Good (and good for you) recipes from ‘Girls’ Night In’
We’ve just completed a fun video for my web series, Ask Ava, called Girls’ Night In where I introduce a subject very dear to my heart: Skin-Fabulous Foods. What’s it take to be Skin-Fabulous? Quite simply, it must be a food item or a recipe that has significant benefits for the health and beauty of the skin while at the same time being absolutely delicious!
In this and future blogs, I’ll be posting about my favorite Skin-Fabulous foods for your delectation. As the body’s packaging, your skin is the exterior reflection as to what’s going on with your system on the inside. It follows then that when it comes to your skin, you are indeed very much what you eat.
So let’s start with my favorite new Skin-Fabulous snack food blends.
KALE MIX: SWEET WITH NUTS
In a large mixing bowl, mix together
2 c chocolate kale chips broken into walnut-size chunks (either Just Pure Foods’ Cocoa Kale Chips or Kale Krunch’s Chockalet Chip)
½ c walnuts
½ c almonds
½ c dried cranberries (or raisins, dried blueberries or dried cherries)
1 c dried or dehydrated pears
Save the leftover crumblies to sprinkle over plain Greek yogurt.
Skin-Fabulous because
Kale is one of the richest sources of lutein and contains beta- carotene, which improves skin elasticity and firmness.
The cocoa derivative in dark chocolate helps reduce stress hormones, which means less collagen breakdown in the skin and fewer wrinkles.
Walnuts and almonds have essential fatty acids that are known to help reduce swelling and inflammation in the skin.
Dried cranberries, berries or cherries help to reduce the effect of free radicals and contain Vitamin E which supports the function of sunscreens to absorb UV radiation.
Dried/dehydrated pears are a good source of Vitamin C and copper which rejuvenates the skin and makes it glow.
KALE MIX: SAVORY WITH NUTS
2 c kale cheese chips (which do not, in fact, contain any cheese btw) broken into walnut-size chunks (either Kale Krunch’s Quite Cheezy or KK’s Cheezy Chipotle)
1 c walnuts or almonds
½ c dried cranberries or raisins
Save the leftover crumblies to sprinkle over baked yams or sweet potatoes.
Skin-Fabulous because
Raisins are loaded with potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, and iron which will nourish the skin.
For those who are allergic to nuts or suffer from inflammatory conditions such as rosacea, cold sores or herpes that may be exacerbated by nuts’ high arginine content:
KALE MIX: SWEET WITHOUT NUTS
In a large mixing bowl, mix together
2 c chocolate kale chips broken into walnut-size chunk (either Just Pure Foods’ Cocoa Kale Chips or Kale Krunch’s Chockalet Chip)
½ c walnuts or almonds
½ c dried cranberries (or raisins, dried blueberries or dried cherries)
1 c dried or dehydrated pears or apples
½ c dark chocolate chips
Save the leftover crumblies to sprinkle over plain Greek yogurt.
To learn more about anti-aging treatments, visit WebMD.com.
KALE MIX: SAVORY WITHOUT NUTS
2 c kale cheese chips (which do not, in fact, contain any cheese btw) broken into walnut-size chunks (either Kale Krunch’s Quite Cheezy or KK’s Cheezy Chipotle)
1 c dried or dehydrated apples
1 c sweet potato or yam fries slowly overcooked until dry and chewy then broken into bite-sized pieces
Save the leftover crumblies to sprinkle over baked yams or sweet potatoes.
Skin-Fabulous because
Sweet potato and yams have high levels of Vitamin A and beta-carotene which are essential for promoting anti-aging and collagen production.
Dried/dehydrated apples have antioxidant compounds called phenols that provide UV-B protection, making your skin more resistant to damage from the sun.
Notes: Dehydrated foods are preferable to dried foods because they usually contain less sugar. Both are high in fiber which is great. Don’t overdue it on the dried cranberries because they do contain added sugar or sweetener (as versus raisins which do not.)
REFRESHER MASK
Here’s a topical treat fresh from the kitchen:
½ c of egg whites
½ c of lemon juice
½ banana
15 grapes
Topically Skin-Fabulous because
Egg-Whites help ward off wrinkles and potentially tighten sagging skin with vitamins and minerals, such as selenium and the B complex vitamin.
Lemon Juice contains Vitamin C, citric acid, and B vitamins, which assists in detoxifying the skin as well as lightening and brightening.
Bananas are rich in Vitamin A, B and E which works as an anti-aging agent.
Grapes contain phytonutrients that are essential for skin health because of anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.