Hi there.

My name is Taesha Butler and I am so happy you have been poking around here on The Natural Nurturer.  I’m an early childhood expert, seasoned teacher, and veggie-loading recipe wizard.

As someone who was a late bloomer to loving her veggies, I’ve used my education in human development and experience in early childhood education + the mad kitchen skills my mom taught me as a kid to create The Veggie-Loaded Approach. On the pages of The Natural Nurturer, you can find oodles of delicious and easy veggie-loaded recipes to help you love your veggies….no matter your age, eating style, or cooking abilities.

My goal with each and every recipe is to help you and your family love your veggies. I hope to help you discover all sorts of creative ways to get vegetables onto your plate and have you love every bite of them! On this site, you will find everything from easy weeknight dinners you can throw together in a flash to simple veggie-loaded muffins, smoothies and pancakes for breakfast, and even veggie-loaded desserts that will dazzle your family.

My veggie-loaded approach of getting veggies in at all the meals in all sorts of ways has changed how my family eats as it has changed so many others.  I hope you are one of them, as well.

Beyond the recipes….

• Location: The Green Mountains of Vermont by way of San Diego.
• Live in veggie-loaded taste testers: My husband, Ken, of almost 15 years and our 10 year-old daughter, Alice.
• Education: B.S. Human Development + General Special Education from Rivier University
• Career before blogging: I spent 18 years in the classroom as an educator teaching children from ages 2-14.
• Years in the kitchen: As far back as I can remember, I have been cooking next to my mom in the kitchen. So, decades…we don’t need to go into how many 😉
• Favorite veggie: Broccoli…roasted. With garlic.
• Food philosophy: Eat food that you love….just add a veggie!

Where to start

Ready to jump in to veggie-loading? Here are some of my most popular recipes to get you cooking!

Breakfast

• Oatmeal Green Smoothie Muffins
• Blender Banana Spinach Pancakes
• Pink Beet Pancakes
• Sweet Potato Peanut Butter Muffins
• Zucchini Blueberry Baked Oatmeal

Smoothies

• Blueberry Spinach Smoothie
• Vitamin C Smoothie
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Smoothie (with greens!)

Main

• Chickpea Vegetable Nuggets
• Slow Cooker Chicken & Butternut Squash Stew
• Teriyaki Broccoli Chickpea Stir Fry
• Instant Pot Creamy Mushroom Chicken
• One-Sheet Roasted Garlic Salmon & Broccoli

Sides

• Slow Cooker/ Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
• Zucchini and Corn Fritters
• Broccoli Tots

Sweet treats

• Pumpkin Chia Seed Pudding
• Fudgy Beet Gluten Free Brownies
• Healthy Zucchini Bread

Featured Press

• Today- Breakfast casserole and more: 5 slow-cooker tomato recipes to try
• The Every Girl –20 Stovetop Recipes to Make in Your Always Pan
• The Feed Good Effect Podcast- The Key To Feeding Your Family Healthy Food
• Nutrition Lifestyles with Kim & Johane- From Yuck to Yum, How to Eat More Vegetables
• Voices of Your Village Podcast- Tiny Humans & Food
• Healthy Balanced Mama Podcast- A Veggie-Loaded Life
• Radical Vitality Podcast- Health not Size, Veggie Loading + How Gratitude Changes Everything
• Well & Good- One Bowl Desserts
• The Every Mom- Back To School Lunch Ideas

Thank you so much for being here!

If you find veggie-loaded recipes and the veggie-loaded approach to change your life or you just have a handful of veggie-loaded recipes that you make on repeat, I am SO GLAD you are here. I hope that this site can play some small part in making your days a little, tastier, healthier and veggie-loaded!

Love,
Taesha