All Things Supercinski

It has been ages since I posted a recipe on this blog, but this one is just too good to not share! As you may have gathered, Thomas and I have been following a mostly primal foods diet, while slowly trying to change the kids’ eating, too. For us, this means that we eat as much meat and veggies that we want, some fruit, nuts and seeds. Since Speedy has reflux, I do not eat any dairy as I have read that it can do a lot to help, though the jury is still out on that one. I attribute eating this way to my controlled weight gain during my last pregnancy and the quick return to normal weight shortly after his birth. (At this point after having Sugar I was 20 pounds over, now I am only 4-5 pounds over.)

Anyway, we have been eating so many more veggies since eating this way, and I try to eat about 2 cups of veggies with each meal (though it only happens at breakfast about half the time). I came up with this recipe after combining two different recipes. It is so good that I will eat it with breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Butternut Squash and Kale Goodness
Ingredients:
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed and diced
1 yellow onion, chopped
4-6 pieces of bacon, cut into bits (I use kitchen shears)
1 apple, chopped (I don’t bother peeling it)
6 large leaves of kale, cut into bite-sized pieces

Instructions:
Peel, chop into bite-sized cubes and de-seed your butternut squash. I find this to be the easiest if I microwave it for 2 minutes first. Otherwise, I almost cut my hand off or want to throw the squash out the window because peeling it is so difficult. You can either steam or boil your squash cubes until fork tender, but do not let them get mushy, though I have had that happen and it still tastes great.

While the squash is cooking, start the rest of the dish. In a large skillet, begin cooking your bacon pieces over medium high heat. When your bacon starts rendering some of its fat, add your onion and continue cooking, stirring every minute or so until the onion is very soft. Add in your chopped apple. After a few minutes, add in your cooked squash cubes. Stir everything well, and then stir in your kale. Continue stirring for a few minutes until your kale is softened and wilted. Serve immediately.

December was a busy month of creating and crafting, enjoying one another and extended family, and celebrating Advent. For some reason (Pinterest), I decided to make many of the gifts I gave for Christmas this year. It was probably a bit much with having a fussy three month old who takes short naps, but it was very satisfying to make so many gifts. The garden took a hit after a big freeze and we lost our green beans just as they were starting to produce. The lettuce, spinach, kale, and broccoli have been very productive, while the cauliflower and brussels sprouts are still going slowly.

(I cannot take credit for the gingerbread house. A friend made those and had invited us to come decorate them, however, Sugar ran a fever the day before so we had to stay home. She let us take them home along with some candy and decorate. The kids had a blast! Thank you again, Friend!) We wrapped up our first half of the year of homeschooling. Bud is halfway through with our first grade math curriculum and reading much faster these days. His favorite book right now is, “Are You My Mother?” which he laughs out loud reading. Sugar is working on learning her letters, and I will post about some of our fun activities soon.

December marked the first ever Bryan-College Station marathon. While neither of us were up to running this year, we wanted to do our part to support it, so we made some signs and loaded the kids up in the freezing morning to go out and cheer on some runners. Our signs said, “Your feet hurt because you’re kicking so much butt” and “Chuck Norris never ran a marathon.” It was fun, but cold, so we only lasted a short while. This is how Speedy and I looked in the baby wearing poncho–floating baby head!

We spent a long weekend celebrating Christmas at my mom’s house with my siblings and their families, along with my grandparents in from Arizona. It was a special treat to get to see them, and I am so glad they got to spend time with my kids. Thomas and I organized some “Minute to Win It” Christmas games that I saw on Pinterest. It was fun and I think I will make us all do it again next year. Here is my baby brother holding my baby:

I sold our elliptical machine this month and used the money I made to buy some other exercise equipment for working out in the garage. Getting back to the gym seems a long way off with night wakings and nursing, so I am starting to do some stuff on my own. My dad welded me my own box for Christmas and gave me a bunch of weight plates to help me get started. It has been fun so far.

