nancynaturally

January Customer Special. Spend just $50 and be eligible for one of these bundles at 50% off!

Wildtree Holiday Gifts at a Discount

Wildtree just announced their customer specials for November and they are amazing!  Every month when you spend $50, customers are eligible for a few bundles put together by Wildtree at HALF price. 

There are actually 6 different bundles to choose from this month to help you get ready for the holidays!  You can buy the food for yourself or buy it or ship it to your favorite people.  You know you already love Wildtree All Natural Products, why not share them and all their health benefits with the people you love!

Don't Know Where to Start Bundle

 Regular Price $72.00, Half Price, $36.00

MENU PLANNER Bundle Party Planner - 7 Appetizers + 7 Drinks

 - Regular Price, $101.00, Half Price, $50.50

Click here for bundle contents and details 

 

 Teacher Gift Bundle

Full Price, $28.00, Half Price $14.00

 Secret Santa Bundle

Full Price, $31.00, Half Price $15.50

Around the World Bundle

Full Price, $48.00, Half Price, $24.00

Gen Y Bundle

Full Price, $46.50, Half Price, $23.25

Click here for gift bundle details

 

I know what I'll be giving for the holidays!

Contact me:

303.717.3123

email:  nancystudent@gmail.com

website:  www.nancystudent.mywildtree.com

 

Final Garden Bounty

I cannot believe it is October 15th and I am using the last of the vegetables I grew in my garden this year.  This first picture is some eggplant, zuccini and yellow summer squash just about done.

 I tossed it in a little Wildtree Roasted Garlic Grapeseed Oil and a pinch of Wildtree Rancher Steak Rub.  Perfection!

There's sort of a funny story behind this next picture.  I had yet to dig my parsnips out of the garden and just remembered today.  They were the perfect size!  I rinsed them off with the garden hose and then asked my daughter to peel them for me.  I was set to make some Roasted Parsnip Chips.  I pulled out my benriner (a Japanese Mandolin, one of my favorite kitchen tools and one of the most dangerous) and sliced them thinly into rounds.  I set the oven at 420 degrees, tossed the rounds in the oil and spice blend as above and spread them in a single layer on a silpat on a rimmed baking sheet.  I baked them for about 30 minutes, tossing them about half way through.  They were beautiful and ready about an hour before dinner.  Shortly after they came out of the oven, my daughter asked to have one.  She had one and then another and then another and said, 'Mom!  These are addictive!".  She stopped herself saving the rest for all of us for dinner.  My husband came home in a whirlwind ready to pick my son up and take him to soccer practice.  I had gone into my office to get some work done and a few minutes later the boys were off to soccer and my daughter came into my office sort of pouting.  She asked, 'Mom, were those parsnips for dinner?'.  I replied, 'Well, they could be but I hadn't really thought about it'.  She said, in a rather upset and annoyed tone, 'Well Dad and Aiden each just grabbed a handful as they walked out the door and they are almost gone!'.  I just had to chuckle thinking, how many kids are upset this evening complaining that they didn't get enough PARSNIPS!

After soccer, my son and my husband came home and my son came into my office sort of pouting.  He was hungry and tired and I'm sure had completely forgotten about the handful of parsnips he had grabbed before his soccer practice, but remembering how yummy they were.  He said, with his eyes welled up with tears, 'Mom, Daddy grabbed a handful of parsnips and now I'm not going to get any'.  I could barely contain my laughter.

Now I'm going to ask if you have ever tried a parsnip this way, sliced thin and roasted at a high temperature until perfectly browned.  All I'm saying is that there are so many different and wonderful vegetables out there that we often turn our noses up to. 

And finally, sweet peas.  These flowers were so stubborn this year for me.  I usually get my first ones sometime in May, but we had that horrible hail storm this year.  My sweet peas are now thriving!  Each time I go outside I get a rush of that divine smell.  This is the first time I have ever seen a sweet pea this color.  I think this is one of the most beautiful sweet peas I have ever seen!

Is it horrible for me to be ready for Spring again so I can get my hands into the soil and plant my garden?  I know, we haven't even gotten through fall.  I don't usually have this feeling until sometime in March.  Of course, this was a strange gardening year.  First we had such warm weather and my garden was weeks ahead of schedule.  Then, we had that devastating hail storm and everything I had started inside from seed was demolished.  I was grateful for our local gardening store, Tagawa, that still had a good supply of organic starters.  I learned so much as I do every year about gardening in Colorado.  I am just eager to start that process again.

