Tag: Fruit

Homemade Strawberry Honey Face Mask and Strawberry Yogurt Face Mask---Spa Days at Home

Homemade Strawberry Honey Face Mask and Strawberry Yogurt Face Mask—Spa Days at Home

I’m going to keep this one short because tbh I haven’t really done as much experimentation with this facial mask as I have with the others I post about. That being said, can we talk about how great strawberries are for our skin?! I mean, make up-free, no filter- Instagram good for the skin. There’s been a lot of buzz about vitamin c serum being the savior of dull, aging skin. Of course, I ran out and got myself a little bottle of some pretty expensive serum. We’re talking 60 bucks for just 1 fluid ounce. When I pay that kind of money, I really want the product to pay me back by working. I cleaned my face and applied the tiniest amount of this stuff assuming a little would go a long way. With any skin care product, I’m all about the tingle. You know, the tingle you feel on your skin so you know the product is doing the job. Dude, I am totally opposed to the burn, however, and after applying just a tiny bit of this stuff my face was on fire. I washed it off immediately and was absolutely determined to find an alternative to these serums everyone seems to rave about. As always, I turned to homemade beauty recipes.

I read up a little bit on some of the amazing benefits of strawberries in skin care products and ran out and got myself some. They’re super high in Vitamin C, amazing for brightening the complexion, healing scars, and fading hyperpigmentation. I mashed up some of these rubies and made two pretty tasty facial masks (seriously, it tastes pretty good). I’ve only applied each once, but my skin felt so soft and looked so bright after both applications that I just had to tell you about it! Check out these recipes!

Homemade Strawberry Honey Face Mask and Strawberry Yogurt Face Mask---Spa Days at Home

 

Strawberry Honey FacE Mask

Ingredients

  • 3-5 ripe strawberries (the riper they are the easier it is to mash them)
  • 1tbsp honey
  • 1tsp fresh lemon juice (optional)

Directions

  • rinse strawberries and cut off the stem
  • slice the strawberries into quarters
  • in a small glass bowl, mash the strawberries with a fork
  • add honey (add lemon juice at this point too if you choose to use it) and mix
  • apply this mixture to your face and allow it to sit for about 15 minutes
  • rinse with warm water
  • follow up with moisturizer
  • store any leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days

Strawberry Yogurt Face Mask

Ingredients

  • 3-5 ripe strawberries
  • 1 tbsp plain whole fat yogurt
  • 1 tsp honey

Directions

  • rinse strawberries and cut off the stem
  • slice the strawberries into quarters
  • in a small glass bowl, mash the strawberries with a fork
  • add yogurt and honey, mix well
  • apply this mixture to your face for 20 minutes and rinse with warm water
  • follow up with a moisturizer
  • store any leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days

Image: Stephanie Gerber

 

Try This---Pear Hazelnut Bread with Orange Maple Glaze

Try This—Pear Hazelnut Bread with Orange Maple Glaze

There really isn’t much to say about this quick bread that can’t be said by tasting it. If Fall were just one simple bread then this would be it. Pears, hazelnuts, orange-y maple goodness. I mean, seriously, this is one for the record books. I made this over the weekend and I was able to freeze some for a quick and easy breakfast throughout the week. I just heat it and add a little ricotta cheese a la this awesome recipe. You must try this!
Try This---Pear Hazelnut Bread with Orange Maple GlazeTry This---Pear Hazelnut Bread with Orange Maple Glaze

Pear Hazelnut Bread with Orange Maple Glaze

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup shredded peeled pears (about 2 medium, squeezed dry)
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • ½ cup Greek yogurt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ cups flour
  • ¾ cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped
  • ½ teaspoon cloves
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon orange zest
Glaze:
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon orange juice
  • 1-2 tablespoon maple syrup

DIRECTIONS

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and line a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides. Grease parchment.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together shredded pear oil, yogurt, eggs and orange vanilla extract.
  • In another medium bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, hazelnuts, cloves, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, baking soda and orange zest. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold gently. Mix until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake bread until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 55-60 minutes.
  • Let bread cool in pan for about an hour and then remove from the pan.
  • Whisk together powdered sugar, maple syrup, and orange juice in a small bowl. Top cooled cake with glaze and let set for 20 minutes before serving.

Source: Blahnik Baker

Perfect-for-Autumn Cranberry Face Mask---Spa Days at Home

Perfect-for-Autumn Cranberry Face Mask—Spa Days at Home

Umm. Cranberries are seriously good for your skin! Who knew?! So let me give you a little background on how I discovered this. I was cleaning out my pantry and I found a can of cranberry sauce from last year. I don’t know how this thing managed to hide from me all the way through spring cleaning, but it did. I don’t know about you, but I get a little nervous about eating canned goods when I’ve had them for more than six months. I picture botulism and all kinds of gnarly things. It’s pretty crazy, I know, but welcome to my world. I’d much rather smear those ‘outdated’ foods on my face. Makes sense, right?

