Happy Halloween my little spooks! I hope you love and enjoy this holiday as much as I do - dressing up in costumes, eating ALL the candy - its one of my favorite times of the year! I love celebrating by decorating the house and making as many "Fall-themed" foods as I can during the month of October. This year, after making all the banana bread and pumpkin cookies, I wanted to make something spoooooky and worthy of being served up Halloween itself! I created this easy, fun recipe as a way to take your love for Halloween to the next level. Not only does the chia pudding look super swampy and like a monster from the Black Lagoon might come crawling out, it actually tastes great (like vanilla!) and is packed with good-for-you nutrients like fiber, iron, calcium + omega 3's. The perfect way to sneak a little HEALTH into your belly between all  the tricks and treats! 

This recipe whips up in minutes and is ready after just a couple hours in the fridge - meaning you'll have just enough time to get costume ready before you slurp down this swampy goodness. It might make your teeth and tongue a big blue-ish hued, but that just adds to the un-dead-ness of it all! Leftovers save easily in a sealed container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Best served with a little blood red fruit. ???? Scroll down for the recipe - and printable version!

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk 
1/3 cup chia seeds
1-2 tablespoons maple syrup 
1 teaspoon vanilla
(or skip the maple syrup + vanilla and use a few drops of vanilla stevia to sweeten instead)
1 1/2 teaspoons charcoal powder (about 6 charcoal pills, emptied)

DIRECTIONS:
Whisk together the almond milk, chia seeds, maple syrup, vanilla and charcoal completely in a large glass jar or bowl. Cover the container and place in the fridge for 4+ hours, stirring or shaking occasionally to check consistency and make sure charcoal has uniformly distributed in the pudding. The color will darken slightly as it sits.

When ready, simply serve as is or with some blood red fruit and optional granola. Can be shared with vampires and ghosts. Leftover last in the fridge for 3-4 days, unless your ghost friends get to them first. Enjoy!