Cheeseburger Soup

Happy New Year everyone! We are freezing cold in the Midwest and nothing can warm you up like a bowl of soup. Our family likes cheese so this soup really hits the spot! You can make this gluten-free also, just change the flour.
I couldn't decide on just one New Year's resolution but one of my goals is to work on my organizational skills, especially my project organization skills. In 2014, I have vowed not to be sewing 11 pairs of Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve day! I think maybe I'll start my sewing and holiday knitting projects in June this year! Overall, I'd like to do better this year in many areas of my life, to be more intentional and see what happens. I could go on and on but I won't.
Alright, back to this delicious soup recipe...
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef or veggie crumbles, browned and drained
1/4 sweet onion or shallot, diced and cooked with the hamburger
4-5 potatoes, diced
3-4 carrots, sliced unless you use petite carrots (I leave them whole)
2 T flour (all purpose or white rice flour for gluten-free)
4 cups chicken stock (or broth)
1 cup evaporated or whole milk
8 oz Colby or cheddar cheese, cubed or shredded (you can also use Velveeta if you like that)
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Cook the ground beef and onion, drain the grease. In a glass measuring cup, combine flour with about 1/2 cup of the chicken stock. Heat in microwave until it thickens. If you make this in a crock pot, add the ground beef, flour mixture and the rest of the chicken stock. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the cheese and cook on low heat for 3 hours. When the veggies are tender, add the cheese and heat another 20-30 minutes. If you make this on the stove, your cooking time will be about 30 minutes over medium heat. The most important thing is to add the cheese last or it will get too hot and curdle. This makes about 8-10 servings.
Stay warm and enjoy your soup!
Thanks for spending time with us over the past year and blessings for a wonderful 2014!
Love and peace,
~ Simply Tammi

Throw Pillows DIY

I love pillows! I'll buy them if they are on sale, oops I mean clearance. Pillows are a relatively inexpensive accessory to change for a new look when decorating your house. One of my first sewing projects was sewing a pillow. Even if you are a beginner, you can make a pillow. After the holidays are over, I like to redecorate and reorganize my house. So today was day 1 of changing some things around...and changing out some pillows.
This afternoon while looking around at my favorite craft store, I spotted some soft, fluffy material on sale and I knew when I saw it, I would have to make a pillow! My granddaughters found some of their favorite material too so they also made a pillow. (Actually only one of them made the pillow while the other one was hanging out with her friends...kids are so cute!) I usually keep at least one or two bags of filling in my craft room so I only needed the material, $3.00 and $1.50. Depending on the width and the size of your pillow you can usually buy 1/2 yard for a fairly large pillow. Otherwise measure the size of the pillow you want and buy that amount of material.
How to sew a pillow:

•  Decide the size of the pillow you are going to sew and measure the material and add an inch to each side. 
• Fold my material in half, right sides together and cut the size you want.
• I always sew the longest side first and save the shorter sides for last.
• Sew one of the short sides from end to end.
• Sew the remaining short sides toward the middle leaving a space just big enough to add the filling for the pillow. I usually leave about 4 inches, enough for your hand and stuffing.
• Once the pillow is stuffed (don't forget to add a little extra in the corners), hand sew the opening edges together.
• Fluff your pillow and enjoy!

Love and peace,
~ Simply Tammi

Mantle Decorating for the Holidays

  

I'm updating this post because only 2 days before Christmas I just had to add the finishing touch on my winter mantle. I shopped around and found some more shatterproof Christmas ornaments that match the wreath I had made earlier. I cut 2 pieces of ribbon and made 2 separate strands of garland. I strung each ball onto piece of ribbon and tied knots in both ends. I was thrilled the ornaments were on sale now so I stocked up! I used 96 balls to make the garland, $24 total which is so much better than the $149 price tag at one of stores that had the pre-made garland strands. Since I absolutely adore these colors, I'm happy as a clam! I made my own bow for the middle with some ribbon I already had. I like the Command hooks so I attached 1 on each end and 2 in the middle to the top of the mantle. I love love love the look! I wish you could see it in person, it's simply beautiful and so soft and shabby looking. The rest of the project you already know since I had previously posted it after Thanksgiving. Thanks for stopping!

I thought I would share a DIY Christmas-winter decorating idea today. It seems like I'm still too full from our Thanksgiving meal to post a recipe! Before I started my Christmas decorating project this year, I sorted out items from last year that I was ready to donate. It helps to be organized before you start making a mess. I used my feather tree and my cone trees from last year. I made a coffee filter wreath, Simply DIY Coffee Filter Wreath, and found some vintage ornaments to hot glue around the outside. Strands of pearls work great to wrap around the bottom of the decorations on the mantle. I love to use a couple of sentimental items, this year I used two musical Santas that my Dad had given us at Christmas several years ago and placed them in the middle of the mantle. I like the semi-shabby chic look but I didn't want too many items so that it would look cluttered. Next to the fireplace, I found a small old pail in my treasures and filled it with cinnamon pine cones and added some pom-pom decorations. Using items I had and making the rest, my entire project cost $31.00, and I like that!
Happy decorating!

 Love and peace,
~ Simply Tammi

Homemade Soap

As promised, the post today is one of the most simple ways to make homemade soap. I have other recipes that are more complicated and time consuming but this is the perfect DIY gift project if you want to give something that you've made.
It is getting down to the wire for us with projects and baking. It just wouldn't be normal for me if I actually didn't have too much to do! And then things start happening...like my computer is being weird and I don't like it, then last night the microwave stopped working in the middle of our bake-off. I have mixed feelings about replacing it, do I really need a microwave? Does everyone have a microwave? I don't know, we'll see what happens. Ok - back to the soap... now you know why my family tells me I get distracted easily, yep, I do - haha!!
Supplies:
Goats milk glycerin base soap (I got mine at Michael's)
Essential oil of your choice
Herbs or flowers, dried
Soap coloring (optional)

 

 
 

Directions:
Melt the soap base in a pan on the stove over low-medium heat or use a microwaveable bowl and heat in 30 second increments until it's melted. Add about a dropper of essential oil or about 20 drops. I used lemon, orange and peppermint. My combinations were lemon and lavendar, rosemary and orange, peppermint by itself.
Stir in herbs with a wooden spoon, rosemary or lavender flowers smell and look beautiful. You can give them a rough chop if you want smaller pieces. I also used some soap coloring for some of the soap, otherwise white is pretty too.
Pour the melted soap base into plastic molds or cupcake liners in a muffin tin.
Let harden for at least a couple of hours and gently remove from the mold.
We wrapped ours with plain brown paper, added a homemade tag and pretty little bow.
Have fun and get the kids involved - this is a great project and the soap is wonderful!

 Love and peace,
~ Simply Tammi