All Things Supercinski

Our garden has done very well this year, and we are pleased with the progress from last year. We have been hauling in the zucchini, tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers and peppers. All this brings a lot of cooking from the garden and preservation.

We froze the last of our carrots after the tops started looking like bad. We also froze an overflowing gallon freezer bag of green beans, not to mention all of the green beans we have eaten this summer. They look like they are slowing down in their production now, but I am so pleased with them this year–our first year to do a bush bean.

And oh the zucchini. I think we only planted four or six plants… and did I mention that we don’t just love zucchini anyway? I have found some great ways too cook it. My favorite (of the moment) is chocolate zucchini bread or just plain old zucchini bread. They are so moist that I don’t use any oil, just applesauce and no one seems to notice that it is whole wheat flour. I also have added them to pastas, veggie pie and all sorts of things.

We canned 12 pints of dill pickles last weekend from cucumbers we harvested. We also canned eight pints of tomatoes on Sunday and another 10 tonight.

One of my favorite easy meals lately with the garden produce is below. I got the idea from an episode of KAMU Down Home or whatever the name of the Saturday afternoon public television show is here.

Veggie Pasta
1 onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
4-6 Roma tomatoes, chopped (or a can of diced tomatoes)
half a zucchini, chopped, or more if you love zucchini
fresh herbs–I use basil, rosemary and oregano, but just basil should be fine
leftover chicken or grilled chicken, if you have it
about 8 ounces of whole wheat pasta, cooked
1/2 cup chicken or veggie broth broth
fresh spinach or swiss chard
cheese–mozzarella, feta, whatever you have on hand

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat on the stove. Add a tablespoon or two of olive oil and coat your pan. Toss in the onions and garlic and cook about two minutes. Add chopped tomatoes and cook until they are nice and soft and making a sauce. Add your zucchini and broth and cook until zucchini is crisp/tender, stirring. Add your herbs and chicken, and cook a few more minutes. Toss in the pasta and the fresh greens. Cook until greens are soft but not mushy. Add your cheese. That’s it!

Our Sweet Girl is growing fast–she is pulling up and cruising along everything, walking holding onto one or two hands, climbing onto everything her little legs can reach and getting into everything she can find. This explains my lack in posting lately–my Annalise-free time is spent doing chores around the house, not leisurely on the computer.

Annalise brings us many smiles with her enthusiasm for play. She really thinks she is as big as all the other kids. This morning at the park, she was trying to chase (crawling) Josiah and another boy on their bikes. She loves playing at the park and attempting to climb up things, climb up the stairs, slide and swing. She is fearless in the water and loves playing in the pool, sprinkler, splashpad and bath–she even sticks her face in the water and blows bubbles! At home, she enjoys playing with her baby dolls, stuffed animals, balls, the big car, the push-walker/rider toys, and just about any little person or animal. Josiah and Annalise are playing together a lot more these days. I love hearing her laugh and squeal as they play–he gets more laughs than we do!

She is signing some and saying a few words. Her favorite words to say are, “no, no”, “all done”, “bye-bye”, “DaDa”, “Momma”, and “Ba!” (Josiah). She signs “all done” and “dog”. She is working on “bird”. If I could just get her to sign more about food, she might not be yelling so much.

Speaking of food, Annalise is a really great eater. She will try just about anything in finger-food format if she is hungry. Josiah was not this way, so this is a relief. She loves fruits, most vegetables, and pretty much whatever we are eating if it isn’t too spicy or too tomato-based.

Annalise is still taking two naps. One from about 9:30-10:30 and another from 1:30-3ish. She sleeps from about 7-7 at night with a night waking or two.

Like I said, Annalise loves to climb on things. Here are some examples:

Not to mention getting on the train table, standing on the kid-sized table in the kitchen, climbing up the slides at the park, and so forth. You get the idea. Josiah was so cautious in comparison.

I am going to attempt to work on a video later today–hopefully there will be one coming soon.

We’ll be back with more of our regularly-scheduled kid posts next week, but for now, here are two wonderful posts I read recently that I have encouraged me in my role as a mother.

Tips for surviving (and thriving!) the baby/toddler phase - I really needed to read this this week. The part about knowing yourself, whether you are introverted or extroverted, helped me realize why I get so run down on days when I have no alone time. She has lots of other practical tips.

Parenting Trends and the Gospel - “I mean that the gospel stands on its own merit and that our justification is dependent on Christ’s work and not our failure or success as a parent, perceived and otherwise. Faith is not separate from our lives; it’s integrated. It is the driving force behind all our decisions. I only mean that our worth as mothers, as parents, as Christians is from Christ and not a parenting philosophy that changes with the times. Easy to say, but women everywhere feel the weight of the burden of these “gospels”.”

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.” - Jesus as recorded in Matthew 5:13

“Your danger and mine is not that we become criminals, but rather that we become respectable, decent, commonplace, mediocre Christians. The twentieth-century temptations that really sap our spiritual power are the television, banana cream pie, the easy chair and the credit card. The Christian wins or loses in those seemingly innocent little moments of decision.” Ray Ortlund H/T

It’s my turn to share a few of my favorite links this week. Not the same kind of reading as you get from Thomas, but maybe somebody will enjoy these.

• Death is Not Dying
  - I loved this talk by Rachel Barkey sharing about her hope in the midst of terminal cancer. I learned so much in such a brief talk, it is well worth the 55 minutes spent. Just listen.
• Recipe Bridge - tons of recipes in one place. Search by ingredient or dish. I am really enjoying this site since we are flooded with produce. I found a recipe yesterday that used four different ingredients from our garden in one dish - it was delicious.
• Granola Bars - I have tried several different granola bar recipes and I think I found a keeper (thanks, Geralyn.) I follow the recipe exactly, except I do not bake the bars, though I do toast the oats and nuts. Press your mix into your pan and let it cool completely before cutting. Nice chewy bars, full of flavor.
• 30 Day Shred - I am a closet Biggest Loser fan. This workout video by Jillian Michaels (one of the trainers on the show) has gotten me into shape faster than any other workout program I have ever done. The workouts are only 20 minutes long, and there are three levels of workouts combining cardio, strength training and abs. You need some hand-weights, but you can’t beat $9 for such a great video.

