This pastel hued snack jar of creamy lemon and pomegranate chia pudding was entirely inspired by my little girl. She was feeling fluish, so I wanted to make her a quick and nourishing snack which still has a special feel – something comforting and cute. So I played with colors, and I was most drawn into a combo of light yellow and pink. This was easy to achieve with two basic natural colorful powders.
Coloring food is a quick way to bring plain food to life. I was coloring food with beetroot even before having children, but my kids certainly have woken up the inner artist in me.
With just a drop of beetroot juice (or sprinkle of beetroot powder or even a bit of grated beetroot) neutral colored food magically changes its color to pink. Berries are amazing coloring agents too: I use raspberries for red and wild blueberries for purple food. P
Powders are simple to use, and it’s easy to adjust the desired hue. Spirulina powder is amazing for different shades of green, and with just a sprinkle of turmeric powder food turns to yellow.
One color on my to do list still remains: blue! Not the purple kind of blue but real blue! I’ve heard blue can be achieved by combining purple broth extracted from red cabbage with a pinch of baking soda. I’m very intrigued how this all works and will be reporting my experiments here. Update: Tried it and it worked, so beautiful! ♥
Another way to make food pretty and cute is by shaping it into familiar shapes like hearts and stars. I wrote about this also in my Vegan Basics part 2 as a tip for making children like plant-based foods more.
I’ve learned from several “Sticking fruit to glass jar” experts on Instagram that the secret to making fruit stick is to cut it into very thin slices, as thin as you can without the slice breaking apart. Bananas in my opinion stick the best, and also citrus fruit, kiwis and strawberries work well.
This time I made banana hearts for my little special someone. And here she is, with her “just woken from a nap” dreamy eyes but still with an excited twinkle – Do I really get to eat this all?
And she did eat it all with just a little help from me 😉
- Creamy lemon chia pudding
- ½ ripe and sweet banana
- ⅓ cup plant based yogurt (I used unsweetened soy yogurt)
- ¼ cup creamy coconut milk
- ½ tbsp chia seeds
- ½ tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- Creamy pomegranate chia pudding
- ⅓ cup plant based yogurt (I used unsweetened soy yogurt)
- ¼ cup creamy coconut milk
- ¼ cup pomegranate arils (or berries)
- ½ tbsp chia seeds
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- ½ tsp beetroot powder
- Optional: 1 tsp Your Super Foods Forever Beautiful superfood powder containing chia seeds, acai, maqui, acerola, maca & blueberry
- For decoration
- ½ banana
- pomegranate arils
- Place coconut milk can in the fridge overnight.
- Take out coconut milk can and scoop out the stiff creamy part.
- Blend all ingredients for the creamy lemon chia pudding in a food processor. Once smooth, put pudding into a bowl and let set for ~15 min in the fridge.
- Blend all ingredients for the pomegranate chia pudding in a food processor. Once smooth, put pudding into a bowl and let set for ~15 min in the fridge.
- Assembling the jar: put the yellow pudding in a glass jar first.
- Cut bananas into thin coins and shape into hearts (cut as thin as you can). Stick banana hearts into the glass jar just above the yellow pudding.
- Add pomegranate arils.
- Put on the final layer of pomegranate pudding and decorate with more arils.
- Enjoy or give to a special someone 🙂
ps You can follow my blog also on Pinterest!
And just when I thought this little jar was going to be the cutest thing on the page, nope your daughter stole that title! But altogether, my goodness that photo is perfect! That I’m about to eat the best little snack jar smile 🙂 I am in love with these bright flavors and colors! And I would love to find a good natural blue coloring too. Cabbage + baking soda you say? That sounds very strange, but worth trying!
Thanks so much Natalie 🙂 And ooops it took me quite a while to reply…sorry. But nevertheless I am so delighted you liked the pic of my little girl. She was seriously so happy to help me with this photoshoot even though she had the flu at the time. I guess a colorful pastel pudding jar works as a bribe really well 😉 Have a lovely week!!
This banana hearts are so cute :)! And I love that you are using turmeric. Hugs and kisses! Annelina
Thank you my dear <3 Banana hearts are just the best, so easy to pimp up a dish with some hearts 🙂 Lots of love to you! And a great week!
Hi Tiina, I really love that Picture with yout kid. Ist so nice. And the recipe is also very Special. I hope I will find the time to check it out. Enjoy your Weekend. xoxo
Janine, Thank You 🙂 So happy you like the pic, I will tell her she has gotten good feedback. I hope it will encourage her to help me with my future photo shoots too 🙂 Have a wonderful week!
These might easily be the cutest post I’ve ever seen. How adorable is your daughter, Tiina? And what a cute idea to picture both beauties together. I’m amazed!
xx Lynn
Thank You Lynn, such a sweet comment 🙂 Warmed my heart! Hope your week has started out well! Love xoxo