Superfoods and Skin Care **

Hello everyone! 

When I was in my teens I was extremely lucky to have clear skin, which was great for my confidence and everything, but meant that I was a bit blasé about skin care. I tended to just eat whatever I wanted and didn't think about hydration or superfoods at all! Since adulthood and reading all about people's skin care routines I have had a complete change of heart. Skin care is so important, but more important is healthy eating and staying hydrated, it helps you obtain clear and glowing skin. After speaking with Nuts.com, a highly reputable online health food store, I was inspired to take part in a discussion of how healthy eating can improve your skin. Naturally, I was super keen to get involved with all beauty related discussions :-) 

Today I want to talk a bit about the benefits of Goji Berries, Cacao Nibs, Herbal Teas and Chia Seeds. I will also be including a couple of tips on how I like to incorporate these into healthy snacks. Eating healthily is something that I rely on for energy during tricky times like exam revision and stressful work periods. A delicious, yet healthy snack can instantly boost your mood, giving you essential nutrients and making you feel virtuous for actually eating something good for you instead of snacking on chocolate. So delicious and tempting, but so regrettable afterwards! 

Goji berries are packed full of Vitamins A, B2 and C, as well as Zinc. Their antioxidant properties are believed to boost your immune system, helping to clear and improve your skin. You can eat these raw, dried or incorporate them in baking recipes. I like to add them to salads with walnuts, rocket, grapes, red pepper and chia seeds. I quite like their sweet flavouring when raw and will quite happily eat them on their own. 

Cacao nibs are one of the purer forms of chocolate, they are raw, crushed and dehydrated cocoa beans without the additional milk and sugar used to transform them into chocolate as we know and love it. Cacao nibs are full of antioxidants and the lack of sugar makes them a much more skin friendly snack. They are also found to be really effective at combatting PMS, so ladies when the monthly demon rears its head you should consider these as a little snack! Cacao nibs can be a little bitter if you are used to milk chocolate and I will admit I don't enjoy eating them on their own, although they do have quite a good minty tang! I prefer to add them to a cake or brownie mix. My favourite way to eat them is adding them to greek yoghurt with honey and dried goji berries. This makes a delicious and nutritious snack, with the honey adding that bit of sweetness. I also like to bake sugar free brownies using cinnamon, dark chocolate, cacao nibs and goji berries. These make quite a good revision snack as you can make them into quite small chunks, ideal for nibbling at my desk! 

Chia seeds are super versatile, they can be added to both sweet and savoury recipes. I enjoy adding these to rocket, red lettuce and tomato salads. However, my favourite way to eat them is to sprinkle them on top avocado and poached egg on toast. They are so easy to just chuck into a recipe, and they taste really rich and nutty. Please do bear in mind that it isn't recommended to have more than 15g per day, moderation is key! Chia seeds are great for clear skin, they are rich in antioxidants, omega 3 fatty acids, fibre and a whole bunch of vitamins! 

Everybody is all about the matcha green tea at the moment, unfortunately I am not a caffeine drinker! However, its skin benefits are indisputable. Matcha tea is an ancient Chinese recipe, the antioxidants coupled with the purity of the tea and hot water is great for opening up your pores and clearing your skin. My non-caffeine alternatives are herbal tea, especially ginger and lemon, they make my skin feel invigorated and fresh. Both varieties of tea help keep you hydrated, which is essential in achieving that gorgeous glowing skin :-) 

How do you like to enjoy healthy snacks? If you have any recipe tips please let me know in the comments below :-)

xoxo

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Weekend should = pizza!

Hello everyone, 

I'm so glad it's Friday and I'm 100% certain many of you feel the same! It's definitely fair to say that weeks in the winter feel much longer than any other time of the year. When the weather is dreary and the days are long it is very tempting to fall into a rutt of snacking on rubbish food and generally feeling sorry for yourself, all the while berating yourself over the loss of your "summer body". Eating healthy doesn't have to mean cutting out carbs and only eating boring salad, you can have treat foods too, simply by adding a healthy twist. 

I am a huge lover of pizza, it's so quick and easy to make! For those of you who also love it and fancied making it a little better for your body here is the perfect recipe. 

You will need: 

• A pizza base (I was going to make my own, but I couldn't find yeast in the supermarket *sigh*)
• Flour 
• Tomato puree 
• Olives 
• As many vegetables/miscellaneous toppings as you like 
• Mozzarella 
• A pre-heated oven to 200°C / 400°F / Gas Mark 6     

1. Start by rolling out your pizza base onto grease proof paper. You can use as little or as much of the base as you like. I chose to do a small pizza for myself, saving half of my base for another day. Just roll up any excess in grease proof paper and put it in the fridge or the freezer depending on how long you want to store it. 

2. Squeeze your tomato puree liberally onto the base and spread it around evenly. You can do this with the back of a spoon or a plastic spatula like mine in the photo. 

3. At this point you could choose to add your cheese, I didn't fancy cheese on mine, but I have put in a picture of my housemate's pizza. She evenly laid the mozzarella on the pizza in strips. 

4. Now add your toppings! I added green pepper, black olives, baby sweetcorn (I boiled this beforehand so it wasn't rock solid) and tuna. My housemate added prosciutto and olives to hers. 

5. Sprinkle some flour on your exposed edges and pop your pizza on a baking tray and into the oven it goes. The time may vary depending on how well done you like your pizza. Bearing in mind these are thin bases I let mine cook for 10 minutes before taking it out. 

And voila, your pizza is ready to eat. This takes no time at all and you can be as creative as you like with your toppings! 

What are your go-to toppings? Let me know in the comments below :-) 

xoxo