All Things Supercinski

Making our salt dough tomb:

Tonight, we will take Jesus off the cross (and remove his crown of thorns and blood) and put him in the tomb, covering with the rock. Early on Sunday morning, we will “roll” the stone away and remove Jesus from the tomb for the kids to discover at breakfast.

As we read through the story of Jesus’ death on the cross, we hung little visuals on the branches. This is really similar to using resurrection eggs, but we like the idea of removing the eggs completely from the story since it can be confusing. (I just googled “resurrection eggs” for ideas about what to make to hang on our tree and hot-glued some twine to them.)

Sweet Sugar got so upset during our reading of the story that she wanted me to stop, so we had to go ahead and finish with the empty tomb and celebrating that Jesus is alive.

To give you some background, each weekend, I plan out our week by checking our calendar for commitments, planning meals accordingly and writing my grocery list. This planning, mostly including picking out seven dinner meals and making the grocery list, would take me at least an hour. I am all about planning ahead, but this was getting ridiculous. Most of my time would be spent mulling over my cookbooks and trying to think of a variety of meals to prepare. And this does not include breakfast or lunches. Thomas and I eat leftovers for lunch the next day, and the kids are consistent in their kid-food lunches.

We were visiting our Waco friends, and I noticed that she had a plan of 8 weeks of meals on her counter. I asked her about it, and she said she rotates the plan every 8 weeks to make her grocery list and cooks from it. At first, I thought that was a horrible idea, and I knew we would get so burnt out on the meals. The next time we visited them, I asked her more about it and let the idea sit for awhile. I decided to try my own version. This is what I do:

I planned out four dinner main dishes a week for 12 weeks. This way, I can rotate in seasonal foods, freezer meals I have prepared ahead (I did not include these in my rotation except for a few of our tried and true favorites), and give some room for any needs of the week (such as having people over or being out near dinnertime and needing to eat something really quick).

With these four meals, I attempted to rotate a chicken dish, beef dish, crockpot dish, and fish dish (though I don’t have that many, so we are a little short on those). I also rotated in some grilling meals and just one carb-heavier meal (like burgers, pasta, etc.) each week or less to spread that out. It was harder than I thought to find 48 meals that we liked, but I got all of them planned.

A month into this, I am loving it! It makes my meal plan go so quickly since I only need to find two or three meals to put into the plan rather than all seven. I can also move them around according to our commitments for that week.

We had a fun month with many family activities such as a trip to the zoo, the Physics Festival and a farm field trip. We had dinner with friends several times this month, including some new friends we met through the International Student Services program.

Our garden is in full swing, and the kids and I have stayed busy planting seeds and seedlings and replanting since I used a lot of really old seeds this year. (In case you were wondering, yes, it really does make a difference. Get new seeds when you can!) We have watermelon sprouts, zucchini, green beans, lettuce, tomatoes, green and red bell peppers, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, broccoli, carrots, onions, cucumber and red potatoes in the ground. You can see the potatoes growing like crazy in the back right section.

Many people ask what the gallon jugs of water are for. Last year, we read an article in Texas Gardener that mentioned putting a gallon full of water on the north side of your tomato plants until the nights are consistently hot. The water is warmed during the day and keeps the plants warmer at night. We did a little experiment last year, and the tomatoes with a jug near them were huge compared to the ones without. So, we saved some jugs and they all got a jug this year. They are growing great, except the plant that was crushed and broken by someone’s small goulashes.

Our homeschool group will be winding down in April for the summer, and I have begun making preparations for next year, seeing as I will be pretty busy in the fall. I plan to keep doing most of Bud’s school over the summer, continuing at the leisurely pace we have held this year (three days a week). I have been busy making some Montessori activities for Sugar and reviewing curriculum and other resources to purchase for Bud.

It was a busy month, but a really fun month, enjoying the warmth of a Texas spring. The kids can both turn the hose on, so it makes for some interesting playtimes in the backyard.

These are a few of my latest favorites, perhaps you will enjoy them, too.

Chocolate Banana “Shake”
My love for the smoothie has greatly diminished lately, but I have been craving chocolate milk shakes, so I came up with this alternative.
1 frozen banana (pop your ripe ones in the freezer and thaw for a few minutes in a bowl of warm water to peel while keeping frozen)
1 cup chocolate almond milk
2 teaspoons cocoa powder (not sweetened)
handful of baby spinach
1/2-3/4 cup plain greek-style yogurt
Blend all your ingredients in your blender until smooth and creamy. If you use unsweetened almond milk, you might want to add a dab of honey or agave nectar to your concoction.

