Chia Seeds = Magic. Like Fairy Dust.
Have I mentioned how much I L-U-V my coworkers?
Well, last night was our annual office summer party, and it reminded me of exactly why I love these unique little souls. I knew from the minute I walked into the joint that it fit like a glove, and the place hasn’t let me down ever since.
I’m certainly not wise enough to dispense career advice, but since I’m in Stage 4 of the Sometimes Healthy Hangover post-office Summer Party, I’m going to throw caution to the wind and do it anyway: Finding the right place to work is JUST as important as finding the right kind of job for you.
Yes, it’s important to love what you do, but remember, my friends, you will be spending a majority of your day with your coworkers, so you might as well like them. Better yet, you could be like me and think your coworkers are the sh***. Yes, I actually enjoy coming into the office every single day, because even if I’m not excited about a certain project, I know I’ll always be thoroughly entertained and that I have quality people to complain to about said boring project.
So, I bet you’re a bit curious as to how this lovefest post will result in me sharing a recipe with you about Carrot Apple Chi Chi Chi Chia Muffins. Well, guess you’ll just have to keep reading…
My Sometimes Healthy, Tipsy Kitchen
(Scroll down if you want the recipe…I think the back story is just as fun, but I won’t be offended if you skip my rambling)
Last night’s epic office party had it all:
Is this just another happenin' club? No, it's our office party AT a happenin' NYC club 😉
Lots of adult beverages.
Two glasses of vino? Sure why not?
Great drunk food.
BBQ chicken, cornbread, veggie kabobs AND mac n' cheese...good call.
Lots of dancing.
Shy isn't in the vocab.
The inevitable (yet strangely not awkward at all) Journey karaoke fest.
Blurry pic - you get the idea.
And of course, lots of cupcakes.
Lots of cupcakes - these are my people
And if you didn’t believe me when I said that I work at a pretty cool place, just take a look at the breakfast that was served for our early-morning meeting.
Now this is what you want for breakfast after a long night.
Egg sandwiches…for the whole office. Nothing tastes better than one of these after an eventful night on the town. And there they were – like magic. Fueling us through our hangovers to ensure we were just as productive and on-point as always.
But Back to the Muffins.
Most people go to the office party expecting a little bit of gossip. But not this Sometimes Healthy Girl. Nope, I was educating my coworkers on the benefits of chia seeds and how I just bought them for the first time. Someone asked me if they are similar to flax seeds. I smugly responded, “They’re the new flax seeds are sooo last season. Chia is the new flax.” She took a big swig of her wine, laughed nervously and walked away.
Never Make Drunken Promises
At a certain point in the evening, I shared with my coworkers a little muffin idea that I had planned for my first cooking experience with chia seeds. They were perplexed, grossed out and entertained all at once. But, once I saw that there was legitimate interest in this Sometimes Healthy Girl’s wacky cooking, my mind was made up: Yes, I would be baking Carrot-Apple Chia Seed Muffins tonight, no matter what time or how many glasses of vino I consumed.
3 hours, two awesome karaoke songs (I watched), 1 Sir Mix-A Lot song and lots of booty shaking later, my mind had not strayed from it’s original course.
On the way home, I called my mother, who was extremely excited to hear from her tipsy Sometimes Healthy Girl at 11:00 on a work night. I pointed out that most of my coworkers were still at the party, so she decided not to lecture me. Instead, she took advantage of my drunken oblivian and advised me that if I put as much effort into “finding a husband” as I do into my work and blog, I’d find my Prince Charming in no time. Normally, I’d threaten to get off the phone, but I was just too drunk and happy (Sneaky, sneaky Sometimes Healthy mother).
I typically hang up the phone with my mother when I get home so that I can catch up on current events through the Bachelorette and Jersey Shore. But, not last night. Nope, I wanted to keep yapping all the way through my muffin baking.
Good thing this wasn’t the most complicated recipe. At 11:30, I started in on my intricate muffins and by 11:34, they were in the pan and ready for some cookin.’ Here’s how I did it.
