Natural Homemade Living

I hate to admit it but I really do like to clean. I also like to experiment with homemade cleaning products.  Making your own cleaning products is a great way to save money and reduce the number of toxins in your home. White vinegar is one of my favorite cleaning products. I think some people don't like to use it because of the smell, but trust me you can't even smell it after it dries. My favorite toilet cleaner: Pour 1/2 c white vinegar into the toilet bowl then add 1/2 c baking soda. The mixture will foam then settle down after a few minutes. Let sit about 20 minutes, use your toilet brush to scrub and you should have a beautiful toilet bowl. (I don't measure the amounts every time, you'll be able to guess once you have tried it).  On a side note, we used to have well water that left a water ring around the bowl. Using light pressure with a pumice stone (available at hardware or some grocery stores) you can remove the hard water ring. Be careful not to press to...

Another favorite cookie recipe from my baking days with grandma, snickerdoodles. I usually have to save some for the freezer right away because my husband and the children love them! Soft cookies are their favorites! Ingredients : 1 c butter, room temperature but not too soft 1 3/4 c sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 3/4 c flour 2 tsp cream of tartar 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt * Cinnamon and sugar mixture = mix together 2 T sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon. You'll dip your cookie dough balls in this. Preheat oven to 375F Mix butter, sugar, vanilla and eggs. Add the dry ingredients and mix together. Roll dough into one inch balls then dip into the sugar and cinnamon mixture - (just the tops are ok). Place on parchment paper lined baking sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes. Makes about 5-6 dozen. Sometimes I make mine bigger then I get 5 dozen cookies. Cool on a cooling rack. Freeze a few for later - they'll be gone before you know it! Enjoy! Love and peace, ~...

Simply another one of the easiest meals ever! Chicken tacos are a quick meal idea and there are so many ways you can make them. Some of my friends even use precooked, shredded chicken... I do not - haha!! I prefer to boil my chicken parts for about an hour, remove the skin and shred the chicken. Since I like to be frugal in the kitchen, I buy whole chickens and cut them up myself. Once you have shredded your chicken, you can freeze the leftovers in bags or containers, then thaw it out in the refrigerator when you want to make your chicken tacos. For soft shell tacos, I used the Simply Homemade Soft Flour Tortillas recipe. Then added the shredded chicken, fresh homemade salsa and some shredded cheese. I added shredded lettuce from the garden last, after I took the picture. Enjoy! Love and peace, ~ Simply Tammi

The other day I was cleaning out my freezer and found 4 frozen bananas that I needed to use up. Since we are still in temporary housing, I don't have my baking pans. I only had one pan for banana bread and my recipe makes 2 loaves. I did have a 9x13 pan, so I decided to find a recipe for some type of banana cake. I adapted this recipe from several others, it turned out delicious...and I love the caramel frosting on top! Here's the recipe: Banana Cake 1 c butter 2 c sugar 2 eggs 4 very ripe bananas, mashed ( I usually have them frozen and thaw before I need them) 1 c milk 3 c flour 2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt (I don't add if I use salted butter) Cream butter, sugar, eggs, add bananas and milk. Combine flour, soda, salt. Add to other mixture. Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Bake 350 about 45 minutes. Caramel Frosting 1/2 c butter 1 c brown sugar, packed 1/4 c milk 3 1/4 c powdered sugar (add gradually, I only used 3 cups) Boil butter, ...

Another recipe from Grandma's 1929 recipe book. I copied the recipe from Grandma's book and wrote on the back of the recipe card that I was 9 years old. I still remember writing it - I love that! If you've been following you know I use organic and homemade ingredients (such as homemade peanut butter, organic sugars, etc) but this is the original recipe, feel free to substitute as you like or use the original. These are soft, chewy and amazing! If you need a gluten-free peanut butter cookie recipe, we posted one earlier that is almost as good as Grandma's! Here's the link Simply Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies . Ingredients : 1 c butter, softened 1 c white sugar 1 c brown sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 c creamy peanut butter 2 1/2 c flour 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt Directions : Cream the butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla together. Add the peanut butter and beat on low just until blended. Add the flour, baking soda and salt and mix until blend...

Here's a little story of my meal plans when I try to plan too far ahead. I finished grocery shopping on Friday with my weekend menu in mind. Sunday afternoon, I started to make chicken and noodles when I realized I wasn't really hungry for that anymore. I was hungry for chicken tacos, so I decided to make chicken tacos. I had just finished boiling my chicken so I poured the chicken stock into quart jars and put it in the refrigerator. I shredded the chicken and let it cool in the refrigerator. Then I started getting the rest of the ingredients ready for chicken tacos. I discovered I was out of soft tortillas and salsa. At this point it crossed my mind to give up and go back to the chicken and noodles idea because I did not feel like going back to the store again, but I was not going to give up! So I decided to make homemade tortillas, grab a few tomatoes and peppers from the garden and make some salsa. Luckily I always keep shallots on hand and I had cilantro from the far...

  I have been having so much fun going to the Farmer's Markets and picking out fresh fruits and veggies on the weekends. Last weekend I bought the most delicious berries, they were huge! I also bought some other things and decided to make my version of Chicken Cacciatore. This is one of those, "throw in what veggies you like add a few seasonings and it's done!"   Plus I feel like it's pretty healthy with all those vegetables!                Here's what you need:   3 boneless skinless thighs, or 2 large breasts, cut up or left whole 1 clove minced garlic 1 red bell pepper 1 green bell pepper 1 medium onion, I like the sweet yellow ones 1 c chicken stock or broth 1 14oz can diced tomatoes, or you can use fresh, I just like to use the ones in the can with the liquid because they are already ripe and cut up  1/2 pound of penne pasta, or what you like OR you can omit the pasta optional seasonings ...