Nature's Nurture

- Announcement: Summer Celebration Event!
  
  Happy Mothering, EcoCrazy Mom and Organic Mama are excited to bring you the Summer Celebration Giveaway… [more]
- How to Store Asparagus {Tiny Tip Tuesday}
  
  Yesterday, I shared with you a recipe for Asparagus Scalloped Potatoes - a great way to use up some of… [more]
- Asparagus Scalloped Potatoes {Meatless Monday}
  
  Fresh, seasonal asparagus is popping up everywhere, so I'm always looking for new ways to use those beautiful… [more]
- Homemade Dandelion Syrup
  
  Are you sick of hearing me talk about dandelions yet? ;) Well, I promise today's post is really fun and… [more]
- Turn Baking Soda into Washing Soda {Tiny Tip Tuesday}
  
  Welcome to Week 6 of Tiny Tip Tuesday, and the first week of it's incarnation as a blog hop and carnival!… [more]
Latest Posts

May

Announcement: Summer Celebration Event!

By Sarah | Published: May 17, 2012

Happy Mothering, EcoCrazy Mom and Organic Mama are excited to bring you the Summer Celebration Giveaway Hop, which runs from June 21, 2012 12:01 AM EST to June 29, 2012 11:59 PM EST. The hosts are currently accepting blogger sign-ups right now! Click here for more information and to sign up!

I’m so excited to announce that Nature’s Nurture will be joining this amazing giveaway hop! I have an awesome sponsor lined up with one of my favorite products EVER – if you know me well, you can probably guess what it is, but shhhh! I can’t tell until the big day!

So stay tuned and make sure to follow us at Facebook, Twitter, RSS, or email (sign up at the top-right of the page!) to find out when the giveaway is underway!

Blessings,

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Posted in Giveaways | Tagged announcements, giveaway | 1 Comment

May

How to Store Asparagus {Tiny Tip Tuesday}

By Sarah | Published: May 15, 2012

Yesterday, I shared with you a recipe for Asparagus Scalloped Potatoes – a great way to use up some of that fresh, seasonal asparagus that’s showing up everywhere. If you’re like me, you buy at least a couple pounds of asparagus at a time, to use in all kind of recipes throughout the week – roasted veggies, risottos, soups, omelets…

I wasn’t always a fan of asparagus – like at all! Why? I couldn’t even tell you. Asparagus gets such a bad rap, along with broccoli and brussel sprouts – both of which I’m quite fond of now that I’m older and wiser. ;) But one thing’s for sure, asparagus is good and good for you! It’s good for your heart, it helps lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and it’s a potent antioxidant! And if cooked the right way, asparagus is actually very delicious!

More times than I care to admit, I’ve bought some asparagus, threw it in the fridge, only to be welcomed with a bag full of slimey, wilted, or otherwise inedible spears a few days later. So what’s the best way to store asparagus? Treat them like fresh flowers and herbs – place them in a glass of water!

It’s seriously that simple! Just fill a large glass container with about an inch of water, and drop in your asparagus. Don’t bother washing or trimming them beforehand – leave that for right before you prepare them for cooking.

Just make sure to change the water everyday and rinse off the ends, to prevent them from rotting. Then place them in the fridge, where they’ll keep for up to a week – if you can manage to hang onto them for that long! :)

Tiny Tip Tuesday Blog Hop!

Now for the blog hop! Thanks so much to everyone who joined us and shared their awesome links last week! Such a great variety of cleaning tips, recipes, and homemade beauty products! Here are the top three most clicked links (click on the image to follow the link)! Congratulations, ladies! Feel free to add the button below to your site! :)

1. All-natural sunblock from Skye's Life

2. Using less dish water from The Accidental Housewife

3. Build a Vertical Living Wall Garden from Good Girl Gone Green

Alright, now what are YOUR tips for this week?

You may share as many links as you would like pertaining to anything natural, frugal, sustainable, or homemade. Things like kitchen tips, recipes, gardening tips, green cleaners, homemade beauty products, DIY projects, etc.
Use the permalink to the actual post (NOT your homepage!)
In the “Name” field below, enter the name of your post (NOT your name!)
Please DO NOT link to a giveaway!
Please include a link back to Nature’s Nurture in your post; either a text link or include the button below:

<div align=”center”><a href=”http://naturesnurtureblog.com” title=”Nature’s Nurture”><img src=”http://naturesnurtureblog.com/files/2012/05/tiny-tip-tuesdays-button.jpg” alt=”Nature’s Nurture” style=”border:none;” /></a></div>

Blessings,

Posted in HOW TO's, TIny Tip Tuesday | Tagged asparagus, kitchen tips, seasonal produce, tiny tip tuesday, vegetables | 18 Comments

May

Asparagus Scalloped Potatoes {Meatless Monday}

By Sarah | Published: May 14, 2012

Fresh, seasonal asparagus is popping up everywhere, so I’m always looking for new ways to use those beautiful green spears, besides just oven-roasting them. I knew I wanted something that used other vegetables, was easy to whip up, and provided a hearty one-dish meal.