Tex-Mex Calzones from Cooking Light
1/2 pound lean or grass fed ground beef (or turkey, if that’s your thing)
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped (frozen works great)
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped (frozen works great)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup salsa
1 recipe of pizza crust or buy the thin crust kind in a roll if that’s your thing (some weeks, that’s my thing)
about 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream

Preheat oven to 425. In large skillet, cook ground beef for a few minutes, crumbling. Add onion, peppers, cumin, chili powder and garlic. Cook until meat is completely cooked and veggies are crisp-tender. If your beef is lean enough, there is no fat to drain. Stir in salsa, remove from heat.

Unroll or roll out your dough and cut into 4 equal portions. Onto each portion, spoon 1/2 cup of meat mixture and top with cheese. Press edges together to seal. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes. Be sure to check the bottoms that they are cooked too, sometimes, I flip them over and cook for a few more minutes. No one likes a gooey calzone! Serve with sour cream.

Greek-Style Burritos
I got this recipe after getting a buy-one-get-one free coupon for Athenos on facebook. The coupon is still working–go to facebook and search for “Athenos”. On the left side, click on “coupon” and you can print one. This recipe is on the bottom of the coupon. These burritos were so yummy that I ate them three meals in a row and was sad when they were gone.
1/4 cup greek vinaigrette dressing (this is great on a pasta salad recipe that I have)
3 boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
about 2 cups cooked rice
2 teaspoons lemon zest
6 tortillas (burrito-size)
1 pkg. roasted red pepper hummus
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 cups fresh spinach

Heat dressing in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and stir until done. Combine rice and lemon zest, set aside.

Spread each tortilla with hummus, using the whole 7 oz. package. Top with rice mixture, feta, spinach and cooked chicken. Roll up like a burrito and place seam-sides down in a 9×13 casserole dish. Bake for 20 minutes or until heated through. These are great hot or cold. A great lunch to have tucked away, and I think you could get away with using lettuce wraps instead of tortillas if you are limiting flour, just don’t bake them.

I did a better job of updating the blog this month, but I think a monthly recap will be helpful in documenting our year as a family. We started the month by celebrating Bud’s fifth birthday. He has gotten so big lately and is amazing me with how much he is changing all the time.

We had a great visit with out-of-town friends (the Bells), and a really fun weekend with friends from college who came in for a visit (the Deatherages and Nuckols girls). My mom, little brother, sister-in-law and niece also came to town for a weekend visit. I’m not sure who had more fun on these weekends–the kids or the grown-ups!

We have slowly begun making preparations for having Bud and Sugar share a room by scoring a bunk-bed on Craigslist. Bud still prefers the bottom bunk, but hopefully we can get him moved up to the top in the next few months to make way for Sugar in a big girl bed.

We also began our spring garden by planting carrots, onions, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower and brussels sprouts. I love to eat brussels sprouts, but have had had much success growing them yet. We have all enjoyed springlike weather and being outside more this month, especially Bud and Sugar who have discovered how to work the hose, all by themselves.

I started another Bradley series with some really neat couples. I also taught a breastfeeding class for the local pregnancy center. It is quite an experience teaching to such a group of men and women–the majority of whom English is not their first language. At least two thirds of them are international students, and I love getting to help them while they are so far from their families.

Last week, I overheard a stranger complaining to another stranger about how no one cooks anymore and how they are sick and tired of seeing chicken spaghetti at potlucks. “Does anyone ever just fry a chicken anymore?!” she asked. That got me thinking about how much I love chicken spaghetti. It is one of my favorite meals at potlucks and after I have a baby, however, I refuse to make it myself. I cannot bring myself to buy cream of whatever soups anymore or Velveeta, no matter how nicely it melts (but yes, I will eat it if someone else makes it, I’m not so discriminating.) Anyway, I have been dreaming about chicken spaghetti for days, so I decided to look up some recipes and ended up making my own version. I thank the Pioneer Woman for her many suggestions, but I did not follow her cream of ___ soup trail.

And, just to preface this, I’m not saying that because it is from scratch it is healthy. There’s a lot of cheese in this, but it is an improvement from the alternative if you can’t stop craving chicken spaghetti. And no, I’m not following a paleo diet these days, in case you couldn’t tell. (And while I am offering confessions, this is not my picture, I just found it online.)

