Guest Post from The Fit House Wife: Healthy Carrot Cake

I  got some upsetting news the other morning that my dear grandma Ramona had passed away. This was not an unexpected thing, she would have been 95 this Friday and has been declining in health the last few years. So while I am forever grateful that I had time to prepare for her leaving this world and even had a chance to visit her last summer I am unexpectedly very heavy at heart with her death. I had told myself to prepare for this and even prayed for her to have a quiet passing to put an end to her unrelenting pain and suffering these last few years. So while I am happy she is at peace, I miss her terribly. 

I could write an essay about how amazing my grandma Ramona was. She was the most loving, understanding,  down to earth and sweetest women I have ever known. She just had this way of making you feel like you were the most special person in the world, loved. I named my daughter after her and can't wait to tell her what a beautiful soul she was named after. Even though my grandma scolded me for naming my daughter Mona, a name "she always hated". "Don't you dare name her that" she would say. But, when she met her name sake for the first time last summer I could see the spark of love and happiness in her wrinkled and pained eyes.

Long intro. Sorry. While I am away attending services and spending time with my family I don't see nearly enough of some of my good blogging friends stepped up at very short notice willing to help me out with keeping my blog 'live'. I am so touched and ever so grateful for such dear friends. 

Please let me introduce one of my longest blogging inspirations, Jen from The Fit House Wife. If you are going to find healthy for life inspiration anywhere, it's going to be from Jen. Her recipes are amazing and she has helped me as a Beach Body representative to get into kick ass shape again. She is truly motivational and I hope you will visit her site!

Post from Jen at The Fit House Wife

Do you have an all-time favorite cake?  While I would like to say chocolate, I think my absolute favorite cake is actually carrot cake.   I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with the carrots and everything to do with the cream cheese icing.

Did you know that if you prefer carrot cake, you are a fun loving person, who likes to laugh. You are fun to be with. People like to hang out with you. You are a very warm-hearted person and a little quirky at times. You have many loyal friends.  Apparently, your favorite dessert has a lot to do with your personality.  Who knew?!

Typically, carrot cake can be loaded with extra calories and fat.  While I think it's okay to indulge once in a while, I'm always trying to make our favorite recipes healthier.  I mean, why not enjoy a delicious carrot cake that tastes just like the real thing, but has only healthy ingredients.  I feel a lot less guilt when enjoying a slice :)

I bet when you hear the words, "healthy" and "cake" used together, you are thinking "dry" and "tasteless."  That's what I usually think.  How can a "healthy" cake be moist and delicious?  Well, it can.  And this Healthy Carrot Cake is just that!

You can thank the added fruit and yogurt for that.  And would you believe that there is NO refined sugar in this recipe?  Please, do me a favor and throw away your white sugar.  You don't need it and it's not doing you any favours by keeping it.

I haven't used white sugar in years.  So what do I like to use?  Raw honey.  It's sweeter, meaning you need less of it.  Plus, it's all-natural.  Raw honey isn't filtered, strained, or heated above natural hive temperatures (usually 115 degrees Fahrenheit), a process used in conventional honey that can destroy beneficial enzymes, nutrients, and antioxidants.

Personally, I don't like nuts or raisins in my carrot cake, but feel free to add them if you like them in your cake.  I also like the grated carrot for garnish.  Another nice garnish would be orange zest.

The next time you want to make some carrot cake that you won't feel guilty about eating, I highly recommend you make this healthy version.  You won't be disappointed.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 59 minutes

Yield: 16 slices

Serving Size: 1 slice

Recipe adapted from The Complete Light Kitchen

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 cup raw honey, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated carrots
• 1/2 cup crushed pineapple
• 1/2 cup low-fat plain Greek yogurt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1-1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• For the icing:
• 1/3 cup low-fat cream cheese, softened
• 2/3 cup icing sugar
• 1-2 Tbsp low-fat milk or water

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray a 9-inch Bundt pan with olive oil.

For the cake, whisk together the coconut oil, honey, eggs, applesauce, and vanilla. Add the carrots, pineapple, and yogurt. Stir until everything is combined.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add the carrot mixture and stir until everything is combined.

Pour the cake mixture into your prepared Bundt pan and bake for 40 - 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. When the cake is no longer hot, invert cake onto a serving plate.

For the icing, beat the cream cheese, icing sugar, and milk in a bowl until smooth. Drizzle over top of the cake. Garnish with grated carrot or orange zest (optional).

Notes

Cal: 199 Fat: 7g Protein: 4g Carbs: 30g Fiber: 1g Sodium: 189mg

Weight Watchers Points+: 5

Guest Post for Lazaro Cooks: Tahini Soba Noodles with Caramelized Jumbo Sea Scallops

I've been a fan of Lazaro Cooks since I started blogging a few years ago. His cooking style is what mine used  to be 3 or 4 kids ago. His take it or leave it  personality mimics mine and I love to read his blog while sipping a glass of red wine and longing for the day when I can cook amazing, grown up food with actual spices in it without having to clean it off of the walls afterwards.






I  love ethnic foods. Especially when it involves exotic spices and seafood. I also have a serious addiction to veggies and seafood. Even as a child I adored giant sea scallops and requested them for my birthday every single year along with Kahlua cake. My mom used to put cayenne in EVERYTHING from spaghetti, mixing it into peanut butter and sprinkling it on top of cottage cheese, so I grew up being accustomed to spicy foods. I have to hold back a bit on the spices with my little ones but am trying to build up a tolerance as we speak.

The kids loved this Tahini soba noodle dish slightly sweetened with honey and which I served to them with cubed chicken and saved the spicy-sweet jumbo sea scallops for my husband and myself. Tahini is a wonderfully mild paste made from toasted sesame seeds and commonly used in hummus. I've never been a big fan of peanut butter but love tahini's unique taste. Feel free to use peanut or almond butter in this if you wish.

Please head over to Lazaro Cooks for the recipe, it's simple, delicious and you'll  love  Laz's collection of recipes, I promise.

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