While I was having my mini-vacay this weekend, I started to think about some real hard-hitting stuff. Like… What am I going to eat during the Super Bowl on Sunday?! Life changing, I know.

Either way, I was getting all excited about what food I could prepare for friends to snack on while watching the big game. I am admittedly not a big fan of football, but I am a big fan of looking cute in a jersey. Yes, I am that girl.

So here is what I came up with. I thought I would show you two of my “appetizer hacks” in my new Super Bowl Snack series. These appies seem really impressive to guests but are stupid easy to make. Let’s be real here. Nobody has time to spend hours prepping food that will be inhaled in less than a minute. AND, we need to maximize our time allotted for putting together cute outfits to watch the game in. Priorities, people.

Today I will show you one Part 1 of my Super Bowl Snack series, and I will post Part 2 on Sunday morning. (You will see why when I post!)

If you cant already tell from the photos, these are little Caprese Salad Poppers! They are low in calories and look/taste freaking amazing. All you do is buy the mini-bocconcini cheese, grape tomatos, and fresh basil. Go ahead and pop those bad boys on toothpicks like I did in the photos above.

In a little bowl mix together extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and a pinch of salt. This will be your dip for the Caprese Salad Poppers! These are so fresh and healthy, and chances are they will be a nice refresher between the sips of beer that will undoubtedly be happening.

Hope you are just as excited about these little treats as I am!! Have a great rest of your week, and make sure you stay tuned for Super Bowl Snacks: Part 2 on Sunday morning <3

x,

Lets start by saying how under-appreciated sandwiches are. As a food category, they have such an average reputation. When you think of a sandwich it is usually like “uhg fine. I guess I will have a sandwich today… boringggg.”

I am here to resurrect the glory of the sandwich!!! Yes, the glory. That word was chosen carefully and deliberately. When I make a sandwich, it is basically an art. (If I do say so myself 😉 ) It is a way I can put all my favourite things between two beautiful pieces of artisan bread. What is not to like?!

The bread? The carbs? Get over it!! Seriously. You will not (I repeat) will not get fat if you eat a slice of bread. Denying yourself of bread all the time is the ticket to over-indulging. So as I always say, remember to have balance in your diet. Sandwiches are a thing of beauty, and also so healthy. Don’t get hung up on the “carbs.”

Okay so back to it. Here’s what’s in my sandwich du-jour.

• Terra breads green olive bread (its so freaking good)
• Goat cheese
• Thin sliced purple onion
• Tomato
• Roasted turkey (<– healthiest meat option by far!)
• Sprouts
• Spinach
• Avocado
• Salt/pepper to taste

And there you have it. Sandwiches are the easiest thing to throw together, and they can taste so amazing if you use the right ingredients!

Happy sandwich-ing friends!

x,

Today I had the most beautiful and relaxing breakfast. I mean, would you look at this food?! It looked so good I almost couldn’t eat it. KIDDING, that’s just not humanly possible.

I always try and eat lots of grapefruit because of the seriously awesome health benefits you get. Grapefruit is low in calories (!!!) and super high in nutrients. There is tons of Vitamin C in grapefruit, so I always chow down on one of these if I am feeling a cold coming on. In addition to boosting your immune system, grapefruit will: increase your metabolism (sign me up!!), prevent wrinkles, brighten your complexion, decrease junk food cravings, and increase energy. Any natural food that increases my energy is basically a done deal for me. I don’t know about you guys, but I swear there are never enough hours in the day! I like being busy, so it is nice to feel alert and energized all day long.

Okay so to the muffin. Let’s be clear here, I rarely eat muffins… if ever. They are usually just (as my Dad likes to call them) “lard pucks.” Hahaha. But really, they are just filled with straight up butter (not a healthy amount, a stupid amount) and tons of refined sugar and other nasty stuff we don’t even need to talk about.

This muffin though? 110% yes, yes, and yes again. All honesty here: I definitely did not make this one. The convenience of popping into Whole Foods and picking this precious little baby up was too real. Anyyyyways, this muffin is perfectly Skinny Belle because it is completely vegan, made with squash, has very little oil (often sneaks in as the first ingredient in “healthy vegan recipes,”) and barely any sugar. Winning! Where is the fail? I totally forgot to get the name for you guys! Even though I buy this all the time I have a tendency to just point at it and say “that one.” (Oops) I will get back to you on this, promise! 🙂

Check out some of my other favourite breakfasts… here, here, here, and here!

x,

Smoked salmon is always such a yummy treat, and there are so many different ways you can eat it! I seriously can’t get enough of this stuff.

