Pasta pasta pasta. Is there a better comfort food? Whenever it is a bit chilly out I always want to cozy up with a big bowl of pasta.

Usually I am all about the regular wheat pasta (cuz YUM), but lately I have been feeling like eating a little bit healthier. There has been a lot of junk food happening in my world. Think: M&M’s, chocolate, chips of any and all kinds…. etc. Remember that post about eating healthy 80% of the time and junk food the other 20% (aka the Skinny Belle Lifestyle)? Well the past few weeks for me have been a little more like 60% 40%.

**I will have a post coming soon on how to bounce back from lifestyle slip-ups!**

Lifestyle slip-ups (aka eating a bunch of crap food for a few days) happen to the best of us. I am definitely not perfect and it happens to me too. Birthdays, vacations, parties… that shit can get you haha.

Anyways, let’s just say the size of my ass has been increasing at an alarming rate. So to help get things back in balance I made this dinner with kamut grain pasta instead of wheat pasta. Kamut grain is easier to digest than wheat because of the high quantity of dietary fibre. Kamut grain also has way more protein than regular wheat! So, yay healthy choices 🙂

Want to try this super flavourful dish for yourself?

Ingreds:

• Kamut grain pasta (I like this brand)
• Pitted kalamata olives
• 3 – 4 cloves of minced garlic (I like to put lots cuz yolo and flavours) 
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh Italian parsley 
• Feta cheese
• 2 large handfuls of spinach
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Cracked sea salt

Step 1: Start by cooking your pasta, and just follow the directions on whatever kind you end up buying. Beware, kamut grain pasta cooks WAY faster than wheat pasta. So read them directions reallllll careful. 

Step 2: While the pasta is cooking, roughly chop up your fresh Italian parsley.

Step 3: Set pasta aside when it’s done cooking, strain and mix in a little olive oil. Put a pan on the stove (medium heat) and add a few generous glugs of extra virgin olive oil.  Add the parsley, kalamata olives, and garlic to the EVOO. Let simmer for a few minutes to get niceee and flavourful. 

Step 4: Add your pasta and spinach to the pan on top of the other ingreds. Stir everthing about so it is all mixed and then squeeze the lemon juice over all of this big beautiful mess. Uhg, so hungry while writing this up. Struggles. 

Step 5: Put on a plate (duh, I know) and then add your crumbled feta cheese on top. And finish the whole deal with some fresh cracked salt and pepper. DELISH.

You are welcome. Your Monday night dinner just got that much better. Anddddd you will feel great after eating this because you chose a healthier option! 

Little side note about kamut grain pasta though, it doesn’t quite hold together as well as regular wheat pasta. Not the worst thing ever, but just an FYI 🙂

Okie so what do you guys think? Yay? Nay? You likeeeee? Comment below 😀

x,

The time has come again where I put edibles on my face and post the photos on the internet. Remember that time I put coffee grounds all over my face? Good times. 

Well folks, there is indeed a method to my madness. The coffee –> face incident had purpose. I do that shit on a weekly basis. (Read more here about my coffee scrub! It’s actually unreal.) And now I would like to introduce you to my Greek Yogurt Mask. This calms, cleanses, plumps, and exfoliates your skin. This mask makes an appearance every few weeks or so in my house. Obviously rotating through my other fave masks like Lush, Vanilla Sugar Scrub, and Coffee Scrub.

There is something about a nice face mask that really just makes me feel like a new woman. Doing face masks on a regular basis is full on adulting if you ask me. 

So what is so great about this mask? Your skin will feel clean, refreshed, plumped, and clear after you use it. The ingredients are all natural and can be easily bought at any grocery store (if you don’t already have these things in your fridge!)

What’s in it:

• 1/4 cup unsweetened/unflavoured natural greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup quick rolled oats
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Start by washing your face with soap and water, and pat it dry. Now, mix all your ingredients in a bowl and generously apply the mixture to your face. Lay down, and just chill there like a boss for about 5 – 10 minutes. The cinnamon will sting a little bit on your face (just FYI so you don’t think you are dying when that happens) but it’s a good thing so just stay chill. I SAID STAY CHILL JESUS. 

