Natural Homemade Living

 I like to make cookies, but I really like eating them!  I am always looking for new recipes to try. This one sounded interesting and most importantly...easy.  I was a bit skeptical at first because there isn't flour in them, but they have turned out and are delicious every time. It is Gluten Free and also has a Vegan Option.  Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies 3/4 c white sugar 1/4 c brown sugar 1 c peanut butter 1 egg (to replace the egg, combine 1T ground flax seeds + 3T warm water in a small bowl and stir.  Allow a "jelly" to form after a few minutes, and use this as your "egg") 1/2 t vanilla Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir by hand with a spoon. Form into 1" balls, I used a cookie scoop but sometimes I roll them in my hands, then place them on a cookie sheet.  With a fork, lightly press and make a criss-cross pattern, then sprinkle the tops with a little brown and white sugar. Optional: you can roll them in a mixture of white and br...

If you are new to natural products it can seem overwhelming at first. Here are some basic things you can start with.  As my sister and I discovered, this is a process and doesn't happen overnight. You can start small, and gradually make more of your own products to replace the expensive, commercial products.  Here are some cheap and easy things to get you started with some basic cleaning products. vinegar and baking soda Mix water and vinegar 50/50 in a spray bottle, I found spray bottles at the dollar store but you can find them just about anywhere.  Pour some baking soda in a shaker bottle, I use a glass sugar shaker I got at Wal-mart for .97.  (You can also re-purpose an empty Parmesan cheese shaker.) You can sprinkle this on any hard surface, toilet, counter tops, bathroom sink etc. You can either scrub with a sponge or rag with a little water or spray your vinegar mixture and rinse.  You can add essential oils to this if you don't like the vinegar s...

I bought a bunch of clementines when they were on sale but after eating several of them, I had about 10 left and found an interesting recipe adapted from smittenkitchen.com that I wanted to try. Boil the clementines whole, in their skins, covered in water about an hour...I know.. I really didn't believe it until I did it. Don't forget to remove stems and stickers. Drain and puree in a food processor or blender. I got about 3 cups; I froze 2 and saved 1 to use in the clementine muffins. Here's the recipe: In a medium bowl mix: 1 c of puree 2 eggs 1/3 c milk 2/3 c sugar 4 T melted butter 2 T canola oil, you could also just use all butter 1 t vanilla In a large bowl sift together: 2 c flour 1T baking powder 1 t. salt Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients, mix together just until the dry ingredients are moistened.  You will have some lumps. Fill 12 muffin cups.  Bake 400 degrees about 14-20 minutes dep...

On those nights when I don't really feel like cooking I make burritos. Sometimes we put the mixture in tortillas. Many of the ingredients are optional it just depends on what you like. Ingredients: 3 cups cooked rice 3 T lime juice Chopped cilantro or about 1/4 cup (more or less to your taste) * If you use chicken, beef or buffalo, cook them your favorite way or use leftovers. I sometimes use chicken leftovers after we have had roasted chicken the night before. Then on the third day I make chicken soup (and freeze some of the stock for next time!)  Sorry I started rambling! Seasoning: 1 garlic clove, cut into small pieces 2 T finely chopped onion 3 T chili powder 1 tsp oregano salt and pepper to taste 1 cup cooked black beans or 1 (15 oz) can black beans (rinsed and drained) 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese or your favorite cheese 1 diced tomato shredded lettuce 1/4 cup black olives (sliced) Salsa Plain yogurt or sour cream Mix the seasoning with your meat se...

Meyer Lemons If you love the Meyer lemons but can't eat them all while they are in season, you can juice them and put the juice into an ice cube tray and freeze. Once they are frozen you can leave them in the tray or put them into a freezer bag or container. To get the most juice from your lemon, you can roll it on the counter before cutting or pop it in the microwave for about 10 seconds. Just make sure to strain before freezing to remove seeds and pulp. You can also freeze the zest for later use.  Angie

My husband and I aren't huge macaroni and cheese fans but the other night I was low on groceries and it was cold and snowy.  I  know there are several recipes for oven mac n cheese but I used what ingredients I had and this one is family approved.  My daughter took it to eat on her break at her dance studio and a couple people asked what restaurant it was from! What you will need:  Pasta, the amount and type is whatever you have 3T butter or marg. 3T flour 3 c milk 2-3 cups of shredded cheese (what you like and have on hand) I used 1lb. box of Penne Pasta ( this served 4 and we had left overs) boil your pasta. I took it out a couple minutes earlier than what the box said, it will cook in the oven and I don't like mushy pasta.  While the pasta is boiling, put together your cheese sauce. If you watch cooking shows, or you want to sound fancy, it's a Bechamel sauce. in a saucepan melt 3T butter or margarine, 3T flour until it is like paste then slowly a...

