“Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”

~ William Morris

I love when my counters gleam diamonds, my books sit alphabetical in colour-coded categories, my veggies lay washed and cut and wrapped in nutrient-labelled containers, and my cardigans hang freshly pressed in decreasing longitudes from the right corner.

That’s how I like to picture my house.

But if you were to walk in right now, you’d see yoga pants with a hole in the left buttcheek and frayed scarves cascading out of a neglected, semi-unpacked bag. You’d stumble on oh-there’s-that-missing-sock as you fought through the obstacle course of a stairway to find dripping drying dishes stacked perilously atop each other as if a circus act, scattered tangerine peels gleefully exploded below.

That’s the flowery way of saying it’s a (tad bit of a)… mess.

So when I saw the quote above, I thought, how true! What a wonderful time of year to re-evaluate, clean up, and let go. I certainly don’t need (or even want) everything that I own, and what better way to make space for the new than by clearing out the old?

In celebration for the beginning of an incredible new year, I’m clearing out my cupboards, closets, relationships, thoughts, habits, goals, literally EVERYTHING, and only keeping the things that I need or bring beauty to my life. Join me, will you?

…  And since every good party needs snacks, here’s a delicious recipe for those of you who aren’t scared of a little sugar once in awhile. (I’ll be honest, this concoction was created by throwing everything left in my apartment into the mixing bowl and praying to the unicorns for mercy. So yes, the ingredients are a bit weird… but cleaning cupboards = best excuse to get creative in the kitchen!)

These cookies won’t win beauty pageants, but they are crispy, sweet, and good in moderation.

So have a cookie, get yo’ cleaning on, and have a most WONDERFUL last few days of 2012!!

Sufey

P.S. I will add photos soon as I dig out memory cards from my suitcase! Gotta love the chaos of moving!

INGREDIENTS:

**Note: I added lots of extra ingredients just to use them up, so feel free to go with the recipe or substitute with what you have! Do share what you come up with!

• 2 cups almond meal
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1.5 cup turbinado sugar (also called “sugar in the raw”)
• 1 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup raw cacao nibs
• 1/4 tsp Himalayan salt
• 1/2 cup green tea or chai tea (or replace with water)

Extras:

• 1/4 cup maca powder
• 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Optional: brew strong tea (I used a mix of different green tea bags).

Melt coconut oil by placing jar in pot of warm water, or by scooping desired amount out into bowl and pouring hot tea overtop it.

Mix in almond meal, rolled oats, sugar, salt. Add water if not using tea. Toss in coconut, cacao nibs, and optional maca, pumpkin pie spice, cayenne pepper, and good intentions for the new year!

Cover multiple baking sheets with parchment paper. Shape dough into 1-inch balls with 2-inch spaces between each cookie. Bake each batch for approx 8 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool.

Enjoy!!