First things first… You guys are amazing. I had the best time reading through all of your comments and words of advice about what to pack and what to eat during my upcoming trip to Europe. You now have me craving gelato, pizza, blueberry steak (!?), crepes from street vendors and croissants. I can’t wait!
(Source)
You should all know that I plan to bathe in gelato! YUM! 
I also want to say how much I appreciate the time many of you put into sharing so much in the comments section. I plan to make a master list of places to visit, food to try and things to pack for my trip based on your suggestions. Stay tuned for a post dedicated to what I’ll be packing once I get my butt in gear and figure out what to bring!
Dinner
This evening was spent outside! Ryan and I arrived home from work at almost the exact same time, changed into our play clothes and headed outside with Sadie for a walk around the lake.
Before we left, I placed several Italian sausages in the oven to bake while we were out.
Once we returned from our walk, the sausages were ready to be cut up into slivers and placed on top of some cheese. Yup, it was pizza night in our house! (I blame your comments about all of the delicious slices of pizza I must try when I am in Italy for sparking this craving!)
The base of the pizza was a pre-made Boboli thin pizza crust that we picked up at the grocery store using a coupon from the company.
I’m going to be 100 percent honest when I say I’ve seen these pizza crusts for sale for years but have never bought one because they just looked kind of “blah” to me.
Well, I was wrong. So, so wrong!
After topping the pizza crust with marinara meat sauce, spinach, shredded cheese and Italian sausage and baking it for 8 minutes, we had a hot semi-homemade pizza that tasted fantastic.
In Ryan’s words, “This is how pizza crust is supposed to taste.” He was speaking in reference to the pizza dough we’ve purchased from the Publix deli that somehow always ends up too thick and heavy.
This pizza crust was doughy on the inside, slightly crisp on the outside and not overly thick.
Plus, once we finished eating our pizza we felt satisfied and not like we weighed 5,000 pounds. Pizza win!
Dessert
Dessert tonight was COOL.
I’ve seen several different creations using chia seeds popping up on blogs all over the place and, after seeing a recipe on Gena’s blog, figured I could transform the seeds into a pseudo-dessert!
I combined the following:
- 1/4 cup of chia seeds
- 3/4 cup of almond milk
- 1 tbsp. cocoa powder
- Small spoonful of sugar (1 – 2 tsp.?)
I let the mixture sit while I was at work all day and this evening I enjoyed a thick bowl of chocolate chia seed pudding!
The seeds softened and thickened in the almond milk overtime and the texture reminded me a bit of tapioca pudding. It was really tasty!
I think this chia seed pudding would make a fantastic breakfast if combined with some peanut butter, granola and bananas or fresh berries. So good!
Now that my belly is sufficiently full, I’m off to pack my lunch and spend some time on the couch with Ryan and Sadie. (Any ideas as to what I can make for lunch tomorrow using leftover Italian sausage?)
Enjoy your evening!
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Julie that pudding looks SO good, you are so creative!! Mad props, girl!
I’m a new reader! Hello!
I’ve been on a chia seed kick recently too (as with everyone else it seems!) so I’m definitely doing to try this pudding out! Yum!
The croissants in Paris = must nom! There’s really nothing like it except in Paris! All the croissants you’ve eaten before will taste like frauds. 😉 And the nutella crepes…. oh my gosh.
HUBBA i wnt pizza now so BADD!! and chia pudding- LOVe that creamy goodness!
That chia seed pudding looks delicious! I’m going to make it for a snack later today. Yummmy!
That pizza looks great! I’ve always seen that crust in the store too and never thought to buy it. Now I should try it! Oh and that pudding looks like the perfect dessert!
That pizza looks really yummy Julie! I too always passed up that pizza dough – it just never looked that good in the slightest, heh. But you may have convinced me to try it!
I know I’m a little late but here are my two-cents about your Europe trip:
-IF YOU DO NOT TRY POFFERTJES YOU ARE INSANE. (They’re tiny little puffed pancakes sprinkled with butter and powdered sugar.) It’s also fun to watch how they’re made, Europeans are some fast flippers!
-It’s HOT during the summer: pack shorts, tanks and dresses. These are also space-savers in your suitcase! (For extra space saving goodness, I grabbed one of the vacuum storage bags at Walmart and was so happy I did.)
-Don’t skimp on the shoes: Make sure your shoes have a good sole. Flip flops won’t cut it some places in Europe. Keep in mind you’ll be walking on a ton of cobblestone roads.
-Make copies of all your credit cards, passport, etc. and keep them in your purse (you may also want to give copies of these to someone you trust who is staying stateside). If something happens while you are there and you’re lost/cant get to your hotel/some other tragedy occurs you’ll want to be able to prove who you are and where you’re from. Also, take the time to look up where the American Embassy is in each of the places you’ll visit.
-Have fun! I didn’t want to come back when the trip ended & almost skipped my flight!
I love Publix pizza dough. I usually rub mine with olive oil, roll it out and put it on a pan in the oven for a few minutes to let it cook, then I take it out and add my sauce, cheese and toppings. This way it comes out a little cripsy. You should try it this way! I think rubbing it with olive oil really helps.
LOVE gelato!
Sausage and peppers for lunch? I never try boboli either for the same reason but now i will have to try it.
The Boboli crust is amazing! My family bought it all the time when I was a kid!
I love tapioca but this REALLY just didn’t work for me. Maybe the almond milk makes the difference.
did you let it sit for a while? it takes a LONG time to get thick.
Overnight, and still no luck. I’ll give it another shot when I’m feeling ambitious =)
i want to make this pudding! Do you think 3 hours is long enough to let it sit? Hopefully it can work with soy milk!
Yes!
Hi Julie!
Just curious — What kind of almond milk do you usually use?
I’ve been using the unsweetened Blue Diamond brand for my oatmeal, but I think the chia pudding would definitely be better with the sweetened kind! Let me know 🙂
I use Almond Breeze!
Good to see Chia being used in such a fun way. Keep it up!
The pizza looks fantastic! You have such great recipes on here, I will have to try it. I love putting italian turkey sausage on boboli pizzas and adding my own pizzaz to them! I’m scared to puff up the chia seeds, honestly I just munch on them dry but I may have to take ur advice and do the pudding!
Do you happen to have the calories non the pudding? It’s yummy!
I love recipes like this… i love pretty much any recipe that tastes like dessert but is healthy
All of the recipes on https://healthyrevelations.wordpress.com are just like that 🙂
There are also chia seed recipes that are to die for
Nice and easy dessert, exactly how I like them! Thank you Julie, I just subscribed to your blog! 🙂
If you want take a look at my blog as well HappyEatingHappyLiving.wordpress.com
I hope you find something that you like! 🙂 xxx