And A Recipe For A Low Carb Chocolate Raspberry Cake For One
One of my kids favorite books when they were toddling pineapples was The Little Red Hen. That story of a little bird who labors diligently towards a harvest goal really resonates with me, especially in the fall time when I scramble around trying to preserve the fruit of my summer labors. Today, I was actually home for the first time in at least a week, aside from sleeping. The last couple of days I brought in trailer loads of hay and firewood, for I know that winter is approaching. What was nice about this day was that I got to focus some smaller harvest minutia, and I must say that I enjoyed the work.
Perhaps my favorite moment of the day was spent on my front porch this afternoon stripping lavender from stems and sifting it. My two puppies lumbered around in the yard instigating mischief. My more than slightly exhausted husband slumbered in his rocking chair next to me, and my son assaulted my mellow with a Youtube playlist full of a whole pile of Post Malone. The temperature outside was in the mid seventies and a slight breeze wafted the lavender through my olfactory system. Lovely it was.
Earlier in the day I wandered out to give my winter squash a good drowning. I have neglected a proper water schedule in that department, but honestly, they are in the home stretch of ripening anyway, and I think a little stress at the end of the season is a good thing for plants that need to finish up before the frost smacks them dead. In my hoop-house there is at least fifty or sixty pounds of ripening tomatoes, so there will be more canning of this in my near future:
After whipping up a Sunday brunch of sausage links, fried potatoes, eggs, and pancakes, I organized our weekly homeschool schedule. This included printing out our Daily Grams worksheets and lining out math assignments. I still can't believe we are back in the swing of things school-wise, I honestly don't feel like I got a summer break. Oh wait, that's right, I didn't, lol! Remember the fair?
I have to say though, my weariness tends to evaporated into a satisfied grin whenever I stare at the sunflowers that I plunked into a vase on my kitchen table, for they represent the fruition of much that I have accomplished with my labors this year. It's so much more rewarding to actually grasp the result of one's labor rather than hypothesize about completing one thing or another all of the time. I would rather try and fail in some focused endeavor than ruminate about doing things my entire life. So bring on the tired, I rather relish it!
And speaking of relishing things, this evening I had a hankering for dessert. Since my eating habits have been hit or miss lately, I thought it better be a good idea to craft something that was reasonably healthy. The following cake recipe is what I came up with:
Low Carb Chocolate Raspberry Cake For One
1/4 cup Trim Healthy Mama Baking Blend (copycat recipe here)
1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
1/4 cup egg whites
2 Tablespoons raspberry puree (*see note)
pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons Pyure (or more to taste!)
2 Tablespoons unsweetened almond milkAdd all ingredients to a bowl and mix them well. I whisked them.
Pour into a greased oven or microwave safe baking dish
Bake in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 16-18 minutes or you could microwave the cake for about 1 minute and 20 seconds or so.
*Note: for the raspberry puree, I took a couple of Tablespoons of frozen raspberries out of the freezer, let them thaw on my counter in a bowl, and using the back of a spoon rubbed them through a sieve. I am rather lazy when it comes to food prep, so when I say this step was pretty simple, I totally mean it.
*Second Breakfast, er, Note: potential toppings for the cake include non fat Greek yogurt that has been sweetened with stevia, whipped coconut cream, butter and cream cheese whipped together and sweetened with a bit of ground Pyure and vanilla, or whatever possible topping idea you can dream of! The sky's the limit in cake dressing land!
And on that raspberry-ish dream note, I shall sign off. My spawn have challenged me to a flossing battle, and I relish the opportunity to embarrass my offspring with my sick dance moves. However, I am going to eat some cake first, because well, priorities and stuff. 😉
Sweetener note: As my awesome Steemit friend 
has stated before, stevia sweetened baked goods taste better the next day, but I devoured the cake while it was still warm and loved it. It's very rich and decadent! Also, I am used to eating less sweet foods, so the amount of sugar or sugar replacement that one would need to use on this cake various with each person's taste buds. Adjust accordingly!
And as more frequently than before, all of the images in this post were taken on both the author's long suffering iPhone and new to the game but never lame Canon Rebel digital camera.