Enter Asparagus Scalloped Potatoes with a rich, creamy cheese sauce swirled around thin slices of potatoes, small chunks of asparagus, and sauteed mushrooms – topped off, or course with a little more cheese, herbs, and a secret ingredient. ;)

The stars of the show here are of course, the asparagus and the potatoes…

The asparagus is boiled and chopped, the potatoes are thinly sliced and steamed until just tender, and the mushrooms are roughly chopped and sauteed.

A creamy cheese sauce is prepared…

Then everything is combined and poured into a baking pan, and baked for about half an hour.

Oh yeah, that secret ingredient? Well, I wanted to top off the casserole with some chives or green onions – but of course, I had neither, and had to improvise. I sprinkled on some parsley, and a little…wait for it, wait for it…caraway seed! I’ve grown a new affinity for caraway seed in the past year or so, and a little really goes a long way. It provides a really subtle, yet pronounced taste with each bite, and goes really great with potatoes!

Enjoy this creamy, wholesome dish with a side salad and some garlic bread for a hearty, satisfying meal. :)

Asparagus Scalloped Potatoes

5.0 from 1 reviews

Author: Sarah @ Nature’s Nurture

Seasonal asparagus and potatoes are baked in a creamy cheese sauce for a hearty, wholesome, satisfying meal.

Ingredients

1 lb asparagus, trimmed (about 15-20 spears)
6 large potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick
4 white mushrooms, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
1 bay leaf
1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper
garlic powder
dried parsley or chives
caraway seed

Instructions

In a large pot of boiling water, cook asparagus 2 to 3 minutes or until tender-crisp. Drain and rinse under cold water to refresh and halt cooking. Cut into 2-inch pieces and set aside in a bowl.
Cook potato slices in a steamer (or steamer basket) about 10 minutes or until barely tender; add to asparagus.
In same large pot, heat oil over low heat, add onions, cover and cook until limp. Add mushrooms and cook for 4-5 minutes, until just tender.
Sprinkle with flour and stir in. Remove from heat and gradually pour in milk, whisking continually until smooth. Add bay leaf. Return to heat and cook over medium heat, whisking, until just boiling and thickened.
Stir in 1 cup of cheese; add asparagus and potatoes. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Remove bay leaf.
Spoon into greased 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, parsley or chives, and caraway seed.
Baked in pre-heated oven for 25-35 minutes, or until bubbly.

Blessings,

Posted in Recipes, Vegetarian | Tagged asparagus, meatless mondays, potatoes, recipes, seasonal produce, vegetables | 11 Comments

May

Homemade Dandelion Syrup

By Sarah | Published: May 12, 2012

Are you sick of hearing me talk about dandelions yet? ;) Well, I promise today’s post is really fun and exciting – we’re making syrup! You know, like for pancakes and waffles! I’d already been making my own syrup because that “Aunt Jemima” nonsense they sell at the store is just gross – it’s way too sweet, way too thick, and way too loaded with nasty artificial additives and preservatives. Blechh, it’s nasty just to think about it. Ok, happy thoughts, happy thoughts…

Ooh, I know! Dandelions! Pretty, bright, yellow, happy dandelions!

I’ve been wanting to make dandelion syrup since I wrote part 1 of my Dandelions: Friend or Foe series. It kept getting pushed back, but when I was out in the yard this week with Baby Y and saw that many of the dandelions had started to go to seed, I knew I had to act quickly to harvest what was left of the yellow flowers – and I knew exactly what I wanted to use them for!

Over 2 days, I gathered about 125 flowers. It sounds way more daunting than it really is; it went by very quickly actually.

I brought them inside and rinsed them under cold water and then laid them out to dry on a towel. I left them like that for a while, to be sure they were completely dry and that any bugs lurking inside the blooms were long gone (you can actually see them crawling away on the towel!).

Then, I removed the petals from the thick, green base. In part 2 of Dandelions: Friend or Foe, I showed how to remove the petals by squeezing and rolling them between your fingers. This time, I just took a small knife and cut as close to the green base as possible, which was much quicker and easier. You will get some small pieces of green leaves this way, but with a bad flare up of eczema on my fingertips, I was willing to take that risk and spare my poor hands.

