Cinnamon Raisin Cereal Pudding

I’ve been having some redness and irritation in my eyes for some time now, so I finally went to the eye doctor today, hoping to find out what’s up and get rid of it. Easier said than done. Diagnosis? I’m allergic to my contact lenses.

This means I’m not to wear contacts at all for at least three months, after which time I might be able to wear them again, but only if I get the single-use kind. After 14 years of contact lens wearing, I barely know how to function wearing my glasses, nor can I survive without them since I can only see clearly to the end of my nose. Suffice it to say that I’m pretty unhappy with my sentence. Faced with a lifetime of eye drops and frequent contact lens replacement, I’ll be looking into Lasik pretty soon.

Given that the eye exam and purchase of aforementioned eye drops cost me this week’s salary (not to mention the fact that I’ll now have to replace my glasses as well), I was not in a position to purchase the kind of dessert that I started craving when faced with a bummer of this magnitude. Instead, I forced my thinking cap on and came up with something pretty awesome in the end.

Cinnamon Raisin Cereal Pudding

Ingredients:

• 1 cup puffed cereal (I actually used a combination of kamut puffs and Kashi Go Lean)
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• sweetener to taste (agave, maple syrup, stevia, etc.)
• 1/2 cup milk (I used unsweetened hemp milk)
• 1 tbsp raisins

Directions:

1. Combine dry ingredients (cereal through sweetener) in a small bowl.
2. Add milk and stir to combine.
3. Allow to sit for 20 minutes or so and stir again (placing the mixture in the fridge between stirs can speed the process). Wait another 20-ish minutes and stir. The mixture will look something like this when ready:

4. Use a hand blender (or regular blender) to puree the cereal smooth.

5. Serve and top with raisins.

Serves 1

 

I recommend putting this together before you make dinner. That way, you can tend to the occasional stirring while you cook and it’ll have congealed enough for you to blend by the time you’re ready for dessert.

A dollop of nut butter would also be a really nice addition, I’m sure. I sprinkled some extra cinnamon on top because I can never get too much. And if it’s Saigon cinnamon, it’s extra-special zingy!

My dessert was satisfyingly rich and creamy, yet super-duper healthy—huzzah! Between the hemp milk and chia seeds, I got a dose of really healthy fats along with my whole grains.

And since it’s made of cereal, it would also be a great breakfast, naturally. I might double it in that case, however, in order to make it a meal. Just mix it the night before and do your blending in the morning.

Now that’s a sight for sore eyes.