These little Smoked Salmon Bites are a great appy if you are having friends over, or just a nice afternoon snack. My self-control seriously diminishes when I have these babies around, I just can’t help myself!! But it doesn’t even matter because they are amazing and I love them.

What’s in it?

• Smoked salmon
• Cream cheese (don’t get the low fat kind it’s just nasty, buy the regular one)
• Purple onion
• Crackers
• Capers (I fully crushed a whole jar while making these haha! Love capers)
• Lemon

**AMAZE TIP YOU NEED TO KNOW: go to the seafood section at whole foods and buy the smoked salmon ends! These are like half the price of regular smoked salmon. They are just the bits that get cut off when they cut the salmon into those pretty shapes that they sell for the price of a brick of gold. SO, smoked salmon ends for the win! You’re welcome.

So this recipe is superrr simple. If you can’t cook at all and want to seem impressive in the kitchen, throw my little Smoked Salmon Bites together. Everyone will be all “oh my godddd these are amazing” and you will be all “ya I totally spent hours slaving in the kitchen.” LIES!! But nobody has to know. I won’t tell, promise. 😉

Okay back to the recipe. Just take your cracker and put some cream cheese on it. (SO complex, I know.) Then add your smoked salmon on top, and some thin sliced purple onion and capers on top of that! Finish these beautiful little morsels of joy by squeezing some lemon juice on top. Voila!!

There really is no actual “cooking” involved in these, but that is the beauty of them. If you are having people over, nobody wants to be all sweaty and disheveled from actually slaving away in the kitchen all day. Simple recipe = more time to spend getting dressed up. 😀

Try these Smoked Salmon Bites for an easy appy! Let me know what you guys think. <3

x,

I GOT A JUICER!! Partyyy timeeee! I am probably the last person on earth to jump on the juicing bandwagon, but the important thing is I am here now! Juice all day every day! (Can you tell I’m excited?? Haha)

So now. What is juicing and why do you need to do it?

Juicing is essentially a process that removes insoluble fiber from fruits and vegetables. According to Joe Cross (aka the juicing king,) “removing the insoluble fiber allows for increased absorption of specific health promoting phytonutrients including enzymes, while the soluble fiber persists into the juice.”

SCIENCE. So what this means is when you are juicing your favourite fruits and veggies, you are getting highly concentrated vitamins, minerals, and enzymes that you would otherwise have to eat an obscene amount of food to get. And whyyyy you ask, do you need to do this? Well 95% of the vitamins and enzymes your body needs are found in the juice of raw fruits & veggies!

Juicing is also a great way to get in your fruits and veggies, especially if you don’t particularly like eating them raw. (But you should totally be eating fruits and veggies on the regular because they are awesome… just saying.)

So I am a totally juicing noob, but I did my research. Here’s the skinny on how to maximize the benefit of your juicing:

• Drink your juice first thing in the morning. Do it before you have eaten anything, to make sure your stomach is empty. This will increase the amount of nutrients that are absorbed into your body!
• You must drink your juice within 3 days of making it! As soon as it hits the air and begins to oxidize, it loses some of its nutritional value. Some people (the really h-core ones) say to drink it within 24 hours, but realistically the oxidization process is so slow that you will never notice a difference.
• Store your juice in the fridge in a tightly sealed container… keeps it delicious and fresh for longer!
• Do NOT go crazy on juicing the fruit! Juicing only fruits makes a super high calorie drink. My goal is to always juice as many veggies as possible, and hide the taste (ahem..) with as few fruits as possible. That being said, fruity juices are fun treat too sometimes. 🙂

Have I blabbed your ear off enough? Well, I am not done quite yet. Drinking fresh juice also facilitates weight loss (!!!), increases energy levels, strengthens your immunity, and gives you a gorgeous glowing complexion. I WANT ALL THOSE THINGS!! Now, who is with me?!

On my first juicing quest I took my tips from a famous juicing book called “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.” It’s good, you should check it out. The juice I made today is called the “Mean Green Juice.” (<– sooo into that name.)