Honestly, I didn’t even notice any bitterness from the little green pieces, so I’d say to go ahead and use the knife method for the petals every time. If you want to make the syrup at a later time (ie: not right after you cut the petals), you can throw them into an air-tight container and pop them in the freezer until you’re ready to use them. That’s what I did earlier this week with the first harvest.

Ok, enough about the prep work, let’s get to the sweet stuff! Bare in mind that this is a 2-day process, so if you want to use the syrup for tomorrow’s breakfast, you will have to start making it today!

Put the petals in a pot and cover them with water. Bring them to a rolling boil and let them boil for about 30 seconds to a minute. Then, remove them from the heat, cover, and steep the petals over night. You can either leave the pot in a cool spot in the kitchen, or put it in the fridge. I let the pot cool down a bit on the stove, then I put it in the fridge.

The next morning, you’ll strain the petals from the water over a small bowl. You can use a sieve, and press the petals with the back of a spoon to extract as much water as possible. For some reason, I don’t have a sieve ?! so I just lined a colander with some cheesecloth and squeezed the water out that way.

Return the strained water to the pot, add the sweetener and lemon (if using), and simmer, covered, on low heat until it’s thickened, stirring occasionally. I used 2 cups of sugar, which made a little thinner, but that’s the way I like it. The more sugar you use, the thicker the end result will be. Check the consistency after about an hour or hour and a half. Dip a spoon into the syrup, let it cool a bit, and test it with your finger. If it’s thick enough for your liking, just turn off the heat and let the syrup cool. That’s it – you’ve made dandelion syrup!

Most recipes call for white sugar, but we’ve phased out refined white sugar in this house, and only use limited amounts of organic cane sugar for baking and such. For our tea and coffee, we use raw honey, so I figured why not use both in the syrup! And I did. And it was amazing. :) Now, for the lemon, I just left it out. I guess you could call me a purist, but I just didn’t want anything getting in the way of the sweet, subtle taste of the dandelions, so I opted out.

After the syrup has cooled down a bit, pour it into a glass jar or container of some sort, and make sure to store it in the fridge after use. I have a small syrup dispenser that I picked up a few years ago; I filled it up and kept the extra in an old, glass honey jar.

Mr. Nurture (yes, that’s what we’re calling ourselves now, thanks to The Old-Fashioned Housewife ;) ) is coming back from a business trip tonight, so we’ll try this syrup over my whole-wheat banana chunk waffles tomorrow morning. But of course, that hasn’t stopped me from sampling it on its own in all its sweet, syrupy goodness. You know…for research, of course! :)

EDIT: Ok, I made the waffles the next morning, topped them with sliced strawberries and this syrup, and OMG! Best. Combo. Ever! Here’s a picture of the finished product! :)

This recipe is from a 2-part series on cooking with dandelions. For more info and recipes, please visit:
Dandelions: Friend or Foe? Part 1 (Greens)
Dandelions: Friend or Foe? Part 2 (Flowers)

Homemade Dandelion Syrup

Author: Sarah @ Nature’s Nurture

Dandelion flowers are steeped overnight, then sweetened with organic cane sugar and raw honey, and simmered until thickened into a sweet syrup. Perfect for waffles and pancakes!

Ingredients

125 dandelion flowers (about 1 1/2 cups of petals)
3 cups water
2 – 3 cups organic cane sugar (or sweetener of choice)
1/4 – 1/2 cup raw honey
juice of half a lemon (optional)

Instructions

Wash flowers and dry on a towel. With a knife, cut off the petals as close to the base as possible.
Put petals in a medium pot and cover with water. Bring to a rolling boil, and allow to boil for 30-60 seconds.
Remove from heat, cover, and allow to steep overnight in a cool place. A cool counter or the fridge is ideal.
Next morning, strain the liquid into a sieve over a bowl. Use the back of a spoon to squeeze out and extract as much liquid as possible.
Return water to pot, add sugar and lemon, and simmer on low heat for 1-1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Check for desired consistency by dipping spoon into syrup, letting it cool a bit, then testing it with your finger.
Store in an airtight, glass container in the fridge.

Blessings,

Posted in Gardening, Recipes | Tagged dandelion, edible flowers, recipes, syrup | 10 Comments

May

Turn Baking Soda into Washing Soda {Tiny Tip Tuesday}

By Sarah | Published: May 8, 2012

Welcome to Week 6 of Tiny Tip Tuesday, and the first week of it’s incarnation as a blog hop and carnival! I’m really excited to share today’s tip with you, but I’m even more excited to see what kinds of great tips you all have to share with us!

