Natural Homemade Living

With the cold and flu season upon us here in the Midwest, I thought I would share a quick recipe for a disinfecting spray.  This is adapted from the book The Naturally Clean Home.   It is full of quick and easy herbal alternatives for cleaning just about everything!  I use this spray for everything. It's great for walls, tables, toys, doorknobs, or any place people touch. I have one in the kitchen and one for the bathrooms. Just spray it on and wipe it down with a damp sponge or cloth. Disinfectant Spray Formula 1 cup water 1 cup vinegar (don't worry the smell goes away when it dries) 5 drops tea tree essential oil  5 drops thyme essential oil (I use lemon or lavender essential oils) Tea tree, Thyme, lemon and lavender are antibiotic, antibacterial, anti fungal and antiviral.  There are others too, but these are the ones I use most often. I put it all in a spray bottle and go around my house spraying and wiping every surface- happy disinfecting! ~Si...

My husband got a waffle maker for Christmas this year, he loves waffles! It's handy if you make your mix ahead of time then you have it on hand. I store mine in a Ball jar in the refrigerator until we are ready to make waffles. Waffle Mix 3 c all-purpose flour 2 T baking powder 1 tsp salt 1/2 c sugar Whisk ingredients together and store in an airtight container until you want waffles. Add these ingredients to make waffles: 2 eggs 1/2 c buttermilk or milk of your choice 4 T melted butter Mix with 1 1/2 cups of waffle mix. Whisk until batter is smooth. Preheat your waffle maker and pour about 1/3 cup of waffle batter into your waffle maker. It took mine about 3 minutes to cook. Makes 4 waffles. You can add about 1/4 cup chocolate chips, blueberries, or your favorite before you cook your waffles. We used homemade syrups, found here Simply Apple Cider Syrup and Simply Homemade Pancake Syrup    to pour over our waffles. Enjoy! Love and peace, ~ Simply Tammi

We had a sleepover last weekend with our 5 year old grandson and our 9 year old granddaughter. It is our tradition to complete a craft project of their choice, so they decided to make a Valentine's Day gift for their parents. This project requires adult supervision (and lots of help) but there are parts of the project that the children can do alone. I let them choose all of their material, colors, and design their own project, and this is how they turned out - so cute and they were thrilled! Materials: 8x10 plain canvas quilt batting (optional) scrap material wooden letters paint glitter mod podge hot glue or fabric glue buttons, fabric flowers, or any decorations they choose I started the project by having them paint their letters while I stapled the batting and material (using a staple gun) onto the underside of the canvas. After the paint was dry, they painted a layer of mod podge over the letters and sprinkled glitter over them. While the letters were drying, we...

  Here is a recipe we have had for years, it's simple and healthy. It was on the Weight Watchers points plan, I'm not sure how it is done now, but they were 2 points per muffin for 12 muffins. It doesn't get much easier than 3 ingredients!  Here's what you need: 1 box spice cake mix 1 can pumpkin (not pie filling) or frozen pumpkin (check out the post on freezing fresh pumpkin ) 2-4 Tablespoons water Mix all ingredients well. Bake in sprayed muffin tins at 350 degrees for 15-25 minutes. I baked mine for 15 minutes and they were perfect. They are very moist, like cake, so be careful not to over bake them. ~Simply Angie 

No Bake Chewy Granola Bars I wanted to repost this in case you missed it. It's one of our most popular pins on Pinterest. My kids especially like chewy granola bars but they seem to be one of those things that just keep going up in price and I'm not sure how healthy they actually are. I have tried a gazillion recipes and my daughter repeatedly gave the thumbs down....until this recipe! This one actually tastes better than the store bought kind. YAY!!  It took me under 10 minutes to make them-love that!  I adapted this recipe from Two Peas and Their Pods. So here's what you need:   1/4 c unsalted butter 1/4 c brown sugar 1/4 c honey 1/4 c creamy peanut butter 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 cups oats, I use old fashioned oats, but the recipe calls for quick oats 1/2 c crispy rice cereal OPTIONAL: (3/4 c.) chopped pretzels, (1/4 c.) mini Reese's pieces, mini M&Ms, mini chocolate chips, ground flax seeds Spray pan or put a square of parchment on th...