Chicken Spaghetti
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
2.5-3 cups dry spaghetti (whole wheat works just fine, I used capellini), broken into 2 inch pieces
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup green bell pepper, finely diced
1/2 cup onion, finely diced
1/3 cup flour
1.5 cups chicken stock
1.5 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon season salt
Dash of cayenne pepper
8 oz. petite diced tomatoes
~3 cups cheddar, grated

Now, this is where I got ideas from the Pioneer Woman. I boiled a whole chicken (on sale at HEB for 77 cents/pound) for an hour, pulled it out of the water/stock, and saved 1.5 cups of stock for the sauce. Then, I boiled the noodles in all the stock left in the dirty pot. That was a nice way to minimize dishes. While the chicken was cooling and in between noodle cooking (follow the instructions for al dente on your package), I melted the butter in a large skillet. Then, cook the bell pepper and onions until soft, a few minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring for about 2 minutes. I also added the spices at this time. Slowly add the milk and reserved stock, whisking to make a smooth sauce, stirring over medium heat until thick. It takes several minutes. When it is thick, remove from heat and stir in 2 cups of your cheese. You can de-bone your chicken now and put 2-3 cups in the sauce. Cook the noodles in the chicken pot and then drain. Add cooked noodles to your sauce along with your tomatoes.

Dump everything in a casserole dish (I think a 9×13 or something of similar capacity should suffice) and top with some more cheddar. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 350 until hot and bubbly.

Here’s a tip: I doubled this recipe and used a 4-pound chicken for all the meat. I divided the casserole among three, smaller casserole dishes (9×9 inches) and froze two for later. I love having fall-back meals in the freezer to bless others, take to potlucks, or if I’m just too tired to cook, and I would be hating chicken spaghetti two days from now if I made a whole 9×13 for our family.

Remember our thankful tree from last year? No need to click on the link–it was a little rough. I slapped it together at the last minute with half a roll of packing tape, but it was a precious tradition that I intend to continue through the years with our family. Therefore, I needed something a bit more durable than paper bags and packing tape, so I enlisted Thomas’ help this year three days early. Imagine that!

I drew the tree that I wanted on the back of a large piece of drafting paper (we have a friend who is an architect, these make wonderful painting and coloring papers for the kids.) I traced it onto a thin piece of project board, a board thinner than plywood, that Thomas got at Lowe’s. It was 2 feet by 4 feet. Then Thomas got busy with the jigsaw. After he cut it out and sanded it (the hour before church services on Sunday), I spray painted it with some leftover glossy brown spray paint. Then I modge-podged the verse on. Ta da! A thankful tree that will last for years to come.

The kids were so excited to start last night. I loved hearing what Bud was thankful for: “the earth–all the plants, animals, monkeys, lions, elephants, tigers, bears and people.”

I started doing Crossfit this summer, and those workouts have challenged me like none I have ever had before. I look forward to working out and enjoy waking up at 5:20 so I can get there in time to lift heavier things, jump higher and run faster (and who knows what else) than I have before. The workouts are different everyday, which is one of my favorite parts of it, along with getting to work out with other people and not just Jillian saying the same stuff every time.

One aspect of Crossfit is nutrition. I have drastically reduced the amount of grains I am consuming and have noticed big changes in my energy slumps during the day. This means I only bake unless I am taking just about all of it to someone else, but I have not cut grains out of the kids’ diets, they still eat whole grains. It really hasn’t been a difficult change when we are eating at home, but having quick and filling snacks besides nuts was hard at first. Enter the Larabar–made of only fruit and nuts and maybe a spice or two, it is filling, grain-free and satisfies my sweet tooth. However, they cost about $1.20 a piece, so I started making my own.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Larabars

1 bag of dates (I use the bag in the picture–I guess it would be about 1 cup of whole dates?)
2/3 cup cashews (raw or roasted)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 Tablespoons semi-sweet chocolate chips
a few dashes of cinnamon

Lay about 6 small sheets of plastic wrap on the counter for later (your hands will be messy, so do it now). Place dates in food processor and process until they are chopped fine and start clumping together in a big ball. They will be very sticky, and it may take a few minutes. You may need to put a hand on the lid of your food processor because those dates are very tough to chop and mine tends to bounce around on the countertop if I don’t hold it. Remove chopped dates from processor and place in a bowl. Add cashews to processor and pulse until very finely chopped, almost like a powder, but don’t make cashew butter. Put in mixing bowl with the dates. It should look like this:

Add your vanilla, a couple dashes of cinnamon and your chocolate chips. Mix with your hands until completely mixed and it is clumping together well. If you have arthritis in your hands, this may be difficult.

Form into about 6 little bars and wrap in the plastic wrap sheets you cut previously. Store in the refrigerator in a tupperware or freezer bag. They keep for about 10-14 days in the fridge. Enjoy!