Until next time!  And please do let me know if this post compelled you to try a parsnip.

And The Winner Is!

I can't tell you how thrilled I am to have accomplished a major milestone I set for myself this year. 

 

At the end of December 2011, I started holding Wildtree freezer meal workshops.  I began to think about the impact of these all natural, healthy freezer meal workshops on my friends, family and customers.  I knew these workshops were going to help people simplify dinner time, help families eat at home more, help families save money and help families to eat healthy.  One of my friends suggested that I set a goal for myself and have a celebration after I reached the goal.  I decided to give myself a year and to give a freezer meal workshop kit away to anyone who left a comment on my blog when I reached 10,000 individual portions prepared as a result of my workshops. 

That day arrived on September 7th!

In less than 10 months, I reached my goal.  In 10 months, I have also transformed the way I prepare meals for my family.  When I started with Wildtree 3 years ago, I started because I believed in the product and I knew it was going to simplify my meal planning because I had found a clean product-line that I could use instead of doing EVERYTHING from scratch.  Who knew that when I introduced the concept of freezer meal workshops to my business this year that I would would begin to impact so many families and circles outside of my own family.  That is really at the core of why I am so passionate about my Wildtree business. 

I am going to tell a little story about one of my customers at one of my freezer meal workshops that sums up why I do this.  A group of about 10 women had just wrapped up a freezer meal workshop.  It was so fun!  All of the ladies were packing up their coolers and heading out of the house to get home and put their 10 meals in their freezers.  One of my customers, who is also a friend, was sitting at my table with her cooler and she was just closing the lid of the cooler.  She had no idea I had come back in the room.  She made a big sigh as she slowly closed the lid of her cooler and she said softly, 'That's 10 meals I won't have to do take-out this month'.  This is going to sound so sappy, but it actually made me cry because I was so touched.  I knew in that moment that I was making a difference.  That my goal to help people eat healthy food and more importantly to help families get back to the table was being accomplished. 

This journey has been so fun to date and I can't think of a time in my life where I enjoyed my work so much.  Where the true essence of my work was so in harmony with what I believe.  Where I actually see the difference my work makes with people I am directly in contact with.  Where I actually get told that my work makes a difference.  All of this with a job that lets me actually be a full time mom and devoted wife.  I am truly blessed!  If you would like to learn more about my freezer meal workshops with all-natural Wildtree products Click here.  If you have a few friends you would like to get together and would like to host a freezer workshop you could earn part or all of your workshop spice kit for free and you could even earn more additional Wildtree products for free.

The winner of the free freezer meal workshop and spice kit (worth about $70) is:  check your email.

Mini Pad Thai

Made these yummy min-pad thai for a recent tasting I held at my house:

Just cook up some rice noodles according to the package instructions for salad noodles.  Once cooked, toss the noodles in Wildtree Pad Thai Sauce.  Using a fork and big spoon, twirl portions of the noodles into a little nest.  Top with chopped peanuts, a piece of shrimp, green onions and chopped cilantro.  Garnish the plate with mini slices of lime.  Yum. 

 

Fun Freezer Meal Workshop and Update

WHat an awesome freezer meal workshop at my house on Friday.  I had a completely full house with an amazing group of people!  One friend brought her fiance just to get to spend some more time together.  Two moms brought their daughters to help and spend some time together.  One friend brought her grand daughter and they both made a set of meals.  One friend brought her exchange student from Japan who was so adorable and in complete awe.  I asked her if she had done anything like this in Japan and she said, 'No.  This is very American'.  It made me smile.  I wonder what she will say about it when she gets back home next week.

I have now facilitated freezer workshops that have created 9,400 individual portions of healthy, quick and nutritious meals.  Don't forget to leave a comment about your freezer workhshop experience on my freezer workshop page to be entered into a drawing for a free freezer workshop kit when I reach 10,000 individual portions.  If you scroll to the top and click on the freezer workshop tab it will take you to my freezer workshop page.  Scroll down, read details if you want or just leave a message.

 

This is what a freezer meal workshop looks like when all the product arrives and before the guests get here.  I take all of these products and create a workstation for each participant with their products.