Don’t forget to come back throughout the week to check out the new links; and we’ll be sharing our favorites on our Facebook page!

EDIT: Before we move on, please let me take this moment to publicly apologize to Penny, from Penniless Parenting for inadvertently not linking back to her post, as she is the original author for the information contained in this post. I had linked back to her site, but because of an error in the html, the link below was rendered un-linkable on the front end of the site. Needless to say, this was brought to my attention by Penny, as well as a few other commenters, which I’m very grateful for, as it allowed me to fix the problem and publicly address this issue. I did NOT intend to withhold credit from Penny, and anyone who reads my site regularly knows that I always link back to the original post, if indeed I borrowed from another blogger. I also should clarify that after this whole issue happened, I changed some wording around to include the direct quotes from Penny, as well as added her name to the post (kind of a gesture to apologize for the broken link). Whereas before, I had summarized her words, I later changed it to some direct quotes, to make it very clear that I wasn’t trying to plagiarize her work. You may read my entire apology to Penny in the comments below this post. Thanks!

Well, as the title says, we’re turning baking soda into washing soda this week. A good number of my homemade products require the use of washing soda, but for every item I post that uses washing soda, I always get at least 5 or 10 comments asking where you can find it. It’s true, sometimes it’s a little hard to find – even I had trouble the first time around. (It’s usually in the laundry aisle, by the way.)

But for those who live in rural areas, or without large grocery stores, it’s still hard to track down. So in my search for the best place to buy washing soda for one of our readers, I stumbled upon this idea that you can actually turn baking soda into washing soda, simply by baking it!

I know, it sounds weird, but just bare with me. As Penny explains,

The difference between baking soda and washing soda is water and carbon dioxide. Seriously. Baking soda’s chemical makeup is NaHCO3 (1 sodium, 1 hydrogen, one carbon, and 3 oxygen molecules). Washing soda’s chemical makeup is Na2CO3 (2 sodium, 1 carbon, and 3 oxygen molecules). When baking soda is heated up to high temperatures, it breaks down to become washing soda, water steam, and carbon dioxide.

So, the steam and carbon dioxide are released during the cooking process, leaving you with… washing soda!

See? Now, don’t I sound all smart and science-y? :)

The process is really simple. Just heat your oven to 400 F (or 200 C), sprinkle some baking soda on a shallow pan, and bake it for about half hour, until it changes composition. You should also stir it up occasionally, just so that it bakes more evenly.

So how do you know when it changes into washing soda? That part takes a little more work; just a closer, watchful eye. Once you know the differences between the 2 sodas, you’ll be able to tell in no time.

Penny breaks it down like this: Baking soda is powdery, crystallized like salt, and clumps together. Washing soda is grainy, dull and opaque, and is separate grains. You can see the difference below: baking soda on the left, and washing soda on the right.

That’s it! See? I told you it was simple! Now you can go make liquid laundry detergent, powdered laundry detergent, and dishwasher detergent, without worrying about where to score your next box of washing soda.

Alright, now on to the blog hop. Here are the rules:

You may share as many links as you would like pertaining to anything natural, frugal, sustainable, or homemade. Things like kitchen tips, recipes, gardening tips, green cleaners, homemade beauty products, DIY projects, etc.
Use the permalink to the actual post (NOT your homepage!)
In the “Name” field below, enter the name of your post (NOT your name!)
Please DO NOT link to a giveaway!
Please include a link back to Nature’s Nurture in your post; either a text link or include the button below:

<div align=”center”><a href=”http://naturesnurtureblog.com” title=”Nature’s Nurture”><img src=”http://naturesnurtureblog.com/files/2012/05/tiny-tip-tuesdays-button.jpg” alt=”Nature’s Nurture” style=”border:none;” /></a></div>

This post was shared here: Frugal Tuesday Tip – Learning the Frugal Life, Frugal Tuesday Tip – Getting Ahead Blog, Anti-Procrastination Tuesdays, Kitchen Tip Tuesdays, Show Me What You Got Tuesdays, Show Me What Ya Got, Teach Me Tuesday, Homemaking Link-Up, Tip Me Tuesday, Penny Pinching Party, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Healthy 2day Wednesdays, Works For Me Wednesday, Simple Living Wednesday, Thrifty Thursdays,

Blessings,

Posted in HOW TO's, TIny Tip Tuesday | Tagged baking soda, household cleaner, laundry, washing soda | 37 Comments

May

Another Award! – Kreativ Blogger Award

By Sarah | Published: May 7, 2012

Wow, I can hardly believe it, but Nature’s Nurture has been honoured with its second blog award! Less than a month ago, I received my first award (the Liebster), and over this past weekend, the Kreativ Blogger Award was given to me for my post on the homemade cooking spray. That cooking spray post is like the gift that keeps on giving – I had no idea it would take off so fast (at last count, it’s at 65k pins on Pinterest!), and I definitely didn’t expect to get an award for it…a very nice surprise, indeed :)

A huge thank you to Sara from At Home With Mrs. Hampton for passing on this adorable award :-) Please do check out her blog – such a cute, crafty site!

