When we received a selection of Chia Oats & Pods to review, I have to admit, I'd never heard of chia and we were off to a bad start because the (bilingual) Madhouse Mini-testers kept giggling every time I mentioned it because it sounds like a rude word in French ! I went to investigate and discovered that Chia seeds are the highest combined plant-based source of Omega 3, fibre and protein and are packed with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals – essential nutrition often missing from our modern diet. The Chia Co suggest that adding chia seeds to your child's diet is a simple way to ensure they have the recommended daily dose of Omega 3.
To help achieve this in a fun, fruity way, they've come up with ready-to-eat chilled Chia Pods made from chia seeds and coconut milk in a variety of fruit flavours. Many of the flavours are sugar-free - they are naturally sweet from their fruit content - and those that have been lightly sweetened contain just a little natural, low-GI coconut sugar, making Chia Pods a healthier alternative to sugar-laden children's cereals.
Taking one pod at random to give an idea of nutritional content, a serving contains 149 calories, 3.2g of protein, 9g of fat (of which 4.5g saturated but 0g trans) and 6.5g of dietary fibre. Each pod contains a tablespoon of chia seeds and provides 100% of your recommended daily intake of Omega 3 and 25% of your fibre.
We received Mango ...
Vanilla Bean ...
Blueberry ...
and Banana flavours.
On to the taste testing. Pierre looked slightly worried and said that it looked like frogspawn !
He bravely had a try though, but he wasn't keen on the texture.
Juliette had a tentative nibble too and, while she said the fruity flavours were lovely, she didn't like the feel of it in her mouth.
Sophie said they were really nice and ate half a pot, then decided that she found it a bit too sickly. I think these could work well mixed in with yogurt or even cupcakes or porridge to help mask the slightly strange texture that the kids found off-putting.
The Oats + Chia got a much warmer reception though. Each little sachet just needs to be mixed with boiling water (or cold water then microwaved, in which case you can use the empty sachet as a measure) and within just a couple of minutes, you have a bowl of tasty porridge. We had three varieties to try - Banana & Mango, Apple Spice and Mixed Berry - and they are all lovely. The porridge is smooth but still has some texture from the oats and fruit pieces. The kids like to add a little sugar but I preferred it without because the fruit and a small amount of low-GI coconut sugar gives it just a touch of sweetness. Each portion provides 200 calories making it a great breakfast or light evening meal when you want to recover from all the over-indulgence of the festive season !
RRP : Chia Pods £2.59 each, Oats + Chia £5 for a box of 5 sachets
Pods available in selected Tesco and Costco stores. Oats + Chia available from Ocado.
Disclosure : We received the products in order to write an honest review.
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Interesting textures to these pots. Chia seeds are now the in thing to eat for health!
ReplyDeletesounds great but looks awful
ReplyDeleteI know they are very trendy these days, buy oh my, I'm with Pierre on the looks, just a frogspawn in different colours
ReplyDeleteLOL Out of the mouths of babes ... !
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