Paper Flowers Wall Decor

If you are looking for a simple, inexpensive DIY project this one is for you! I saw this project on the Nate Berkus Show, by Destiny at A Place for Us Blog and I loved it! She was on the House Proud segment (one of my favorites) and I loved her house and clever ideas. These decorative flowers are made from paper (lunch) bags! She used them as adorable decorations around a fake fireplace. I loved the idea but I was nervous surrounding my real fireplace with paper. So I decided to use mine in the doorway between my kitchen and hallway. My husband noticed them right away (which is unusual) but he thought I bought them! He didn't believe they were paper bags until I showed him (I always like that part)!

I think these are a cute idea for party decorations so I am making more using lunch bags in the school colors for our upcoming graduation!

Supplies and Instructions:

Brown paper bags (lunch bags)
Scissors
Glue Stick

* Decoration for inside of flower is optional but I used coffee beans, sesame seeds, cloves, and a button.

* I sponge painted a couple of mine with acrylic paint

Cut the flap off the bottom of the bag, have it  facing you. Start cutting a leaf, any shape you want from the bottom of the bag on the right side. I started at the bottom and tried to stay close to the sides to get a rather large leaf. There will be 2 smaller, folded leaves that will just fall out of your paper bag, keep those they will will be your smaller leaves. You will need 8 leaves per flower, so 4 bags equals 1 complete flower. I folded my large leaves in half too and kind of bent them a little before I glued them together. I also sponge painted a couple of them to have a little variation.

1. To put your flowers together, you will start by gluing 2 large leaves together at the bottoms.
2. Repeat that step with 2 more large leaves. Glue these to the first 2 leaves - so it looks like you have a cross shape. I glued my next 4 large leaves individually (just kind of filling in) but you could just repeat the first 2 steps.
3. Do the same thing for your smaller leaves as steps 1 and 2.
4. When your smaller leaves have been glued together, place your smaller leaves over the larger leaves and glue them together. And there you have it - your large flower!  

 Here are the step by step pictures - let me know if you have questions.

 

larger flowers from 1 bag

glue together then do it again

larger flowers done

start smaller flower

2nd smaller set of glued to first smaller flowers

now take the smaller ones and glue to larger flowers

all glued together - you can add a middle decoration or not

 Love and peace,
~ Simply Tammi

Cheesy Potatoes

I'm so excited for Easter! I love holidays because it brings us to a day filled with the blessings of life and love, faith, family, laughter, and of course homemade food! So today is my planning day and I am preparing some of my make ahead items. Today I am making homemade buns, fresh fruit salad, pies, yogurt, and cheesy potatoes. I have reinvented my cheesy potatoes away from the canned soup and sour cream and made them gluten free and still yummy! You can make them and reheat them in the oven or crock pot if you want. Then on Easter morning, I will only have to bake my ham and sweet potatoes, green beans, and put my deviled eggs together. If I minimize my kitchen time it means more time for the important stuff like spending time with my family!
Ingredients:
10 cups frozen, shredded hash browns
2 cups chicken broth or chicken stock (I used gluten-free)
1 cup plain yogurt (I used homemade but you can use your favorite)
1/4 cup melted butter

2 cups shredded cheese (I used cheddar and monterey jack)
* Optional: 1 medium onion - diced
Melt butter and pour it into a 9x13 glass pan. Mix all of the other ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add this to the pan. Cover the pan with foil and bake in the oven for 1 hour at 340F, take foil off and bake another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and just let them rest on a cooling rack for about 10-15 minutes, the juice will absorb into the potatoes. You can also make these in a crock pot, just mix everything in the crock pot and cook on high for about 1 hour then turn to low, stir occasionally with a wooden spoon or spatula until the hash browns are cooked and hot (about 2 more hours).

