Thrifted, Traded, and Free

THRIFTED:

Vintage Aprons $1 each from a church sale

Also from the church sale for $1

The last "Spice of Life" canister I needed for my GF flours/stuff.  At VV for $3.99

Love, Love, Love Vera stuff!  Thrifted for $3 (Thanks to my Mom and her Senior discount!)

 TRADED:

My first trade.  I got the two citrus fridges from my friend Jamie...she swapped me for a large Butterprint Cinderella bowl

 FREE:

Thanks, Mom, for the adorable Gooseberry Cinderella bowl from the antique store!  We went shopping and lunching today :)

Vintage Spring!

I framed this 1965 Clorox ad for my laundry room.

GF Italian Pasta Salad (From "It's All Good Without Gluten!") made in my mother's vintage Pyrex. 

$20 Antique bookshelf gets a makeover with 1970's Rubbermaid shelf liner purchased at Value Village still in the packaging.

Got this at the Value Village buy on e get one free sale.  My husband got a shirt, and I got this baby.

Ok, so these are my tools for cleaning mistreated Vintage Pyrex. 

This is my sad Pyrex casserole rescued from Goodwill for cheap.  I was so excited to clean it, I forgot to take a before shot.  This is the very last remaining mess.  It took an hour of soaking and scrubbing.  It looked like someone put the thing in the oven and let it boil over.  The entire pan was covered with black crust.  The lid looked burnt.

Tada!  This has been at the top of my Pyrex list forever!  It's beautiful!

This is so fun.  It's a Corning/Pyrex Brides guide.  The title sounds like you are caring for a pet! Haha.

Love this booklet too.

A Vintage and Gluten Free Birthday Tea

For my Mom's Birthday this year, I put on a little tea using all my vintage stuff and Scones from my cookbook.  I even tried my hand at homemade Lemon Curd.  YUM!

I've never made lemon curd before.  Very rich, very time consuming...but oh so good!

I happen to be reading a 8 year old issue of "Country Living" (I get them at the thrift store) and came across the recipe.

These are the homemade GF scones found in "It's All Good without Gluten!"  These are a staple at our house!

All the prep stuff

Pyrex "Flower Pots" are the center piece

I just love luncheon sets!

Lemon Curd, Cream and Butter!

These are my favorite.  Fire King Pear shaped plates.  It took me 8 months to collect 4 because I wouldn't pay over $1.50 each.  I found the last one a week before the tea!

The lovely ladies.  My Mom (Dixie), Wendy (Our Friend) and my 91 year old Grandma (Iris).

So adorable I had to share.  Wendy brought this hostess gift.  Fun vintage items I adore!  I especially love the old sing-along book!

Confession:  I bought all the treats at the Skagit Valley Food Coop except the banana bread!  I am not Super Woman.

My foodie son had this as his after school snack!

Family Meal Time...A Thing Of the Past?

A month ago I asked my Facebook family a question.  Are family dinners together a priority for you?  I had a large response.  Actually, I was surprised at how many people valued it.  Many were discouraged that it doesn't happen as often as it should, but feel it's important, and several make it a priority regularly.  Here were some of the comments:

Ginny said, "It' very, very important.  It's how we stay connected to our children and how their day was."
Melissa said, "Every night unless there is something special going on.  No TV in the kitchen either.
Abby said, "I think eating together is SO important, especially for this generation because so many of us have this "GO GO GO" mentality.  We fill our lives with so many activities, work. play, and entertainment that we NEED to take the time to sit down and slow down TOGETHER, and the dinner table is a perfect place for that."

If eating dinner is something you value but don't do enough, here are some great reasons to make it a regular occasion. 

The average parent spends 38.5 minutes a week in meaningful conversation with their kids.
Family dinner is more important for child development than play or story time. (Harvard U)
Kids ages 11-18 have better grades when they have dinner as a family.
There is a lower risk of eating disorders, drug use and bad behavior in kids.

