Probably one of my favorite fruit flavors is grapefruit. I love the sweet and sour crisp taste of it.I find having a grapefruit at breakfast to be so filling and satisfying. It also tastes so good in desserts and drinks!  
These are full of grapefruit citrus taste and healthy for you! They're perfect for breakfast or as a snack. I like having mine with a smear of jam and peanut butter or coconut oil.
They're easy to make. Free of eggs, dairy, are refined sugar free and vegan! 
If you don't want or can't use a full cup of grapefruit juice you can top it off with another. 
I topped mine off with elderflower juice and it was delicious! Orange or apple juice would be great as well.
Grapefruit Spelt Muffins
Makes about 12-16 muffins
Adapted from here

Ingredients
1 cup spelt flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp ground flax seed
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp zest of grapefruit
1 cup fresh grapefruit juice (or however much grapefruit juice you want topped off with any kind of other juice)
1/2 cup grape seed oil
1/3 cup maple syrup

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease or line a 12-cup muffin pan and set aside.
2. In a large bowl combine spelt flour through grapefruit zest.
3. Add in your juice through maple syrup stirring until just combined
4. Scoop batter into cups until about 3/4 full
5. Bake muffins for 12-15 minutes until risen and center is firm when pressed
6. Allow to cool before serving. I like to cut them through the middle and smother with jam and peanut butter

In the summer time my family tends a huge garden in our backyard. Every year one of the things that grows is rhubarb! And this year I've decided to experiment with it!

Rhubarb not pictured here but look at our garden! This is just part of it

And here is the rhubarb. I picked it from here myself though I do have to admit that I don't have the greenest thumb

Despite it usually appearing in desserts, rhubarb is actually a vegetable! It's a wonderful summer time vegetable at that too.



Most often it's paired with strawberries to sweeten it up as rhubarb can be a little sour for some but if you're like me and just want to taste the rhubarb then try out this crisp. If you feel like you'll need something a bit sweeter you can always add more honey or top it off with some sweetened whipped cream.



This crisp has a delightfully tart filling with a delicious crumbly topping. You can make gluten free and/or vegan if desired but enjoy it knowing that you're eating something healthy! It's the perfect summertime treat and tastes even better with fresh rhubarb.

Rhubarb Crisp

Serves 9

Ingredients

1/2 cup honey or maple syrup
1 1/4 cup water
2 tbsp cornstarch
3 1/2 cups rhubarb cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1 cup spelt flour*
1 cup rolled oats
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
2 tbsp almond milk
Handful of chopped walnuts (optional)

*You can also use white all-purpose flour. Or if you want to make this gluten free, I have also made this with oat flour and it came out well

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 8x8" square pan with coconut oil
2. Combine honey or maple syrup, water, and cornstarch in  a saucepan and heat over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer for 5 minutes or until color turns into a light brown. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. In a medium bowl combine coconut sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add in coconut oil and milk and mix together until crumbly. You can add a little more milk if the mixture is not sticking together well (I especially recommend this for the oat flour version)
4. Press half of the oat mixture into the bottom of your pan. Cover this with the chopped up rhubarb and then cover the rhubarb with the syrup mixture. Sprinkle the rest of the oat mixture on top and top with walnuts if desired.
5. Bake for 45-50 minutes until the top turns golden brown.
6. Allow to cool slightly and then cut into squares and serve

I don't know about you but I simply adore lavender! For one I love the purple color but I also like the calming effects it has. I often sprinkle some lavender essential oils on my bed to help me sleep at night.

Drinkable cake!
Hope that got your attention...

Do you ever get that craving for a little something extra sweet? You may have had a healthy dinner and a nice little dessert but you feel like you want something more. Well, I get that feeling pretty much everyday so I try to fill my belly and satisfy my sweet tooth with nourishing but delicious foods.

A few days ago on a walk I found this cute little birdie who couldn't fly.

Being who I am, I couldn't just leave him there so I brought home. I made him a small space where I could hopefully nurse him back to health. He eventually began eating and drinking and looked like he was getting a lot better. But unfortunately a few hours later he got worse and I am sad to say that he did not make it.



Poor little birdie. I hope you're happy where you are now.

I hope everyone has been able to catch a little bit of the royal wedding. I did not see it in live time but I have been watching highlights all day. I must say that it was the absolute perfect wedding! Kate and Will looked so elegant and happy. I love Kate's perma-smile! She is a gorgeous bride.



It’s great to see everyone so preoccupied with joy and love. The excitement makes me dream of my own fairy-tale wedding. It also makes me want to travel to London and get my own fascinator!

Every now and then I come across a dish that makes me question everything I thought I knew about baking. This is one of those recipes. Its vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free, and low in fat. It also happens to be incredibly tasty and moist.

Gluten free and vegan. Those words are the essence of health to me. It has been a goal of mine to make a special gluten free and vegan dish for a while.  I have also wanted to experiment with coconut milk. Today I finally got around to doing it! I must say the result were scrumptious.