  If you haven't tried decoupaging yet, or even if you have, there are so many projects that can be done that are quick and easy. It's a great way to update or give things a new look.  I found these great free printables from Graphics Fairy . She has tons of transfers and some of them are in the reverse so they can be used on furniture, fabric or pretty much anything else.  I also discovered a new technique, which is what I did on this stool.  First, I painted the stool white to go with my french country kitchen, let that dry, then printed a reverse image on regular copy paper from my home printer. I used a foam brush and spread my Mod Podge on the printed side of the paper, then placed it on the stool where I wanted it. It should dry overnight...but I'm not that patient, so I gave it about 4-5 hours until it was dry, then used a damp sponge to wet the paper until I could see the letters through it. I used my finger and rubbed over the image, gently removing t...

One of our favorite weekend meals is homemade pizza! My recipe makes 2 pizzas. Even if we are dining alone, I still make 2 pizzas and freeze the leftovers for future meals. I use organic ingredients but you can use your favorite ingredients. The first pizza is a taco pizza and the second is Canadian bacon and cheese. Pizza Crust: 1 1/3 c warm water (about 112F degrees) 1 T yeast 3 c flour 1 T honey 3 T olive oil Pour water in a medium bowl, add yeast and honey. The yeast will start to get bubbly after 10-15 minutes. Stir in olive oil and flour - I use a wooden spoon to stir. When the dough is mixed, sprinkle a small amount of flour on your counter or pastry board and knead the dough for a few minutes. It might be a little sticky, keep adding a little more flour but not too much flour. I usually use my fingers and grease my bowl a little so the dough doesn't stick. After you have finished kneading the dough, place it back in the bowl and cover. I love the flour sac...

  Lately I've seen chalkboards, memo boards, and magnetic boards so I decided to combine them all in one, and make a magnetic chalkboard.  I found 2 new frames at the thrift store, they were already white so all I needed to do was paint the glass.  At my local Michael's Craft store, I found Martha Stewart Magnetic Paint...there are probably other brands that make this, but I was so excited when I saw that there was actually Magnetic Paint, that I just bought it (plus I had a coupon, which always helps persuade me!) I also bought my chalkboard paint there too, but I did see a larger, cheaper bottle at Walmart later...so I bought that one too! The whole project was less than $10. I made 2 magnetic chalkboards to hang, plus I still have lots of both paints left for other projects.  Check your specific brand for directions, mine said to apply 2-3 coats and let cure for 24 hours, the magnetic paint didn't seem quite as magnetic once I applied the chalkboard pa...

Here is a great idea to decorate your winter mantle. I used some of the same trees for my winter decorations and the highlight is the middle with individual pictures of our name. Angie took the pictures, framed them and gave them to us for Christmas. Each letter of our name has it's own picture and has significant meaning for us - I love it! This is a great DIY project and great gift idea for your friends or family. Love and peace, ~ Simply Tammi

If you like to add a little sweetness to your coffee, tea or other drinks, simple syrup is a great concentrated sweetener, and is quick and easy to make. In the Midwest it isn't exactly "cold drink" weather this time of year but it works in hot drinks or desserts too.  It can also be brushed over a cooled cake to keep crumbs from getting into the frosting. This recipe is for vanilla but you can use other flavors too, depending on what you are using it for and what you like.  I added some to my half-n-half for coffee creamer. Here's what you need: 1/2-1 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you like it, and what you're using it for, I used 1/2 c) vanilla bean, cut in half lengthwise, scrape and keep the seeds and pod  if you don't have vanilla beans you can use about 1 1/2-2 teaspoons of vanilla or other extract In a small saucepan over medium heat add 1 cup of water, sugar,  vanilla seeds and pod. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 5 minutes stirring ...

