Natural Homemade Living

Simply the best minestrone soup ever! I decided not to follow an old tradition this year for our Christmas Eve meal. Luckily the guilt didn't last too long - haha!! We usually have oyster stew and a couple of other soups but this year I decided to replace the oyster stew with minestrone soup. I also made cheesy potato and ham soup (for the meat lovers in the family). I baked a smoked turkey for sandwiches, a variety of dips and of course goodies. Most of us still love lefse so I was busy making lefse on Christmas Eve morning. I just don't think I can give up on my lefse! The minestrone was an absolute rock star move on my part (or so I was told). And to top it off with grated Parmesan cheese was the best! My secret for the best flavored soup, use fresh ingredients or frozen from the garden. I know there are many varieties of minestrone soup so substitute as you like. For example, I don't like kidney beans so I use pinto beans or navy beans. I also love that you can make...

Vintage quilt for a tablecloth  I'm not too fancy at my house but I love vintage and one of a kind decor. My aunt recently visited with a great idea for a unique setting for the dining room table, use a quilt instead of a tablecloth. I loved it!! For the holidays I am using a vintage quilt from Mom. Even though we are a family of "spillers" (every meal someone spills something) I figure everything can be washed. But if you do get nervous about spilling, etc., you may not want to use the vintage quilt, maybe something less sentimental, like from the store. Mom gave me a set of her white china so I am using that, then of course I always use the ball jars for drinking glasses because I like to mix the fancy with the not-so-fancy. I always use cloth napkins so the girls folded them in the shape of a rosette. This is really simple. Start with a square cloth napkin and lay it flat so it looks like a diamond shape. Take the point at the bottom of the napkin and bring it to t...

Use file folder holder to organize kitchen bowl lids I'm not sure why in the middle of shopping, quilting, baking and a million other things happening during the holiday season, I choose to reorganize my kitchen cabinets. Well, that's just what I do! To keep it simple, I donated any containers that I didn't use and only saved my favorites. I used a file folder holder for my lids. I also decided to store my blender under the cabinet instead of on the countertop. The biggest hurdle for me is deciding what to keep. This year it was simple, if I use it, I keep it, the rest of the stuff has been given a new home! Happy organizing! Love and peace, ~ Simply Tammi