getting a little poppy.

Eating healthy was one of those conscious decisions I had made in my early twenties. I was a little bigger that I had imagined myself to be and my self esteem was at an all-time low. So, rather than wine and feel sorry for myself, I gave myself a little slap and said, "Let's do something about this!". So, I started running, exercising, and making healthier food choices. Eventually I felt better about myself and gained a positive self image.

One thing that really helped was cutting out the carbs and turning pescatarian for a while. Also, on the recommendation of my mother, I also started eating grapefruit in the morning with a bowl of plain oatmeal. Lol, that really sucked for the foodie in me, but eventually I started to really like the tart, sometimes bitter grapefruit.

When I met my husband, I fell off the health wagon. He eats like a man, so I found myself eating like one too. Not that there's anything wrong with that...It's just that his metabolism was faster and could take the fat, carbs, and other junk that my body was't used to consuming. It was like giving in and getting lost in a world of greasy double cheeseburgers and fast food takeout. And because I started to not care, I found myself starting to gain the weight that I had lost.

For me, that was a serious wake up call. Standing on the scale one day and seeing my weight brought in a sense on panic, anger, and depression. But rather than wallow in self-pity, I decided that I was going to do what I did all those years ago...do something about it. So now, going to the gym and eating healthy is part of the daily regiment. Realizing that I'm no longer in my twenties also helps with expectations. This time, It's going to be slow and steady and I'm going to have to work harder for what I want.

With that being said, I'm also going for the more relaxed approach of being healthy. It's choices and portions that I've been concentrating on. Like these grapefruit cupcakes. I think of it as combining my long lost love of grapefruit with my ongoing love affair with sweets. Healthy? Probably not. Even if I added those poppy seeds for "fiber". But since I'm all about portions these days, I thought making them into cupcakes would better suit my needs.

It's easier for me to have one small cupcake and be done with it for the rest of the day than having a loaf of cake sitting on my counter and resisting the urge to have "just another slice" as I walk by. :)

---- o o o o ---- 

Grapefruit Yogurt Poppy Seed Cake with Grapefruit Glaze
(adapted from from Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts)

For the Cake:
1½ cups flour
2½ tbsp poppy seeds
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
Zest from 1 grapefruit
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup coconut oil, melted (or vegetable oil)
⅓ cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice

For the Glaze:
2 Tbls freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
Approx 1 cup powdered sugar

 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8½ x 4½ inch loaf pan (or line a couple of cupcake pans with liners). Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together yogurt, sugar, eggs, zest, vanilla, coconut oil and grapefruit juice. Slowly add flour mixture, stirring until just combined.

Pour into prepared pan, and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a tester comes out clean (18-20 minutes for cupcakes). Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

To prepare glaze mix together juice and sugar until desired consistency. Add more sugar if necessary. Once the cake has cooled, remove from pan, and top with glaze.