Where to begin? It's a new year, how about a new organizing system? I don't know about you but during the entire holiday season, I really wasn't doing a very good job of keeping my papers organized. So for the past few days, I have been finding the papers that I had been stuffing into those "little places" everywhere! It drives me crazy when I do that! We sort of have an office in one of our extra bedrooms. I'm not really an "official office" type person. My room is first a music room and second a place to keep my bills and paperwork. I'm a messy musician. If you are a musician or if you live with one, I know you get this! Sheet music, equipment, cords, amps, mixers, wires everywhere! So, I began with all of that first. For my sheet music, I have tried notebooks, binders, portfolios, expanding files, boxes, etc., I've tried it all and I finally found a system that has worked for 5 days! Yes, this is a record! After many days of nagging ...

Does this look familiar? This was one of those days, there were a few too many projects going! As you already know if you have been following our blog, my sister and I are a little bit nutty and we have a love hate relationship with organizing and stuff...love to organize..hate the mess! It always gets worse before it gets better, so don't be discouraged when you're in the middle of a mess. Lately Tammi and I have been texting pictures of our messes to each other, you always need a little humor in the middle of a mess! Getting organized isn't usually an hour long episode, it sometimes takes days, but it will get done and you will feel so much better when you know where things are and aren't wasting time looking for things. I have copied some links to places that will take some of your unwanted, things. Most places also have local charities too, so check your area for these. Some places will even come and pick it up for you. In any case remember, if it's or broken,...

If you have meat lovers in your family, a simple dish for a special occasion is prime rib. It is very easy to make, so delicious, and also makes great leftovers, my husband's favorite is french dip sandwiches! What you need : 4 pound boneless standing rib roast 2 Tablespoons thyme 2 Tablespoons rosemary 1 T parsley 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp salt 1 T coarse ground pepper 1/4 cup olive oil Preheat oven to 325F. Start by cutting the fat off the top of the roast. Make sure you save it because you will want to place it over the top of the meat after you season it. Mix all of the seasonings together then stir in the olive oil. I use my fingers to spread the seasonings and oil onto the meat.  After you have seasoned the meat, return the fat back onto the top of the roast. Place in a baking dish (I use a cake pan 9x13). If you have a roasting pan with a rack, that would work great too.  For medium rare, I baked mine for 2 hours, or until your meat thermometer rea...

This is a simple little DIY project that takes about an hour to complete. I started with a canvas and our grandma's vintage dress to make a wall hanging for my shabby chic bathroom. The dress material was rather thin, so I placed a layer of thin quilt batting under it. I followed the steps 1-4 instructions from one of our popular posts, Simply DIY Memo or Picture Board . I sewed a ruffle from the hem of the dress and attached it to the canvas with hot glue. If you don't sew, you could use another kind of edging such a lace or a pre-made ruffle. I used hot glue to attach the fabric flower to the corner. Instructions to make the fabric flower are from our post, Simply DIY Fabric Flowers . Happy decorating and remember to use what you already have! ~ Simply Tammi

   Happy 2013!  We are celebrating with a quaint little meal this New Year's Eve. The rest of the family didn't want to be around me anyway since my sister and I picked up some sort of nasty little cold bug over the holidays. My sister gave me some vanilla beans (yum) and a kitchen torch for Christmas so you know what that means, yep...creme brulee! If you have never made this before, now is the time! I divided the recipe into 3 parts because it's easier for me to keep track of the steps that way. I hope it helps in case this is the first time you've made it. Ingredients : Start with: 2 cups heavy cream 1 vanilla bean, cut it down the middle and scrape out the insides 1/3 cup sugar Egg Mixture: 5 egg yolks, room temperature 1/4 c sugar 1/4 tsp vanilla extract Topping : 1/2 cup white sugar Before you start, you will need 4 ramekins (little glass oven-proof containers) for your creme brulee and a small kitchen torch for the caramelized topping.  Preh...