Warm chia pudding (trust me, it's delicious)!

Plus, foolproof salmon and a chicken soup to make all season

It’s Fall Break in our house (is this just an Arizona thing?!) so the kids have been home this week. It has been a blur of work and appointments and playing referee to two kiddos in old Halloween costumes practicing their wrestling moves and having Nerf battles. We’ve enjoyed a few movie/TV show classics of my childhood (The Goonies! Full House!). And, as kids at home do, they’ve snacked with abandon what seems to be all day, every day.

On the topic of snacking, I shared a warm chia pudding recipe this week that- and I promise- tastes better than it might initially sound. It’s thick and rich and creamy, with a delicious custard-like flavor. 

If the idea of warm chia pudding doesn’t sit well with you, or you simply don’t care for chia pudding regardless of its temperature, this recipe has great potential to change your mind. 

Eggs thicken the pudding and add-ins like vanilla and cinnamon give it a flavor that reminds me of homemade tapioca or a warm rice pudding. I usually call it “keto tapioca pudding” in fact, since it reminds me of the homemade tapioca my dad would often make growing up. We’d sit and eat a bowl of it warm, and then I’d dig into it chilled the next morning for breakfast.

My low-carb and keto-friendly version is especially tasty when the weather cools down and it’s so versatile too- enjoy it as a healthy snack, breakfast or even dessert. 

While I have loved this recipe for years now, it’s brand new to the site! You can find the original recipe (and recipe tips) on the blog and there’s even a pumpkin spice version in the recipe notes that I’m dropping below. 

It’s has been cozy and appropriately comforting this week. Here are a few other things I’ve loved, food and beyond. 

Warm Chia Pudding (Pumpkin Spice Version)

Follow the master recipe as written, but when the chia pudding starts to thicken and you remove it from heat, stir in the pumpkin puree and the pumpkin spice seasoning. 

Since you’ll need to continue whisking vigorously at this time, I highly recommend getting the pumpkin and spices ready to go (and right next to the saucepan) so you can easily drop them in and whisk away. 

When making traditional tapioca pudding, you’d usually temper the eggs but since all of this cooks quickly in one pot, you can get away with adding the whisked eggs to the saucepan as long as you make sure to stir it frequently and watch the mixture closely so it doesn’t overcook. 

Garlic Butter Baked Salmon

We had this for dinner last night with some sautéed green beans. 

This is a foolproof salmon recipe that results in the most tender, flaky, juicy baked salmon. It’s my go-to baked salmon recipe that was the inspiration behind my pellet grill salmon recipe on the site (if you have a Traeger or similar pellet grill, I highly recommend that one— it has a recipe review average of 4.9 stars!). But if you don’t have one, you can easily make it in the oven. 

The best part about the recipe is that you don’t really need a whole lot. Use 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil or grass-fed butter, mix in about a teaspoon of minced garlic, 1-2 tablespoons of diced shallot (if you have it), some salt and pepper and it’s oven ready. 

Baking the salmon at 275°F is the trick. A low, slow bake (about 20-25 minutes depending on how you prefer your salmon) results in extra tender salmon that doesn’t lose its moisture. 

Chicken Soup 

I made a batch of my low-carb chicken soup when a friend came over the other day and it ended up being part of our lunch, our family’s dinner that night, and lunch again over the weekend.

A dash of turmeric and some freshly-grated ginger give this soup extra flavor, plus a few extra health benefits, too. You can even kick it up a notch and use some homemade chicken bone broth. 

With all the sickies going around, I love this healthy chicken soup recipe that’s just as tasty as it is nourishing. For extra ease, use pre-cooked, leftover chicken. And if you don’t have all the ingredients on the list, no worries. Chicken soup was meant for making use of what you have.

Tip: For a more traditional chicken noodle soup that’s still low-carb or keto-friendly, you can use kelp noodles or, my favorite, Kaizen lupini pasta (affiliate links). Full disclosure- Kaizen is a client of mine but I really do love their high-protein, low-carb pasta and we enjoy it often.

On Deck

On deck for dinner this week is my low-carb cauliflower soup. I recently received the sweetest reader comment about this recipe which then made this creamy, garlic-y soup top-of-mind. (By the way, if you ever leave a review or comment, thank you so much!)

Scrumptious! Absolutely divine. Do not change a thing. This is the best cauliflower soup I have ever made. Thank you! - Veronica

I’ve been craving a loaded baked potato soup and I know this cauli soup will be the perfect vessel for chopped bacon, chives and cheese.

Non-food Joy

Leaving you with a little bit of joy I saw on Instagram this week… This post from Katherine Wolf of HopeHeals.

She writes: “Because a really hard thing happened to me, I have the privilege of joining my husband and kids on the drive to drop-off every morning. 

I don’t have the option of being anywhere else, which means I get to be present in the place that’s actually most important.”

As wife to a husband with physical disabilities that prevent him from working (“early retirement,” as we call it), it felt so relatable. Far too often, we’ve viewed this as a hindrance, clashing with our version of what we view (and our society views) as a “normal” life. But as time passes since Ian’s diagnosis, we’re both able to see this is exactly where he needs to be. In his stay-at-home-dad era. ;) And our “not-normal” life is still a happy, wonderfully blessed one. 

How lucky am I that instead of driving off to different workplaces in the morning, Ian and I are both home together during the day or running errands or waiting in the school pickup line?

As Katherine says, “We can’t often change the facts but we can always change our thoughts…. Once your thoughts change for the better, somehow it’s okay if the facts don’t.” 

I know I shared some of the best bits here, but I hope you give it a quick read and it helps you as much as it did me.

Have a great rest of the week! 

Questions about any recipes? Let me know!

Abby