Sunday, October 13, 2013

SECRET Healthy Chocolate CAKE!

Chocolate cake that is gluten free, flour free, dairy free, and sugar free?!  Yep, and it's SO GOOD!

And you'll never guess what the secret is!  Neither did my boys when they tried this today!  Of course I probably shouldn't have told them in the end because now I don't know if they'll ever eat it again!  Oh well... more for Olivia and I.  (I know she'll love it even though she's gone for the day with friends!)

The secret?

BLACK BEANS!  Can you even believe it?!

This recipe was adapted from the recipe found at Healthy Indulgences.

For the ingredients, there are many adaptations listed on other recipes as far as sweeteners.  I used what I had and what was easy to obtain quickly and locally.  (This will make one round layer, double to make two and stack your cake.)  (I made one, cut it in half, and stacked the halves.)

For the CAKE you'll need:

one can 15 oz unseasoned black beans
5 large eggs
1 Tbs pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp sea salt (I use pink himalayan - also a great natural headache help!)
6 Tbs unsalted organic butter
1/2 cup + 2 Tbs organic honey
1/2 tsp pure stevia extract
6 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
parchment paper
olive oil cooking spray


Preheat the oven to 325.  

Spray a 9″ cake pan with olive oil cooking spray. Dust cocoa all over the inside of the pan, tapping to evenly distribute. I left this part out!  DON'T!  - Cut a round of parchment paper and line the bottom of the pan, then spray the parchment lightly. 

Drain and rinse beans. Shake off excess water. Place beans, 3 eggs, vanilla, and salt into blender. Blend on high until beans are completely liquefied. No lumps! 

Whisk together cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder in small bowl. 

In large bowl, beat butter with honey and stevia until light and fluffy. Add remaining two eggs, beating for a minute after each addition. Pour bean batter into egg mixture and mix. Finally, stir in cocoa powder and water (if using), and beat the batter on high for one minute, until smooth. Scrape batter into pan and smooth the top. Grip pan firmly by the edges and rap it on the counter a few times to pop any air bubbles.

(I made my cake with no mixer, just hand mixed and it turned out fine.)
 
Bake for 40-45 minutes. Cake is done with the top is rounded and firm to the touch. After cooling 10 minutes, turn out cake from pan, and flip over again onto a cooling rack. Let cool until cake reaches room temperature, then cover in plastic wrap or with cake dome. For BEST flavor, let cake sit over night. This cake will not have a hint of beaniness after letting it sit! 

Frost immediately before serving.



Because I didn't have parchment paper and didn't realize I needed any when I was out buying other ingredients, I did not line my pan.  This is what happened, so line that pan! :)  Of course, once it's frosted no one knows or cares what it looks like underneath!


When you're about ready to frost you'll want to make the frosting.  If you are doubling your cake recipe, be sure to double this one too!  As above, there are options for ingredients.  I really didn't want to use sugar but could not find one of the other sweeteners to use for this frosting at the store I went to locally so I used organic powdered sugar.  

Frosting ingredients:

1 stick softened organic unsalted butter
1/4 cup powdered organic sugar
5 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
2 Tbs coconut milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
pinch sea salt
pure stevia extract, to taste

Cream the butter in a small bowl until fluffy.  Stir powdered sugar into butter with a spatula, then beat until smooth. Slowly blend in the cocoa powder, vanilla, and sea salt. Beat in the coconut milk. Add stevia to taste, starting with 1/16 teaspoon.

Frost and enjoy!



GORGEOUS, Just Gorgeous!

Lots of gorgeous going on over here!

We recently received a shipment of AMAZING, hand made, ceramic necklaces and bracelets to sell to help raise money for our last pieces of our adoption puzzle - the trips there and back.  These really are so beautiful, even more so in person than what the pictures show!

Below I have a few examples but you can see them all and comment on any you'd like to own for yourself or to give as gifts to family, friends, teachers, you name it, on our face book page.  You can click the top right of the sidebar to take you to the page, or follow THIS LINK.  Be sure to "like" our page while you're at it!  Then scroll down a bit to our "Items for Sale" album.  You will need to comment on the picture you want and then message me to set up payment info.  So excited to offer these!  I will be ordering more very soon!  We had a shipment of 20, each one different, and are already down to 11 with JUST showing some friends on my personal FB page four days ago!








Tuesday, October 08, 2013

Christmas in October?!

I bought some amazing tshirts (VERY reasonably!!!) for our family for Christmas.  They just came yesterday and we took a few pictures.  The littlest shirt is heading to Haiti soon as a part of Macy's gift and I wanted to get pictures with it before it was mailed off.  We TRIED to get just ONE good/perfect shot to use on a Christmas card and while I like these, I'm not so sure about putting one on a card. :)  But I'll definitely share them! :)



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About Me

I am a single mom to four amazing kids; each of whom just happen to have been adopted. The first three were adopted through foster care, and we just completed an international adoption from Haiti. Our family has grown through adoption and I am all the more blessed to know each of my children. I worship a mighty God, teach Special Ed, love bargains, and am inspired by Pinterest... come along with us for the ride!


Olivia - 14

Olivia - 14

Braeden - 11

Braeden - 11

Liam - 9

Liam - 9

Macy - 5

Macy - 5

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What you should know about HIV

-HIV can NOT be spread through casual/household contact. HIV is not spread through hugging, kissing, shaking hands, sharing toys, sneezing, coughing, sharing food, sharing drinks, bathing, swimming or any other casual way. It has been proven that HIV and AIDS can only be spread through sexual contact, birth, breastfeeding and blood to blood contact (such as sharing needles). - HIV is now considered a chronic but manageable disease. With treatment, people who are HIV+ can live indefinitely without developing AIDS and can live long and full lives. - People who are HIV+ deserve to be treated with love, respect, support and acceptance as all people do. Additional information on transmission of HIV can be found on the Center for Disease Control website: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources

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Orphan Crisis

• 147 million orphans in the world
• 50 million orphans in Africa 
• Every 14 seconds a child is orphaned by AIDS
• 16,000,000 have been orphaned by AIDS
• Every week, AIDS claims as many lives as American fatalities in the Vietnam War
• 854 million people do not have enough to eat
• Malnutrition is associated with the deaths of 5 million children under the age of five
• Every 2 seconds an orphan dies from malnutrition


Hence the title of my blog

Little Did I Know

Little did I know that the road would be so rocky
Little did I know that the trip would take so long
Little did I know that my heart could hurt so much
Little did I know that God is never wrong

Little did I know that love could be so powerful
Little did I know that a dream so far could go
Little did I know that God would place the right ones
Little did I know that my heart, so large, could grow

Little did I know that a dream has it’s own timing
Little did I know that this day would finally come
Little did I know that four souls would be sent to guide me
Little did I know that they would choose to call me mom

But God knew all along and He had a plan to follow
God knew all along that my dream would soon come true
God knew all along that we five should be together
God knew all along that I’d share it all with you