*Ahem.* 

After you have relaxed with your mask on for 5 – 10 minutes, wash it off by splashing water on your face and gently rubbing the mask off in little circles (exfoliation for the nationnnnn.) Make sure you get alllll the  mixture off, then you are done! Dry your face and put your regular skin cream on.

Do you feel like a new woman?! Because I felt freakin’ fabulous after doing this mask. Comment below if you tried it out, I want to know what you think!

x,

Really though, is there anything more satisfying than a nice big plate of fries? Especially when you know that they are actually good for you. Yes, fries that are good for you. Welcome to my world friends.

These fries are nutrient packed, and obvi not deep fried (because that needs to be saved for treatin’ purposes only.) Sweet potatoes are good for you for many reasons, my favourites being their low sugar content in comparison to yams andddd the fact that they are packed with antioxidants. Yes. All of it. 

My Sweet Potato Fries are great for any night of the week and are super quick and easy to make.

Here are the ingreds:

• 1 – 3 medium sweet potatoes
• coarse ground sea salt
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Dried basil (or fresh if you have it around!)

Ready? Let’s go:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 F.

Step 2: Cut sweet potatoes into medium sized wedges and toss in a bowl.

Step 3: Cover sweet potatoes with your EVOO, basil, and sea salt. Spread out evenly on a baking tray and pop in the over for 35 minutes.

Step 4: Crank the oven up to “broil” for 3 minutes to brown the fries. 

And you are doneeee! I like to enjoy these with ketchup because I am ratchet like that. And because ketchup is awesome. 🙂

x,

THIS HEADBAND THOUGH.

If it was socially acceptable to wear flower headbands every single day I probably would. They make me feel like a special fairy princess. My mom even told me so. 

Anywho, this headband is the shit and you can pick it up right now from Urban Outfitters. The location I bought it at sold out when I went back a few days later so go quick! Makes sense considering it was music festival season and all. 

My jumpsuit, romper, playsuit (whatever you call it) is from BCBG and I also think I will go ahead and live in this. It is so soft and comfortable. Also, the versatility is real. I wore this to a wedding, and the next week dressed it down and wore it out to lunch with a friend. #winning

x,

Happy Sunday friends!!

Today I would like you to meet my Nectarine Pancake Cobbler. A healthy breakfast that tastes like crack. (Ad companies, you are welcome for this genius slogan idea. It really can be applied to any and all breakfasts here on Skinny Belle. I will start collecting my royalties anytime now.)

This “cobbler” (it’s more like a pancake/cake thing on top of baked fruit… hence the confusing title) is filled with nutritional goodness and void of crap ingredients like refined sugars etc. Just the way I like it. Wholesome, healthy, and freakin’ delicious.

What’s in it:

Pancake Cobbler stuff

• 1/2 cup spelt flour (or regular flour)
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 4 tbsp maple syrup (buy the real pure maple syrup. For the love of god please don’t use Aunt Jemima)

Cobbler Filling stuff

• 2 nectarines
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp spelt flour (or regular flour)

Okie dokie. Let’s do this.

Step 1: Preheat your over to 425 F. After the oven is getting nice and toasty warm, generously prep 2 oven-safe cups with coconut oil. (I usually take a paper towel and rub the oil around inside the cups so your paws don’t get all grubby 😉 )

Step 2: Slice up them nectarines into nice little cubes. Gently combine all the cobbler filling ingredients in a bowl. Separate the fillings into the two oven-safe cups you prepped, and put them in the oven for 10 minutes.

Step 3: While the nectarine filling is baking, combine all your pancake cobbler ingredients in another bowl and whisk together until smooth.

Step 4: After the fruit is done baking for 10 minutes, take it out and reset the oven to 375 F.

Step 5: Scoop your batter on top of each of your cups and put them back in the oven for another 35 minutes.

Step 6: Try not to burn yourself by inhaling these little cups of joy right when they come out of the oven. I put this step in because I definitely burnt my mouth and now it hurts really bad :(. Learn from my mistakes, friends.

This is the perfect thing to make for you and your man on a nice Sunday morning. It is reasonably simple and tastes amazing. I may or may not have eaten both of these to myself….. But a lady never tells. 😉

Will this Skinny Belle recipe be making a feature in your kitchen anytime soon? Comment below!

x,