Craft: Rosemary Christmas Wreath

Finals are finally over (for this semester) and I'm ready to fully focus on the Christmas season. Where to start?...with the decorations, of course!

Christmas at my home is all about celebrating the birth of JESUS CHRIST-nothing more and nothing less. By keeping it simple, I believe it allows us to fully enjoy this time of year. We are free to spread GOD's love and free to not run ourselves ragged trying to do 'everything'.

With this in mind, I'm sharing my simple home decorating tips. I hope you find inspiration to enjoy your loved ones and this Christmas season through my simple, heartfelt ideas.



Rosemary Wreaths

Gather rosemary clippings in the length you desire.

Tie bunches together to form little 'bouquets'. Leave enough wire to later tie the bundles to your wreath form.

Now, tie your rosemary bundles onto your frame.

Now, your wreath is ready to decorate.

Merry Chritmas!

New season-new changes!

           Whew! It has been a very long time since I have last posted. Since then, Both my husband and myself find ourselves as full-time students. We are still homeschooling our two girls (I have classes before lunch and my husband has classes after lunch). Our oldest is also enrolled part time at college. Not bad for a just-turned-16 yr old. Still, it is a lot of changes...and a lot to handle at times. I thank GOD for HIS grace. HIS lessons of a life lived simply are our life's blueprints. With that in mind, I'd just like to say how happy (and richly blessed) I am to return.  WELCOME BACK, ME!!
         

Simple Life: Meatless Mondays

This past Monday, our family embarked on a new adventure: Meatless Monday.  If you're like me, you've heard of all the pros & cons of meat in our daily diets. While I concede that meat for every meal & every day isn't the best for our bodies, I was always at a loss at how to bring change into my household without causing a 'rukus'. You see, I'm married to a firm meat & potatoes guy.  So, you can imagine my surprise when he said we should try to eat more meat-free meals! With his support, I instituted our very first completely Meatless Monday.  An even greater surprise was how well it went over. Our girls gave no protests and to be honest, the change wasn't even noticeable.  While, I doubt we will ever become a meat-free family, I know that we will be more conscious of what we put into our bodies. Sometimes the biggest changes we make are just small (simple) ones!

If you're thinking of trying a Meatless Monday of your own, here are a few simple meal ideas for picky eaters:

* Cheese pizza--what kid doesn't like pizza?  Why not go all the way and make it a veggie pizza?
* Macaroni & cheese...with broccoli, or other diced veggies
* Vegetable lasagna
* Loaded baked potatoes
* Onion, potato, or other vegetable soup/chowder
* Salad--be creative!
* Lentils--there are so many recipes on the internet using these wonderful beans.
* Which brings me too...Beans, of any kind!
* Of course--peanut butter!  My girls still love a good ol' peanut butter & jelly sandwich any day:-)

Simple Food: Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies!

I absolutely love easy, simple recipes. The recipe for these yummy cookies definitely fit that bill!
 

You will need:

* 1 egg, beaten
* 1 cup of sugar
* 1 cup of peanut butter (creamy or smooth--your choice)
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* extra sugar to sprinkle on top

-Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Place bowl into the refrigerator for about 2 hours (or overnight, if you wish).  When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Using a spoon, measure out dough & roll them into balls. Place balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten balls with a fork (or the bottom of a glass). Sprinkle the tops with a little sugar. Bake cookies for about 10-12 minutes. These are so good!

Simple Home: 'Shutter Stories'

'Shutter Stories'

Three shutters make a great decorative screen.

When I go to flea markets, antique stores, or yard sales--I often find old shutters. I love them! There are so many things you can do with old shutters. Big or small, indoor or outdoor: whatever the type of shutter- I can find a use for them. It doesn't take much to breathe new life into these old fixtures, usually just a fresh coat of paint and new hardware (or a new purpose). I've included a few snapshots of my 'shutter stories'. I hope you enjoy them and are inspired to make a few creations of your own. The next time you pass by some old shutters--Go back and pick them up!

A shelf made from a pair of old exterior shutters.

When I found these closet shutters, I knew they would make great doors for our bathroom and bathroom closet. All we had to do was remove their hardware to seperate them into individual shutters and attach them to the doorways with hinges. Then we added new door hardware. I love the results!.

We cut off a pair old exterior shutters and added them to our dining room pass-through for a 'country' feel.

Here, we simply added a pair of old shutters to the front of a bookcase. It's a great way to keep children's clutter out of sight!

