Harrold Hoosier Homeschool

Our oldest daughter turned five last spring, which has promoted The Question. Family, friends, and strangers in the grocery store have all be asking some version of The Question:

 “So, are you looking forward to starting school?”

My girl, who happens to be a wee bit precocious (and a wee bit snarky, like her mom), usually replies, “I already go to school! Ballet school!” 

Thanks to Ramona Quimby, our Peanut really has been looking forward to “Real School.” Desks, chalkboard, a teacher to idolize, recess, and boys teasing girls are all things she has been anxiously anticipating. Our plan was to enroll her in the local public school. 

I started mentally preparing myself for rushed early mornings and being without my big girl Monday-Friday. Peanut is NOT a morning person (it takes quite a bit of effort to get this kid out of bed by 8 every day) and school starts at 7:30, so I knew mornings were going to be a challenge. I was also a little concerned about how little sister Belle (only 13 months younger than Peanut) would do without her sis. My girls are best friends; they do almost everything together. How would they handle all the time apart?

 I also started trying to figure out when we would have family time. My husband is a pastor, and he works six days a week, by default always on weekends. Our family time is always during the week. When would Peanut, a Daddy’s girl from the moment she was born, get quality time with her Daddy? And what about quarterly trips to Midland for conferences? Spur of the moment family trips to the zoo? A relative or friend is in town, so let’s take a week to just hang out? New cousin to be born in Houston, let’s go visit for a few days to meet the new baby? Funeral in another state, let’s stay a few extra days to be with family? In Kindergarten skipping school for these sorts of things probably wouldn’t be a problem, but what in later grades? I was starting to feel sad and anxious at the prospect of the kids and I living by the school’s schedule, while Daddy is tied down to weekends, and even some evenings.

Other things started popping up that made me feel even more anxious about a new school year. I started hearing stories in the news and from friends about negative peer influences, even in Kindergarten. I started thinking about science and history, regretting that Peanut would not be learning it from a Creationist perspective. How much of her education would I have to correct at home?  A stranger in Wal-Mart, wearing a shirt with an emblem from one of the local schools, asked The Question, and then turned to my husband and said, “Get ready for the corruption to begin!”  That wasn’t exactly a boost of confidence!

As an uneasy knot growing in the put of my stomach, I didn’t feel we had any other choice that would work well for our family. I was homeschooled 2^nd grade through high school, but I was not interested in homeschooling on my own. Living in a rural setting has many, many blessings, but the idea of homeschooling in a rural setting sounded so lonely. It seemed like it would be essentially cutting ourselves off from the community, something we definitely don’t want to do. The proverbial rock and hard place were squeezing me, and I didn’t see any other alternative.

Enter Classical Conversations. 

My husband heard from another pastor in the area that a Classical Conversations community was starting up at his church. We had never heard of “CC” before, and I was intrigued. My mother homeschools following a Classical Education model, so I was familiar with the philosophy, and knew it would be something I would love to be possible for my kids. So I hopped on the computer and started researching and asking around. The more I learned about CC the more excited I became.

We found solution to our schooling conundrum.

Classical Conversations is a nation-wide program divided into communities of homeschooling families. They meet weekly for classes lead by trained tutors, and provide each other with support, encouragement, and accountability. Their curriculum follows a Classical, Christian model, and it covers History, Math, Science, English, Latin, Geography, and Fine Arts. I may post later with more details about Classical Education and CC, but for now if you are curious you can read here.

We attended an Open House at our local community in December, and we were almost convinced that this was what we wanted for our family. After considerable thought, prayer, and discussion, we chose to enroll both Peanut and Belle. I will also be going through training to become a tutor, working with 10-11 year old students. Classes will begin in September.

We will also be learning All About Reading, a program I recently discovered, and can't wait to begin. We found a couple of old school desks at a second hand store, and are working on finding wall maps and posters to turn our playroom into a school-and-play room.We will also continue to do the sorts of things that we have always done -- spending lots of time reading together, making lots of trips to the library, reading together, observing nature, using our dictionary, reading together, answering questions, playing board games, spending time in the kitchen, reading together, and loving learning as a family. I am anxiously waiting for the FedEx guy to show up with all of our books!

So, yes, we will be homeschooling, but Peanut will also get desks, chalkboard (or dry erase board, as the case may be), a teacher to idolize, recess, and probably even boys teasing girls.

Yes, we will have class and a school schedule, but official classes only one day each week will allow us to keep our flexible schedule spend time as a family during the week. The girls will be in class together, so no worries about Belle being lonely at home.

So, yes, the Harrold Hoosiers will be homeschooling, but we won’t be alone.

Frozen

No, not that Frozen.

I spent a lot of time in the kitchen this weekend prepping six freezer meals. A few friends have requested recipes, so here I am to share.

I've never really hopped on the once-a-month freezer meal bandwagon, though I often make a double batch of whatever and put half in the freezer for later. And when I was pregnant with my littlest monkey I made a bunch of marinades and froze pork chops and chicken, which made for easy meals after giving birth. But this was my first real go at stuffing a freezer in one weekend, and I think it went rather smoothly.

