I’m sitting here in my office, with a the beautiful mug filled with my favorite coffee, and I actually feel – content. I’m thinking about how insanely lucky I am to be able to do what I love as my job now. But then I’m reminded of how much work I’ve put into this space, and realize maybe it wasn’t all luck after all.

Sometimes I put a lot of pressure to show gratitude. I see people posting on Instagram with hashtag #blessed in their captions, and it makes me think that I’m not being grateful enough for what I have. But this is kind of silly for two reasons – 1. because you should never compare yourself to people on Instagram, and 2. because gratitude should come naturally from the heart, and not from peer pressure.

But there’s a certain type of gratitude that I wish I saw more of from others, and myself. And that is gratitude for YOURSELF. In my own case, I kept thinking about all of the outside factors that made my work possible, and totally neglected to thank myself for all the hard work I’ve put in. And I think that’s because many of us are taught that patting ourselves on the back is inherently wrong for some reason.

But I’m here to tell you (and me) today that it’s OKAY to be thankful for yourself. In fact, you SHOULD be! There’s a quote that says everyone is fighting a hard battle, but have you ever stopped to thank yourself for fighting that good fight? We’ve all faced hardships, difficulties, struggles – some of us may be going through these things right now. But today I invite you to APPRECIATE the fact that you’ve kept going. You’ve worked so hard to get where you are today, and you deserve true gratitude for what you’ve accomplished. Your troubles may or may not be over, but you’ve made it this far, haven’t you? So stop and THANK YOURSELF for achieving all you’ve achieved, even if they’re small victories. And if you ever think that you’re not deserving or worthy of gratitude, let me affirm that YOU ARE WORTHY.

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Vegan Apple Cake

This vegan apple cake is made with simple ingredients but is sure to impress everyone at your table, especially with the delicious vanilla cashew cream.

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Ingredients

Wet Ingredients

• 1/3 Cup Coconut Oil melted
• 1 1/2 Cups Natural Applesauce

Dry Ingredients

• 2 Cups Spelt or Whole Wheat Flour
• 3/4 Cup Coconut Sugar
• 1/4 Tsp Salt
• 1 1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1 1/2 Tsp Cinnamon

Vanilla Cashew Cream

• 1 Cup Cashews soaked overnight
• ⅔ Cup Almond Milk or other plant milk
• ½ Tsp Vanilla
• 2 Tbs Coconut Oil melted
• 2 Tbs Maple Syrup

Garnishes

• Sliced Almonds
• Coconut Sugar

Instructions

Apple Cake

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a small bowl, mix wet ingredients – melted coconut oil and applesauce. Mix to combine fully.
• In a larger bowl, mix dry ingredients – flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Mix to combine fully.
• Fold wet ingredients into the dry, stirring until everything is just mixed.
• Pour batter into a baking pan (I used a bundt pan) lined with vegetable spray or coconut oil.
• Bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
• When done, remove from oven and let cool.

Vanilla Cashew Cream

• In a blender, combine soaked cashews, almond milk, vanilla, coconut oil, and maple syrup. Blend on high until everything is smooth and creamy.
• The cream can be used instantly, but it will be very thin. To thicken, stick the cashew cream in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes.
• Then, pour over the cake, garnishing with sliced almonds (if desired).
• Enjoy!

Notes

The cashew cream loses its vibrancy after it’s been on the cake for awhile. (That’s because it has no artificial preservatives or colorants!) For the freshest looking icing, keep cashew cream in the fridge and wait until serving before icing the cake.

Quote of Day:

Almost proving what I said about society not willing to let you thank yourself – I couldn’t find a single quote about self-gratitude. So instead, I humbly submit these words:

You is kind. You is smart. You is important.