Cheesy Potatoes Without Canned Soup

Love and peace,
~ Simply Tammi

The Best Vanilla Biscotti

The Best Vanilla Biscotti

One of my favorite things is a perfect cup of coffee or latte and a biscotti! Since I'm all about simple and deliciousness, I have to share my best biscotti recipe. I'm not fond of the hard, tasteless biscotti that you find at the store in a plastic wrapper. I like a hint of sweetness and a little crunchiness in my biscotti. You can use different flavorings but I chose vanilla because my husband likes a little melted chocolate on his biscotti. This recipe might sound complicated but once you get your process down, you can bake these in your sleep (well maybe not but they are simple to make!) So give it a try, make yourself a perfect cup of coffee and enjoy your yummy biscotti!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened at room temperature
1 cup white sugar (I use organic cane sugar)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
parchment paper
I use my hand mixer to make my biscotti. Mix butter and sugar until blended. Add vanilla and eggs and beat until creamy and smooth (about a minute). Add flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat until mixed together. Preheat oven to 350F. Cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper. You need to use parchment paper because you will need to lift your biscotti off the baking sheet later. Divide dough in half and place each half on your parchment covered baking sheet. Spread the dough (I use a table knife) so it looks like 2 logs on your pan - they will each be about 4 inches wide and 12 or 13 inches long. Run your knife (flat side) along the top of your dough so it is even across the top. If you don't have a large baking sheet, just use 2 pans, one log on each. Remember they don't have to be perfect, they might not be totally smooth.
Bake at 350F for 20 minutes. They will be slightly brown and firm when you touch the tops. Remove from oven and carefully pick up 2 corners (opposite corners) of your parchment paper and place it on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. Reduce your oven to 290F. After your logs have cooled, leave them on the parchment paper and carefully lift them and place on a cutting board and start slicing (I use a serrated bread knife) diagonally about 1/2-1 inch thick. Sometimes when I cut the very ends off, one side will be rounded, I don't bake those a second time, those are for my taste testing purposes- haha! Gently, turn each piece over on its side, the cut side down on your baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes. Turn biscotti over on the other side and bake 10 minutes more. Remove biscotti from oven and let cool. Store in air tight container. I use a large glass jar and they keep for a couple of weeks.
If you want, you can melt about 1/2 cup of chocolate chips (white or milk chocolate) and just dip the ends of your biscotti into the chocolate. Let cool before you store them.

Love and peace,
~ Simply Tammi

Healthy Granola Cereal or Bars

So I may be teetering on the edge a little but I have to share anyway! I'm planning our Easter family dinner which is no easy task. We have a variety of diets; vegan, gluten-free, organic, "mostly" healthy, and then there are the husbands that request the "give me everything" menu. So I must plan! I still refuse to buy anything in a can and my vegetables and fruit from last summer are almost gone, looks like I miscalculated. Before I get into the planning process too deep, I realized I was out of snacks. This is a bad thing for me so I decided I would try a new recipe for healthy granola bar snacks that you could also use for granola cereal. The original recipe is adapted from Anson Mills, but like always, I had to change it for my taste. This is super simple to put together, its healthy, and it is so delish!
Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups steel cut oats
1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup raw sliced almonds
1 cup raw sunflower seeds
* Use your favorite nuts such as pumpkin, pecans, walnuts, cashews.
* You can also add 1 cup flaked coconut.
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp grated or ground nutmeg
5 T coconut oil, melted or if you prefer 5 T unsalted, melted butter
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 240F degrees. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Heat the coconut oil (or butter) and honey together and add the vanilla when the oil melts. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix. I put parchment paper on a large baking sheet (about 11x17) then spread the granola evenly and lightly pat it down. Bake for 75 minutes and let cool on the baking sheet that is on top of a cooling rack. If you use a smaller baking sheet, I would recommend that you place half of the recipe on each sheet. Then you won't have to alter your baking time. When it cools, you can break it into chunks for granola bars or break it into smaller pieces for cereal. I just used my hands to break it apart. Store at room temperature in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks. Enjoy!

Love and peace,
~ Simply Tammi