Here is a delicious, but very thick and rich hot chocolate recipe. It goes perfectly with the homemade marshmallows recipe shown earlier. I found the original recipe for this in Family Circle magazine. I have made it with a few different variations and it's always rich and delicious. Bring 1c milk to a boil on the stove. (I have made this with whole milk or skim milk instead, to cut calories) Add 3 T of cream, (I have also used half and half instead) Add  2-3 oz of chocolate. (I used Bakers semi-sweet, or chocolate chips and they both turned out yummy) bring to a second boil until the chocolate melts and is mixed well (the second boil is the key to the thickness). Then top it with a marshmallow and enjoy!  This is supposed to be one serving, but it is so rich that I split it into 3, half cup servings.   Angie

Seems like everyone I know has a cold right now.  I found a great recipe on crunchybetty.com for a homemade vapor rub. Ingredients: 2 tsp beeswax (grated) 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 25-35 drops of peppermint essential oil 15 drops eucalyptus essential oil 10-15 drops rosemary essential oil Melt the beeswax and olive oil together until smooth in a double boiler (or I used a Pyrex measuring cup in a pan of water). Stir well with a whisk. Continue whisking while adding the essential oils drop by drop. Transfer to a small lidded container. Store in a cool, dry place for up to a year.  Use just as you would the store bought brand. Love and peace, ~ Simply Tammi

This recipe is my Grandma's Oatmeal Bread recipe from her cookbook that she started putting together in 1929. I make this bread with my stand mixer and it works great. Perfect for a cold weather day with some soup or stew. Ingredients: 1 cup rolled oats (old-fashioned oatmeal) 1 T salt 2 T canola oil or coconut oil 2 cups boiling water 1 package yeast 1 tsp sugar 1/4 cup lukewarm water 1/2 cup lukewarm milk 1/2 cup brown sugar About 5 cups flour Pour the 2 cups boiling water over the rolled oats, salt, and oil in a bowl and let stand until lukewarm. Meanwhile let yeast stand in a small bowl for about 10 minutes with 1/4 cup lukewarm water and 1 tsp sugar. Combine yeast and oatmeal mixture, add brown sugar, milk and 3 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth, add rest of flour to make a soft dough. (I add 1/2 cup sunflower seeds at this stage but this is optional). Knead until smooth or if you are using a stand mixer only a couple of minutes (you will notice that the d...

My husband is always looking for something easy to pack in his lunch box or to have with his coffee in the morning. Each weekend I bake muffins for this reason. I usually keep about 6 of them in a container and freeze the rest of the batch. This morning I had some leftover Meyer lemons (the best!!) and found a recipe to use them in - Meyer lemon muffins. I adapted my recipe from  http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-lemon-muffins-s,0,5640971.stor y Ingredients : 2 cups flour (I use King Arthur unbleached, all purpose flour) 1 cup plus 2 T sugar (I use organic cane sugar) 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt (I use sea salt) 3 Meyer lemons 2 eggs 1 cup milk (I used organic 1%) 1/2 cup butter, melted 1/2 tsp Ceylon cinnamon or 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, 1 cup sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Set aside. Cut 3 lemons into 1 inch pieces (I removed the seeds first and cut the ends off). Put them in a food processor ...

This morning I started with my easiest hummus recipe. I rarely use mayonnaise anymore instead I like hummus on my sandwich. It's also great on flat bread, tortillas, wraps, veggies and organic chips. It's yummy and healthy! Ingredients: 1 15 oz can of garbanzo (chickpeas) beans - reserve liquid (I use about 1/4 cup) 3 cloves of garlic, crushed 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1/2 tsp sea salt (or whatever salt you prefer) 1 T olive oil 1/4 c black olives (you can use any kind of olives or leave them out if you want) In a blender or food processor combine all ingredients until consistency is fairly smooth. Store in refrigerator.  * You can also use the dried beans but it takes longer since you have to soak them, directions are on the package.  If you choose that method, use about 2 cups of beans and use water for your liquid. This is also gluten free. Served below with gluten free olive chips. Enjoy! Love and peace, Tammi Hummus

Peanut Butter Cups These are one of our favorite treats! There are several variations but I like this one! Ingredients: 2 c milk chocolate chips (or use white chocolate, dark chocolate, semi-sweet) 1/2 c peanut butter (more or less depending on how much peanut butter you like) 15 paper mini baking cups Pour 1 cup chocolate chips in a glass measuring cup and melt in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir the chips and return to the microwave for about another 30 seconds or until melted. Start filling your cups and spread the melted chocolate up the sides of the paper cups. (Don't worry they don't have to look pretty!) For this step, I use a small jelly spoon but my sister uses a cookie scoop to drop the peanut butter into the melted chocolate cups. I use about 3/4 teaspoon per cup. Put them in the freezer for about 15 minutes. Then melt the rest of your chocolate chips (1 cup) and spoon the melted chocolate over the tops. So yummy, ...

