coconut crystals — Blog

light whole wheat pineapple upside down cake

the stuff:

1/3 cup coconut crystals (or organic brown sugar or sucanat)

2 tbsp organic whipped buttery spread (i used Earth Balance)

7 fresh or canned pineapple slices

3.5 **maraschino cherries

1 whole egg

2 tbsp coconut oil

1/3 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1/3 cup fresh pineapple juice (you can use more milk if you'd like)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup white whole wheat flour OR cake flour (i used King Arthur)

1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

2/3 cup coconut crystals (or organic brown sugar or sucanat)

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

do this:

preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

coat a 9 inch round or square pan with no-stick cooking spray.

melt and coat the bottom of your pan with whipped butter spread until even.

next, sprinkle 1/3 cup of coconut crystals in the bottom of your pan on top of the butter.

lay pineapple rings flat in bottom of pan; place cherry halves in center of the rings.

mix egg, 2/3 cup coconut crystals, coconut oil, milk, pineapple juice, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl.

in a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder well.

slowly add your wet mixture to your dry and stir until all combined, no lumps.

pour batter on top of pineapple rings evenly.

bake for 30-33 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

let it cool, then flip the pan over and convert it onto a plate. see below.

ta-da.

**let's chat. maraschino cherries are not healthy. no way around it. i used them cause they just go with the standard pineapple upside down cake recipe. they just do. it's not the same without them. you don't have to use them though! chances are you don't even have any in your fridge anyway. you can actually make them yourself using fresh cherries, or find another fruit to use. be creative.

i equate the area under the individual pineapple slice as one serving, so there are seven up there.

per 1 serving: 264 calories, 10g fat, 38g carbs, 4g protein.

not too shabby when compared to Betty's stats ;)

so i'm taking my very first cooking class at Sur La Table tomorrow, aaaagggghhh!!!! and guess what we're making?! the best food ever on earth. homemade PIZZA. this class had my name all over it. i plan to start teaching my own cooking & exercise classes as early as next month so i'm getting all the tips, info, and advice i can stuff into my brain. more details to come VERY soon- it's pretty much February already :shock:

happy NOVEMBER & friday :)

let's celebrate. have some pancakes.

i made a big one for Chiso's breakfast yesterday. since he hadn't had them in a while (we switched to Ezekiel's cinnamon raisin bread for a little bit) he killed the whole thing in a few minutes.

it was topped with some cinnamon and a drizzle of walden farms pancake syrup.

SO, what are your fitness and nutrition goals for this month? how often do you make goals anyway? do you even make them? daily? weekly? monthly? making goals has become an incredibly useful tool for me now that i'm in off-season with my competition training. whenever i write ANYTHING down (grocery list, an event, reminder, whatever) Sonny feels the need to remind me what year it is and to document things electronically. well sometimes i don't want to! i mean seriously. i enjoy writing out my grocery list by hand and crossing off items one by one while i'm at the store. i just do. i'm pretty sure it's cause my mom did/does that. i also like to group all my items together (frozen, produce, etc.) as i take them out of my basket and put them on the belt at checkout. Sonny finally understands this and lets me do my thing :lol: anyway, it will take me longer to type my entire list into my phone... and then what if it dies!?

i did a reverse selfie (which is way freakin harder to do than i thought) of my october progress which was to eat as clean as possible and to add more definition all over, especially my abs. i stuck with my clean eating for the most part even though these weekend parties filled with pizza and cake got me a few times! but i stayed inside my 80/20 rule, so it's all good. i also upped my weight training and decreased my cardio. i'd love to stay where i am right right now so that when i compete again, i'll be at an acceptable 'starting' place.

le’s NOVEMBER 2012 fitness and nutrition goals

continue to stay on track with my meal plan and clean eating
ENJOY Thanksgiving to the fullest – no meal plan, scale, nothin’ on that day
Run this 10K on turkey day ----> http://turkeytrot.shelteringarms.org/ and beat my current PR!
Add HIIT back into my current workout routine (sprints 2x’s a week)
Take my ab workouts more serious

ok those are mine! whether you write them or type your goals, just make some. i'm not just running a 10k so i can eat like a crazy woman on TG, but i already planned to workout anyway. i know my gym class will be canceled like it is every year, but i'd totally be there at 5:30am sharp for anyone who wanted to get in a great weight workout that morning.

have you ever worked out on Thanksgiving Day???

my little Ruggles Green lunch date from the weekend inspired me to throw a butternut squash in our grocery basket.

i threw the whole thing in the oven for about 20-25 minutes on 400 degrees. after it cooled, i cut it in half, long ways.

i think i got pretty darn close to their Famous Butternut Squash. in terms of taste, not looks, apparently.

at least Chiso thinks so- he liked it *wipes forehead*. i used:

squash:

walden farms pancake syrup (instead of the maple syrup)
i can't believe it's not butter spray butter
few dashes of cinnamon
dash of salt

topping:

crunchy lite granola (bulk bins at HEB/Whole Foods)
coconut crystals (found at Whole Foods)

that's all that's in there and it was too simple to be that good. i didn't measure a thing though and just threw it together, fyi. i was gonna cut it into chunks and throw it in the blender, but it was soft enough to just whip/mash up in a bowl by hand. also, i didn't have graham crackers like the original recipe, but Sonny's lite crunchy granola worked out fine.

does he look warm? bless his heart. i hadn't been outside since my eeeeearly morning workout, so i assumed it was still pretty cool out. not quite.

i took him out of the jacket and he took the hat off himself lol. Moms, if you don't have a jogging stroller, INVEST in one. no gym membership required. your post baby body journey starts with some good ol' walking. you'll be jogging/running again eventually though, and you'll be able to knock out two birds with one stone! family time and exercise. never let your little one be your excuse...only your reason. we were blessed with this stroller as a baby shower gift and i am SOOOOO grateful for it.

i used the last of that fresh atlantic salmon we bought to make breakfast tacos for meal #4 that night. i put this concoction together in my head while on our evening walk- fresh salmon, avocado, egg whites, shredded almond cheese all on a Ezekiel sprouted grain corn tortilla. yum! the tortillas pretty much broke apart once i picked it up :( , but hey it all went to the same place.

we topped them with cilantro and salsa first.

after that, i went to my freezer for the next best thing since we're outta salmon right now- tilapia! i baked a few pans of garlic and herb tilapia in the oven so i could prep some more meals to get us through the week.

i also made so fresh steamed asparagus for our green vegetable. lots of lemon pepper and Pam.

meal #5 for that evening consisted of spaghetti squash i baked earlier in the week, tilapia, and asparagus. i just rolled up two fork fulls of the squash and made it look like little pasta nests. then i sprinkled them with garlic and herb seasoning and some dried parsley.

Chiso and i are gearing up to support Sonny in his 2nd bodybuilding show this weekend!