Curry Vegetables with Salmon and Sweet Potato Mash

I love sweet potatoes. I really love them fried but they are really bad for you to eat on a consistent basis so I make mashed sweet potatoes. I put some fresh sauteed garlic and coconut milk to make them creamy. I would have these any day over regular potatoes. I made them this morning with some stir fried vegetable curry.
Curry is also another amazing health food I can never get enough of. I stir fried vegetables with some coconut oil, garlic,ginger,curry powder,fish sauce and basil oil. Getting a good grade curry is so important. When I go to the regular store and get curry powder I always have to use tons of the powder.The curry powder I use is from either a Asian store or Indian store. I literally use half a tablespoon and that is it. I posted a  picture below of a good quality curry powder.

Curry vegetables

4 cups vegetables

1 cup cherry tomatoes

4 tablespoons coconut oil

4 gloves garlic minced

2 tablespoons ginger minced

1/2 tablespoon curry powder

Fish sauce to taste, about 1/2 tablespoon.Salt is a good substitute

Pepper to taste

Heat pan on medium heat.Add coconut oil. When the coconut oil is hot add the ginger and garlic. Add the vegetables and stir well. Cook vegetables through. If your using tomatoes you can throw those in after you turn off the pan. Cover it and let sit a few minutes. The tomatoes will cook perfectly. You don't want them breaking open. Add fish sauce or salt and pepper to taste.

Sweet Potato Mash

2 sweet potatoes

4 tablespoons coconut milk

1/2 teaspoon sauteed garlic

Boil sweet potatoes til soft. Rinse water out then mashed til creamy. Add coconut milk and garlic. Mix well for a more creamy texture.

Natural Skincare

Hope everyone had a great holiday and the New year is just a day away! I wanted to share my favorite natural skincare products that would be great to start a healthy year off with. My rule of thumb is no parabens and no ingredients I don't know of. I try not to put any lotions on myself and especially my kids because I feel like I am contaminating them. Sort of like giving them tons of sugar, once in a while it's ok but not on a regular basis. Natural products are just as important to me as eating healthy and organic so I will do my best to have natural products at all times. My list of must haves:

1. WATER:
This is the most important part of healthy glowing skin for me on top of eating healthy raw foods (raw veggies and fruit). You are suppose to drink half your body weight in ounces of water per day. So if you weigh 120 lbs you should be drinking about 60 ounces of water(about four 16 ounce water bottles). I try to shoot for more so maybe 5 or 6. It makes a big difference in how smooth your skin looks and feels. If your one of those people who get out of the shower and need lotion right away, I would definitely recommend adding more water in your diet. If you want to read more about healthy water click here.

2. COCONUT OIL
 Now aside from cooking coconut oil is my favorites for hydrating my skin. I will place some in small container for my bathroom and use as lotion. You only need a tiny little bit because it will go a long way. Coconut oil I will also use as a mask for my hair, a facial scrub I will mix with 1 part baking soda to 2 parts coconut oil. It is also great replacment for vaseline and the best make-up remover I have ever used. There are many other uses of coconut oil but these are the main ways I use them.

Picture from Firstdecents.org

3. RAW HONEY
Honey is another great product I use on my skin and it's one natural ingredient again. I will get a lemon and squeeze some juice in with honey.  I'll take the rind and scrub my face with it. I'll wash it off then put some of the raw honey and lemon juice on and leave it on as a mask for about 20 minutes. It makes my skin super soft and smooth and has antioxidants which are great for aging. I see this brand of honey at local grocery stores so it is pretty easy to get.

Now aside from these natural one ingredient products my two favorites natural ingredient products are Neals's Yard Remedies and Burts Bee's. Both of these products are very close in ingredients the only difference is Neal's yard is ORGANIC. Both of these products smell so good I feel I could eat them, I love them so much. For a quick product that is sold at all drug stores, etc Burt's Bees is the most convenient and all natural ingredients. I love all their products and they are very affordable. The lotions are my favorite, Honey and Shea butter and Milk and Honey are my favorite. Neal's Yard is much more pricer but WELL worth it. I have tried all the products below, including more and recommend ALL of them. If your opted to try one product I would go for in order:
 Beauty Sleep Concentrate, Frankincense Hydrating Cream, Frankincense Toner and Rose Facial Wash. You can click the on them for more info. They are all amazing and will last a long time. You need very little and you can switch back and forth with the natural one ingredients I recommended above so they can last longer.

Some products from Burt's Bees I love and raw coconut oil. You can click the picture for more info.

Laugh and Love

 Christine

cgnhgc

More Burt's Bees...