Organic food! And a nasty picture of my lips...

Yesterday, my boyfriend went to the Basics store in our city and bought a bunch of organic and vegan food. I'm so excited! You can read about how organic produce is better for your appearance than regular produce here.

Included in the picture:

-Organic black beans, chili beans, and lentils

-Leapin' Lemur cereal: basically organic Reese's Puffs (weird thing: I don't really like Reese's cups...I don't really like super sweet, chocolate-y cereals..but I've always loved Reese's Puffs!)

-Organic blue corn tortilla chips

-Organic tomatoes

-Vegan shells and cheddar; vegan "cheddar" spread

-Organic orzo and whole-grain spaghetti (actually used to get this for pretty cheap when I went to UW-Milwaukee)

-Organic Spring mix, baby carrots, and snap peas

-Organic blueberries and kiwi

No, my boyfriend and I aren't vegan, but his friend and his friend's wife are. Basics is pretty much the only place they shop for groceries, so my boyfriend thought he'd go with yesterday to see what it's all about.

Unfortunately I worked until 10, so I didn't get to experience an amazing organic dinner, but I did make a delicious dessert with a kiwi, a handful of blueberries, and a scoop of Starbucks Vanilla Bean Frappuccino ice cream (I know, dairy and sugar....oh well!):

At home today, I made a delicious asian-inspired salad, with asparagus sautéed in olive oil, sesame oil, lemon juice, low-sodium soy sauce, rice vinegar, and ginger, served on a bowl of organic spring mix. I made a salad dressing with olive oil, sesame oil, lemon juice, and ginger. Ginger is my new favorite way to flavor a dish; it tastes amazing, and unlike onion and garlic, it actually makes your breath smell BETTER! Obviously, you could put some chicken or beef and some other veggies, serve it on top of brown rice, and you would have a great dinner. I don't have a picture, sorry! I'm not used to taking pictures of my food before I eat it yet ;)

Update on my skin! Sadly, it's far from fabulous. Hopefully my mom and I will be going to Madison tomorrow, and with the Sephora gift card I got for Christmas (3 months ago...) I'll definitely be buying some new non-comedogenic makeup (after reading an article in the April 2012 issue of Glamour, I realized that all my makeup said oil-free, while none of it said non-comedogenic. Sad). However, I did have a pretty big zit by the corner of my mouth, which I popped yesterday. I know it's a horrible habit, but it was swollen in a way that made my lip feel numb...so I had to get that stuff outta there. I'm gonna credit the anti-inflammatory properties of the blueberries with the fact that it is pretty much an unnoticeable little bump today:

There isn't a scab, so it'll be pretty easy to cover up with some tinted moisturizer and concealer.

Hope everyone is having a fabulous Thursday!

Salads, cravings, and awesome leftovers

Hi beauties!

Tonight I went to Culver's with my friend Katie, who I pretty much only get to see once a month. =[ If you don't live in the midwest, Culver's is pretty much the best fast-food restaurant in the world. Not wanting to temporarily ruin my skin with fried food, I totally went the boring, healthy route and just ordered a salad. Even with the grilled chicken and plenty of croutons, it left me with some serious cravings later.

Thankfully, the chicken parmesan that my boyfriend and I made a couple nights ago was still in the fridge. Have you ever noticed that when you put something with tomato sauce in the fridge for a day or two, the sauce just kinda...disappears? Good thing there were also plenty of mushrooms, onion, garlic, and fresh parsley and thyme. (Read about how parsley makes you prettier here!) The final result:

I also gave it a nice, healthy sprinkle of more parmesan.

I have another top ten beauty foods list from Dr. Nicholas Perricone, who is practically the skin God. He even has a skincare line at Sephora, which incorporates the antioxidants in superfoods into creams and serums. You can never have enough beauty foods!

Good night everyone!

Awesome Avocados!

Hello everyone =D It's my third day in a row posting about the greatness of avocados. I've found the avocado recipe jackpot on Yumsugar, including this different take on the green smoothie:

If you've never had a green smoothie before (I, unfortunately, have not), this avocado and pear concoction may be a good first recipe to try. Many people like avocados, and you don't have to put an entire refrigerator's worth of veggies in it.

I've also found a good basic guideline on how to eat to improve your skin - I found it on a weight-loss/fit blog, but it's the same kind of eating that gets your skin to behave - Less crap, more food!

Pretty clever, huh?

Have a great Monday!

10 Beauty Superfoods

Hey everyone! I hope you're feeling okay after last night's festivities ;)

Remember the Shamrock breakfast sandwich from yesterday? Well, I've just found a great blog post from Yummy Mummy listing 10 of her favorite beauty foods.

All three of the beauty ingredients I listed from the sandwich are on that list! She also has a lot more information on how all of these foods affect your skin's appearance. I know I'll be referring to her great list the next time I make a trip to Sentry.

I made a great recipe with those sweet mini peppers yesterday, very similar to this one from Giada de Laurentiis (my fave TV chef). Instead of using the croutons, I just sprinkled the pasta with some seasoned bread crumbs, and I just baked the peppers to heat them through instead of thoroughly roasting them. When cooking with vegetables, I don't like to cook all the nutrients out. Also, I used this awesome tomato-basil fettucine I found in my cupboard.

With the strawberries, I went the obvious route and made a parfait with plain yogurt and Apple-flax granola. I actually made a comment on my Facebook about how I don't really like any of the ingredients alone (I'm just starting to like berries...sad, I know), but they were absolutely delicious all together.

Hope you're all having a great lazy (or not) Sunday.

St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! No, I didn't have green eggs and ham for breakfast today; my idea of festive was putting some Bailey's Irish Cream coffee creamer (not the alcohol kind...maybe next year!) into my coffee. I also had a bowl of corn flakes with almond milk in them and a berry-mango smoothie.

I was low on ingredients, so I just made this with frozen blueberries and mango, plain yogurt, and a spoonful of frozen limeade concentrate for some added sweetness. Frozen blueberries are ok, but I'd take fresh mango over frozen any day: the texture is a little strange when frozen.

Not the most interesting breakfast, but if I had the ingredients and I wasn't super broke, I would totally make this Shamrock Breakfast Sandwich:

The recipe is vegan, as it is from a vegan food blog, but I don't think you have to make it vegan to get all the great nutrients (just make sure the english muffin is 100% whole-grain! Refined flour=bad for skin). So here's the rundown on what the ingredients in this breakfast sandwich do for your appearance:

-The kale is a great source of fiber, which detoxifies your body, thus keeping your skin clear (according to dermatologist David Colbert). It also has lots of beta-carotene, which gives your skin a glow comparable to a tan, but even better-looking, and of course safer. Other nutrients include skin-healing vitamin C, TONS of vitamin K, and some manganese.

-The healthy fats in the avocado are essential to hydrated skin, shiny hair, and strong nails.

-Pumpkin seeds (pepitas in the recipe) are a great source of zinc, which is absolutely essential to people with acne!

Well, I'm starving and I've just found a pot o' (nutritious) gold in my fridge: A big ol' bag of orange, red, and yellow bell peppers and two pints of strawberries. Thanks for reading!

Sources: InStyle magazine, Cosmopolitan magazine, wikipedia