{Golden Honey Coconut Carrot Cake}

Happy Thursday dear friends! Despite the forecast of rain on my birthday, Jesus brought me sunshine! A beautiful, vibrant blue sky greeted me Wednesday morning and I couldn't have been more surprised.  What a perfect and lovely birthday present to welcome in my golden birthday.

I love to bake.  Rarely ever pass up an opportunity to bake a cake, I just had to bake my favorite for my special day.  I truly dislike creating cakes without a reason, even though I could use the practice.  I like to have friends and family to savor my victory or eat the failure.  Cake needs company.  I chose one of  my favorites, a delicious Carrot Cake, and whipped up a heavenly Coconut Honey Frosting to complete this scrumptious dessert.  I just finished off a slice tonight and oh dear is it good.  Nothing like the moist and almost chewy texture of a good carrot cake on your birthday or the day after!

I used a delightful recipe that came out quite nicely in my new spring-form cake pans (thank you mom!).  The cake and frosting recipes came from other baking geniuses, but I added a few twists of my own to both and loved the results!  I'm starting to get the hang of frosting.  It's had me in tears multiple times, so I was pleasantly surprised when  it developed smoothly and tasted divine!  A pet peeve I have with frosting has made the process more difficult than it normally should be.  I just can't help this one.

I hate powdered sugar and shortening in frosting.  It gives me a major sugar rush (the bad kind) and a headache within minutes of eating.

If you are familiar with frosting ingredients, this eliminates just about every good thick, creamy frosting recipe known to man kind, well practically.  Fortunately, I found one that uses agave/honey and coconut oil.  Most I've tried melt after being pulled out of the fridge and create a gooey, oily frosting that looks and tastes terrible.  Not this one, it's actually thick and frosts nicely!

Thanks for celebrate a bit with me! I hope you enjoyed the yummy photos of my golden birthday cake!

{Linked to}

Gluten-Free Wednesdays

Gluten-Free Veggie Sandwich

It's been a bit since I've posted, I apologize! With a new job and my recent engagement....well, it's been a wonderful whirlwind!  Thank you all so much for your sweet notes of support and congrats! I just loved sharing my exciting news with you.

Today I have a delicious, yet simple, creation for you, the veggie sandwich.  Instead of using sandwich bread I used toasted GF english muffins and mmmm it was perfect! Before my transition to my new diet I LOVED sandwiches, so naturally I quickly found ways to recreate my lunchtime favorite.  As you know, I love the fresh produce so there are some ripe, juicy veggies in it.  They keep the sandwich moist and flavorful.  I hope you enjoy this fresh take on an everyday lunch treat!


{GF Veggie Sandwich}

1/2 Food For Life GF English Muffin
Ripe Organic Heirloom Tomato
Mustard or Broccoli Sprouts
Ripe Hass Avocado
Organic English Cucumber (The English really is better; I promise!)
Organic Rainbow Chard
Your Favorite Mustard Dressing

First toast your English Muffin.  While it's toasting slice your Heirloom Tomato, English Cucumber and Avocado.  Wash and pat dry 2-3 leaves of Rainbow Chard, chopping off the stems.  Pull the English Muffin out and spread your choice of Mustard Dressing.  Layer the Tomato, Avocado and Cucumber.  Follow it with a bunch of Sprouts and then top it with the Rainbow Chard.  The Chard works as the "other slice" of Muffin or Bread, keeping  the sandwich light and refreshing!