Carrot-Apple Chia Muffins. I should get a medal in food photography
Three Ingredient Carrot-Apple Chia Muffins
These delectable, healthified goodies, not only incorporate nature’s “hottest” seed, but are so easy to bake, you can whip em’ up after a wild night on the town.
Prep Time: 4 minutes (10 minutes if you’re extremely intoxicated – not my fault)
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients(12 muffins):
- 1 Box Betty Crocker carrot cake mix
- 1 cup applesauce
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Pour carrot cake mix into a bowl that is large enough to allow you to
drunkenlyvigorously mix with wet ingredients. - Plop in applesauce and water. Mix well with spoon.
- Throw in 2 tbsp of chia seeds.
- Pour batter into 12 muffin tins that either have liners or have been sprayed with lots of PAM. There will be a little extra batter – suggest you lick the bowl, especially if you’re tipsy.
- Bake for 30 minutes at 350, allow to cool for a few minutes (if it’s not 12:15 AM – see below for what happened to me), remove from tin and serve/put into plastic bag so you can bring to work to torture your coworkers.
Don’t believe me when I tell ya it’s easy check out the pics.
Throw ingredients into bowl. Mix while chatting on the phone with mother about putting less effort into muffins and more into dating (she talked, I listened).
Cooking for dummies. It doesn't get much easier than this, folks,
Drop in the magic fairy dust chia seeds.
Sprinkle these in everything and apparently magic happens...except fixing chipped nail polish.
Slop into 12 PAM’d muffin tins.
Don't worry if you spill a lil'. I did. There's a margin of error when I bake.
Bake for 30 minutes (don’t pass out while you wait!)
Don't take em' out too early...
Please wait for muffins to cool – or you will loose the bottoms and end up with lots of muffin tops.
The bottoms of my muffin tops...This is what happen when you drunk bake.
Muffin tops taste good but they are not full muffins, plus they make me think of the other kind of muffin top, and then I feel like I can’t eat 7 muffins in one sitting.
Here’s what the spread looked like at the ol’ office today (I waited to put on display until after our egg sandwich breakfast).
Sophisticated is my middle name...wouldn't you want a taste?
Shockingly, they were slightly smushed in transit just like my Cupcake Couples. Nobody’s perfect.
Here’s the display sign.
Here’s a happy customer.
Yep, just another happy customer. My muffins bring smiles to people's faces.
Here’s two of my coworkers fighting over the last muffin.
They were prepared to fight for it. Man, I'm good.
Now that’s what I call CHIA SEED SUCCESS.
I mentioned in yesterday’s post how I felt a bit left out at HLS having never tried the mystical chia seed. And now, I’m officially a part of the Chia Club.
I’d definitely call my first baking experience with chia seeds seed-sess (hehehehehe). The seeds blended perfectly with the moist carrot-apple cake. It was a flavor-creation made in Sometimes Healthy’s Drunken Heaven. My coworkers still don’t know, nor do they care about what a chia seed is. But, they sure think my Carrot-Apple Chia Muffins taste damn good.
Wine = inspiration in a glass.
And with that, I’m turning in for the night. The season finale of the Challenge is on, and I’m really hoping my least favorite CARROT-TOP will not win ;-).
PS – This baking session may have unintentionally been inspired by the infamous My Drunk Kitchen. Hilarious.
Question:
When was the last time you cooked after a few adult beverages? Did your dish turn out? Tell me about it.
Not a drinker? Tell me about the last time you cooked with a new ingredient. Did it work out?
haha what a funny story, im glad you left it in the post 🙂 Ill have to try this recipe, i recently won soem chia seeds and all ive used them for is oatmeal!! Well see if it turns out okay 🙂
Glad you enjoyed the story! I attended a “how to write a better recipe” seminar at HLS, and one of the tips was to avoid the story-telling in the beginning. But, I decided, the stories are what makes my posts unique, so I’m keeping em’ in 🙂 DEFINITELY try this recipe. So easy!
haha, those look delicious. And your coworkers look fun. I love that you made a sign for the muffins – hilarious. I’m not much of a drinker, so I think any baking I did after even sniffing wine would be a disaster. 🙂 I baked with agave nectar for the first time recently and I am now obsessed with it!
mmmm… agave nectar. Never baked with it but you’re inspiring me to try. See, I knew something good would come out of this drunk baking! I’m expanding my foodie horizons 🙂
I love your comment about chia is the new flax!! I will have share that with a coworker who is set on her flax seeds & won’t try my chia seeds 🙂 The cupcakes look delicious!!!