Next, everyone gets here and has a great time!

At the end, everyone has something that looks like this to go into their freezer:

And after you freeze them you can stack them like this:

The freezer workshop we did on Friday was the Get Your Grill On workshop.  I am doing another workshop  today called Crockpot Meals.  I am getting super close to that 10,000 meals.  Get your comments in soon!

 

Dahlias in my Garden

I've been gardening for quite a few years and as a result, have my favorites.  Every year I look forward to the brilliant colors of my dahlias.  Because of the hail in the Spring, the blooms are a bit delayed this year, but they are finally starting to show their colors.  I never get tired or bored with growing these amazing flowers.  You can purchase tubers from so many sources.  They really do grow as they are pictured on the websites.  Buy in Spring and plant after danger of frost has passed.  If you cut them down in the fall and mulch over them, you will often get plants/blooms the following year.  Some of my plants come up year after year.  It is sort of a crapshoot in Colorado though.  Sometimes those tubers just cannot make it through the winter. 

Some suggest digging up the tubers and storing over winter in a cool dry place in some saw dust.  I've tried this a couple of times and have not had much success.  They either dry out or sometimes rot.  I'd rather just take my chances with keeping them in the ground and seeing if they sprout the next season.

Enjoy!

 

For the Morning Show

I am actually scheduled to be on the morning show tomorrow (a local Colorado one)!  I am involved with this wonderful group called CampExperience and have been asked to represent my Wildtree business on the morning show through my participation in CampExperience.

Since it will be taped and airing in the morning, I decided to make two of my favorite breakfast items from Wildtree.

The first is the Scrumptious Scones (item 10639).  I love these because they start as a plain mix and you can add extras or not.  I added dried apricots, a little lemon zest and a little of the Wildtree Zesty Lemon Grapeseed Oil. 

The second item I have made is the Hearty Morning Granola Mix (item 10728).  Again, this can be plain or you can add your favorite add-ins.  This time I added some chopped pecans, a little shredded coconut and raisins.  I love this product because Wildtree also provides a recipe to make granola bars.  This granola is loaded with protein (6g per serving before I added the nuts!) and has 4g of dietary fiber per serving.  I love to just make this up and store it in an airtight container until it is gone.  It really makes a lot.  With a portion in some yogurt and fresh fruit it will last me over a week eating it every day.  My kids and husband love it too!

Once I get the stream of the segment I am in, I will post it.

 

 

Garden Art 101

It is an absolutely beautiful morning in Colorado!  The air is slightly crisp, skies are completely clear and my garden has recovered from that nasty hail storm in the Spring.

Feeling very playful snapping pictures this morning.  This is to all my blog visitors and subscribers.  Have a wonderful  day!

Best Turkey Burgers Ever

Everyone is asking for my Turkey Burger recipe. This was in my newsletter this month so if you want to receive my newsletters in the future, just subscribe to the left of this post.

I have never really been a fan of turkey burgers, I've always wanted to be a fan of this healthier option, but to no avail until now.  I made this recipe up a few months ago and they have become a favorite of me and my family.  Another super quick and easy meal using Wildtree to add to my arsenal.

• 1 1b ground turkey
• 2 TBS Wildtree Blazin' Buffalo Dip, item (10787)
• 1/4 cup grated parm cheese
• 2 TBS Roasted Garlic Grapeseed oil item (10226)
• Blue Cheese Crumbles

Combine all the ingredients and mix well.  I always just squish the meat with my hands, but have learned that many people don't like to touch raw meat.  If you fall into that category, mix with a wooden spoon or throw it all into a plastic bag and squish to mix. 

Make into equal sized patties (can't avoid touching the meat here unless you have a pattie maker) to the desired size (these make really fun sliders too!) and grill. Top with a little blue cheese and eat plain or put on a  bun.

TIP: Freeze the patties for about 15 minutes before you grill and place them gently on the grill. The reason you want to place gently is because turkey can be really soft and if you throw the burger on the grill, it may press into the grate on the grill and become hard to flip.  Sear really well on one side and then flip over. The freezing really helps hold the burgers together because sometimes Turkey can really come apart in the cooking process. Place pattie on bun and sprinkle pattie with a little blue cheese. Yummy!