So now, there are a few rules for this award. First, I have to share 7 interesting facts about myself. Arghh, I’ve never been good at this game – remember the first day of school each year when the teacher asked everyone to give their name and share an interesting fact about themselves? I HATED that – just hated it! But alas, it’s come back to haunt me as an adult, so I must oblige ;) Here goes:

Before becoming a stay-at-home mama, I was an elementary school teacher…And because of my experiences as an elementary school teacher, I’m now leaning more towards homeschooling Baby Y and our future children, God-willing. I truly believe schooling starts at home, and to dump my kids at school for 8 hours a day, only to sit at a desk with 25 other children all day, just isn’t what I consider a conducive learning environment. The public school system is drained of resources, and because of this, good, hardworking teachers cannot do their jobs properly – so I’m taking our children’s education into my own hands, so to speak. (Sorry for the mini-rant; I tend to do that when it comes to the topic of education ;) )
I had a 100% natural, unmedicated birth last year and it was the best experience of my life! The power of the female body is truly astounding and I’m so thankful that God allowed me to physically, mentally, and emotionally experience every aspect of Baby Y’s delivery. Midwives, birth centers, home births, etc. – these are a few of my favorite things :)
I’m a hoarder in recovery. Yes, ever since I was very young, I held on to EVERYTHING! Which would have been ok if we didn’t move around a lot when I was growing up – I was always the one with way too many boxes on moving day LOL. This of course carried into my married life, and finally, before our big move up to Canada about 4 years ago, Mr. B helped me purge my stash of “stuff” and I haven’t looked back since :) The urge is still there, of course; I just know how to control it better now ;)
We’re Americans living in Canada! After a summer weekend trip to Toronto 4 years ago, Mr. B and I decided we were in love with the city, packed up our things (sans my stash of “stuff”) and moved up to Canada 6 months later! It was the best decision we’ve ever made as a married couple and we wouldn’t trade it for anything. The “City Within A Park” really lives up to its name, with enough green space to keep us urban-dwellers happy :)
I wear a headscarf – or a hijab in Arabic. Why? Well, it’s more of an ensemble, complete with long sleeves and long pants – I just cover what I believe needs to be covered. It’s a form of modesty, really. So, that means….*gasp* I’m a Muslim?! Yes, I’m a Muslim – don’t worry, I won’t bite :) If you have any questions, please feel free to ask – I enjoy talking about my faith. And if you want to learn more about the hijab, you can check out a great explanation my good friend, Nourhan, wrote here.
Mr. B and I are saving up for our dream house, which, contrary to popular belief, is NOT a million dollar mansion with 24 rooms, 3 pools, and a kick-ass home theater LOL. No, our dreams are very simple – a small home on an acreage with lots of room to grow our own food, raise animals, and just enjoy the quiet, simple life with our family.
Mr. B is a web-developer, and has taken it upon himself to impart his unimaginable wealth of knowledge on me; so I know way more than is necessary about creating websites, working with code, and just a whole bunch of geeky, techy stuff. We work from home, creating websites for small businesses and non-profit organizations. Anyone need a website? Haha, just kidding…sort of ;)

Next, I have to choose 7 other bloggers to give this award to, so here they are, in no particular order:

The Accidental Housewife – Mrs. Accident is such a funny, witty Aussie mama blogging about her adventures in accidental housewifery. Did you know housewives are superheroes? I didn’t either, until I read this post :)
The Old-Fashioned Housewife – Nicole has become one of my blogger besties. A Canadian who’s into all things vintage – seriously, ALL things vintage – it’s pure awesome. She also whips up some yummy stuff in the kitchen :)
Mental Chew – Val blogs about all things food and gardening. She shares amazing pics of her garden’s progress, yummy real food recipes, and weekly dinner menus. Check out the latest pics of her beautifully inspiring garden!
The Cooking Actress – Yep, you read that right. Cooking. Actress. Kayle is an actress who blogs about food. Simple as that. Umm, Browned Butter Peanut Butter Cookies? I’m so there…
The Kitchen’s Garden - Remember our dream house? Well, Cecilia is living the dream! I especially love her post on growing good grass for grass-fed cows and sheep – I never even thought about the importance of that until now!
Our Homemade Happiness - Kendra is a new bloggy friend I made over this past weekend. She shares my passion for making homemade cleaners and beauty products, so you can guess why I just love her site. I can’t wait to try her lime and salt rust remover!
Miss Anthropist’s Kitchen – My love for everything homemade also includes food, and any way I can make homemade grocery staples to cut out processed foods is a huge plus – pita bread, tortillas, and gold fish crackers are just a few of Nourhan’s awesome creations.

