Weed or Feed? A Dandelion Adventure

Dandelions can evoke some very different emotions.  Some people hate them and here in Canada with the new pesticide rules, many people are even more annoyed.  There are on the other side many people who love these bright sunny blossoms and will even venture to eat them.

Dandelions are in fact very rich in vitamins and they are eatable.  Since our back yard is a carpet of yellow, we (I) decided to see what they might taste like as part of our May Day celebration.

First we made dandelion fritters from LearningHerbs. com We simply made some pancake batter and dipped the heads of the dandelions in and fried them.  We also used the same batter and mixed in some of the petals.

We also made some delicious cookies from Heartfelt Homemaking. We didn't have all the same ingredients but they did turn out quite tasty.  I do believe the lavender would be a delicious addition next time.

The Results: 
TJ and MJ didn't really like the fritters.  I didn't mind them but felt they tasted better with mustard as they had a bit of a bitter taste.

The boys loved the pancakes, of course they were really after the maple syrup.  I do believe I'd make the pancakes again to get some healthy food into them.

The cookies were pretty good.  I'd like to try them again following the recipe more closely once we get some more ingredients.  We also offered them to some friends at the park and they loved them.  The boys aunt and uncle tried the cookie too without me telling them what was inside.  They both thought that there was some veggies inside.  Overall a very successful experiment with our weeds!

Notes to the reader (ones who are daring enough to eat dandelions)
Please consider where you are getting your dandelions from.  If you live in a subdivision chances are high that they may be covered in pesticide from your neighbours.  We live sort of in the country so I figured our lawn was safe.  You may wish to purchase some dandelions or find a nice field somewhere.

Also if you wish to try the leaves they apparently taste less bitter if they are picked before the flowers bloom.


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I will be linking this post up to some different website throughout the week...

Cloth napkins and TJ's photos

A long time ago (about a year) we started using cloth napkins.  I had been gifted an interesting non-tear fabric that worked quite well for us, however it is also quite water resistant.  I do believe it was old nighty material and isn't the greatest for wiping hands at the table.  These are now moving to the diaper area for wipes or we may use them for our noses (must be sure not to mix them up).

TJ and I started another project together.  We selected some material scraps that were large enough for our napkins (I measured a cocktail napkin at about 10 inches).  I decided to make them double sided for ease of sewing and durability. Our fabrics are flannel/old receiving blankets and cotton scraps from other projects.

To make these napkins:

Cut out two pieces of fabric about 10.5inches square

With right sides together sew around the square leaving a small opening

Turn right side out

Machine or hand stitch the opening closed

Top stitch about 5/8inch in from the edge

While I was working TJ decided to use the camera.  I am curious about his angles and what he sees.

His shirt

Community Garden Plot

My older sister, the boys and I are working together on a community garden plot!  The church up the street from us has over two dozen garden plots that are being prepared for gardeners around the community.

Today was a work day to set up the new garden plots and add dirt to top up the older ones from last year. The boys and I headed over to meet some new people and lend a hand.

I was so proud of them as they dug in the dirt for almost 1.5 hour.  TJ had his own big shovel and helped to smooth out the mounds in several plots. After a while with a sand shovel MJ took my big shovel to help out too!

We'll be visiting again to rake our plot and plan out the garden.  Stay tuned as we watch our little garden grown.

Happy Earth Day

 I have gone through my blog to gather up all our recycled/upcycled and Earth friendly projects for inspiration.

We don't have any specific plans for Earth Day this year so please leave me a comment if you have any suggestions.

Recycled Art Wrapping Paper
Free Crafty Fun
Melted Crayon Art
Bird Feeders
Playing with recycling
Fabric Roads
Earth Day Flowers
Nature Treasure Hunt
Nature Table
Nature Crafts
Nature Wreaths

For all of our Upcycled projects just click here.  I also realized that almost all of my sewing pojects are upcycled materials.  I think I may need to spend some time relabelling older posts to make sure they are in the right categories.

Fabric Snack Bags

As many of you know we have slowly become a more eco-friendly family. I while back I wrote about our cloth napkins and diaper wipes.

material is from Ikea kids collection

I came across the idea for fabric snack bags on Etsy.  Since we often take dry cereals and cookies for snacks it is perfect for us.

Supplies
fabric for outside (could be almost anything)
fabric for inside (ideally unbleached muslin, but I used a white bed sheet)
velcro
sewing notions

How to
Measure a sandwich baggie
Cut your main fabric and lining slightly bigger than the sandwich bag to account for seams.
Sew the velcro to the top side of your lining.  Don't put the velcro right at the top, space it down a little.
Sew around 3 sides of the lining and main fabric.  Be sure to leave a small opening in the bottom of the lining!
With right sides together, sew the lining to the main fabric.
Turn right side out
Sew around the top edge of the bag for a finished look
Hand sew the opening in the lining.

I want to get some unbleached muslin to make our bags safer for food.  I also want to try making a bag without the velcro (you know like the older style of sandwich bags).