Citrus Chia Pudding

A Spirited ReDux: From plain Jane vanilla extract to fancy-pants elderflower liqueur, we like to keep a little liquor in the kitchen. Show us how you like to cook, bake or mix-it-up with spirits, extracts and other alcohols. A splash of vodka makes summer sauces shine – and liqueurs brighten desserts: What’s your healthy recipe with spirit?

I’m about 1/3 of the way through with moving to a neighboring state right now, so all my kitchen utensils, ingredients, etc. are partially here and partially there. I’ve actually been surviving on fruit, smoothies, free lunches from orientation (+ leftovers from said orientation lunches), and protein bars for the past 1.5 weeks, because…not only am I in the middle of a move–I also happened to lose my wallet somewhere in the mess, so I have no credit cards/debit cards to speak of (they’re in transit, I hope)! Yayyy…

My new location actually has my bank in the state! There’s only 1 branch (which is still an improvement from none), but it’s 5 hours away, so clearly, I’m still not going to be going there. Life has been interesting, but hooray for mobile banking!

Before all of this happened, I had these grand aspirations to unearth the super awesome vanilla extract I obtained from my medical service trip to the Dominican Republic, but that’s…somewhere in the basement(?) at the moment. (Using the shaoxing cooking wine I managed to find at the local(!) Asian market was also a thought, but I’m not sure that counts as a liquor since it’s wine? …Can you tell that I don’t drink?)

Anyway, this is what I came up with yesterday night when I finally got back to location #1. This is more on the tart side of the spectrum, so feel free to sweeten with honey, agave nectar, maple syrup…whatever your choice of sweetener happens to be! :]

Citrus Chia Pudding

Ingredients:
-1/4 cup chia seeds
-2/3 cup orange juice
-1/2 tsp orange extract
-1/2 tsp pineapple extract
-fresh or frozen fruit, diced (optional; I used cherries + blueberries)

Instructions:
1) Pour chia seeds into a cup or bowl.
2) Stir together the orange juice, orange and pineapple extracts. Pour over chia seeds and stir well. Cover and refrigerate overnight (or at least wait for it to soak for ~30 minutes!).
3) Top with fruit and mix!

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