skin-loving smoothie recipe

Note: this post was previously published here as a part of my freelance work.

So you love smoothies. There’s no doubt that its healthy, but you really just throw random ingredients into the blender with no rhyme or reason. Why not construct a super-power combination to boost one system or another? The smoothie recipe below will provide a powerful dose of antioxidants and nutrients for the skin. Down it as often as you’d like to help prevent wrinkles, smooth the surface, and get glowing. Not to mention, it's pretty tasty.

THE INGREDIENTS:

70% Dark Chocolate: The darker the chocolate the more the antioxidants. This will help you improve luminosity. 

Spinach: Spinach is chock full of lutein, a carotenoid that will protect your skin from UV damage. 

Mixed Berries: Berries are a great source of vitamin C and antioxidants. The healthy dose will protect you against free radicals in the environment.

Avocado: Avocado is packed with antioxidants like vitamin C and E, alpha carotene, beta carotene, beta cryptoxanthin, zeaxanthin and lutein. They also have a great amount of mono saturated fatty acids which help to maintain moisture in the epidermal layer of the skin.  

Coconut Water: Healthy skin needs one thing above all: good hydration. Coconut water will hit you with electrolytes and give skin all the drink it needs.

DIRECTIONS:

- Throw ingredients into a blender and drink as soon as possible.

popover recipe

Often times at work I'm checking out blogs - looking into their follower counts, assessing their brand appropriateness, you know, the standard. A random day about a month ago, my eye was caught while doing so. Fluffy delicate popovers flowed over a basket while soft melty butter tauntingly rested beside it. It could safely have been called food porn. So hypnotized was I, that I immediately remember an unused gift card to Amazon. Right then and there, I went on to buy the first popover pan I saw. Back to work.

In classic Amazon fashion the pan arrived two days later (Prime!). I what? I bought a popover pan? I guess I had to make some.

For weeks I said I was going to make breakfast. There kept not being enough time, or not enough energy to run to the store for that last missing ingredient. When I finally got around to it, I did it right. I baked those babies golden, served them in a pretty arrangement, and doled out slabs of butter alongside local strawberry jam. It was the simplest, most self indulgent breakfast I've had in a long time. I think it might just be my stable from now on - whipping up popovers anytime I feel.  

Ingredients (makes a dozen):

1 1/4 Cups 2% Milk

2 Cups All-Purpose Flour

1/2 Tsp. Salt

1/2 Tsp. Baking Powder

3 Eggs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450F and grease your pan

2. Sift together dry ingredients in a small bowl, set aside.

3. Heat milk for 2 min in the microwave.

4. Using a hand blender, whip your eggs until foamy, and then slowly add in milk, then dry ingredients.

5. Fill popover pan so that each cup is mostly full.

6. Bake at 450F for 20 minutes and then lower to 350F for another 20.

7. Eat warm with lots of butter and jelly