Yes you can just throw the Chia into anything and she’ll never know. muahahahaha. Let me know how it turns out!
I usually only make drunk food – aka, something really easy and unhealthy like nachos, mac n cheese or my beloved hot dogs! Haha, so your muffins are about 10 steps up from me!!! Good work 🙂
Hey, if I can do it tipsy, SO CAN YOU! Sometimes Healthy Girl, inspiring healthified drunk baking, one muffin top at a time 😉 (just remember to turn the oven off when you’re done!)
So true about chia being the new flax!! I am glad you jumped on this bandwagon… it’s a pretty good one but not too spectacular. I just HAD to get them when everyone else did, but I don’t use them as much anymore!
Your coworkers look like so much fun too 🙂
Ah Tessa – I have to…AGREE with you. I don’t really get the Chia craze, but, and I’ll be completely honest with you, my philosophy has always been, “Don’t diss’ it till you try it.” Thus, I had to give them a shot before bashing them…I won’t “bash” them but I’ll completely agree that they’re not too spectacular.
I’m totally going to make these! My drunk eating is usually far less civilized.
Also, hi! This is my first comment but I love your blog 🙂
Thank you so much for 1) READING and 2) Commenting. I love when people tell me they love my blog. It pretty much makes me day. So thank you thank you Megan! Do you have a blog? I’d love to read it but clicked on the link and it didn’t work. Please send me the link if you do! Thanks again!
Ok, I’m officially last season… Actually, I think I’m probably more hopelessly behind than that, but I have never heard of Chia seeds. I’ve only got flax seed in my pantry. How embarrassing. I’m going hone to throw it out and try your muffins. 🙂
Don’t feel bad. Before I tried them, I only heard about them through reading other’s blogs. But, yes, I think they’re interesting enough to give at least a couple of tries. Let me know how it turns out!
I really haven’t ever had chia before. Nor did I have any idea what it was / what it looked like until this post. Something new to try! 😉
Yayy! Glad I expanded your foodie horizons. PS – your recipe posts are WAY cooler and much more interesting 🙂
Hey Jamie!
We actually met at Ali’s fundraiser at Jack Rabbit. I love chia seeds! They’re ridiculously versatile and blend so well with sweet and savory meals. I love your sign for your muffins – very colorful and creative. I think you’re also spot-on when you say that work environment is just as important as the type of job one chooses.
I actually don’t believe I have ever drunk cooked or drunk baked, but I have drunk-ordered food and that usually turns out ok.
Chia seeds are fantastic in oatmeal and I bet they’d be a nutritious topping for some 16 handles! Stay safe this weekend!
HIIIII!
I remember you – you were the person that made my night with your sweet words about my blog! haha I think my drunk-ordering usually turns out okay too…although sometimes I regret it in the morning. I didn’t regret the muffins though! Oh…chia seeds in 16 Handles??? Now, that’s what I call thinkin’ out of the chia box, girl!
Ha! I loved this post! From the office party social scene to not knowing chia seeds at HLS to sharing health in a fun way with others – I love it! You are so fun. 🙂 That recipe looks so easy and doable too…definitely going to give it a shot at some point. Great story with a healthy recipe. Happy weekend, friend!
Thanks so much Bonnie! Thank you so much for reading too. I love telling stories with recipes. I feel like that’s the way Rachael Ray does it, and I find her pretty entertaining. I’m no Rachael Ray, but it’s still fun to tell stories through cooking 🙂
My sister’s friend in college had a drunken specialty–it was a Velveeta cheese dip of some sort, but he literally couldn’t make it as well when he was sober. Or perhaps it just tasted better when you were also intoxicated?? Hmmm…
hahahaha I love your stories. How funny – I’m gonna go with #2…might have just tasted better intoxicated. Hope that wasn’t the case with the muffins!!!
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