Advent was a good season of reflection for me personally as I was confronted with a lot of grief and sorrow around me as two friends lost children this month. At first, I felt terrible going about the fun preparations for Christmas while I knew these dear women were grieving deeply. In reflecting on Jesus coming as a baby, being God With Us, I could taste even greater what that meant through these sad times. It was a sweet time of rejoicing in His coming and though we have grief and suffering now, we have hope because He came and conquered death. I love the words to one of my favorite Andrew Peterson songs, “the man of all sorrows/never forgot/what sorrow is carried/by the hearts that he bought…”

We wrapped up the month with our yearly decluttering and reorganizing of cabinets, closets, and such. It has been a nice, relaxing end to a busy season.

I never got around to posting a June update, so I will attempt to include it now. June was a fun month of swim lessons for the kids, lots of trips to the pool, splashpad, and library for their summer events. Sugar is quite the little fish in the water, attempting to swim underwater without floaties all the time. Bud is more cautious, but they both have a great time. We went to our city’s summer concert series a few times, and the kids enjoyed running and tumbling in the soft grass more than the music (some nights, who could blame them?) We enjoyed a visit with our friends, the Culpeppers, and getting to meet their little boy.

The kids spent a weekend with my mom and Woody while Thomas and I enjoyed a lot of rest, relaxation and ethnic foods (mmm, Fadis) while staying in a nice hotel in Houston. Later in June we attended a parent practicum for Classical Conversations. It was a great time to play with friends and prepare for the coming year, while being encouraged in homeschooling.

I managed to can 7 quarts of tomatoes for the summer, but that was it. The garden languished under the heat and drought, though we did manage to get several cantaloupes, a few watermelons, many cucumbers and just a few zucchini.

July was a bit slower of a month with many more visits to the pool, fewer trips to the splashpad (I cannot handle the heat anymore), and more trips to the library’s summer programs. I attended three baby showers in July, and one of them was for me. We have been very productive around the house, making preparations for the baby and the coming school year. Thomas pulled everything out of the garden except for the bell peppers. Everything else was dead. This has been the worst summer garden ever, but since it has only rained three times all summer, it isn’t a surprise.

The kids finished up gymnastics for the year (below you will see Sugar’s favorite ensemble to wear these days.) She spends much of her time picking out new outfits that she creatively matches together and pairs with jewelry.

There once was a little bunny named Backyard Bunny. It lived in the backyard and neighboring yards and flower beds of a certain Old Mr. Supercinski. He was a wee little bunny, but he possessed amazing powers of speed, agility and squishiness (in squeezing under tiny holes in the fence that Old Mr. Supercinski continually tried to block, only to find a smaller hole that the bunny could squeeze through.)

Old Mr. Supercinski spent many evenings hunting the bunny by flashlight, many early mornings rummaging under melon leaves, and many a time chasing Backyard Bunny around and around the backyard. He researched making snares, considered purchasing a pellet gun, borrowed a rabbit trap from a friend, and prayed that the little bunny “would be delivered into his hands.”

Poor Backyard Bunny. All he wanted was to eat the fresh blossoms and leaves off the melon plants, green bean leaves and nibble on tomatoes!

One early Saturday morning, Backyard Bunny was chased around and around Old Mr. Supercinski’s garden and yard, but he noticed that Old Mr. Supercinski had much more vigor and pep, little did he know that he started working out again. Old Mr. Supercinski chased Backyard Bunny into the neighbor’s yard (they were out of town), with Old Mr. Supercinski jumping over the fence, back and forth at least three times. Backyard Bunny was frightened so he ran to his favorite hiding place, between two of the compost bins. Unfortunately, Old Mr. Supercinski called in backup, the ladies of the house in their pajamas. After another rousing chase around the yard, poor Backyard Bunny got caught in some bird netting around the tomatoes. There were no birds nearby to implore him to exert himself, so he was actually delivered into Old Mr. Supercinski’s hands, deposited into the trap, fed apple slices and pet by the children.

The Supercinskis loaded up their Backyard Bunny and deposited him in Independence, Texas, a good 30 miles away. (The Supercinskis were on their way to Burton to pick up their side of beef from the processor, so it was a nice pit stop.)

The End.

Some of you may have seen and eaten from the amazing charcoal grill/smoker that my father welded for us shortly after we were married. (Wow, that link is from 2005. This blog is old!) It is amazing, but sadly, I have been terrified of using it and lighting the charcoal when Thomas is not home. It is great for many things, but a quick dinner made my yours truly is not one of them.

