Health, Happiness, and a Luscious Chocolate-Zucchini Cake

Can I tell you about how I am feeling right now? I am very happy and filled with joy inside. I can't hold in my happiness!

Last Thursday I had a mammogram done. I had been feeling some pain - enough pain to wake me up at night. So after my mammogram was finished, I was told the doctor wanted to do an ultrasound. They wanted to look further at something. For about 15 minutes after I was waiting for the results, I felt sheer terror inside. I can't even describe it. My whole body felt warm all over with fear. I felt dread. I prayed. 

It turned out everything was fine. Thank you God. I can not contain how happy I feel to receive a clean bill of health. I am bursting with joy. I am drinking green tea everyday now and vow to eat greens everyday of my life. I am so happy.

I want to celebrate life as much as I can. In all that I do and all that I think. Everyday. Every moment if possible. So, for my first celebritory time I had to myself this Monday morning, I baked a chocolate chip zucchini cake. This cake brought me so much joy to make. A very simple cake. With simple ingredients: shredded zucchini, chocolate, a small container of low-fat yogurt, 2 eggs.



I found the recipe in one of Prevention's Flat Belly Diet cookbooks. I love those. At the time I made it, I was out of whole wheat pastry flour, so I just substituted all purpose flour (just double the amount called for of the whole wheat pastry flour). I will definitely be making this again with the whole wheat flour to make it a bit healthier.

I will be putting these cut servings (this recipe makes 12 servings) into the freezer for when I get a chocolate cake craving.

My main interest right now is health and light recipes. The future of this blog will hold a keepsake of light, airy recipes. Stay tuned! Here's to celebrating the everyday... with good things for you.

Chocolate-Zucchini Snack Cake

From The Flat Belly Diet Diabettes cookbook by Liz Vaccariello

1 and 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (measure 3.5 cups if using all purpose)

1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt (I used Stonyfield Farm)

1/3 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 and 1/2 cups shredded zucchini

Spray a 11" X 7" pan with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl, combine: flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside

In a medium bowl, combine: the eggs, sugar, yogurt, oil, and vanilla. Whisk to combine. Then whisk in the zucchini and 1 1/2 cups of the chocolate chips.

Stir wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until blended.

Spread mixture into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with the remaining 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips. Pop pan back into oven for 1 minute to melt chips. With a spatula, spread melted chips over cake. Let cool completely.

12 servings/361 calories a serving