The perfect winter morning breakfast has definitely got to be pancakes. Especially as the week upon me is going to be freezing. And what better way to dream of summer than with the tropical taste of coconut? I don't know about you but I love coconut. I love the taste, the smell, the texture, and even the shape. Right now I am imagining myself sipping the milk from a coconut on a warm sunny beach. Ahh...

It has been too long since my last post! I had some midterms this past week and I was more worried about where the subclavian artery was located than anything else. Sorry! But now I am back. I also have the week off so you can expect a few posts.

So what's new? Well, you may have noticed that little button at the top that says "Contact". I have been working on making an e-mail for my blog and I now have one! If you would like to contact me please e-mail me at cupcakeskat@gmail.com.

I also just got a Twitter so if you like please follow me. I'm really new to Twitter and not so sure what to do so I would appreciate your friendship.

Though university can be stressful at times, it can also be a lot of fun.

My favourite professor, teaches me the Social Science of Sports. She is absolutely crazy but I love her because she is fun, makes class time go by fast, and makes the content interesting.
She also loves cheesecake!
My favourite quote from her recently, which she said upon a student leaving class, "One day, if any of you become a teacher, you'll understand. If a student leaves your class early, all you'll want to do is: pack up your stuff, buy a cheesecake, go home, and have a party"

I think any excuse is a good excuse for cheesecake! And that is why I am so excited to share this recipe with you.

My favorite way to eat Toaster Cheesecake. With honey and cinnamon

Dear Train,

Please never leave me out in the freezing cold again. It was minus 30 degrees Celsius outside at seven in the morning. Yet somehow you collided with a car.
And you made me late for my lab.
Why is it that emergencies like this always happen in freezing weather?
This is the second time you have left me trapped downtown in the winter weather
And like the fourth or fifth time overall that I have been abandoned by you
The first time I was actually a passenger on you when you got into an accident.

Last weekend I went to a retreat that focused on the True Colors communications style personality test. This test focuses on what type of person you tend to be when working in a group. It also builds a model for understanding yourself and others. It is called True Colors because you can either be labelled as gold, blue, orange, or green.

Gold is responsible. This color represents a need to fulfill duties in order to organize and structure life. People who are gold are practical and sensible. They believe in hard work.

Blue is compassionate. It represents calm. Blue people are very emotional and caring. They tend to put others before themselves. Blue people are also sensitive and creative.

Green is conceptual. This type of person values intelligence. They are determined and practical.

Orange is spontaneous. They enjoy doing things and being active. Orange people are energetic and like doing things that are different.

I ended up having an equal score for orange and green. This helped me understand a lot more about my personality and I believe that I really am an orange and green type person. I can't stand sitting still and love moving. I consider myself a quirky person and I'll jump at the chance to do something different. I also value intelligence, doing well at school, and I am organized.

If you also happen to be two colors it probably means that you are dominant in a different color in different situations. For example you could be blue when with family but gold at work.

Of course I also realize that you can't always be just one color. For example I recognize that I also share traits from the other two categories as I'm sure all people do.

If you're curious about what color you are, you can take the True Colors test here. If you do be sure to comment back here and tell us what color you are!

And now for something even more exciting... pancakes!!
I made Katie's Banana Pancakes for One and they were absolutely delicious. I love pancakes and make them frequently but I have to say that these were some of the best I ever had.
For my pancakes:
I used lime juice (which I think put them over the top!)
I had to add more liquid to get the consistency of pancake batter I like.
I also left the banana a bit chunky so I had yummy, squishy, sweet pieces of banana in my pancakes.
Here is my recipe with the changes I made.

Three of my pancakes topped with banana slices and sprinkled with cinnamon

Banana Pancakes
Adapted from Chocolate-Covered Katie
I got 6 small pancakes

1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 tsp fresh lime juice*
1/2 mashed banana
1/2 cup almond milk**

Mix whole wheat flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. In another bowl, add the mashed banana, lime juice, and almond milk. Stir dry ingredients into the wet.
Now make your pancakes!

* You can try using lemon juice
** May substitute any other milk

These pancakes are honestly amazing by themselves. If you want to serve them with something, you can use the rest of your banana, peanut butter, and maple syrup. I'm thinking that some shredded coconut added into the batter would also make it wonderful.

School is back in session and I'm as busy as ever. My week has mainly consisted of lectures, work, skating, the gym, volunteer training, freezing in the cold, more work, and then a little bit of studying and blog reading. Blah.... and by the way happy late 1/11/11! That's January 11, 2011. Just take a look at all those ones! In case you did not know this day was supposed to be one of good luck and achievements. Did you achieve anything?

I also want to take this chance to thank all of you for your wonderful comments left on my last post. I value each and every word you write. So if you’re reading this right now please remember to leave a comment. You can say something positive, something to help me improve my blog, or just say hi.