For Christmas, Thomas surprised me with a gas grill so I could do some grilling. Most ladies I know don’t grill, but I don’t understand why not. I love to grill, and I guess I grew up doing it, so I’m not scared of the gas grill. I love grilling because it doesn’t heat up my house, there are fewer dishes to clean, I don’t have to stand at the stove stirring something, and it is a great way to cook a lot of meat at once for later in the week. Since getting the grill for Christmas, I estimate (lowly) that I grill two or three times a week. It helps that we have a freezer full of grass-fed beef so I can throw a steak on there and satisfy my pregnancy cravings for dinner.

I tried this recipe a few weeks ago and highly recommend it. With this dish, Thomas and I can eat almost a full plate of veggies each with a little chicken on the side. It is also a great way to use some seasonal veggies your garden may be generously producing this time of year. Mix up the veggies and try what you like. It is highly adaptable. I have even made it with just squash and zucchini and it was good.

Mediterranean Vegetables (adapted from Taste of Home)
1-2 red, orange, or yellow bell peppers, sliced
1 medium zucchini, sliced
1 small squash, sliced
large handful or two of green beans, ends removed
1 small red, white or yellow onion, sliced and separated into rings
1/2 cup grape tomatoes (I just use the tiny Roma’s in the garden)
optional: small head of broccoli, asparagus, sugar snap peas, mushrooms, whatever your family likes and is in season
1/2 cup or less Greek vinaigrette dressing, buy it or make your own
1/4 cup or less crumbled feta cheese

1. Prep your vegetables and place in large bag or bowl. Pour vinaigrette over them and turn to coat. Let it sit and marinate for 30 minutes (or just 5, it works that way, too).
2. Transfer vegetables to a grill basket or wok. I don’t have either, so I used a disposable foil pan that I poked holes in the bottom of with a paring knife.
3. Grill, uncovered, over medium-high heat for 8-12 minutes or until tender, stirring a few times while cooking.
4. Place on a serving plate and sprinkle with feta. Eat your vegetables!

May was a nice, restful month around here with our normal activities all taking a break for the summer. The kids and I enjoyed the slower pace by doing more school, playing in the sprinkler and splashpad, and being under-budget on gasoline. We took the kids fishing one chilly Saturday morning, but in spite of using live worms, did not catch anything. The kids had a great time with the worms.

I started teaching two concurrent Bradley classes (15 couples!), which gives Thomas and the kids more time together and me opportunity to really hone my material as I repeat it twice each week. I also picked up a wonderful breastfeeding video and some new books.

The garden was giving us more broccoli than we could handle, along with our first cauliflower, carrots, onions, cucumber, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and green beans. We pulled our potatoes and got about 25 pounds from the 4-5 pounds that the kids and I planted. We used a different variety this year since my favorite was sold out, and it was definitely lower-yielding, but still good. The harliquin bug war still rages on, and I’ve officially listed Thomas as a fellow soldier to fight those things with me as the heat is starting to get to me.

Sugar turned three on Saturday, and we celebrated with a small party with her grandparents. She had so much fun getting ready for her party and on the day of her birthday, it took some time for it to sink in that she was really three now. I gave her a few party options, and she selected a butterfly-themed party.

I made some really cute (if I say so myself) butterfly cupcakes. She had requested cupcakes, and I thought these were just too cute. I combined these tutorials, and they turned out really well. Next time, I will invest in a few icing piping tips–cutting the edge off of sandwich bags was a bit difficult for accuracy.

Bud, Sugar and I made some coffee filter butterflies and hung them all around the kitchen and living room. It was quite festive.

Bud and Daddy surprised her with her own bouquet of birthday flowers.

After singing “Happy Birthday”, she wasted no time digging into the butterflies she had so patiently watched me make.

We had a great time celebrating. Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl!

Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to the latest pest to plague our organic gardening efforts: the harliquin bug. (Forgive the picture quality, it was taken by a five year old.)

This little pest loves plants like brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and cabbage. We first noticed them a week and a half ago, but I didn’t think much of them. A few days later, they had multiplied and were covering our brussels sprouts. A day or two later, the brussels sprouts were wilting and the tops were dying. I decided it was time to engage in combat.

