My skin is not a happy camper lately.
I don’t know what’s up, but I know it’s ticked off. Angry. Inflamed. What’s the problem? That, my friends, is anyone’s guess. When a girl has puffy, itchy eyes and rashes on her face, it’s time to slow down and pay attention. If you’ve ever been the detective for your own strange skin reactions, you know just how daunting this process can be. Everything is questioned.
Not surprisingly, my family doctor suggested an allergy elimination diet and to examine my environment for possible culprits. I’ve switched our detergents, soaps, shampoos, and I’ve retired make-up for the time being. That was the easy part. The elimination diet and food journaling, on the other hand, are proving to be rather difficult as a recipe developer. It’s my worst nightmare actually.
Of course, skin flare ups could be from a billion things, including stress. I’m a big fan of stress-relieving practices, but I’m not so good at carrying them out in my own life. When life gets crazy and deadlines are looming, I often left my own health slide in the process. I know I’ve said it a million and one times, but I need to work on this.
As I’m leaving my doctor’s office she says, “Above all, DO NOT stress about the rashes. Stress is the absolute worst thing for your skin.”
[Is it just me or do you get more stressed out when someone tells you not to stress? ahh]
She’s so right though. I need to take a chill pill.
Of course, breakfast is a natural way to start the day on the right foot. I’m a big fan of breakfasts that can be made in advance, such as Green Monsters (just give them a good stir in the morning), raw buckwheat porridge, vegan overnight oats, and this chia pudding. Even though they take just a few minutes to throw together before bed, I’d fallen out of the habit of prepping them. But man oh man, it makes such a difference to wake up to a nutritious breakfast ready to be enjoyed!
The recipe below makes 2 servings so you can share it with a loved one or wrap up the leftovers for your next craving, which if you are like me won’t be far off.
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Chia Seed Breakfast Bowl
Yield
Serves 2
Prep time
Cook time
0 minutes
Total time
I like mashed banana in this because it thickens the mixture while adding a lot of volume. If you aren’t a banana fan, you can omit it, but you might need to reduce the milk and I also suggest adding in your own sweetener or other fruit in its place. This porridge is especially creamy when made with Homemade Almond Milk. The thickness of the chia pudding will vary based on the kind of almond milk you use, so you can add more if necessary. If your pudding is too thin for you liking you can add more chia seeds and let it sit for 10 more minutes. Finally, if you aren’t a fan of the tapioca-like texture of chia seed pudding, try blending it until smooth.
Ingredients
Chia mixture
- 4 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 – 1.25 cups almond milk (it’s great made with Homemade Almond Milk)
- 2 small bananas, chopped small
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- two pinches of cinnamon
Toppings
- 2 tbsp raw buckwheat groats, soaked
- 2 tbsp raisins, soaked
- 2 tbsp whole raw almonds, chopped and soaked
- couples pinches of cinnamon
- 2 tbsp hemp seed
Directions
- Mash bananas in a medium-sized bowl. Stir in chia seeds. Whisk in the almond milk, vanilla, and cinnamon until combined. Place in fridge overnight to thicken. You can add more almond milk if you want to thin it out in the morning. Or, if it’s too thin, add more chia seeds to thicken it up.
- Add buckwheat groats, raisins, and chopped almonds into another bowl. Cover in water and soak overnight in the fridge or on the counter.
- In the morning, place your desired amount of chia pudding into a bowl. (Note: at this point, you can blend your chia pudding if a smooth texture is desired, but I don’t bother). Drain and rinse the buckwheat/almond/raisin mixture. Sprinkle on top of chia mixture along with a pinch of cinnamon and a tablespoon of hemp seeds. Serve with a drizzle of maple syrup, if desired. Store leftovers in the fridge for 1-2 days.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
Have you ever dealt with a strange skin reaction or allergy? What did you do?
