HOWEVER, if you had a kitchen with a bit more space, you can warm up your jam on the stove.
If you have a stove, you MUST utilize it. The jam tastes even better when heated up and the chia seeds soak into the strawberries quicker. I’ll def be heating my jam when I get home, but in the meantime I’ll settle for a microwave. :’)
I enjoy topping my french toast with chia seed jam; however, it also works in PB&J Overnight Oats.
Recipe:
1 T white chia seeds
1 cup strawberries
2 slices Ezekiel bread
1 egg, 1 egg white
splash of milk
dash of cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
splash of vanilla extract
ghee
Directions:
Mash strawberries with a lemon squeezer into a sauce pan under low-medium heat. Mash in chia seeds with a fork. When the chia seeds absorbed into the strawberries, remove from heat.
Whisk eggs, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla extract in a flat bottomed pie plate. Place bread slices one at a time into the egg mix and allow to soak for ~10 seconds on both sides. Melt ghee in a non stick skillet and place bread slices in the skillet. Cook on medium heat until golden.
Top the toast with your strawberry chia jam and dig in!
My top tip for making strawberry jam is to squeeze the strawberries in a lemon squeezer before putting them in the saucepan. This way, you don’t have to go ham when mashing the strawberries with a fork!
This chia seed / strawberry duo is THE dynamic duo for TWO REASONS:
- They are both CRAY high in fiber… 1 T of chia seeds has about 5.5 grams of fiber ( that is about 1/5 of the RDA for women 18-50 y/o ) and 1 cup of strawberries has 3 grams of fiber.
- This combo is sweet AF… but the high fiber helps control blood sugar levels and the total amount of sugar in the jam is equal to 1/2 T of maple syrup. You get a whole lot more bang for your buck !!
Is chia / strawberry the new PB&J?? 😉
xx hails