“1 Corinthians 13, verse 4 – 7: Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”
Valentine’s day, I used to not understand this “holiday.” I would always think it was made for couples to share gifts and a nice candle lit dinner. More materialistic and just a flat-out day for romance. As time went on, I realized that it’s really more than that. Yes sure, it’s more of a Hallmark holiday but I believe it could be a truly eye-opening day. It’s a day where no matter where we are, who we are, or what we look/ believe in, we celebrate LOVE. Love for our peers, our earth, our animals, family, friends, lovers, kids, being able to breath, smell, touch, feel, live, and most importantly we celebrate the love for OURSELVES. That’s the kicker. Loving ourselves. I don’t mean in a self-centered, the entire world should look at me kind of love. I am talking about loving you to the core of your being, knowing who you are, where you are going, the accomplishments you’ve done… loving YOU, all of you even your flaws. How can we truly love anything or hate anything about someone else unless it’s inside of us first? Loving ourselves for all we are is so important on so many levels. It effects our life and how we view love, non-attachment, and freedom. We start to accept others for what they are because we accept ourselves for what we are. We know we are worth loving, helping us form healthy partnerships and friendships. We are worth a day to celebrate the love for life. This is a day to recognize all the good in people, all the LOVE in people over the shadow or hate. Judgments leave, forgiveness is shared, laughter is lived, we celebrate!
So for valentines day, don’t worry about if you have a romantic partner or not because you definitely don’t need to be in a relationship to celebrate this day of love because you know matter what have that with either yourself or the ones around you. You can be with family, friends, maybe hanging with the pups. How often do we actually carve the time out of our busy days to just treat our dang self- or to just have a good time treating the ones we love in our lives? When we feel good and nourished and loved, we raise our vibrational field. We become magnets of love, sharing it with the people around us.
Now when I think of a special night for me and my hunny, or with my girlfriends, mom, or just alone with myself and my dogs, I think of a night with candles, wine, a bubble bath with oils, and most of all, a chocolate cake! Following a delicious dinner but of course…possibly a glazed salmon or a pasta dish.. Somewhere in that last sentence was the word chocolate. CHOCOLATE CAKE. A favorite dessert of mine, just the simplicity of it is just so darn good. I came across a recipe from Elavegan.com for a Zucchini based Chocolate Cake with Sweet Potato Chocolate frosting. Thought I was dreaming for a second. Now I can actually say when I eat an entire cake to myself I am getting my fiber too? Ha. Only half kidding about the whole cake thing.
So, I am going to share the recipe I found and give my little twist on it for you all. What better way of sharing love than baking together and eating delicious, moist, chocolate cake? I hope you all have a fantastic day celebrating love and don’t forget to treat yourself too! It all starts with self-love anyways am I right? Maybe wake up with a self-body massage with some sesame oil, possibly a bath at some point, go for a nice walk, do something you love and write down the traits and accomplishments you are proud of. You are an amazing person, you deserve it.
This cake is Gluten free, dairy free, oil free, and Vegan.
Chocolate Zucchini Cake (oven 375 degrees)
Drys:
1 ½ cup brown rice flour
1 cup coconut sugar
¾ cup cocoa powder
2 tbl flaxseeds ground
¾ cup shredded unsweetened coconut dried
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
Wets:
2 cups lightly packed grated zucchini (this gets folded in last with the dries and wets)
1 1/3 cup light coconut milk canned
4 tbl maple syrup
Directions
- Put the dry ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth.
- Mix all the wets together in a bowl except for the Zucchini
- Fold the dry and the liquid together until almost combined and then fold in the Zucchini
- Pour into one cake pan separate evenly into two cake pans that are lined with parchment paper and oiled with coconut oil or coconut oil spray.
- Bake for 36-40 mins until the center is firm
- Let it cool completely
Now you do not have to separate it if you want to just have a single layer cake, that’s only if you want to have two layers of frosting. She suggests cutting the cake in half but I tried that and it fell apart… it is way to moist. So, either go with a one layer or separate into two so it’s more efficient.
Frosting:
2 sweet potatoes boiled and peeled
1 cup of seed butter of choice (I used raw almond)
1/3 cup maple syrup
6 tbls cocoa powder
1/8 cup of light canned coconut milk
½ tbls vanilla
pinch of salt
*if you have any dried chamomile or rose teas I suggest adding them in or on top for decoration
- Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and fluffy. Slather the cake in any way you wish and enjoy!
Raspberry simple sauce:
juice of one lemon, save the zest for on top of the cake.
1 cup of raspberries
2 tbls maple syrup
- Put all in blender and blend till smooth! Who doesn’t like raspberries and chocolate
About the Author
Chelsea Shapouri, currently in Ventura, California, is an entrepreneur with a love for holistic health, yoga/meditation, herbal medicine, travel, and the outdoors. Her aim is to help people achieve their true authenticity and move away from stress and into balance using her knowledge of Holistic Living. Chelsea is currently teaching “Yoga Medicine” at local studios and indoor rock-climbing gyms, creating a cookbook, taking photos with her favorite companions, hosting local workshops, and enjoying the ocean and trails on her days off. To learn more about her mission and offers, you can go to her website, Thegrainsoflife.com, or email her at; thegrainsoflife@yahoo.com. Join the team to spread this awareness of happiness as well as taking care of our earth and people.