My first effort was insecticidal soap spray. This is supposed to be effective against these bugs, but spray as I did, I think only 1/4 of them died within a few days. These little stinkers started to nag at me. I was not about to lose our garden to some bugs! But, I wasn’t going to spray pesticides either, so I was at a loss.

Then I had a dream one night about some friends from high school visiting me and helping me pick off the bugs and put them in soapy water. The next day, I went out and picked at least 150 bugs off the plants. The kids held the soapy water buckets. Two days later, I went out and picked bugs again, this time there were far fewer. The next day, I pulled all the plants that were covered in eggs and threw them out.

I was sad to lose my brussels sprouts just as they were starting to make some beautiful baby sprouts. I managed to salvage two cauliflower plants by pulling off only the leaves with eggs on them. The broccoli was covered, so it was pulled out, too. (Though we weren’t as sad about that since we have been eating more broccoli than Thomas can handle these days.) And it seems to be under control for the time being. The bugs will move on to peppers, beans and tomato plants if there are none of their favorites left around, so I must remain vigilant. And just to show that I did almost have some brussels sprouts:

All this has had me hoping more in Jesus. These little pests are just another result of sin in our world, which reminds me of how much I need God’s grace through Jesus and gets me longing for a day when there is no more sin, death or pain. Nice little reminders from a bug, which makes it worthy of a blog post.

I have a new-found infatuation with Greek Yogurt. I tried it ages ago, but after reading the benefits (namely, double the protein content), I’ve been enjoying it, except for the price. I figured if I could make regular yogurt so easily, why not try Greek yogurt? Turns out, it is quite simple, too!

Ingredients
Plain yogurt (purchase, or make your own)
cheesecloth (you can pick this up at the grocery store)
Large bowl
Strainer that can hang in large bowl
Room in your refrigerator for said large bowl
Smaller, cereal bowl
In the pictures, I use about 30 ounces of yogurt to make this batch of Greek Yogurt. You will notice that it only yields about half the amount in Greek Yogurt, which is why it is so expensive to purchase.

1. Line your strainer with cheesecloth, making sure you have four layers of cheesecloth lining the strainer. You can use paper towels or coffee filters, but I like the ease of cheesecloth.

2. Place strainer in a larger bowl, and fill strainer with your yogurt. Cover with cheesecloth.

3. Place cereal bowl on top (I think it speeds the process), and put everything in your fridge for 4-6 hours.

4. After 4-6 hours, pull it out and scrape it off the cheesecloth into a fresh, clean bowl. Ta da! Really thick, Greek yogurt.

5. Don’t toss out that whey. You can use it for soaking grains or as a substitute for buttermilk in most recipes. Don’t try to make ricotta cheese with it (like I did), it is not the right type of whey.

Greek yogurt without the whey loses the tartness that plain yogurt has, and also has more concentrated protein. It makes a wonderfully thick smoothie, or a very filling snack. Enjoy!

I feel like April is often one of the busiest months of the year, and it was certainly a fun and busy time for us. Our homeschool group wrapped up for the school year, which was bittersweet, but I am enjoying the break. We finished off the year with a live concert from our kids’ favorite musician and some ice cream. I am enjoying leisurely planning and preparing for the fall for both kids, and slowing our pace down a bit. This is Bud with his partner for his egg protector project (the egg broke):

I wrapped up another Bradley series full of great couples (I think one of my favorite things about teaching is meeting all these neat people), and I just started another series. Actually, I have two series going on now, demand was so high that I have two full classes. Since this is my last time to teach this year, it works out well, but we’ll see how teaching twice a week goes for our family. I’m shopping for some new birth and breastfeeding videos, so if anyone has a recommendation, I would love to hear it. I also got to give a lecture on breastfeeding basics for an OB class at the nursing school at A&M. That was quite the experience, I was so nervous, but it was fun.

Our garden is in full-swing. We have been eating broccoli at least twice a week (Thomas is loving this, no, not really), and we have a lot of green tomatoes and a baby cauliflower out there. We will be harvesting carrots, onions and potatoes soon, Lord willing. I think our garden is really aching for some rainwater these days, everything is about sick of all this tap water.

I like this picture which shows the fun that can happen when planting with little ones. You will notice a cucumber plant and a carrot or two growing in the midst of our onions.