I need to get some cleaning done this weekend which made me think of my cleaning tip for today. Cleaning a room can sometimes be an overwhelming task to young children and often frustrating for parents. Working with children for many years and also having my own, I have learned to be creative and keep it simple. Even children as young as two can help with the clean up process. Make it a game.  We always start with a game of "find the color."  I start by telling them to go find something of a certain color and pick up everything that color and put it away. Then choose another color until everything is picked up.  You might have to help the first couple times, but soon they will be shouting from their rooms, "what's the next color?!" Another helpful hint is to have some type of container, shoebox, or bin with a picture of the items that go in it. Then all they have to do is match the items to the picture.  I think the most important tip is not to have ...

How would you like to make your own yummy peanut butter for about $2.00?  I have tried many recipes and all kinds of peanuts to make peanut butter but this is my favorite. It's easy, inexpensive, and it tastes so good! Ingredients : 1 jar (16 oz) honey roasted peanuts Place peanuts in a food processor and turn on high until the consistency is creamy but not runny. I store my peanut butter in the refrigerator in a Mason jar. Love and peace, Tammi

I hope it was a great day for you! I wanted to share my favorite thing today. A glimmer of history; after injuries from a car accident I went to my weekly physical therapy appointment and finally experienced moments with no pain!  It was so cool! I told my physical therapist that I was very excited about the no pain moments, he smiled but in a calm, dad-like voice he said, "This is a journey not an event." It seems that when our lives are going the way we want and all is well, we may not remember the great moments of our days. But when times are tough or we are having a bad day, we may focus on the events. I need a reminder at times that my life is a journey and not merely good and bad days filled with events. I hope to go forward and remind myself to embrace a new perspective when I get irritated with people or when life isn't going my way, I will be grateful for the journey and not just the events. The events will pass as the journey continu...

It seems like every time I went to the store, dishwasher soap had gotten more expensive and came in a smaller container than the last time I bought it. After many tries and several fails, this one seems to work the best for me. 1 c Borax- yes the old fashioned "Mule Team" (you can find this in the most grocery stores, Target, Wal-Mart, etc. in the laundry aisle, but sometimes it's kind of hidden) mine was about $3 for a large box. 1/4 c Baking Soda 1/4 c Salt Powder Dishwasher Soap If you would like it scented you can use about 20 drops of essential oil. I like lemon or citrus for the kitchen.  I have ordered some from drugstore.com but have also seen it in my health food store. There is also a limited selection at the grocery store in the organic/natural food and cosmetic area. Put all of the ingredients in a jar, shaker or container and shake it up to mix together. I use about 2 T. depending on your washer and if you have hard or soft water you may hav...

Powder Laundry Soap Ingredients I have to talk about laundry soap. It irritates me to spend money on laundry soap! I don't really like the cheap stuff but the expensive stuff makes my skin itchy. So I have searched several web sites and found my favorite powder laundry soap recipe. I use this in my front load washer....the end result is clean clothes and more savings at the grocery store. And the added bonus for is no itchy skin! Ingredients: 1 cup borax 1 cup washing soda 1 cup baking soda 1 bar Dr. Bronners peppermint soap (I grated mine with my cheese grater) I have also used Ivory bar soap with good results. Mix all of these ingredients together in a half gallon jar and shake. Make sure your grated soap is mixed in well. (Make sure the lid is on tight!) This makes about 5 cups of laundry soap. I used about 1/8 - 1/4 cup per load, depending on how hard or soft your water is and how dirty your clothes are. I found all of the products at the grocery stor...

When we decided to do our favorite things section I had trouble deciding which of my favorites I should choose.  My coffee everyday is definitely a favorite, but not without my french vanilla creamer in it.  Every time I go to the store it seems to get more expensive to buy, then yesterday I looked at the ingredients on the creamer...there isn't any CREAM in it! In fact, there isn't even MILK in it!  OK, maybe everyone else realized this and didn't tell me, but I was shocked.  So then it occurred to me that I could try to make it myself.. so I did!  I will just tell you that I will no longer be buying it at the store! Here's the recipe if your interested, I found a few but this one sounded the best and tastes delicious! 1c. milk ( I used 1/2 c whole and 1/2 cup skim because that's what I had) 1c. cream or half and half About 2T of either Agave, honey or maple syrup (I use Agave for everything) 1 vanilla bean cut and scraped, or vanilla extract  Put t...

