I got food on my mind.

I don't know what it is exactly but as soon as I wake up in the morning I am already thinking what I will be cooking for dinner. I love putting together a colorful plate , I love the combination of different textures and fresh herbs from the garden. But what I love the most is when I hear "this is good mom".

I think what is going on in my brain is that I have a inspiration board growing in their. If I am going to take pictures of dinner that day, I like to plan ahead by buying groceries the day before, I start cooking around 2 so I can take pictures before we eat. I love using natural light so I take all of my pictures outside in my screened porch for the background I use wooden boards I have, you can use a cheese board or a cutting board too.
here are some recent pictures of food I took with my camera and the phone.

Update**** pic nr. 1 Shrimp and Avocado Salad
                   pic nr. 2 Harvest Salad
                   pic nr. 3 Watermelon salad
                   pic nr. 4 Greek Chicken with rice and tzatski sauce.

What's cooking?

The other day we decided to have friends over for barbecue, I love potato salad but since I am trying to eat healthy I decided to look up a healthy version of potato salad.

I stumble upon a recipe for roasted sweet potato, that is super healthy and easy to make too.

 Sweet Potato Salad

Roasted Sweet Potato SaladAdapted from The New York Times September 2009 by Mark Bittman

Serves 4

4 medium sweet potatoes (about 1-1/2 lbs.), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 large red onion, chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt plus a pinch for dressing
1/4 teaspoon black pepper plus a pinch for dressing
1 tablespoon fresh jalapeno, minced
1 garlic clove, peeled
Juice of 2 limes
1-15oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
1 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Place the sweet potatoes and onions on a foil-lined sheet pan. Toss with 2 teaspoons olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 30-40 minutes until a knife easily pierces the potatoes, and the edges have started to brown. Set aside.

To make the dressing, place the jalapeno, garlic, lime juice, remaining olive oil and a pinch of both salt and pepper in a blender. Process until fully blended.

In a large bowl, combine the sweet potatoes, onions, black beans and red peppers. Toss with cilantro and the dressing.

Serve at room temperature. Store in the refrigerator up to 2 days.

DIY Project: Making your own Sugar Scrub.

I try to take good care of my body by eating whole foods and exercising. I love pampering my skin with oils and moisturizer and I love using sugar scrub in the shower because it leaves my skin soft and  moisturized.

I decided to do a DIY for my own sugar scrub, it's so easy that if I can do it you can do it too.

All you need is oil and sugar.

You can use, almond oil, virgin olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil or vitamin Eoil 

I chose Coconut oil 

I choose a granulated sugar , the mixture is 2 parts sugar to 1 part oil. Because the coconut oil is solid at room temperature I melt it using a double boiler prior to mixing.

I added a tea leaves mix I had and added some dried Lavender and voila I used a nice container I found at Ikea to store my scrub in it.

If you could only smell it through the computer screen. 

Now let the good smelling scrubbing begin.

Organic Coconut Sugar Scrub with Tea leaves and Lavender.