What’s in it:

• ½ cucumber
• 3 stalks of kale
• 2 pink lady apples
• ½ lemon
• large chunk ginger (I like mine extra gingery so use your judgement!)
• 2 celery stalks

Start by washing all your fruits and veggies well. Get all those nasty pesticides off! Now, core your apples and remove the skin from your lemon. Once you have put your apple core and lemon peel in the garbage, throw all your ingredients into your juicer!! And you have juice!!! 

You can bet your beautiful selves that you will have some custom Skinny Belle juicing recipes coming your way soon! For now, I thought I would share with you the wonders of juicing, and why you need to invest in a juicer. Breville tends to make great juicers, check them out here and here.

Can’t wait to start juicing with you guys!! <3

 x,

Fajitas are my go-to dinner choice. If anyone ever asks what we should make for dinner, it takes me less than a second to respond “FAJITAS!!!!!!” They are just so freaking awesome. I don’t know if I will ever get over them. We are in a long-term relationship and have celebrated many happy anniversaries together. 😛

Not only are these fajitas super tasty, but they are a skinny meal as well. You get protein, good fats (a few bad ones but we don’t talk about those 😉 ), and lots of nutrients. I am always so satisfied after eating these, and love the process of making my own fajita. It seems silly, but getting to put together your own little fajita is so much fun.

What’s in it:

• Whole wheat tortillas
• Avocado
• Fresh salsa (tomatos, cilantro, purple onion, salt, pepper)
• Shredded marble cheese (not so skinny, just don’t think about it haha)
• Sour cream (also just pretend this has no calories)
• Chicken breasts
• Cajun spices
• Purple onion
• Peppers (red & yellow)

Alrighty. Let’s do this.

Start by making your salsa. I always like to make my own because it is SO delicious and literally takes 2 minutes. Just chop up the tomatos, cilantro, and purple onion and mix em all together like a happy little family. Yes, a happy little family of salsa. Finish the salsa by squeezing some lime on top, and mixing in a little salt and pepper.

Next, prep your chicken by covering it in extra virgin olive oil, cajun spices, and salt/pepper. Veggie prep time! Slice up those peppers and purple onion and put a little bit of olive oil and salt/pepper on them. Heat up two frying pans, and cook your meat and your veggies separately. Make sure the chicken is cooked well, because raw chicken is just plain nasty. Confession: I am a major stickler for properly cooked chicken. I literally can’t stand it when chicken isn’t done well enough haha. So pleaseee just cook the chicken well and don’t get sick!

Once your veggies and chicken are cooked, you are ready to roll! Slice up the grilled chicken and set out all your other ingredients so you can make your own custom fajitas. If you like this kind of “make-your-own” meal, check out these Fish Tacos as well. 

This recipe is a great meal to make any night of the week, and leftovers are always tasty to have for lunch the next day. 🙂

Give this a go and let me know what you think!

x,

New Years is almost here!!! New Years is one of my fave holidays. Why? It is purely an excuse to dress up and spend time with friends, all while enjoying great food and drinks. What’s not to love? It also gives us a great opportunity to reflect on the year that has passed, and what we are looking forward to in the coming year. BUT… I won’t get all real on you guys today. I will crack that can of worms open another day haha. This post is about booze!! I mean… an elegant beverage that you should consume responsibly. 😉

So I came up with this beauty of a drink and am quite positive that it will be making a big appearance on New Years eve. It is great because it is made with mostly water, which will keep you hydrated throughout the night. If you know what I meannn.

What’s in it:

• 4 tsp sugar
• 8 tsp water
• 16 blackberries (not really necessary to have this many, I just like lots)
• 2 oz white rum
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• Sparkling water (I used San Pellegrino)

Start by combining your sugar and water in a small cup. Mix warm water with the sugar is it can fully dissolve. Now, put 3 blackberries in the bottom of two separate glasses. Muddle those bad boys until they are nice and smooshy (<– totally is a word, let me have it haha.) Next you add about 6 ice cubes per drink, and pour half of the sugar & water mixture into each cup. Add 1 oz of white rum to each glass. Throw about 5 more blackberries in each cup. Don’t muddle these ones! They are meant to look pretty. Nowwww fill those cups up with your sparkling water, and add 1 sprig of rosemary to each cup! DONE AND DONE. You killed it. I can just tell. 🙂

I made this drink for Skinny Belle, because I wanted to make sure I shared a New Years drink recipe with you that wont break the bank in calories. You should really avoid drinking your calories whenever possible, because it is wayyy more fun to eat them haha. There is only 2 tsp (30 calories) of refined sugar per drink! Not bad if you ask me.