Simple Food: Fried Green Tomatoes

Oh my! How I love fried green tomatoes! I just had to share my very own recipe:

Ginger's Fried Green Tomatoes

* Sliced green tomatoes
* White corn meal
* Creole seasoning or whatever seasoning you like
* Cooking oil

--Place sliced green tomatoes in a bowl of water and place in refrigerator.  Allow tomatoes to chill overnight or a few hours. When ready to cook: heat oil on medium heat. Be very careful to not overheat oil. Pour a cornmeal into a bowl (when I am preparing about 3-4 medium sized tomatoes, I use about 1 1/2- 2 cups). Then add your seasoning into the cornmeal and blend well. Take tomato slices (individually) and coat them with cornmeal mixture by placing them into batter, patting, and repeating on other side. Make sure to evenly coat them on both sides. Next, you simply place coated tomato slices into the hot oil and allow to brown on both sides (you will need to flip them w/a fork or spatula). I prefer for my fried green tomatoes to be golden brown but make them however you like them. These are an absolutely wonderful summertime companion to any meal! Enjoy:-)

Simple Life: Frugal Living

Frugal Living
What exactly is frugal living? Well, to be frugal is to be thrifty or sparing. To me, frugal living is simple living. A huge factor in frugal living is debt and spending. As a child, I was taught that if you owe money to someone, you are their slave. Think this sounds radical? Well, it is true. Debt makes you a slave to your debtor. Your choices in life are closely connected to your debt. Just ask anyone in a dead-end job that can't afford to leave it. There isn't much freedom or joy in knowing you owe so much, you can't afford to live the life you want. Frugal living is the embodiment of sound country wisdom.

Home/Vehicle Ownership
 My grandmother always told me that the best thing anyone could do was to own their own home. Home ownership means no rent payments, no house payments=less month to month worry. What about vehicles? Well, ownership, again is the way to go. My family has two older model, PAID FOR vehicles. When I say 'paid for', I mean paid, in cash, at the time of purchase. Many people try to tell us a small payment is just as good but I don't believe it. The money that would go to a payment (even a small one) does my family far more good sitting in the bank-rather than a car dealer's pocket. This way, if our 'paid for' vehicle dies or needs costly repair, we just simply purchase another one.

Budget
Yep-It really is a must for anyone wanting to live a frugal, simple life. It's amazing how much money you find you actually have when you sit down and write down the amount brought in AND how much goes out. It's shocking, even! When my husband and I, first started creating a budget, we were completely blown away at how much money we wasted from paycheck to paycheck. We learned that priorities need to be made. Therefore, the key to any good budget is including all real debts (no, I'll skip this payment so I can get my hair done) and reasonable expenses. It is not reasonable to count on spending only 50 dollars on groceries with a house full of teenagers--unless of course, you grow a far bigger garden than I do-even then it's not advisable. Another big thing to remember in a budget is to allow room for the unexpected. Don't have every penny allocated for something. Always have an 'Extra' fund-in addition to your savings. As far a credit cards, charge cards, store cards, and the like are concerned...PAY THEM OFF AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! Never make the minimal payments: even if you can only afford to pay, say $5 extra-pay it! The goal of good budget is to get you out of debt, as soon as possible and ensure you can afford the things you need and want. So, with that in mind, I'll say one last thing about a budget. A budget will never help you if you don't stick with it or if you are constantly adding more debt.

Spending Habits
Anyone living a frugal life will tell you that it changes the way you shop. To begin with, a frugal person always asks themselves these key questions: Do I really need it? Can I make it? Can I reuse or remake something I already have? Can I find it on sale? Can I purchase it used? These simple questions can prevent costly mistakes and waste. Another habit of frugal spenders is the use of advertised sales, store mark-downs,  coupons. My own personal frugal favorite is frequenting Habitat for Humanity stores, salvage warehouses, flea markets, Goodwill stores, and local farmer's markets. Savings abound in such places!

Food
I am always shocked at the amount of our income spent on food. Food! I have personally known people that spent 40-50% of their salaries on eating; most often on just eating out. This is,clearly, not a frugal life. So, how to eat according to a frugal life? One answer is eating seasonally. Just by eating what is abundant locally, in season, can save money...with the added bonus of being fresh and full of flavor. Another answer is to eat what is on sale. When I was growing up, I could always count on eating what was on sale at our local supermarket. A great tool to help with a food budget is to create a meal planner. A meal planner is simply a calender with 3 sections on each day for you to write down your daily meals.  When I write out my meal planner for the week, I always take stock of what I currently have, what is in my garden, what is on sale, & yes, what I can purchase at the farmer's market. Then, I write down meals using these ingredients. It sure does make for hassle free meal times and a lot less stress on myself!

The above are just a few bits of advice on frugal living. I, by no means, have 'it all-together' and I most certainly don't know it all :-)  I welcome your tips, frugal hints, and money saving advice. I look forward to hearing from you!

