Permission to be Imperfect (aka Human)…and Gingerbread

 

My house currently looks like why? how come? and it’s not right. If my grandmother were still alive she would proclaim that this house belongs to someone who don’t know Jesus.

The other day I made sandwiches and broccoli for dinner. After 7pm. Or was it 8? Can’t even recall.

I could french braid my armpit hair at this very moment. I am multi-talented, y’all.

I’ve worn the same pair of socks everyday for about a week–the very nice circulation socks for my legs which ache because I’m on my feet for 1,087 hours a day. Yup, a day.

I don’t like people to be in my house. Or to visit unannounced. Nor announced.

I typically put on 10 pounds every winter because I’m about that Simple Carbohydrate Life.

I call stretchy pants “stretchy” instead of “yoga” because I don’t do yoga. Though it is on my “When I Get My Life Right” list. Which may be the perfect title to my cookbook: When I Get My Life Right and other Sinful Desserts…

I sped up on a residential, one-way street yesterday so I could attempt to give a school bus driver the finger because he honked his horn at me sooooooooooooooo disrespectfully. And there may have been a child–who calls me momma–in my car during the pursuit. May have been. Ok, yeah, my child was definitely in the car during the pursuit.

I have been trying to do a “cat eye” with my eyeliner for the past six months, and I always end up looking like a panda.

People, I am not perfect. But no artist is. And no work gets done at all if the goal is to do it perfectly.

Like the great Buddha once said, let that shit go.

Live while you can. Create while you can. Eat simple carbohydrates  w h i l e  y o u  c a n.

Til’ next time, Reine.

Gingerbread

(pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees) 

Dry Ingredients

• 2.5 cups of all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 TBSp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg, freshly ground (stop playin’ with that pre-ground nutmeg-_-)

“Flax Eggs”

• 2 TBSP ground flax seed meal + 1/4 cup rice milk (mix together & set aside)

Other ingrdients

• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Wet Mix

• 1 cup rice milk + 2 TBSP apple cider vinegar (mix together & set aside)

Directions:

1.  Sift all your dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

2.  With an electric hand mixer or your very own muscles(!), blend/whisk together your brown sugar, molasses and olive oil. Once blended, add your flax eggs.

3.  With your hands, fold in half of your sifted dry ingredients for no more than one minute. Then fold in your entire wet mix for about 30 seconds. Then fold in the remaining half of your dry ingredients for 30 more seconds.

4. Spray a 9×5 loaf pan with non-stick spray or oil and flour it so your batter does not stick. Fill the pan with your batter and bake for 45-55  minutes at 350 degrees, or until a toothpick/butter knife comes out clean.

5. Top with a dusting of powdered sugar…or if you are truly about that simple carbohydrate life, “cream cheese” frosting! What?!?!?!?!?!?!?!