Healthy Carrot Cake with Nut Frosting

Carrot Cake with Nut Frosting

Sandra Holbrook

Ingredients for Cake

• 4 cups of oat flour
• 2 tablespoons of baking powder
• 2 tsp of baking soda
• 2 tsp salt
• 3-4 tsp of cinnamon
• ¼ tsp of nutmeg
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 7 eggs
• 1 ½ cups of unsweetened applesauce
• ½ cup of oil
• 2 ¼ cups dates (no pits) or 1 ½ cup of brown sugar
• 6 cups of shredded carrots

Ingredients for frosting

• 1 ½ cups of cashews
• ½ cup of brazil nuts
• 1 ½ cups of almond milk or rice milk
• 1 cup of dates no pits
• ½ tsp of cinnamon
• ¼ tsp of vanilla extract

Cake Directions

Using a high-powered blender (Vitamix) or food processor combine eggs, vanilla, applesauce, oil and dates. Blend until smooth and creamy.  Combine all dry ingredients together in large bowl.  Combine wet and dry ingredients stirring with a wooden spoon.  Once combined, fold in the carrots.  You can either pour batter into muffin pan or 2 9-inch cake pans or one large bundt pan.  Bake in oven at 350 degrees 21-23 minutes for cupcakes, until it passes a relatively clean knife test.

Frosting

Combine all ingredients in high-powered blender or food processor on high until well blended and creamy, refrigerate for about 1-2 hours before spreading onto cooled cake.

Makes a decent size 2 layer round cake or 30-34 cupcakes.

So how do you change eating habits?

I have come to the conclusion that diets are not something someone can do forever hence the reason they fail and people go back to their old eating habits.  What has to change for a healthy eating lifestlye to emerge is simply PERCEPTION.  How you perceive food will determine if you eat it.  If you look at a hot dog and know what is in it, you will be repulsed and will probably never touch one again. So if you are truly interested in eating healthy all the time without feeling deprived you have to change your perception about food.  You need to learn to look at food for its face value.  Ask yourself, what is in it and how will it affect my body.   If it is full of ingredients that you can't even pronounce, it is probably somewhat toxic and in the end may provide you with short moments of pleasure followed by guilt and feelings of illness which you may not even connect with the food that you are eating.  I challenge you to start looking at the food that you eat and ask yourself, what is this food doing for me.  Is it causing you to prosper or is it just slowing you down.

Vegetable Stirfry with Ginger Honey Dressing

The key here is to steam the vegetables instead of cooking them oil.  You can also add a can of white navy beans to the rice for some added protein.

Vegetables

• 2 cups of broccoli florets
• 2 cups of cauliflower florets
• 2 medium carrots peeled and sliced
• 1 small onion sliced
• 1 red bell pepper sliced
• 3 cups of bok choy sliced (about 1 medium head)
• 1 cup of chopped pineapple fresh or frozen (thawed)
• 2 tablespoons of water

Rice

• 1 ½ cups of wild blend rice
• 3 cups of filtered water

Sauce

• 3 tablespoons of reduced sodium Tamari (soy sauce)
• 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar
• 1 tsp of sesame oil
• 1 tsp of honey
• ½ tsp of grated fresh ginger
• 1 clove of garlic minced
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder (can subsitute cornstarch but I don't like to use corn products)
• 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds

Cook the rice for about 35-35 minutes.  Combine all sauce ingredients except for sesame seeds in a small saucepan and heat until it begins to thicken.  Remove from heat and add sesame seeds. Place vegetables (except for bok choy and pineapple)  in large stir fry pan or a wok.  Instead of using oil slightly steam the vegetables (may need to add a touch of water to prevent scorching) for 5 minutes.  Add the bok choy and steam for another 3-5 minutes.  Place a cup of the cooked rice in the center of the plate and top with a generous portion of vegetables.  Top it off with the sauce and serve.

Welcome

So I have decided to start a cooking/health blog.  Through my personal experiences I have discovered that food is the best medicine of all.  We are what we eat.  If we eat a diet filled with nutrients our bodies will be vibrant and able to tackle the stressors of life.  If we choose to eat poorly, our body needs to work doubly hard to process and get rid of the toxins, leaving us open to disease.  I will be posting some yummy but healthy recipes along the way and also answering questions people may have regarding living a healthy lifestyle.