(courtesy www.dinnertrade.com)

The Gallup people say that only 47% of families in the US and UK eat together 4-6 times a week.  Obviously, it's not a priority for everyone.  But what if you want it to be a priority?  Here are some steps you can take to make it easier.

1) Mark you calendar in ADVANCE with the dates for family dinner.
2) Try and make certain days the norm for dinner so there is a routine.  Routine makes it easier for everyone to plan on it and get there.
3) During sports season plan simple meals ahead...eat early if you have too, but do it together.  And honestly, if you are so involved in sports that you can NEVER make it work, it's time to reevaluate sports.
4) Plan out meals and shopping lists a week ahead.  ON the busy days, make it easy.  Pick up a roast chicken and put some potatoes in the oven.  What you eat isn't as important as eating together.
5)Don't give up.  Just keep on doing what you have to do to make it work and get a routine!

The statistics prove this is important enough to make it happen.  What are your tips for making family dinner happen?

DIY Vintage Projects

This 1960's children's book was in bad shape at a garage sale for .25

I purchased a clearance 4X6 frame from Marshall's and cut one of the pages to fit.  Instant Vintage art...cheap!

This idea actually came from the Farm Chicks, but I had fun doing it.  This is a metal tray.  I hot glued a wire to the back for an instant message board.

This is a TV Tray so it has folded in arms.  I just wrapped wire around the arms and hung it.

Gluten Free Food Storage in Vintage Containers

If you've been around this blog at all you know that 
1) I'm a gluten free foodie (Check out "It's All Good without Gluten!" - available on Amazon or ask your favorite bookstore to get it in...it's available to all)
2) I am an avid Vintage collector with Old Fashioned Values - (Thus the cooking!)

Here is a way I've combined the two.  Cooking gluten free requires multiple flours, xanthan gum, and starches.  It can be very overwhelming if you kitchen is unorganized.  I have found using vintage storage containers the best way to keep my ingredients stored efficiently.  My favorites are the Pyrex glass containers.  I have the "Spice of Life" pattern.  I also use Tupperware canisters and I found adorable Hildi (artist from the 70's) containers at a local thrift store!

I have a two-teared lazy Susan.  The top has brown rice flour, white rice flour, tapioca flour, potato starch, corn meal, and my GF flour mix (1 cup white rice flour, 1 cup brown rice flour, 1/3 cup tapioca flour, 2/3 cup potato starch).  On the bottom tier are the basics, and I've put xanthan gum and sea salt in mini Pyrex containers for convenience.

How do you find these vintage containers?  Thrifting!  (My favorite sport).  They pop up quite often at thrift stores and run anywhere from $1-$5.  Very affordable.  Garage sales are a great way to find them as well.  Make sure when using the glass jars that the rubber seal inside the lid is intact, other wise ingredients won't be fresh!  Happy Hunting!!

PS If you are NOT into thrifting you can purchase them on Etsy or Ebay, but you will pay more!

Looks like I need to buy Tapioca Flour! :)

Gluten Free Favorites

Its been awhile since I've listed new GF Favorites.  I just completed a 10 day cleanse...a different cleanse then I've done before.  I've become increasingly sensitive to eating to much yeast breads, and with the new bakery in town, I've been eating A LOT.  Also, we've had lots of pizza lately...anyway, it seems to affect me.  Along with that I got some gluten cross contamination, and decided it was time for a Candida cleanse.  I basically ate brown rice, veggies, brown rice tortillas and the cottage cheese shown below that is full of probiotics!  I don't care for yogurt, so it was great.  I feel much better and I'm now determined to limit the yeast breads, and keep my diet on a healthy track with more veggies!

Here are the favorites:

I eat these with turkey inside and heated up.

This was my favorite way of eating it - with pepper and snap peas!

A Little Vintage Spring

Something for you fellow Pyrex Crazies!

Just wanted to let you know that I'm now a contributor to the Pyrex Collective III at www.pyrexcollective3.blogspot.com .  It's for those who love and collect vintage Pyrex.  Take a peek!