Great Apple Cake and Stomach Muscles and Where are they exactly?

This is a simple, but delicious apple cake that can be made with grated apple or with chopped pieces of apple.  The aroma of cinnamon is just intoxicating and is a luscious, pre-shabbas aroma I CANNOT resist!

 

Ingredients:

·        1 cup whole wheat flour

·        1 teaspoon baking soda

·        1 teaspoon baking powder

·        1 teaspoon salt

·        1 1/2 cups sugar substitute

·        3-4 teaspoons of cinnamon

·        200 grams applesauce

·        1 1/2 cups water

·        4-5 apples – either grated or chopped into pieces

·        3-4 teaspoons of vanilla extract

·        1 whole egg

·        4 egg whites

·        PAM spray

What to do:

·        Sift the flour and then add all the dry ingredients.

·        I love cinnamon, so I add A LOT!  You can add as much or as little as you like.

·        Add the applesauce.  I have found applesauce in small 113 gram plastic containers, sold in packs of four.  These lovelies give you a bit more applesauce than called for in this recipe, but it is worth it.  Also, I only open up the amount I need.  I used to buy a large glass jar of applesauce, thinking it was a better-value for the money, but once it was opened, I needed to use it in a very timely fashion or it went bad.  With these little “cups”, I use what I need and store the rest – unopened – in the pantry.

·        Add water and vanilla.

·        Apples: You can prepare the apples either grated or peeled and chopped into pieces.  These days, I enjoy tasting actual pieces of the apple, instead of just a hint of the apple taste grated in the mixture.  The choice is yours and as always, I recommend you try both methods and go for what makes you happy.

·        Make sure all ingredients are mixed very well before you add the egg.  The whole wheat flour tends to easily stick to the bottom of the bowl.

·        Next add the whole egg.

·        In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until they are stiff (usually you will quadruple the original volume of the egg whites) and then gently fold them into the mix.  I add a bit of the sugar into the eggs as they whip.  This step is key to creating a light textured cake.

·        Spray a round Bundt cake pan with PAM.

·        Pour the mixture into the cake pan.  The cake should fill the pan until almost the very top.

·        Bake in a preheated oven to 180°C for about 40 minutes.  Baking time may vary according to oven, baking pan thickness and season, so check the cake after about 30 minutes of baking.  The top should be golden brown.  Cake is ready when a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.

·        I do not invert the cake and remove it from the pan, but rather cut slices as needed.

Portion size:

I cut 8-10 slices from my Bundt pan for a very points-friendly dessert.

How to store:

Always store these cakes in the fridge. 

Be’Tay a’Von!

Stomach Muscles and Where are they exactly?

 

Yup, it was inevitable that I would bring up stomach muscles.  Or perhaps I should say, it was inevitable that I would ask: Where are they exactly?  So let’s talk plainly.  They are there – somewhere.  You may not have been on “speaking terms” with those darlings for a while, but I promise they have not moved and left no forwarding address.  They are simply waiting for you to find them – again.

 

I hate to use the term “core muscles” or “core” when discussing your stomach muscles.  I recently watched an exercise video where the instructor used the word “core” some fifty-five times during the twenty minute video and after hearing her use the word about ten times in the first five minutes, I already wanted to strangle her. 

 

So here I am going to say simply: lay flat (and comfortably) on your back on a mat and breathe in and out deeply.  Inhale deepy through your nose. Each time you exhale (through your mouth), try to push out as much air from your lungs as possible (obviously, you should try to fill your lungs to capacity on the inhale).  As you breathe deeply in and out, lay your hands on your abdomen and feel your muscles.  Get a feeling for where they are located.  No, I am not kidding.  Just work with me here, ok?

 

Now, how can you work these muscles without working them or doing any kind of archaeological expeditions to find them?  Simple, sort of: Every time you need to sit down in a chair, get up from a chair, walk up a flight of stairs or walk down a flight of stairs – do not hold on to the banister or arm of the chair.  As you do these activities, concentrate on what parts of your abdomen/lower part of your body is moving during these movements. 

 

I have noticed that the less I depended, leaned and supported myself on a banister or arm of a chair, the more I felt in control of the up/down movement and I got a better sense of where my muscles were.  This is not a quick process, these actions are not meant to take the place of true abdominal exercises.  They are simply meant as a method of (1) understanding how you move and (2) where the muscles are so you can begin to move them.

 

The next baby step in this process is to begin to get into the habit of pulling in your stomach muscles for a count of three, then five, then ten, while you doing any simple activity: sitting in front of the computer, waiting for the red light to change, waiting in line at the supermarket, doctor’s office and the like.  Breathe regularly while you hold in your muscles.  There is no gain in holding your breath while you do this exercise.  I recommend not looking at your stomach/muscles while you do it – look ahead, with your back held straight and not rigid and your head well aligned with your back. 

 

Don’t think of it as exercise, think of it as something to do while you wait for your water to boil, the sales rep to answer the phone, the checkout girl to ring up your groceries, heck, while you decide what to order at a restaurant.

Get this exercise into your routine and repeat it 10, 15 times throughout your day and you will see a difference!