Explorations of the Chia Seed

I recently discovered the Chia Seed.  Apparently people actually discovered chia seed way back when; it was first domesticated around 2600 BCE by the natives of Mexico.  It is known as the running seed-you know, the one that people can run for days and days on (not sure of the accuracy of that statement, but you get the idea).  Here is a quote from a website I found about chia seeds:

"Chia seeds are typically small 1-mm diameters ovals. They typically contain 20% protein, 34% oil, and 25% dietary fiber. The oil from chia seeds contains a very high concentration of Omega 3 fatty acid - approx. 64% in the oil. Chia seeds contain no gluten so it is useful for people with the celiac disease."

It sounded pretty good to me so I jumped on the bandwagon.  I found some recipes on the Internet that I wanted to try.  The first one was for granola and it was really easy to make but didn't impress me much.  I added it to my own cereal in the morning because I wasn't sure how it would go with my boysenberry yogurt.  I would make it again for it's medicinal qualities but I didn't like it that much.  

The next recipe I tried, which was tonight, was delicious.  I made Whole Wheat Chia Seed Pancakes.  Yum.  Ingredients included oats, honey, pumpkin pie spice and other things.  The batter wasn't that thin, but it still made great thick pancakes; and with my homemade sugar-free raspberry freezer jam this was a fibrous treat with no added processed sugar.  Amazing! 

Here's the batter-you can see the seeds if you look closely.  

Here they are in the pan.  Very exciting, I know.  I even fried them in olive oil for that extra healthy kick.  

The finished product = yummy.