Here are the rules for those nominated by me:

Copy the Kreativ Blogger Award logo and place it in your post.
Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog. It would be rude if you didn’t. Seriously.
List 7 things about you that people might find interesting.
Nominate 7 other bloggers for their own Kreativ Blogger Award.
Leave a comment on the blogs you nominate to let them know about the award.

And finally, thanks to my wonderful readers for subscribing, following, liking, commenting, etc. This blog wouldn’t be here without you! Now go check out those blogs and tell them I sent you! :)

P.S. Don’t forget about our new blog hop and carnival, Tiny Tip Tuesdays, starting tomorrow! See you then!

Blessings,

Posted in Awards & Recognitions | Tagged award | 9 Comments

May

New Blog Hop & Carnival! – Tiny Tip Tuesday

By Sarah | Published: May 5, 2012

Ask and you shall receive! It’s official – after just 5 short weeks, we are turning our Tiny Tip Tuesdays into a Blog Hop & Carnival!

A blog hop is a place where bloggers come together every week to share their latest posts on a certain topic – in our case, it will be tiny tips! Any tips really, so long as they’re quick and easy, and they fall into any (or all) of the four main philosophies here at Nature’s Nurture:

Natural
Frugal
Sustainable
Homemade

If you’re a blogger, please come join us every Tuesday, starting next week, May 8, 2012! The rules are simple, and will be included in the post every week:

You may share as many links as you would like pertaining to anything natural, frugal, sustainable, or homemade. Things like kitchen tips, recipes, gardening tips, green cleaners, homemade beauty products, DIY projects, etc.
Use the permalink to the actual post (NOT your homepage!)
Please DO NOT link to a giveaway!
Please include a link back to Nature’s Nurture in your post; either a text link or include the button below:

<div align=”center”><a href=”http://naturesnurtureblog.com” title=”Nature’s Nurture”><img src=”http://naturesnurtureblog.com/files/2012/05/tiny-tip-tuesdays-button.jpg” alt=”Nature’s Nurture” style=”border:none;” /></a></div>

Not a blogger? Well, blog hops are really just for you! Instead of reading about just one tiny tip from me every week, you’ll now have access to all the tips being shared from our growing community, so be sure to click through and show some love to our contributors. :)

We will share our favorites on our Facebook page during the week, and the top 3 most clicked links will be featured on the blog the following week!

Please feel free to share this post with your networks, and let’s get this thing rolling! See you all bak here on Tuesday! :)

Blessings,

Posted in TIny Tip Tuesday | Tagged announcements, blog hop, tiny tip tuesday | 3 Comments

May

Parmesan-Crusted Veggies & Sweet Onion Sauce

By Sarah | Published: May 3, 2012

I didn’t originally intend to turn this into a blog post, but after posting this picture on Facebook and Instagram, and lots of friends liking it and asking for the recipe, I figured, hey, what the heck…Also, because this was an after-the-fact blog post, you’ll have to excuse the poor photo quality ;)

Ever run into a dinner rut in the middle of the week? That was me on Tuesday night. Baby Y was having a bad night (teething), and even though I started making dinner at 8pm, we didn’t officially eat until around 10:30 or 11:00 – oh, the madness!

Ahh, but it was ok once we sat down and gobbled up these yummy parmesan-crusted asparagus spears and broccoli florets…oh, and the sauce! The sauce was just heavenly, just what we needed at the end of a long day.

It’s amazing how well things turn out at the end of what seems like the most difficult day ever. In my frazzled and all-over-the-place state of mind, I looked in the fridge, pulled out whatever I could find and got to work. Veggies – check. Parmesan – check. Eggs – check. Add to that some bread crumbs and seasonings and voila – the makings of a tasty, wholesome, satisfying late-night “dinner.”

If you’ve read at least one other recipe on here (one that I made up, at least), you’d know very quickly that I don’t measure anything – especially when I’m in end-of-the-night zombie mode ;) So,I’ll try my best to guess, but you’ll just have to forgive me and agree to experiment with this – really, it’s so easy, you barely even need a recipe. So just let this function as a guide of sorts.