Simple Food: Green Tomato Salsa

If you are like myself, you eagerly await the taste of your own tomatoes. Like most things in life, the waiting seems to take forever. What to do in the meantime? Enjoy a few of your green tomatoes! One of my favorite things to do with green tomatoes (aside from making Fried Green Tomatoes) is to make Green Tomato Salsa. Here is my recipe:

Ginger's Green Tomato Salsa
* 1 cup diced green tomatoes
* 3-4 diced green onion spikes or about 5-6 chives
* 2-3 diced jalapeno or sweet banana peppers
* 1 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice
* about 1-2 teaspoons kosher salt

-Begin by washing and dicing all of your vegetables. In a small bowl, put in your tomatoes and then, sprinkle them with kosher salt. Mix well. Next, add your peppers and onions-mixing again. Now, sprinkle in your vinegar/lemon juice and blend well. This recipe makes 1 serving.
*I prefer to use the sweet banana peppers with lemon juice. However, using jalapenos and white vinegar works well, too!

Simple Home: Make Your Mark

 These days it seems as if everyone is out to define what good home design should look like. We are told what colors should go where and with what. We are told what is in and what is out. We turn the channel and suddenly, we find out that our lighting is outdated and really begs to be replaced. It can be a bit over the top at moments.
Whether new or not, your interiors should...well, LOOK LIKE YOU!  It all comes down to what you are drawn to, what your interests are, & what is your own personal style. Add to the mix, your phase of life--because that, too, is important.

Many years ago, I absolutely adored Blue Willow dishes. My entire dining room was filled with them & coordinating pieces: pillows, tablecloths, curtains, etc. However, at some point in time, I changed. Recently, I realized that I really didn't like my dining room. I didn't like it because it just wasn't me. I didn't feel comfortable in it. I'm sure you're not surprised to learn that because I didn't like it-I didn't find much reason to be in there: no special meals, no game night at the table--nothing! When I finally admitted that it no longer reflected myself (a hard thing because I don't like change), I was free to explore my possibilities.  I'm a much different person than I was 12 years ago (that's when I loved Blue Willow so much). I now crave simplicity and neutral, natural colors. I don't like the idea of filling my home with overpriced nick-knacks and collectibles. I enjoy items with a past, flea-market finds, and family treasures. My dining room now better reflects this. End result? I love to be in the dining room! And guess what? So does my family! I guess they were just waiting for to de-clutter and de-Willow this room. LOL! Sometimes simplicity in life means simplicity in our home: Do you need it?, Do you want it? Will you use it? If not, toss it out (as in donate to a worthy charity or sell it) and move on. Yep-it's just that simple!

Simple Food: In Praise of Herbs

An absolute must-have for every home is an herb garden! Why? An herb garden is a multi-faceted resource for any home. Herbs are wonderful in and as flower arrangements. Herbs can be used in all areas of cooking. They can be used in homemade, all-natural cleaning aids and let's not forget: herbs can be used to create one-of-a-kind gifts. Most herbs are very easy to grow. No room outdoors? No problem! Herbs make wonderful container gardens indoors or outdoors.  As you can see--I love herbs!

My First Love: Rosemary

The very first herb I ever grew was Rosemary. I had no prior 'herb experience' or any real gardening experience, for that matter, when I stumbled upon this little unpretentious gem. Oh, my joy, when I discovered that it truly is VERY hard to kill Rosemary. *A good thing, as I had a hard time keeping even cacti alive!*  I have since learned that Rosemary has many other virtues, outside of its strong survival instincts! I have used this herb in handmade soaps & hair rinse to the proverbial-Rosemary chicken. I must say, though, that my new favorite way to use this herbal dynamo is in Rosemary crackers. I found the below recipe at: chowhound.chow.com & it is so easy, it is ridiculous! Tasty too!

Rosemary Crackers

*2 cups flour
*1 tsp baking powder
*1 tsp salt
*2/3 cup warm water
*1/3 cup vegetable oil
*fresh rosemary (as little or as much as you'd like-I used about 4 Tsp)
--Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 2 cookie sheets (I used butter). Combine flour, baking powder, rosemary & salt. Stir in water, oil, & mix until a smooth dough forms. Halve dough & flatten to edges on each cookie sheet (I used a plain water glass to roll out very thinly). Cut/Score them on the sheets before baking. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Introducing...a bit of Ginger!

Hi! I'm Ginger. In my blog, I hope to encourage you to live a simple life. Life is full of moments--many of which are often overlooked. I want to celebrate them all! So, pull up a chair & join me, as I share my favorite recipes, how to projects, and personal stories!