Today is my first King’s birthday! We already had a birthday party, and I shared what happened the following day due to the sugary treats I provided when my son had his deathly accident. Well, today we just sung happy birthday and had Raw Vegan Chocolate Birthday Cake. I got the idea and recipe from Violets Veg*n e-conomics blog and I thought it was pretty awesome so I decided to try it. Here is the recipe—Click here 🙂
Well, my honey bun LOVED the cake and it was decadent for sure. It was so rich and decadent that we couldn’t eat any more than one slice. Maybe in a few hours we’ll attack it again, but for now, it’s resting in the kitchen/laboratory. This was my first time making a raw cake. I’ve made vegan cakes plenty of times before, but they always involved sugar, and flour. I felt like it was time to take it up a notch, to the next level of wellness.
My son choking on that piece of candy has really scared me straight. Here I am, a self-proclaimed veggie mama, pumping my children full of green smoothies, fresh pressed juices, whole foods, watching the gluten intake, yet, I still allow them to indulge in sugar. Yes, moderation is key (according to popular belief) and yes, it’s a “treat” and it’s for a special occasion. However, being conscious of the deathly troubling effects of sugar on the body, short term and long term, I realized something. I don’t want to program my children into believing that sugar is to be put on a pedestal, because it doesn’t deserve to be on a pedestal.
People take drugs at parties (special occasion) pop bottles at clubs, smoke hookah (or other things) to set the mood. Basically, we can notice a pattern of taking substances whenever we are celebrating or trying to decompress and enjoy ourselves. This is fine and I hope this doesn’t come off with a judgmental tone, I’m just saying that I don’t want to teach my canon balls this pattern. It’s my job to weed through things with a fine tooth comb as their Mother and to always be their advocate. I want him to learn how to enjoy his special moments, just as the are, special moments.
Food is supposed to nourish, not numb. It’s supposed to feed our cells, not just our gut. I don’t want my child to always NEED sugar in order to be happy and satisfied.
So, with all of this on my heavy heart this morning, I made this cake. It was rich. It was fudgy. It was healthy. It was good. We definitely enjoyed making it and eating it. It’s different from what we are accustomed to when we think of cakes and sweets. It was very crumbly and difficult for the children to eat with a fork/spoon, but man did they power through that thing with their fingers. My youngest especially loved it. He was eating the dates, licking the bowl and sticking his fingers anywhere he could. Check out the recipe post here, and give it a try. It was fun to make and to teach my children that everything we put in our bodies, even sweets have a natural source.
Raw Vegan Chocolate Birthday Cake.
My children are still enjoying their sweet treats and occasional candy and fruit snacks. However, I notice that as the days go by, my sugar radar gets stronger and I have started policing what goes into their bodies. I have stopped buying juice boxes to star, and now I’m learning how to use dates more often. They seem just as happy as ever 🙂
What a wonderful post! Thank you for sharing your happy experience of making this cake with your boys – I can picture you all having such a great time with it. Grinning from ear to ear 😀
and thank YOU for your post, which inspired this one. It was awesome. I recently bought a dehydrator and am really excited to eating more raw food, with my boys. thank you 🙂 E to E 🙂 as well!
E to E ?
hahaha, ear to ear. My son was tugging at me, so I had to shorten it up lol
ha ha ha 😀 ok, thanks, trust me to be always behind on the terms 😀
I love your blog, your posts are beautiful! I just followed you, it would be great if we can support each other 🙂 I am so glad I got to discover you <3
Thanks Arielle. yes we need to support each other. I love the blogosphere 🙂
Thank you, you are so sweet! Same here, the community on WordPress is amazing 🙂