Give my Skinny Belle Blackberry Rosemary Mojito a try, and let me know what you think!

x,

Today is a happy happy day. I am a bit late to join this bandwagon but I am officially in full-on psycho Christmas mode. My version of the holidays is relaxing on a mountain with the people I love, and taking every opportunity to make things a little more special than normal.

And that is EXACTLY what I am doing. My days are suppppperrrr stressful lately. I can’t EVEN. 😉 Here’s how it goes… Wake up, go skiing, après ski, relax, and repeat. This is pretty much my perfect holiday situation I have going on right now.

Today I varied a bit from my super strict schedule (lol) and made my fave pancakes before I went skiing. This is my classic pancake trick that always impresses whoever I make them for, and nobody needs to know they are not from scratch!

Now… here’s the trick. I make my pancakes skinny by shredding up a ton of apple and adding it in with the pancake mix. This is probably the greatest thing ever for two reasons.

• First, it cuts out half the carbs!! You are officially eating half the amount of pancakes that you were eating before without even knowing it! WOOO! This is reason to celebrate in my world lol.
• Second, the apple makes the pancakes taste so freaking delicious. There have been special requests made for my pancakes to always and forever be made with apple. So, my taste testers have spoken! Apple pancakes for the win. 🙂

To make your own apple pancakes, simply buy your fave pancake mix (and any ingredients it says you need,) and an apple. I like to use a Fuji apple because their flavor is just the best. Shred the apple and add it to your pre-made pancake mix (after following the directions on your mix) and voila! You are done! Be ready to impress your friends with this cozy holiday treat that in no way will break the bank in calories. (Unless you smother it in real maple syrup, which I may or may not have done, but whatevs it’s the holidays haha.)

Hope you are all having a great Sunday! Happy holidays 🙂

x,

So many photos!!! I was THE most annoying person at the restaurant last night haha… “GUYS DON’T TOUCH I NEED PHOTOS.” Sorrrrry friends. 🙂 All the photos were so worth it though, because this meal was unreallll.

We were at a place called Rajio Public House, which is a Japanese tapas-like place located in Vancouver, Canada. It was sooooo scrumptious. I plan on becoming a regular here very quickly. I honestly can’t even remember everything we ate, because we ordered so much food. Sometimes this thing happens when I eat where I literally can’t remember eating because it was SO good. It kind of feels like when you have had one too many glasses of wine, except I haven’t had any wine. Haha!

Since it was so delish (and because we ordered such an outrageous amount of dishes,) I will link you their menu here. Seriously recommend going here if you are ever in Vancouver. It is such a fun dining environment, and their decos are beyond cute.

x,

Do these look delicious or what?! Well, they are SO delicious. And I love them. And I want to be in a committed relationship with them. (Are we still talking about scones?? Haha) Buttt these scones are definitely a once-and-a-while treat yoself kind of thing.

I am admittedly not a huge baker, mostly because if I bake I just end up eating everything I bake. Usually I tell myself I am making the goodies to share with all my friends, and it’s the BIGGEST lie ever haha. (Friends, if you are wondering why you have never received any baked goods from me… this right here would be why lol.)

But anyways, I do like baking every once and a while! There are things you can do and ingredients you can sub-out to make your treat a little healthier. This recipe was originally sourced from a blog called Roti N’ Rice. The original recipe had a lottt of butter in it so I made a more Skinny Belle version below.

What’s In it:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking power
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 cup chopped strawberries

Start by preheating your oven to 425 degrees farenheight. Now, combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add in your coconut oil, and mix with a fork so that the flour is a chunky mixture and the oil is evenly spread. Gently mix in those strawberries! Combine milk and sour cream in a small bowl until smooth, and then pour into the large bowl and gently combine. Use your hands to shape the dough into balls that are just a bit smaller than the size of your first, and place out on a greased baking sheet (<– use coconut oil for this!) Bake for 15 mins! Voila!

Now when you pull these warm, delicious, bundles of joy out of the oven, you too will probably want to be in a committed relationship with them. Haha! But be good, everyone. Just have one (ok maybe two ;)) then wrap up the scones and share the love with all your besties. It is the holidays after all!

Enjoy the treat, you deserve it! <3

x,