He threw away my cake!

"So, my very dear friends, don’t get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light." James 1:16-17

Sooo you know how I mentioned in my post, Unclench your fists, that I'm trying to get my body together, right?

Let me be transparent with y'all. This week, I've truly been stumbling over my "achilles heel": my sweet tooth.

Now, I'm a lover of all kinds of foods, but it's something about that doggone sugar that gets me every time. Cookies...Cakes...Ice Cream...Donuts....Oh my!

Unfortunately, sugary snacks and weight loss don't exactly fit in the same category. This week I was especially craving and falling for them. From TWO slices of cake at a baby shower for my co-worker on, to a LARGE Gelati from Rita's Italian Ice on Wednesday...

(Listen, quit judging me. I never said I was perfect at this!)

Been in an "interesting" mental space this week so, unfortunately, that makes it easier to fall into temptations like these.

Yesterday, I worked a split schedule and I got off work at 1pm and had a break. I decided to go for a walk around the lake. Something about being in nature, away from distractions, that always grounds me and uplifts my spirit. I breathe clearer, I think clearer, and I feel God's presence even more.

Before taking a walk, I'd glanced through my Facebook memories and re-read a post that I shared from one of my friends from 2020. This was at the height of the pandemic when so much chaos and devastation was happening. She was sharing how she'd begun baking to take her mind away from the worries of the world. It was a reminder that, even in the midst of storms, God's peace is always there and can oftentimes be found within the gifts He's given us. (The post is public. Feel free to read it here!)

After reading the post, taking a walk, and praying, I was feeling lighter. I drove back to the house and ate a quick lunch. From there, I had one thing on my mind: a leftover slice of cake from the baby shower that I'd stashed in the fridge!

Excitedly, I go to open the fridge............only to find that my piece of cake had been thrown away. Thank you, husband!

In that moment, I thought, "Well, guess it wasn't God's will for me to have anything sweet..."

Then, another thought came to me: Why don't I just bake something?!

I had been intending to bake this Keto Strawberry Shortcake for the past 2 weeks but hadn't got to it. Now, was the perfect time to make, not only a dessert - but a waist-friendly one!

Let's do this!

So, I was heavily inspired by this recipe here, but I had to put my own little flair:

The recipe called for 3 cups of almond flour and I know from experience that almond flour can be a bit dense. I decided to do 1.5 cups of almond and 1.5 cups of coconut flour to make it a little fluffier.

I doubled the amount of Zero Calorie sweetener. I wanted this to taste more like cake and not a biscuit!

I added a little cinnamon and I also measured the vanilla by the Spirit - not the measuring spoon!

I mixed and patted the mixture into 9 "biscuits" and baked for 18 minutes. While they were baking, I went to work on making homemade whipped cream. Made my first ever successful batch!

When they finished baking, I topped a biscuit with my homemade whipped cream and some chopped fresh strawberries - Mmmmm! This turned out sooo good! Even though it's supposed to be cake-like, it actually was giving "cookie" (which I didn't mind at all).

Such an unexpected, unplanned activity on my day's agenda....but, just like my friend from the post, I felt delighted as I tried out this new recipe. Hadn't really baked in a while so it felt really nice to take this moment to get back to it. God knows what I need exactly when I need it!

I guess I have my husband to thank for throwing away my cake slice: one, he saved me calories and two, I probably wouldn't have taken the journey to this yummy surprise!