Chia Fresca: Chia and Apple Cider Vinegar Tonic

This is my new morning drink ritual. I love it!

When I wake up in the morning I can feel that I'm dehydrated. I think it happens to all of us naturally when we sleep. Chia seeds are great for stamina and, when soaked in water like this, they become very hydrating.

This is an easy way for me to incorporate benefits of apple cider vinegar into my daily diet too. This drink is so delicious and hydrating it's addictive. You can easily play around with the flavorings, especially with the wonderful variety of flavored liquid stevia available now.

So let me tell you a little bit about chia seeds and how wonderful they are. If you've never seen them before, chia seeds are tiny and look similar to poppy seeds except they are shiny. They come in white, but are most commonly found in a mottled gray-black color. The little black specks you can see in the photo are chia seeds. Chia seeds are a humble, but amazing superfood. They are high in good omega fatty acids, stamina building, and, when soaked in water like this, they become very hydrating. The omega fatty acids content are good for healthy brain function, as well as heart health because they counteract high cholesterol and heart disease. They are also high in other nutrients, such as: protein, fiber, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, iron, calcium and antioxidants.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon chia seeds
juice from 1 orange, lime or lemon, freshly squeezed
1-2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
3 drops liquid stevia (I like to use flavored stevia and my current favorite is Chocolate Raspberry Liquid Stevia, although Vanilla flavored stevia drops also go nicely with the tart citrusy flavor of the orange and acv) *
2 cups purified water

Instructions:

Add everything to a blender container, blend on low until mixed. Ideally let stand for 10-15 minutes for the chia seeds to absorb water and hydrate themselves. Blend again to mix if desired and drink.

I use a pint-size Kerr canning jar, like you see here in the photo, because my Oster blender blade attachment fits on them perfectly. It's the perfect size for this drink, and I make it and drink it from the same container, so less to wash up afterwards.

* Cherries are my #1 favorite fruit, and I just found a new product… Cherry Flavored Stevia! Woohoo, I'm ordering some today. Actually there are two flavors and I'm going to order both, Cherry Liquid Stevia, and Cherry Vanilla Liquid Stevia. I will definitely try them in my Chia Fresca. I've tried the Cherry Flavored Stevia, and I love it! It's got a really good strong cherry flavor. I've been using it in my smoothies as well as my chia fresca. I use 3-4 drops in my chia fresca. The stevia flavor doesn't seem to be as strong as some of my other brands, but that's fine, it means I get more of the cherry flavor before I reach that threshold where the stevia aftertaste is going to be too strong. In fact, I've used quite a bit of this in my smoothies and never hit that point of too much stevia aftertaste.