Anyway, this DIY spa recipe features my all-time favorite skin foods (honey and yogurt) with the added kick of cranberries! This face mask is the perfect way to celebrate the Fall. Rich in nutrients, it will leave your skin feeling silky smooth.  Use this mask just before bed, rinse it off and wake up to a noticeably brighter complexion!

Perfect-for-Autumn Cranberry Face Mask---Spa Days at Home

Cranberry Yogurt Face Mask

Ingredients

  • 1/2c cranberry sauce
  • 1/2c plain yogurt
  • 1/4c honey
  • 3tbsp olive oil

Directions

  • In a bowl, whisk cranberry sauce and yogurt together
  • add honey and olive oil
  • whisk together until well blended
  • apply mask in a thick layer and leave it on for 20 minutes
  • Rinse and follow up with your favorite moisturizer

I’m pretty excited about this cranberry thing, y’all. As you know, I had that ‘old’ can of cranberry sauce in the pantry so I used that, but I can’t wait to mix some things up with fresh cranberries. I’ll keep you guys posted!

Image Credit: parade.com

Try This---Grain Bowls for Breakfast

Try This—Grain Bowls for Breakfast

I wasn’t always a big fan of all these ancient grains. It took me a while to warm up to the taste of quinoa, millet, and barley, but now that I’ve acquired a taste for them I can’t imagine what I was thinking before. They are the perfect, tasty, stick-to-your-ribs addition to any diet. Jam packed with protein, fiber, amino acids, the health benefits are plenty.

Whole Grains

With the weather getting colder here on the east coast, a hearty breakfast is just what the doctor ordered. Every weekend, I make a big batch of grains and store them in portion control containers (they even freeze well!). Throughout the week, I use a serving to add into my quick dinners and lunches, because meal planning gives me life. It was only a matter of time before I started eating them for breakfast.

If you’ve been following me, you already know how I like to play with my food. For a while now, I’ve been trying different takes on breakfast staples like yogurt and making savory yogurt bowls to start my day. Recently (again it should come as no surprise), I’ve been experimenting with adding grains into my breakfast rotation. Served up sweet or savory, grain bowls are an amazing alternative to that ho-hum bacon and eggs breakfast routine. You must try this!

breakfast-grain-bowl

grain-bowl-for-breakfast

Breakfast Grain Bowls

Ingredients

  • 1/2-3/4c cooked, unseasoned grain (millet, rice, quinoa, or barley)
  • splash of cooking oil
  • add-ins of your choice

Directions

  • Prepare as you would any stir-fry
  • Sauté the add-ins of your choice in a skillet or wok (scallions, veggie sausage, fresh herbs)
  • Place your grain in the wok and continue cooking until they are a golden brown
  • Serve

Some possible combinations to get you started:

  • quinoa+scallions+veggie sausage/bacon
  • barley+mushrooms+plain yogurt+thyme
  • rice+honey+bananas+cinnamon
  • farro+peaches+raw sugar
  • bulgur+blackberries+coconut shavings

Image Credit: cooknourishbliss, recipeshub, epicurious

Try This---Green Matcha Smoothie Bowl

Try This— Green Matcha Smoothie Bowl Better Than Ice Cream

Have you ever had green tea ice cream? If you haven’t had the pleasure of indulging, let me try to paint the picture for you. It’s all ice cream-y goodness, but with a taste that makes you feel like you’re saving the environment while pigging out. But alas, ice cream is still ice cream, and if you have fitness goals that exclude indulging in such deliciousness, even the deceptively green taste won’t help.

So I started thinking about smoothie bowls, which I’ve heard are the clean eating alternative to ice cream. I even pinned a recipe on Pinterest so I wouldn’t forget to try it. Full disclosure: I actually pinned it more for the awesome looking wooden serving bowls and cool wooden spoons featured in the picture, but I promise I seriously wanted to try the recipe too!

Anyway, that recipe soon became one of my most popular pins, and guess what? I still kept putting off making it. I was too busy using my matcha powder in spa facial recipes.

I finally tried this simple recipe (adapted from cooktoria.com) the other day, and it is absolutely amazing! It’s perfect for breakfast and snack time—the kiddos will love it as a back to school treat. It’s perfect as a post workout recovery shake—fitness goals, y’all. And best of all, it’s perfect as a dessert—a clean eating, naturally sweet indulgence that gives ice cream a run for its money. You must try this!

Green Matcha Smoothie Bowl

Green Matcha Smoothie Bowl

Ingredients

makes 1 serving

  • 1 frozen banana, sliced
  • 1 fresh kiwi, sliced
  • 1 tbsp matcha powder
  • 1/2c almond milk

Directions

  • Add all of the ingredients into your blender and process until smooth
  • Enjoy!

***NOTE: For what it’s worth, I suggest using decaf matcha powder if you’re preparing this for the kids. There’s nothing quite as exhausting as your already wired 2nd grader even more wired on matcha. Lesson learned the hard way.