Just a quick recap of last night’s eats before I move on to cha-cha chia pets.  Here was a bed of greens with carrots, orange & yellow pepps, cukes & zukes, raw cashews, drizzled with balsalmic and a little EVOO. Up close all dressed up The kind people at Chia Seeds Direct sent me 3 pounds of Chia Seeds.  What ever am I going to do with all of them?  I’ve got some ideas… First idea is pretty straightforward…Vanilla Chia Pudding was 1/2 c of lowfat vanilla almond milk with 2 Tbsp of chia seeds and also added some NuNaturals Vanilla Stevia.  This stuff rocks my tastebuds.  Well worth the price of admission, fo’ sure! Here’s the 3 ingredients in a bowl.  I thought it was pretty cool when I added the chia seeds and stirred that they sort of bubbled a bit.  My own little Mount Kilimanjaro in a bowl.  The other chia seeds I have from WF never bubbled.  Maybe they were dead and that’s why I’ve had previous chia failures… After 20 minutes on the countertop, you can see it gettin’ nice and thick I popped that bowl of pudding in the fridge and later on we noshed on this.  Stellar! Next up was a Chia Seed Smoothie I whipped up in the VitaGod.  This one had 1 large nanna, 2 red delicious apples, 1 orange, 2 Tbsp chia seeds, dash of cinnamon… ….and dash of NuNaturals white stevia powder. Into the Vita went this… And out came this… See those cute little seeds just waiting to be slurped up? Now this was really freakin’ tasty.  It was really creamy tasting and considering there was not a drop of any nut milk, I give the little chia seeds big props.  Thanks Chia Seeds Direct! How have you rocked out chia seeds?  Have I inspired you to try at anything new?   I’d love to hear how you love to use them.  Stay tuned because I have another chia creation I made that was really decadent… One other thing I tried yesterday was some Vega Whole Health Food Optimizer in the Chocolate flavor.   Sequel Naturals was kind enough to hook me up.  Thank you! But, it was too gritty and a bit too dirty tasting, for lack of a better word.  I like to get as dirty as the next girl, just not in my smoothies.  I’m thinking that the berry flavor is gonna be a step up in the flava department.  I’ll keep you posted… They also sent me this book, The Thrive Diet, which I have been coveting!  Anyone remember my blown attempt to use my 40% off coupon at Border’s the other day?  This is one of the books that’s on my reading list and when the dust settles a bit ’round here, I can’t wait to dive in.  Karma, it’s great when it works out. Since I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I would show off my new furniture, so here ya go.  A table and 4 leather chairs from West Elm in dark chocolate.  Chocolate is my favorite food and I think it’s my new favorite look in furniture.  This was not an impulse buy in case you’re wondering.  We have not had a dining room or kitchen table in 5 years.  Yep, that’s right, we’ve been eating on the couch on our laps for 5 years.  It was high time to invest and we waited til we got here.  So worth the wait!!!  Do you like it?  Just really clean, simple, and modern.  Right up my alley. Yoga action.  Not gonna have quite as much room to stretch my legs out now that I have my table and chairs, but I worked it out in Astavakrasana. :) Averie Tip of the Day: My chia seeds giveaway, of course!!!  If you haven’t entered, whatcha waitin for?  A personal invite? Ok, you got it.  Now go enter to win with 5 ways to enter! What would you make if you had unlimited time in the kitchen…and an unlimited budget?  Ever watch the Barefoot Contessa or even Martha Stewart cook?  They use ridiculously expensive ingredients like a little truffle oil that’s probably worth $20 bucks a drizzle or $25 worth of raspberrries to garnish a cheesecake that took them a mere 6 hours to make.  Or they set out $100 worth of cheese and fruit for a gathering with one other couple.  I always wonder if anyone else thinks that’s nuts!?  What would you make if you had unlimited time and no grocery budget?