These are some links for June 3rd through June 15th. Enjoy!

• The Real Sins of Sodom | Cerulean Sanctum
  1. Pride
  2. Excess food
  3. Prosperous ease
  4. Lack of love for the poor and needy
  5. Haughtiness
  6. Practicing an abomination
• internetmonk.com » Blog Archive » On Being Too God-Centered
  - What Bach was able to sign at the end of each piece of music….can it be signed on all of human life? Even what is not religious? What is ordinary? Normal? Merely human? When Piper says we can drink Orange juice to the glory of God, is he opening the door to finding a way for God-centered theologians and preachers to relax about people who want to do dozens and dozens of other things, in their own simple, human way, to the glory of God? My thoughts are incomplete, but important to me at this point in my journey. I believe the glory of God preserves and fills human life with meaning and significance. I do not believe that meaning and significance only comes when we overtly, consciously allow our sense of God to make all things meaningless compared to Him.
• Perry’s Meddling - “This is likely to touch off speculation, or perhaps I should say more speculation, that the removal of Murano is part of a Plan B strategy for Perry. Plan A is to continue running for governor against Hutchison. But if it looks as if that is not going well — that Perry might lose the primary or even a general election, if the Democrats can field a serious candidate — then Plan B would be for McKinney to do what he said he was contemplating: combine the offices of president and chancellor in the short term and keep a place warm for Perry. “
• Most important crisis at A&M since Earl Rudder - ” … this crisis is about whether the faculty, staff, students, former students and the broad and diverse community that make up Texas A&M University will allow a handful of politically motivated persons who do not understand their fiduciary duty either to the institution or to the citizens of the state to take over this wonderful, heavy-duty public university – this sacred public trust. If they are successful, Texas and its citizens can kiss a unique American institution goodbye. It will have no chance of ever achieving its vast potential.”

Josiah gave me a lot of smiles today.

1. He was leaving with Thomas to go do some manly errands today in a friend’s truck. I was giving him some last minute admonishments–be a helper to Daddy, have fun, etc. He looks over his shoulder as he was walking out the door, and said, “Okay Mom! You… stay healthy!”

2. One of their errands was to Tractor Supply Store, or as Josiah says, “Tractor Surprise”.

3. I decided to resurrect the fishbowl and get some new goldfish today. It has been almost a year since our last fish died (he was over three years old) and I knew Josiah would love caring for them. On our way home from the pet store, Josiah was holding the bag of fish and we were discussing potential names. He looked up from his fish bag and said, “Momma, you the nicest momma in the WHOLE WORLD!”

Some things we have been doing the past few days, in pictures:

Annalise discovered the big red car. She sat (and slipped out of the seat and had to be readjusted) in that thing for almost an hour the other day.

We have been making a lot of popsicles. Josiah’s favorite is a blend of strawberries, yogurt, pineapple juice, orange juice and banana. Annalise likes it, too. They were sharing last night after dinner. This reminded me of that scene in Lady and the Tramp with the spaghetti noodles.

We got a bunch of zucchini from the garden. The fruit seems too small to pick one day and the next day, it is gigantic! I am making this tonight to use up some of it.

Thomas and Josiah investigating some of the tiny caterpillars eating up leaves on some of our tomato plants. They will be sprayed with garlic spray tonight.

Annalise finds many ways to entertain herself outside, most involving tasting dirt and rocks. Thankfully, she found a new activity yesterday–filling the rain gauge with dirt. She was nice and filthy afterward.

And lastly, Josiah started drawing “sweet ‘tato people”. This was the first one I saw him draw on a dry-erase board. Isn’t it cute? Lately, he is adding some hair and making families of sweet potato people. I think the sweet potato idea came from the book, Potato Joe. One of those legs is the body.

I can’t believe that we have been blessed with a whole year with you, sweet Annalise.

Thinking back to this time last year, I was so excited to meet you. I knew all along that you were a girl. Your birth day was full of joy and wonder as we welcomed you into our waiting arms.

I have treasured holding you, wearing you, nursing you, rocking you, and experiencing the wonder of the world with you.

You are the sweetest, happiest baby. You fill our days with smiles and shower all of us with countless kisses. Your little kisses are so precious to us!

You are fearless and adventurous–constantly exploring and tasting everything in sight. We have loved watching you roll around the room, crawl, pull up and cruise along. You love your brother and sense his presence before I can hear him sneak into a room. You great him with squeals and shrieks of happiness, and he loves you and your delight in him brings him so many smiles.

I am honored to be your mother, and I love you so much more today than I did when I first held you in my arms. I have grown and been stretched this past year, and I am so thankful for it.

Your nickname, Sweet Girl, says it all! You are so dear to us.

Love,
Momma

Photography by Sarah Giles at Butterfly Chaser Photography.

These are some links for May 12th through May 27th. Enjoy!

• Greg Mankiw’s Blog: The Latest Bailout Request - Darth Vader expected to take U.S. Space Shuttle to testify before Congress. His normal transportation would appear too wasteful.
• Greg Mankiw’s Blog: Then and Now - Ho hum, campaign promises broken for political expediency. Move along, nothing new to see here.
• My Personal Credit Crisis - NYTimes.com - "The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower becomes the lender's slave." - Proverbs 22:7
• Big Gov’t. Still Viewed as Greater Threat Than Big Business -