I cut the asparagus spears in half, and the broccoli into small florets. I then chopped up the remaining broccoli stalks into strips – make sure you peel away (with a small knife) the top layer of skin from the thick stalk at the bottom, since it’s very fibrous and almost impossible to chew.

Then, I made a simple egg wash and combined the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese and breaded all the veggies. Don’t throw all the eggy veggie pieces into the bread crumb mix all together; you’ll just end up with a big sticky mess! Save yourself the headache, and take the time to do them one by one.

I baked them in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, until they were golden, and while they were baking, I made the dipping sauce, which I found at this site, and made a few changes to. Basically, you’ll carmelize some sliced onions, throw them into a blender with some honey, apple cider vinegar, and spicy mustard. Then mix in some mayo and yogurt, and you’ve got the most wonderfully sweet and tangy dipping sauce ever :) It works great as a sandwich spread too!

And that’s the story of the amazing crispy veggie dinner :) Enjoy!

Parmesan-Crusted Veggies & Sweet Onion Sauce

Author: Sarah @ Nature’s Nurture

Asparagus spears and broccoli florets are breaded in a bread crumb/parmesan mixture, baked until golden, and served with a tangy, sweet onion dipping sauce.

Ingredients

10-15 asparagus spears, washed and ends snapped off
2 small heads of broccoli, washed
2 eggs, beaten
1-1 1/2 cups of seasoned bread crumbs (if using plain crumbs, just season with salt and pepper, and italian spices, ie: onion, garlic, parsley, basil, paprika, etc.)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 small onion, sliced
1 tablespoon oil or butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon spicy mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup plain yogurt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Snap ends off of asparagus and cut spears in half.
Remove skin from large broccoli stalk, and chop stalks into 2-inch sections.
In separate bowls, place beaten eggs and bread crumb/parmesan cheese mixture.
For each asparagus spear and the broccoli stalks, coat them in the egg wash, transfer to the bread crumb mix and coat, then place on prepared baking pan.
For the broccoli florets, hold them by the stalk and dip the heads into the egg wash, then dip them into the bread crumb mix; transfer to prepared baking pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, until golden and crispy.
While veggies are baking, heat oil or butter in a pan on medium heat, add the onions, sugar, and salt & pepper, and cook the onions, stirring occasionally. Continue cooking and stirring until onions carmelize, about 15 minutes.
Transfer onions to a blender or food processor, add the vinegar, honey, and mustard, and blend until almost smooth.
Transfer to a bowl, and mix in the mayo and yogurt.

This recipe was shared here:

Blessings,

Posted in Recipes, Vegetarian | Tagged recipes, sauce, vegetables | 2 Comments

May

Cleaning Coffee-Stained Mugs {Tiny Tip Tuesday}

By Sarah | Published: May 1, 2012

how to clean coffee and tea stains from mugs

Before we moved into our new house this past February, most of our “stuff” had been sitting in storage for almost 2 years! As we began unpacking our boxes, so many thoughts, feelings, and memories were returning to us – it’s amazing how old things can all of a sudden seem new again when you haven’t seen them for a long time. Old photo albums, keepsakes, knick-knacks and such…

Well, except for coffee mugs. Our coffee mugs did NOT seem new again! In fact, they seemed older, dingier, and dirtier than we remember leaving them. Whatever residual stains were left on them only seemed to multiply as they sat in that little 5′ X 10′ storage unit for 2 years. I washed and washed and washed them, and even though the stains got a little lighter, they never really went away. Eventually, I’d forgotten about them and decided that the stains just added character – some flair, if you may!

Ughh, who am I kidding? I hated them…a lot! So this weekend, I finally decided I was not going to look at those nasty coffee/tea stained mugs for one more day! So I got to work. I researched, tried a few ideas, and settled on the one I liked best – of course I should’ve known the winning product would be my all-time favorite scouring agent ever – baking soda!

So I put some baking soda into a shallow dish, wet a wash cloth with very warm water (I tried with cold water, it didn’t work as well), dipped it into the baking soda to make a paste, and got to scrubbing. Just a couple of quick scrubs, and I was already seeing those stains magically disappear! This of course got me super excited, which made me work even more diligently, and I had those mugs cleaned up in no time – seriously, it was less than 5 minutes!

I gave them a quick rinse, and voila! Look at those before and after pics! I was so happy, I made a special pot of coffee just to celebrate my accomplishment :)

Have you dealt with stubborn coffe and tea stains on your mugs? How have you tackled this problem? Leave a comment with your solution!