I love you. Yhis was awesome. I have some experience in NAET which helped my son. Good luck… My eldest daughter has come and go hives and rashes…sigh
Hi Angela,
First of all, I adore your blog! I’ve been following for about a year, and I think all of your recipes are fabulous! I recommend you all of the time! :) My daughter has a lot of skin issues and we did elimination diets with her–she is off dairy and gluten, but the biggest problem was soy. Here is an article that shows the problems with soy, as it disrupts your hormone levels, which can lead to skin flare-ups. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/soy-health_b_1822466.html
It may just be stress though. Good luck with figuring it out. It can be so stressful!
Thank you again for being such a inspiration and creating recipes that our whole family can enjoy! :)
Great recipe! I saw one like this in my Health Magazine this month and wanted to give it a try! Love the idea of a filling and healthy breakfast!! Thanks Angela!!
I used to dread the words ” Dont stress yourself”, as I was not sure what I could do. At that moment finding time to do meditation, Yoga or even sleep use to be a huge hurdle. One thing that was enjoyable without worrying about work is spending time with my husband. I was eating my breakfasts/lunch/dinner for a longer time by sipping herbal teas and talking to him and before I knew I felt more relaxed and could include other activities in my routine.
Three years ago I got sun burnt and my skin would turn red and itch if put on any moisturizer. I turned to very finely powdered oats soaked in whole milk (some days I used besan (indian chickpea flour) instead of the oats) for cleansing and drank lots and lots of hot water with lemon (2-3 sips once every 15 minutes). Coconut oil (for dry to normal skin), sandalwood paste, aloe vera (for combination /oily skin) are common skin soothers used in India.
Good Luck!!
Someone gave me a bag of chia seeds a few months ago but they’ve been lonely in my fridge because I just never really looked up any creative ways to use them. Luckily, I came across your post on Pinterest yesterday and threw a bowl together to have for breakfast this morning and YUM! I honestly can’t believe how good it was! I topped my bowl with almonds and shredded coconut and, with the banana, it was like a refreshing little taste of the tropics before coming in for a long day of work. :) I’ll definitely be having it again and making some for my kids and hubby to try! I see many more bags of chia in our future.
Good Morning Angela,
I am so thrilled I stumbled upon your blog! You have some fantastic recipes. I was going to ask if you make your owdeodorantnt? We do, and it helps with irritationobviouslyly in the arm pit and not the face, and it has no chemicals to worry about. I found it here: http://honeyrockdawn.com/category/food-health-eco/page/2/
This gal is amazing. I hope you try it, we use it and are amazed at how well it works. Take care and I hope you get to feeling better soon!
Alice from Englewood, Colorado
My skin is doing the same thing! I had an awful rash that started on my ears and spread down my neck, into my scalp and my face! Right my my ears have healed but my face is extremely dry. If the doctor is recommending allergy medicine (mine did along with cortisol), you can use Quercetin instead, it is a natural anti-histamine that won’t mess up your body. You need a lot of it though, 3-5g per day. Instead of cortisol you can use coconut oil which has antibiotic, antiviral and cooling properties. I have been putting it on my face several times a day. You can also start taking more fish oil, Vitamin E and Zinc which help heal the skin, and lots of water of course. Let me know if you have any questions, I can help with dosage if you are interested. I still have no idea what set mine off but its finally starting to heal. I don’t have a rash anymore, just dry skin. Everything takes a little longer when you take the natural route but your body will thank you.
Sorry you’re having skin troubles! I definitely sympathize, as I have extremely reactive skin. I’m currently recovering from a terrible reaction to jojoba oil of all things – I phased out my old moisturizer for something ‘clean’ and it’s backfired big time! I’ve also recently eliminated gluten in the hopes of clearing up a persistent itchy rash on my hands, and that seems to be helping, but it’s a slow process. I’m just hoping I don’t have a soy allergy, because as a vegan, I would be very sad to give up things like tempeh and tofu.
In the past, I’ve also had reactions to mattresses, where I’d wake up with itchy, puffy eyes. I’ve since switched to an organic natural latex one, and so far, so good!
It’s a frustrating process, but I hope you heal soon! Hang in there.
What a lovely recipe and photos!
