2 Skin Saving Recipes from the Mega Cool Squirrel Sisters

You guys know as well as we do that no matter how many beauty products you slather onto your face, a poor diet will give you away in seconds. I’ve had many a morning-after-the-night-before where too much prosecco and a quick (gigantic) slice of pizza on the way home really let my dewy glow down. In the same way that we preach about wholesome and nutritious ingredients going into your beauty products, the ingredients you eat can have an equally as obvious effect on your skin. Obvs we are big advocates of everything in moderation (we’re not asking you to lay off the wine completely), but if you’re feeling a little lacklustre in the face, it’s always worth spending a couple of days eating some scrummy wholesome foods that’ll not only taste divine but put that sparkle back in your smile.

Whilst we are keen skin food formulators, we’re not quite as experienced in whipping up tasty treats for our tums that are also incredibly healthy, so we asked for a little help with this one. We’ve been following Squirrel Sisters for a while now, not least because they do delicious sweet treats that we’d swap a piece of shortbread for any day (and have an awesome name). Sisters Gracie & Sophie Tyrrell are the founders of Squirrel Sisters and they are all about making ‘being healthy’ fun and achievable; proving that you don’t have to make sacrifices to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Their range of 100% natural energy bars are made using whole, high quality ingredients and are gluten-free, dairy-free, grain- free and completely sugar-free as well as being suitable for those following a vegan, low GI or paleo lifestyle. They are mega scrumptious and you can now grab them from Boots, Whole Foods, Planet Organic, Revital, Holland & Barrett (online), lots of independent stores, delis and cafes as well as lots of fitness studios including Barrecore, Ride Republic, Lomax, Yogahaven and many more.

We love that the girls make healthy food fun so we were delighted when they agreed to share two easy recipes for you guys to try. We asked them for something that both your insides and outside will thank you for and they didn’t let us down.

First up is Cacao Porridge, perfect to heat up a grey winter morning and really easy to make. We like this one of the girls’ recipes because cacao is a super anti-oxidant and plays a strong role in cell regeneration. In fact we like cacao so much that we’ve made facemasks with it and even studied it.

Cacao Porridge

Ingredients (serves 1)

• 30g x jumbo oats (gluten-free)
• 1/2 x Cup Almond Milk
• 2 x Tsp Raw cacao powder
• 1 x Large Medjool date (stoned and chopped up)
• Sprinkle of almond flakes

Directions

1. In a small pan pour in the oats and almond milk and simmer on a medium heat for about 6 minutes until the oats have cooked.
2. Once cooked turn off the heat and add the cacao powder and mix well.
3. Pour into a small bowl and sprinkle over the medjool date pieces and flaked almonds.
4. Before eating mix everything together so the sweetness of the medjool dates blends throughout the porridge. Enjoy!

Next up is Pea and Walnut dip which is our new fave thing to serve up at dinner parties. The essential fatty acids in the walnuts and olive oil are incredibly anti-inflammatory which can leave to skin looking smoother and more supple. Sounds good to us!

Pea and Walnut Dip

Ingredients

• 240g x Frozen peas (we use petit pois)
• 40g x Walnuts
• 20g x Fresh basil (large handful
• 11⁄2Tbsp x Extra virgin olive oil
• 1⁄2 Tsp x Garlic (crushed)
• Generous pink of Himalayan salt (or rock salt) and pinch of black pepper
• You will also need a couple of walnuts, a drizzle of olive oil and fresh basil to garnish

Directions

1. Pop all the ingredients into the blender and blend until smooth and creamy
2. Pour the mix into a serving dip bowl, drizzle a little more extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle over some walnuts to garnish.
3. Enjoy with crudities, crisps, bread sticks etc.

– Squirrel Sisters.

The Squirrel Sisters have loads of great recipes on their sire so be sure to check them out (and keep an eye out for us cropping up in their incredible #GirlPower series).