Cleaning Coffee/Tea Stained Mugs

Author: Sarah @ Nature’s Nurture

Baking soda and warm water are used to scrub away stubborn coffee and tea-stained mugs.

Ingredients

Baking Soda
Warm Water
Wash cloth

Instructions

Place some baking soda in a shallow dish.
Wet your wash cloth with warm water.
Dip wash cloth in baking soda to form a paste.
Scrub mugs until clean.
Rinse under running water.

ATTENTION: Tiny Tip Tuesday readers!! Some of my blogger friends have shown interest in possibly turning our Tiny Tip Tuesdays into a Blog Hop/Carnival – allowing other bloggers to share their tips right here on Nature’s Nurture every week! I’ve been thinking about it for a while, and I think we could totally get a carnival going to bring you even more helpful tips from other like-minded blogs :) Leave a comment letting me know if you’d be interested in this idea! Also, if you’re a blogger and would like to participate in Tiny Tip Tuesdays, let me know and we can get it started as early as next week! Thanks :)

This post was shared here: Anti-Procrastination Tuesday, Frugal Tuesday Tip – Learning the Frugal Life, Frugal Tuesday Tip – Getting Ahead Blog, Works For Me Wednesday, Simple Living Wednesday, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Penny Pinching Party,

Blessings,

Posted in Household Cleaning, HOW TO's, TIny Tip Tuesday | Tagged baking soda, coffee stains, household cleaners, kitchen tips | 10 Comments

Apr

Dandelions: Friend or Foe? Part 2 (Flowers)

By Sarah | Published: April 28, 2012

I didn’t intend for this to be a 2-part series, but after looking out into my backyard and seeing what you see in the photo above (the picture doesn’t do it justice!), I got so motivated to find ways to use all those dandelion blossoms! So, like with everything else, I consulted my trusty friend, Mr. Google, for help. Have you ever spent hours looking for something and walking away in disappointment, only to turn around looking for it again a week later, and it’s right there? No? Well, maybe it’s just me ;)

But that’s what happened when I went searching for recipes for dandelion flowers. Last week, I found so many ways to use the greens, but all the recipes I found for the flowers were all sweets – jams, syrups, cookies, etc. This time when I went on my search, I knew I wanted something that could be served with/for dinner. Something substantial and nutritious.

Just an FYI: dandelion flowers pack a real hefty nutrition boost to whatever you add them to. They’re chock full of beta-carotene, vitamin C, iron, and other nutrients! The blossoms specifically are very good for the heart, they promote blood circulation, and the pollen has antibacterial properties.

And then it happened; I hit the jackpot of dandelion flower recipes when I came across this awesome post from Eat the Weeds. It had all sorts of different ideas to try, so I focused my efforts on three recipes that I made that day: Coconut Dandelion Blossom Muffins, Cream of Dandelion Soup, and Dandelion Blossom Burgers – we had the soup and the burgers for dinner that night, along with a dandelion greens salad, of course! :)

So, that afternoon, I took Baby Y out to the backyard where we picked a whole bunch of dandelion flower heads – well, I picked, he just kind of grabbed at what he could and pulled until he got something, probably wondering why on earth I was allowing him to continue. It was a beautiful sunny day, just perfect for foraging!

After our play time and flower picking, we went inside and I washed the flowers. Ok, here is where you will do what I say, not what I do! I made the mistake of washing the flowers before removing the petals – it makes sense, right? Wrong! Those little suckers hold onto so much water, it was so difficult to grab hold and remove the petals without them all sticking to my hands, so it was a little frustrating in the beginning, to say the least. Honestly, next time, I probably wouldn’t even wash them at all since I know exactly where they came from. I would just inspect each flower before I removed the petals and blow away any bugs I saw.

Alright, onto removing the petals! This was definitely a learning experience ;) After some trial and error, I learned that you have to squeeze the green base very hard between your thumb and index fingers until you feel the petals release, then roll the base between your fingers to loosen the petals, and pull out the petals with your other hand. I also read later that it may be better to pick them when they aren’t fully bloomed – when the petals are kind of sticking straight up, since it’s easier to grab hold of the petals that way.

Squeeze the base really hard to release petals

Roll between your fingers to loosen

Pull the loose petals off the base

It’s really quite easy once you get the hang of it, but it is Time. Consuming! I can honestly say that it really was worth it though :) From the bowl’s worth that I picked, I got around 3 cups of loosely packed petals – perfect! One cup for each of the three recipes! Just for reference, I counted about 50 flowers for each cup of loose petals (yes, I actually sat there and counted them…you’re welcome ;) )