Decorating With What You Already Have

This weekend I am redecorating by using what I already have! My wood floor project is now complete so I wanted to rearrange some furniture. I moved my hutch into the dining room and decided to change it's purpose by using it for things I use in the kitchen instead of a storage unit - haha! (I'm still working on a post for that part). However, the end result in my living room was that I had an empty wall. I decided to use an old table that belonged to my great-grandma as my starting point. Then I found an old picture in a closet that belonged to my grandma, so I painted the frame with some cream colored paint and hung that over the table. I grabbed a pink, shabby chic lamp from the "princess room", a flower arrangement from another bedroom (I painted the vase to match the frame of the picture), added grandma's doily, and a framed family picture. I had an old oak coat rack that belonged to my dad so I hung some vintage hats that belonged to my grandma, a vintage fur jacket that belonged to Great-Aunt, tucked some vintage gloves in the pocket, and moved that next to the table. I love how it turned out and the best part is that I get to display some of my favorite family stuff and it didn't cost any money. So before you go shopping, look around and see what you already have in your house and start moving it around for a new look. Happy creativity all!

Love and peace,
~ Simply Tammi

Grandma's Bread Pudding and Caramel Sauce

I was trying to think of something for dessert last night and homemade bread pudding was my choice. Our Dad was not a dessert lover but bread pudding was one of his favorites. Our grandma made the best bread pudding, hope you like it! Ingredients : 5 cups slightly dried out bread, any kind. I used Italian bread. 1/4 cup raisins (optional) 2 cups milk 1/4 cup butter 1/2 cup white sugar 2 eggs 1 T vanilla 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1/2 tsp cinnamon Caramel Sauce Ingredients 1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup heavy cream 1 tsp vanilla Directions : Cut the bread in cubes. I cut some of the crust off (on about half of the bread). Place bread into a greased casserole dish or an 11x9 inch pan. Add raisins. Microwave milk and butter about 4 minutes on 60% power or heat in a saucepan over medium heat on the stove. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon. Slowly add the mixture to the egg and milk and butter

Homemade Goulash

Last weekend I made meals for the freezer. It takes a few hours but this will save you time during the week (in case you have nights like I do when you don't feel like cooking) and your family will love it! I adapted this recipe from Paula Deen (it's called Bobby's Goulash). I used organic ingredients but use the products of your choice. I would have liked to use fresh tomatoes from the garden but my tomatoes weren't quite ready. You can also make it gluten-free by using gluten-free elbow macaroni. It's so tasty - my family loved it! Ingredients : 1 pound ground turkey 1 pound lean ground beef 1 -2 small onions, diced ( I used red onions) 1 (28 ounce) can tomato sauce 2 (15 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice 3 cups water 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 T Italian seasoning 3 bay leaves 3 T soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce 1 T seasoning salt course ground pepper to taste 2 cups elbow macaroni (uncooked) Putting it together: Brown meat and onions in a lar

Dad's Homemade Peach Cobbler

Peach Cobbler fresh from the oven! One of our favorite desserts is Dad's peach cobbler. This is a recipe that I use when I need a quick dessert. I always have the ingredients and it only takes a few minutes to mix it up. I modified it for gluten-free by making a change to the flour type, just in case you're looking for gluten-free. You can use fresh or frozen peaches, or even canned peaches work. I usually freeze enough Colorado peaches to take me through the seasons so I use those. This recipe makes about 6 servings. Ingredients : 1/3 c butter, melted 1-2 cups peaches, peeled and sliced 1 c sugar (white or organic cane) 1 c all-purpose flour ( or white rice flour for gluten-free ) 1 tsp cinnamon (this is optional, my family loves cinnamon!) 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp sea salt 1 c milk (I use organic 2%) Directions : Melt butter and pour it into a baking pan, a 9x9 square glass pan works great. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and sa

Natural Homemade Living

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