Typically when making these recipes I use beans from my freezer and leftover meat from a whole roasted chicken. Because I was making so much at once I bought three rotisserie chickens and used canned beans. When I got home from the store I picked most of the meat off the bones, popped them into my crock pot with various veggies and herbs, a splash of apple cider vinegar, and water and let it simmer overnight. The next day was cooking day, and any time I needed stock I just scooped & strained what I needed directly from the crock pot. Easy peasy.

On cooking day I started by making Runzas.

Next I made marinade for "Hawaiian" chicken. This is one of our favorite recipes. I've adapted it from an August 2008 issue of Cuisine at Home magazine (thank you library book sale for awesome old magazines!).

Huli Huli BBQ Chicken

10-12 chicken drumsticks


Marinade:
1/2 c. pineapple juice
1/2 c. fresh lime juice
1/4 c. dark brown sugar or molassas
4 T. ketchup
4 T. dark soy sauce
2 T. garlic, minced
2 T. fresh ginger, minced
2 T. coconut oil
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400.

Whisk all marinade ingredients. Place drumsticks in large resealable plastic bag and add marinade. Refrigerate for one hour (or freeze, and thaw in refrigerator before proceeding).
Place chicken on cookie sheet and bake 30-40 minutes, or until internal temperature of 165.

 Couscous Salad makes a nice side dish for this chicken (though it isn't freezable!).

Next I made an extra large batch of Buffalo Chicken Soup, leaving out the cream cheese. At this point I took a lunch break, enjoying a fresh bowl of soup. It was excellent, even without the cream cheese, blue cheese, or gougeres. All the rest of the soup went into the freezer. The cream cheese can easily be added when it is reheated.

Next I made Chile Verde. I got this recipe from my mom, who I believe found it in a freezer-meal recipe book. I've made my own tweaks.

Chile Verde


4 oz chopped green chiles (I used seeded, chopped jalapenos)
2 chopped yellow onions
3 c. shredded cooked chicken
2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp garlic powder, or 1 T minced garlic
salt & pepper to taste
3 cans pinto beans, drained
2-3 c. chicken stock

Saute onion and chiles until soft. Add chicken and seasonings and cook until fragrant. Add beans and slowly add 2 cups of stock. Simmer 15-20 minutes or until flavors are combined, adding stock as necessary to keep moist. Serve over warm tortillas. Top with cheese, sour cream and/or salsa.

Buffalo Chicken Soup

I roast a whole chicken just about every week. I buy the biggest birds I can find and do my best to get two or three or more meals out of the meat. And I always use the carcass to make bone broth. The broth is probably my favorite part of the whole deal, it is so satisfying. And it makes my house smell amazing.

Lately chicken isn't the only thing that has appeared on my menu every week. I have unintentionally created a pattern - pasta on Monday (often large batch with leftovers appearing as lunch through the week), roast chicken on Tuesday, soup on Wednesday, new recipe/experiment on Thursday, pizza on Friday. Sunday we always have brunch after church and leftovers or something super lazy easy for supper. Something Mexican (with beans) or Indian (with lentils) usually appears on Thursday and/or Saturday. I don't always stick to this plan. In fact, it isn't really a "plan" at all, just a pattern I noticed when looking through past menus. But it seems to work well, so I guess I'll let it stay.

I have been craving something "Buffalo" since the Super Bowl and decided to use some leftover chicken (and broth, of course) to try for those flavors in our Wednesday soup. Google gave me lots of inspiration, but I was hungry for a specific sort of flavor combination and I didn't find anything that fit. This post for Buffalo Chicken Corn Chowder with Blue Cheese Gougeres was close, and too pretty too ignore. I had never heard of gougeres (French cheese puffs) and had all the ingredients on hand, so those became our side dish. They will be made again.

The soup as I made it was amazing, but as I was eating it I decided I would tweak a few things next time (and there will be a next time. oh yes.), including leaving out a can of diced tomatoes. They were a bit distracting, and made it feel a bit more like chili than I was hoping. This recipe includes those as yet untested modifications, and all measurements (as usual with my own recipes) are guestimations.

 

last-minute photo from my Hoosier Husband

Bean's Buffalo Chicken Soup

1 onion, diced
2 c. diced celery (~5 stalks)
2 c. diced sweet potato (~1 large)
3 c. cooked, shredded chicken
2 c. cooked black beans (~one can)
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/3 c. Frank's or other hot sauce
2 c. chicken broth
1 block cream cheese, softened & diced

-Saute onion in a few tablespoons of bacon fat (or butter) until soft and beginning to brown.
-Add celery & sweet potato, saute until just beginning to soften.
-Add chicken, beans, paprika, Frank's, S&P. Toss to coat.
-Add broth. Simmer until potatoes are soft.
-Slowly stir in cream cheese, heat until warm.
-Top with blue cheese crumbles (or cheddar) & eat!

