Simple Spice Cake - 3 Points

Growing up I had a fabulous "aunt" who decorated her entire house in zebra strips and royal purple. She frequently hosted tea parties with the who's who and once took me to the home of the French ambassador for a fashion show. You can imagine that her cookbook was full of delicacies that would please the most discerning palate. Her go-to cake, for drop in visitors, was this deceivingly simple spice cake, topped with a dusting of powdered sugar.

Simple Spice Cake
1 3/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves

1. Sift flour before measuring, then add remaining ingredients and beat for 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Bake in a greased 9x13" pan for 30 minutes at 350F.
3. Yields 24, 3 point servings.

Here is the cake with a custard topping (I will give you that recipe later).

 

Now for menu planning! I read an interesting article in Self about being a flexitarian. I had never heard that word before. Apparently, it is someone who views beef as an occasional indulgence and eats vegetarian several times a week. I think that means that I am a flexitarian. I rarely eat beef. How often I eat vegetarian is up for debate. Going by a traditional definition, I guess I eat vegetarian 3-4 days a week. However, that includes fish. As far as I am concerned, if it died before I ate it - it's meat. That definition gets me down to 1 or 2 days a week. 

I am a member of a liturgical church, which means that I am about to celebrate my favorite holiday season - Lent. That means, you will be seeing even more meatless meals from me. Beans, eggs, and fish? Yum!

Sunday

spicy braised sweet potatoes

Monday

black bean soup

Fat Tuesday

mom's chicken

Ash Wednesday

scallops with tomatoes and mangos

Thursday

mom's pork chops

Fasting Friday

bean and cheese quesadillas

Saturday

"Rotisserie" chicken

If you are interested in your own Weight Watchers menu, here is one (click the menu item for the recipe):

Monday

egg in a hat

Tuesday

orange roughy with tropical salsa

Wednesday

scallops in red wine sauce

Thursday

toasted bobotee sandwhich

Friday

hummus and tomato pizza

Saturday

night out - local favorite: Ahart's, chain favorite, Logan's (they have a nice skinny section on the menu - excellent veggie skewers)

Now, since I have made you go so long without a picture (which, we learned was a no-no from David Lebovitz) here are some lovely pictures of some rocks.  I took this while visiting the Ozarks. My friend Alex loves rocks, and I was trying to get some nice photos for her.