Birthday Cake

We have a very busy week in September.  My birthday happens to be tomorrow.  My mom's birthday is 3 days later and then my daughter's is 4 days after that.  We affectionately call this week "Birthday Week". 

My daughter is VERY "excited" about desserts. She ALWAYS asks if she can have a dessert after dinner.  In fact, before starting eating healthier we would frequently have ice cream in the house. It started to get to the point that if we told her that she couldn't have dessert because she had it the night before, she would break down in tears. It was quite scary that she would have such a strong reaction about dessert. That hasn't happened since we started to eat healthier.  She seems more inclined to take "No" for an answer. 

Well, now that our birthdays are this week, she asked about birthday cakes.  To be completely honest, I have NO desire to have a birthday cake.  In fact, tomorrow is my birthday and we are going camping!  NO birthday cake on the menu!  I started to think about a birthday cake that I could make for my daughter.  I have had some strong personal objections to actually making the cake, considering it has a TON of sugar and white flour.  I just don't feel right making something for my kids that goes against what I am trying to teach them about health.  Not to mention, it just does NOT sound good! When she asked about birthday cakes, I told her that it would be OK for us to have cakes and cookies on more of a "special occasion" basis. Well, the special occasion is here and I can't go back on my word. So, yesterday I started to do some research about natural sweeteners.

I was introduced to a natural sweetener called sucanat by my chiropractor and his family.  I have made cakes for them that are made with whole wheat and healthier alternatives to your typical cake including sucanat.  Here are a couple of links to healthier alternatives to refined sugar:

TIME

Whole Foods

Fit Day

I've decided that I will make her a cake, but I won't be using sugar or white flour.  I desperately want my kids to choose health over habit or availability. And I think that this is the first step, to show them that you can still have what you love, but having it in a healthier way is better.