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

Soft pumpkin cookies I have to admit that I am one of millions using pumpkin as my favorite ingredient right now. Pumpkin and fall are a perfect match! I've been adding pumpkin to my yogurt with a little cinnamon, pumpkin in my smoothies, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin tea...the list goes on and on. I had a strong feeling that grandma would have a pumpkin cookie recipe and she did! My family loved them and they were great for the lunch boxes! Makes 42 cookies soft, delicious pumpkin cookies. Ingredients: 1 stick room temperature butter (1/2 cup) 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 cup pumpkin 2 1/2 c flour 1 1/2 c sugar 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp baking powder pinch of salt 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1/4-1/2 tsp ground cloves (I love the flavor so I used 1/2 tsp) Directions: Mix butter, egg and vanilla together. Once mixed, add the pumpkin and beat until smooth. Add dry ingredients and mix until smooth. I used a cookie scoop and placed the dough onto parchment pa...

 Chocolate Indoor S'mores! I love camping season and everyone loves s'mores made over the open fire. But on rainy days and during the winter months, these fancy s'mores are fun to make and are so delicious! I make a variety of flavors including gluten free. I start with chocolate graham crackers, honey graham crackers, gluten free graham crackers, mint chips, chocolate chips and white chocolate chips (make sure you use a good brand). Small marshmallows or marshmallow fluff are required at my house. Don't forget your favorite toppings. The kids love the chocolate and mint chip combination, they think they taste like thin mint cookies but better!   We love the sprinkled s'mores! Gluten free s'mores  Directions: Break your graham crackers in half or quarters. The gluten free graham crackers I use are already in squares. Place marshmallows on crackers halves and broil them in the oven broiler until they are lightly browned, it takes about one minute....

Happy Fall everyone! It has been a busy month but I am finally enjoying my clean kitchen. It has actually stayed clean for more than 2 days in a row! Between canning and freezing my favorite summer goodies, my kitchen started looking like a disaster zone. But it was totally worth it! My pantry is now filled with jams, jellies, butters, dilly beans, pickled peppers and apple sauce. One more trip to the apple orchard and I think I will give my canner a break until next year. My freezer is looking full with the addition of corn, pesto, peaches, apples, roasted tomatoes and herbs. Stay tuned for some simply wonderful canning and freezer recipes. I decided to take a break from the kitchen and decorated my mantle for fall. This is an easy little DIY project and you can use items you may already have. I used some of my pumpkins from last year and painted all of my old pumpkins white. You can dress them up with some pearls or sparkly bling after they are painted. I wove a strip of burlap ...

Grandma's homemade peach upside down cake I spent most of the weekend in the kitchen and loved every minute! My canner was on the stove from Friday night through Sunday afternoon. I canned peach jam, peach butter, mint jelly, blueberry jam, pickled banana peppers and dilly beans. My basil was getting out of control in the garden so I picked enough to fill a basket then made and froze pesto. We visited the local farmer's market so I froze enough sweet corn, Simply Freezing Sweet Corn to take us through the winter months. I bought 2 lugs of peaches and had some left over so I froze about 6 quarts, Simply Freezing Peaches . Three peaches were left on the counter so I pulled out Grandma's 1929 cookbook and discovered a peach upside down cake recipe. I love the old recipes and once again the taste testers said it was the best ever! Ingredients: 1/4 cup butter 2/3 cups brown sugar, firmly packed 2-3 fresh sliced peaches Cake Dough: 1 1/2 cups flour 2 tsp baking powder...