Grain Free Birthday and Solving Eczema

Grain free birthday and solving Eczema

My 35^th birthday was earlier this month.  I could have justified some gluten-free grain filled cake but I really wanted to use my own birthday as an opportunity to experiment with grain-free cake recipes.  My family all LOVE this cake and I usually make it for birthdays—I’d hate to make something sub-par for someone else’s birthday.  I also love that cake but it doesn’t make me feel very good.  We celebrated my birthday twice—the weekend before we got together with my in-laws and I made this cake recipe.  It was good flavor but dry—I think the brand of coconut flour makes a big difference and if I had used the same brand she did it might have been better—my batter looked nothing like hers.  Also I didn’t really make enough frosting (used this recipe).  Later I made a little more to go on the leftovers and that helped with the dryness. 

For my actual birthday I tried this recipe.  The texture was good, it was very light and airy, but there isn’t really enough chocolate in it.  If I could figure out the chocolate intensity of the first one with the texture of the second we might have ourselves a contender for replacing my go to cake mix, but I don’t want to make 37 cakes in a row to figure out the ratio—the ingredients are expensive and I don’t want to eat that much cake!

Speaking of birthdays, baby Marshall is going to be one today!  At two months old he developed severe cradle cap and eczema.  After lots of elimination and experimentation I found that eliminating eggs got rid of 95% of his rash, but all Summer long he had a little bit of rash that wouldn’t go away.  He was also in shorts so he would constantly scratch at the back of his legs where the rash was which kept it irritated. Finally really cleaning up my diet (Whole30), getting back into pants weather, and this cream got him pretty much clear.  I have since tried reintroducing eggs and the eczema is starting to sneak back, so out they go again. *sigh*.  For his birthday I am making him muffins that are dairy, gluten and egg free but not grain free-- so hard to eliminate everything and still have it be "cake".  

More later on my Paleo thanksgiving menu....