  Baby Wipes      I wanted to share an easy idea for baby wipes, I noticed there are a lots of variations out there, but this is the one that works for me. I like to use Bounty wipes, they hold up the best. Cut the roll in half with a bread knife or electric knife.(so you have 2 rolls about the size of toilet paper) This is to make one of the rolls, save the other one and make as needed. 1T of liquid castile soap, I like Dr. Bronner's almond scent. There is a mild unscented one too. 1T of oil (almond, baby, or olive)  2 cups of water.  Mix it to together and pour over the paper towels or put it in a bowl and let sit until it is soaked up, you might have to turn the roll over to soak the other side.  Pull the cardboard out of the middle and squeeze the roll gently to get rid of some of the excess liquid. You can put them in a gallon bag or any container with a tight seal If you use a coffee container or something that ...

I hope everyone is having a relaxing and fun-filled Sunday! I am trying to catch up today, I feel like I have been running behind since Thanksgiving. It's ok - I do this every year! My favorite Saturday schedule is to prepare for the upcoming week by making bread, biscotti, muffins, and a few meals. This makes Sunday more relaxing for me. Today I have been on my Saturday schedule because of my kitchen detox project yesterday (more to come on that later). After a few near misses today, everything has turned out great. Do you ever have those moments in the kitchen with a new recipe where you just keep questioning if it's really going to turn out? In a nutshell, that was my morning! I made toothpaste, dishwashing soap, protein bars, bread, and biscotti. Yesterday my granddaughters and I made beeswax lotion and laundry soap. Angie and I are trying different recipes for lots of kitchen and bathroom items, so we'll le...

 I have been in my kitchen for about 4 hours trying a couple of new bread recipes. Today just wasn't my day apparently. As my son would say.. "that was a fail!"  I guess certain kitchen appliances are nice but not meant for every job.  Sooo instead, I thought I would let you know one of my favorite things. Liquid Castile soap, I like Dr. Bronners. There are about 5 different scents. My favorites are almond and peppermint.  You can find these at Target in the cosmetic area (look low they are on a bottom shelf) but the cheapest place I've seen them so far is drugstore.com  I have made dish soap, dishwasher soap, laundry soap, hand soap and still have 1/2 of the bottle left.  You can dilute this soap with water and add your own scents with essential oil. I use 1 cup of soap with 2 cups of water and pour it in an oil/vinegar bottle in my kitchen. Well, I'm off to another kitchen adventure, hopefully I will have a success soon!  I will ke...

 Homemade Muesli For the past couple of years, I have been buying muesli in the health food section at the grocery store. Then one day I realized these are ingredients I usually have at home. I wondered why was I paying more for this than I needed to? So off to frugal land I went and that is where I put together my favorite mixture of "stuff" for my muesli. Homemade Muesli 2 cups old fashioned oats (dry) 1/2 cup dried blueberries 1/2 cup sliced almonds 1/2 cup unsalted sunflower seeds Mix together in a 4 cup bowl then pour it into a quart glass jar. My favorite is to use 1/4 cup in about 6 ounces of yogurt but you can pour milk on it and eat as cold cereal. You can also cook this for a hot cereal but I don't like hot cereal so I can't tell you how long to cook it. Love and peace. ~ Simply Tammi

Day 1:  I thought life was simple..until I started a blog! WOW, what an adventure!  Check back for lots of great ideas and more adventures of two sisters living simple. ~Simply Angie

Day 1:  We're sharing our favorite homemade recipes for cooking, baking, soaps, lotions, lip balms, glass cleaner, (just to mention a few), ideas using common items to re-purpose, sewing ideas, organizing tips and other tidbits to help simplify your life! My sister Angie and I are so excited about our new adventure in getting back to the basics and homemade living.   This is the beginning of a new journey for us as we are becoming more aware of the number of cans and packages we have in our kitchens. So we are taking steps to get rid of the processed foods and focus our efforts on getting back to the basics. I do buy organic products whenever possible but this does not mean that I don't make the occasional treats and desserts. My focus remains on homemade rather than canned or packaged. It's also a great time to build some memories with your family when they can help you in the kitchen!  We hope you can find some money saving tips, recipe...