Where do you side on the subject of sugar substitutes like Equal and Splenda? I’m not a fan, so I chose stevia as my sweetener of choice for this chocolate chia pudding.
If you aren’t familiar with stevia, let me give you fill you in. Stevia is a sweetleaf plant native to South America that is 300 times sweeter than sugar.
I discovered this natural sweetener a few years ago when NuNaturals, a company in Portland, sent me a sampling of their stevia products. After researching this sweet leaf’s history, I’ve been using it ever since.
If you’ve been watching the news regarding sugar substitutes recently, you’ve probably noticed that it’s tough to determine the good from the bad. There are advocates on both sides of the fence when it comes to your abundance of alternatives like (NutraSweet, Equal), sucralose (Splenda), saccharin (Sweet’N Low).
Some experts believe that because these artificial sweeteners have been approved by the FDA to be safe for human consumption, we should have no problem adding them to the foods and drinks we consume.
Other experts, like Dr. Mercola want you to run the other direction as quickly as you can.
I’ve decided that FDA approved or not, I’ll stick with sugar or stevia as my sweetener of choice. There’s not enough evidence in either direction for me to opt for artificial sweeteners.
And while Nunaturals products are refined, I trust the quality of their stevia products, and have used them in dishes like these brussels sprouts in a lemony vinaigrette.
The other day, I whipped up this delicious chocolaty chia pudding with a cocoa syrup made with stevia.
I’ve been so happy with this cocoa syrup, it’s been appearing in my cup of coffee every morning along with a splash of milk to make a low calorie mocha. Delicious!
Thank you for sharing NuNaturals. You can be sure I’ll be back for more!
~Kristi
PrintServing Size: 6
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup chia seeds
- 2 cups vanilla almond milk
- 6 tablespoons chocolate stevia
- 1 large banana
- 1 ½ cups strawberries, stemmed and quartered
- 6 tablespoons whipped topping
Instructions
- In a medium sized bowl add chia seeds, vanilla almond milk, and chocolate stevia. Mix well, cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Place a blender with the banana and blend well.
- Top with quartered stevia and whipped topping.
Notes
Food energy: 202kcal Saturated fatty acids: 1.41g Monounsaturated fatty acids: 0.74g Polyunsaturated fatty acids: 6.08g Total fat: 8.23g Calories from fat: 74 Cholesterol: 2mg Carbohydrate, by difference: 23.51g Total dietary fiber: 11.28g Protein: 7.22g Total lipid (fat): 10.08g Water: 135.48g Ash: 2.16g Total sugars: 6.87g Calcium: 282mg Iron: 0.57mg Magnesium: 23mg Phosphorus: 265mg Potassium: 284mg Sodium: 43mg
2.5http://motherrimmy.com/nunuturals-chocolate-stevia-chia-seed-pudding/Mother Rimmy�s Cooking Light Done Right by Kristin A. Rimkus is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the products mentioned above for free in the hopes that I would write a review on this blog. I only recommend products or services I use and believe will be beneficial for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”