So my whole baby step thing...still going! I have setbacks every now and then (like today: two weddings in one day and I didn't resist the food/wedding cake...yikes!). But I am making some significant strides...and God is definitely providing every step of the way.
This week was my first week in coordinating an organic produce co-op type thing in our community. A few weeks ago I went to a health presentation and the man who owns the farm came and showed us some of his produce. He even gave us a bunch of carrots as a gift. I was sold! The carrots were delicious....and the fact that they were pesticide free and organic were a huge plus. Around this time I also read this article from 100 Days of Real Food's blog about what to buy organic. We were eating all of the "dirty dozen" fruits and veggies on a weekly basis. I really wanted to find a way to get good produce at a decent price. All the pieces fell in together and suddenly I'm getting together orders for organic produce from others in our community. By Thursday our orders were delivered. Look what I got...
Now that I have all of these beautiful fruits and veggies....I've got to start eating them! Let the chopping, boiling, stir-frying, dicing, and cooking begin! I don't want any of this to go to waste. I was looking through an "All Recipes" magazine that came in the mail the other day and they had a comparison of a "healthier" version of carrot cake versus the traditional. I had some beautiful organic carrots, so I thought...yum..carrot cake! But I decided to take the healthy version from the magazine and tweak it a little. What came out is delicious! It was so good, that I didn't even make the cream cheese icing to go on top...we have just been devouring it without any of the sugary icing. Yes! I felt victory with this cake. Naturally, I needed to share. I'll put the original and in parenthesis I'll put what I did.
Healthier Carrot Cake III (from allrecipes.com/healthy-carrotcake)
*4 eggs (I used farm fresh..not from the store)
*3/4 cup vegetable oil (I used coconut oil)
*1 1/2 cups white sugar (I used my 100% real cane sugar that I think is unprocessed...no GMOs)
*2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used the "pure")
*2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (I used 1 cup of King Arthur's white wheat flour and 1 cup of Swan's Down flour...I was a little hesitant to use all white wheat because I was afraid of it being too dense...but I think it would be ok next time)
*2 teaspoons baking soda
*2 teaspoons baking powder (aluminum free)
*1/2 teaspoon salt
*2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
*3 cups grated carrots (organic)
1 cup chopped pecans (I didn't even put these in)
For frosting (I didn't even use it, but you might want to):
*1/4 cup butter, softened
*1 (8 oz) package Neufchatel cheese, softened
*2 cups confectioners' sugar (this was the reason I didn't do the icing...I didn't have any on hand...blessing in disguise?)
*1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*1 cup chopped pecans
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x13 in pan (I used my bundt pan...so it was kind of like a carrot cake pound cake...mmmmm)
2. In a bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar, and 2 tsp vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 min (I think I did right around 50), or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack (I turned it right on to my cake holder) and cool completely.
4. To make frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, Neufchatel cheese, confectioners' sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.
It's so yummy! I would take a picture, but it's almost gone! lol I hope all of you are experiencing God's goodness in a special way. He really does care about all the details of our lives. He does answer prayer. He is faithful. God bless!
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