I always find that adding banana to anything makes it 1000x better, especially mashed and cooked banana (so yummy when it caramelizes). Now I can’t imagine having any kind of porridge (or avocado chocolate pudding) without it!
Has your face ever gotten puffy from food? It could be sodium intake and I’m pretty careful about that, but ugh, it’s the worst. Glad to know someone else has skin vs. food issues:) Misery needs company right?
Yes, horrible life threatening allergies. Slowly one by one I am getting better With N.A.E.T.
I love chia seeds! And your blog! :)
Hi Angela,
this was my lunch today :-) It tasted good, but somehow yours looks much nicer and also your chia seeds are of a much lighter color. Do you know whether there are different kinds of chia seed? Or did you do something to the photograph? ;-)
Mine looked quite grey…but they always do if I don’t put cocoa in it … I mean it didn’t harm the taste, but a lighter color would reduce the sceptical looks from people in the canteen. ;-)
Or does the mixture get lighter when you use more milk?
In any case thanks for posting these lovely pictures. If there were no recipes with photos I guess I never would be motivated to try anything new….but if it looks this delicious…hmmm =) I think that next time maybe I’ll do it with pureed apple (with lemon or so, so it doesn’t turn brown), as my very ripe banana was great to mash but had a very prominent taste as well…like a banana pudding xD
I was so excited to try chia seeds (got them at trader joe’s). I made a recipe inspired by your fab site with almond milk, cocoa, chia, oats, and sweetener with almonds. I ended up getting horrible abdominal cramps which I read could be from the chia. Lo and behold, I tried eating chia again and the same thing happened. I wonder if your body gets used to it, or maybe I was just using too much? I read somewhere that you shouldn’t eat more than a tbsp per serving and I may have had more. I wonder if anyone else has had this issue with chia, or if my system is just sensitive to it. Anywho, I love your site :)
Hi Kate, That hasn’t happened to me before so I’m not sure! Maybe start off with a smaller amount like you said and see if that helps.
HI Angela! I was elated to see this post! Not because I want you to have skin problems though!:) I was going through the SAME issue two weeks ago. I chronicled it on my blog (http://www.soulfulspoon.com/2013/02/my-new-experiment-skin-diet.html) and I am happy to report after an elimination diet, adding in 2 extra green smoothies a day, and adding in lots of orange foods like squash, that my skin is 100% clear. I’ve also upped my chia seed intake and this has made a huge difference in my skin’s overall appearance. Some of my little forehead lines are even gone along with my skin is glowing and smooth! I also added in 2 tbsp. raw coconut oil to my morning meal and I believe that has helped as well! You can do this! Think about what you can add, not take away. That made my journey a lot easier!!!:) GOOD LUCK and I love this post!
Why does yours look so bubbly and delicious?? Mine was good but did not look like that!!
How do you always know how to post about what is exactly going on in my life?!?!? I am doing an elimination diet this week also…. trying to finally figure out if their are certain foods that are causing my belly to look 7 months pregnant or if my intestines just hate me…. this week I am eating free of a lot of the major culprits …. sugar (including fruit), wheat/gluten, and nuts. I have had to get very creative to do this on an already vegan diet…. on day two and things actually seem a little better for my pipes and plumbing… next week Ill slowing add foods back in to see if any cause an air baby to appear…. first back will be fruit!
Good luck with your skin!!!
I’m assuming your doc did some blood tests (B’s, D, lipids, protein metabolites)? Otherwise, it’s a bit of a guessing game.
Good luck with your allergies!
I think you read my mind writing this post. This past weekend I bought chia seeds and have been obsessing over your Chia Pudding recipes. I dreamt (yes, literally) of a chia pudding that had added volume and flavor with a mashed banana, reminiscent of your No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookie recipe I had tried last month. Needless to say, I’m going to go straight home and try this recipe. Well, as soon as I eat the current chia seed pudding sitting in my fridge waiting for me! ^.^;
My big time rash, not just face was sulphites and not knowing I was gluten sensitive. Hope this helps.
Cheers