FAT BE GONE - HEALTHIER LIFE!!!

Good evening!!! I don't have much tonight -- my brain is winding down!!! Today I did hear some alarming news - one of the elementary schools has 4 pregnant girls in it! That has to be children only a little over 10 years old. I find that alarming and unbelievable! Another school has 10 pregant girls. Where are the parents of these children? What have they taught them? Who do we feel for the most - the young child having a child or the child being brought in this world with a mother that is only about 10 or 11 years older than it??? After I heard this I was more convinced that our preacher was "right on" when he preached about purity and how God is pure and holy and we need to follow His example! How young people need to resist tempatation because God wants us to be pure! The sad thing is these children hardly even know the meaning of purity -- they are not old enough to understand. The Bible is so specific about the parent's responsibility to teach a child and raise them up in the admiration of the Lord! I am thankful for Christian schools - such as ETCA that not only offer academic learning - but teach morals, values and a Christian way of life.

I want to give you a wonderful cake recipe that most of you are familiar with -- but then I want to tell you of a couple of substitutions I made to make it lighter and healthier. My favorite critic in the whole world was amazed after I told him what I had done! He declared he could not tell the difference!!

CHOCOLATE SHEATH CAKE
Cake:
1 stick margarine
1/2 cup shortning
1 cup water
4 tablespoons cocoa
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Bring margarine, shortening, water and cocoa to a boil Let mixture cool a little. Add sugar and flour. Then add eggs, buttermilk, soda, cinnamon, and vanilla.

Bake in 9 X 13 pan at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

ICING:

1 stick margarine
4 tablespoons cocoa
6 tablespoons Milk
1 lb. powdered sugar

To make icing, bring margarine, cocoa, and milk to a boil for one minute. Add powdered sugar. Mix well and iced cooled cake. Serves 12 to 15.

Ok let's go though what I did. I substituted Splenda for sugar. Then added the flour, eggs, buttermilk, soda, cinnamon and vanilla. I cut back to 1 stick butter. For the icing I used 1/4th stick butter, 4 tablespoons cocoa, 6 (fat free) tablespoons milk and about 1 cup powdered sugar instead of 4 cups, 1 tsp. vanilla. I tasted and then added about 2 tablespoons Splenda and then the taste was right. I also added about 3 tablespoons chopped, toasted pecans.

Mix Well and ice cool cake and cover with pecan halves.

Enjoy! - knowing you have cut the fat and sugar over half!!!

Hope your Thursday is good and you help someone along the way. Let God - and He will lead you to the one who needs you!! Keep this nation and especially this town's children in your prayers!!