Apple Cake

It seems I've been obsessed with food lately. Good food. I want to fill my body with healthy food and as hard as I try to eat more fruits and veggies, I just don't feel any better. I have even cut out a lot of meat protein and now use extra virgin olive oil rather than the cheaper available alternatives. I've increased the yogurt in my diet for the probiotics and try to eat leafy green veggies. I also eat sprouted grain bread and use heart healthy margarine on the rare occasions I do use margarine.

My body feels beat up and out of shape and I simply have little energy to do much about it. But I think all that is about to change. I've decided to go radical and go vegan for health reasons. In order to do that I've enlisted the help of Naomi Rose, a darling girl from England who has so generously donated her time for my benefit. I'm going to give her suggestions a try and I've already purchased most of my supplies for the week's eating suggestions.

In the meantime, I've already started to make some vegan substitutions in my diet by cutting the meat protein out almost completely and eating only veggies or legumes for dinner. I've been scouring the internet and simply cannot believe the wealth of good looking and probably good tasting vegan food out there. Looking at the photos posted by the various bloggers on the internet makes me motivated and excited to try out this new way of eating. Even if only for a time.

Today I made the Apple Cake below with some vegan substitutions. Unfortunately my photo of the pre-cooked cake isn't a good enough close up as compared to the one in the recipe link. Nonetheless it smelled divine when in the oven. Moreover, it brought back memories of childhood and chilly winter nights when I would arrive home from school. In those days we had a long walk home and it was already very dark as days are very short in winter in the far north. We would get home and how nice it was to arrive to the wonderfully wafting scents coming out of the kitchen oven. Those were joyful and innocent times.

The cake before it goes into the oven.

A close up of the Apple Cake after it has finished baking.

I can't wait to try it. I'd forgotten to cover the bottom of the pan with oil but the cake didn't stick, probably because my pan is enamel (I hope that doesn't outgas. I'd better look that up).

It was delicious! Still lots of cake left for my roommate and a snack for another day.

Here are the vegan substitutions I made "on the fly":

~ I substituted half a mashed banana for the egg
~ I used a mix of gala apples and granny smith apples as the gala were on sale
~ I substituted soy butter for regular butter.

I didn't go completely vegan with the substitutions as I used 1% milk instead of soy/almond/rice.

My guess is that using real butter would have made the sugar/cinnamon mixture a lot more caramelized but the end result of the vegan substitutions lost nothing in flavour or moistness and I must try this again some time.

Tomorrow I will be making a watercress/bacon/blue cheese salad before giving up my meat protein for awhile. Keep me in your prayers as this new way of eating will be a real radical shift for me. I'm committing to a few weeks at the outset. Enough time to see how I fare, how I feel and how I like the food.

Kibet and I are Very Excited

Hello friends,

This is just a short praise report to let you know that a little boy named Kibet was able to get some medical help for his leg.

I first saw Kibet a few weeks ago in a story here . I was able to send some funds and get this little boy and his family some much needed help.

Kibet was very excited, and he could not hide his joy as my pastor friend took him sandals to keep his feet dry and clean and also a blanket to keep warm.

It brought my friends Jonah and Thomas a lot of joy to help this poor family get basic things that some of us take for granted, like doctor visit and medicine for his foot, sandals to keep feet clean and dry, a blanket to keep warm at night and a small treat of fresh oranges.

[Caption: Brother Thomas checks over the oranges for the children.]

[Caption: The children are enjoying the oranges and the blanket.][Caption: The children say goodbye to my friends .][Caption: This little girl also needs to see a doctor]

Please pray for Pastor Jonah and Brother Thomas as they move one step at a time to help these dear ones. A few dollars can be stretched to meet more needs.

Thanks for your continued prayers.
and if you can help please click here