My favorite beauty prescriptions always include food.
Food nourishes and feeds our beauty at a cellular level and fills us with the kind of radiant life force energy that you can never ever get from a topical lotion, serum or potion.
I could give you a boring clinical explanation....or you can simply remember this:
Beautiful Radiant Food = Beautiful Radiant Complexion
Food grown from the earth is a love note from Divine Creation:) The nutrients in real, vibrant foods grown in healthy soil give us exactly what our bodies need to glow, naturally.
Winter just happens to offer us a wonderful array of seasonal foods that are the perfect prescription for beauty, more energy and radiant skin!
Butternut squash and Brussels sprouts are a perfect pair to eat more often for glowing winter beauty and wellness.
Butternut Squash ~ This lovely orange squash is a powerhouse of beauty nutrients, including beta-carotene which is essential for healthy skin. It's also packed with vitamin C to help keep our skin radiant and plump, build collagen and encourage hydration so we're sure to glow while preventing dryness, weak capillaries and sagging. It makes a perfect pairing with coconut milk, pecans, pumpkin seeds or just a little butter or olive oil to enhance it's skin softening and pH balancing nourishment. Grab my recipe for Winter Beauty Soup made with squash HERE.
Brussels Sprouts ~ OK. I hear you with the "fart-bomb" jokes. Let's change that way of thinking right now;) Brussels sprouts are Beauty Bombs!! These little emerald beauties are perfect to help keep our skin clear by helping our bodies to detox during the winter. If fact, they are one of the most perfect beauty foods we can find, so eat up. Quit boiling them to death and start roasting these babies or gently sautéing them to bring out their sweetness and a little crispness. I spoke to my dear friend, Gwen, over the weekend. She shreds them and sautés them with a little nitrate-free turkey bacon or tops them with an egg or two for a healthy, hearty breakfast for beauty! I'm inspired, aren't you? Brussel sprouts do pair perfectly with bacon, which is my hubby's favorite, of course, and they also happen to be a beautiful complement to roasted butternut squash;) .
Beautifully Bodacious Brussels Sprouts and Butternut Squash
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into ½-inch cubes
1 tablespoon or so of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Himalayan or Celtic salt, or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
3 cups Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved or quartered
3 strips of nitrite-free bacon, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons coconut or Bragg's aminos, tamari or soy sauce
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cover a sheet pan with parchment paper or spray with coconut oil cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine the squash, sprouts, onion, oil, salt and pepper. Toss to coat.
Spread the vegetables in an even layer on a sheet or roasting pan. Top with chopped bacon. Roast for 20 - 30 minutes.
Using a spatula, carefully toss veggies and roast an additional 20 minutes or until roasted to your liking. If you want it crispier, put under the broiler for just a few minutes, but keep an eye on them so they don't burn.
Meanwhile, in a small sauce pan, combine the maple syrup and soy sauce. Over medium low heat, simmer sauce for 5 minutes, or until it begins to thicken slightly. Set aside.
When vegetables are done roasting, transfer to a serving dish. Add maple soy sauce and toss gently to coat. Dig in.
Here's to feeding our bodacious winter beauty and radiance;)