Lemon—Orange Blender Cake

This is another recipe where I went to Google and typed in the ingredients I wanted to use and asked for amounts. I use soft butter or ghee to grease the pan and instead of flour, I sprinkle coarse turbinado sugar over the pan, to give the exterior a nice little crunch. This works really well.

1 Duncan Hines Lemon cake mix
1/2T baking powder

4 lg. pasture raised eggs
1/2c single origin EVOO
1/2c plain whole milk Greek yogurt
2 unpeeled chopped Cutie Mandarins
2± T Italian lemon juice

Preheat your oven to 350° Butter and sugar a 9x13" glass baking pan. Shown here all mixed and ready to bake.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry cake mix and baking powder. Put the next group of ingredients in the blender jar and pulse-blend until smooth. Pour this into the dry ingredient bowl and whisk hard until everything's well combined.

Pour into the prepared pan, sprinkle the top with turbinado sugar. Bake 40± minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. I let this cool, then drizzled with a thin glaze of powdered sugar and lemon juice.

This turned out SO well! The EVOO and yogurt worked perfectly to create a wonderful moist crumb texture. 

My next attempt at a lemony-orange cake will be to omit the cake mix and have A.I. create a healthier recipe using organic all purpose flour (or maybe almond or coconut flour-?) and baking powder. . .Lin

Crunchy Tuna-Egg Salad ➕ Maple-Pepper Lemonade

This was the perfect breakfast!

I once saw a Chiropractor who often said a big steamy mug of lemon water with pepper was cleansing, anti-inflammatory and a wonderful way to start each day. I've added a bit of honey over the years, then I discovered Maple syrup dissolves so much better, even in cold water, so my take on this healthy, cleansing drink is at the bottom of this post.

This photo is pretty self-explanatory. Since I don't usually measure, I'm not giving exact amounts.

5-6 celery stalks

4-5 mini dill pickles

1 extra large green onion

Chop all these into a medium glass bowl then add a big dollop of mayonnaise, about 1/2T Dijon, a splash of good vinaigrette and a good shake of red and mixed seasonings.

Chop the eggs and tuna and gently mix with the rest of the ingredients in the bowl.

2 pasture raised eggs

1 can of tuna - drained

I had a big scoop of this on a piece of really good, toasted, sourdough bread. A chopped campari tomato and part of a skinny English cucumber. This mug of hot lemonade really brought it all together!

Into a big glass picture, pour about 3/4" of pure Maple syrup. Add twice that amount of pure lemon juice. I buy this amazing stuff in a 2-bottle pack at Costco and now, since discovering it, get nervous when I'm down to that last bottle! I love this!

Next, fill the pitcher half way with cold water, sprinkle in a pinch of black pepper, and about 4 pinches or shakes of cayenne pepper. Stir well, fill the pitcher, stir again. Pour some into a mug, heat and drink. . .every drop! Then refill and drink some more.

If you'd rather have this iced, just be sure to stir well before pouring over crushed or cubes. . .Lin