Chickpea & Broccoli Pasta

Fast, Cheap, and Easy.

Excellent descriptors for family dinner. Not so great for describing a friend. Just sayin'.

I more or less made up this recipe with odds and ends in my pantry and fridge. Took about half an hour from the time I pulled the pan out of the cabinet and sitting down at the table. Chicken would be a lovely addition to this dish, but it was quite satisfying as-is.

This served two adults and three kids. We all ate our fill, but there were no leftovers.

Chickpea & Broccoli Pasta

1/2 box whole wheat angel hair pasta
1 can chickpeas
1 bunch broccoli, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
juice of 1/2 lemon
olive oil

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in large skillet and saute broccoli until just starting to soften. Drain & rinse chickpeas, add to pan with broccoli. Sprinkle with S&P to taste. When pasta is cooked, drain, and remove broccoli from heat. Squeeze lemon juice over veggies and toss to coat. Spoon pasta into bowls and top with broccoli/chickpeas and generous drizzle of olive oil. My husband enjoyed this with a sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes.

Harrold Hoosier's Husker Runzas

Though I consider myself a Hoosier, properly speaking I'm a Husker - a Corn Husker, that is, a native Nebraskan. My mama was born and raised in Nebraska, and my parents met and married in Nebraska, and they had their first child (hi!) in Nebraska. I don't have any recollection of living there for I was a tiny thing when my parents moved, but many family vacations were spent in the Great Plains.

And anyone who knows Nebraska should know Runza, a fast-food chain that serves beef & cabbage rolls. Even if you haven't heard of a Runza, you may have had a bierock or a fleischkuche, which are essentially the same thing. They are simple, freezable, transportable, variable, easy on the budget, and quite tasty.

After the birth of my second child a dear friend stocked my freezer with zip-locks full of Runzas, and since then I have shamelessly followed her example and made batches to share with others. You can throw a bunch on a pan and re-heat in the oven and serve with a side or two for a hearty meal, or pop one in the microwave for a quick lunch or afternoon snack.  Eat your heart out, Hot Pockets!

 Every time I make them the filling turns out differently. There is now shortage of recipes for these guys on the internet, but the batch I made today are extra yummy and so decided to share my recipe here before I forget what I did. This makes a BIG batch of runzas, and will probably take you all afternoon. But it will be worth it.

 

Harrold Hoosier's Husker Runzas

Filling:

1 onion, chopped
olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme
2 lbs lean ground beef

1 pkg cole slaw mix (You may also shred your own cabbage. My food processer broke and I'm lazy)

1/4 c. Dijon mustard
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp soy sauce

dash Frank's Red Hot sauce

salt & pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in large skillet. Add onion and cook until translucent and just softened. Add thyme, S&P, and beef and cook until evenly browned. Slowly add cabbage mix, cover, and cook about 10 minutes or until cabbage is translucent, stirring every 5 minutes or so. (Your skillet may be close to overflowing. You can add half the cabbage cook it down a bit before adding the rest.) Add mustard and sauces. Measurements here are approximate, I just squirted in a little pile of mustard, a generous drizzle of Worcestershire, and light drizzle of soy. Stir well, and set aside to cool.

CrustP (doubled and adapted from Bittman's breadstick recipe):

3 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

3 1/2 c. all-purpose or bread flour

4 tsp salt

2 tsp instant yeast

2 TBS honey

4 TBS olive oil

2 2/3 c. warm water

*(Really, any basic bread recipe will work.)

Mix whole wheat flour, salt, and yeast in large bowl. Add water, oil, and honey, stir until well blended. Slowly add white flour (1/4-1/2 c. at a time) and mix until no longer sticky. When dough becomes too difficult to mix with a spoon dump onto lightly floured counter and knead by hand. You may not need all of the white flour. Knead 5 min. or so, until dough is smooth. Place in lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, let rise 1-2 hours, or until doubled in size.

After rising, deflate the ball and cut into smaller balls, about the size of a dinner roll. You should get about 2 dozen, more or less depending on how big you want your Runza's to be. As long as they are close in size it really doesn't matter. Flatten each little ball into a thin square or rectangle, scoop a few TBS of filling into center, fold closed, pinching all seams tightly. Place seam-side down on parchment-lined backing sheets, and over with plastic wrap. Let rest while oven heats. 

Heat over to 350. If desired, brush tops of rolls with melted butter or egg wash. Bake Runsa's 15 minutes or until golden. Serve immediately, or cool completely on wire rack before freezing. I like them plain, but some enjoy dipping them in ketchup or sour cream. Enjoy!

Quickly Now the Old Year Passes

Here we are, the last day of 2013! I participated in a reading challenge for the first time ever this year, and I've been meaning to post about it, well, all year. Better late than never?







My friend Indiana Jane challenged us to get a list of book suggestions from friends, and to then pick 5-10 of those books to read in 2013. Here was my list:

-Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith*
-Animals Make Us Human by Temple Grandin
-Redemption by Karen Kingsbury*
-In Cold Blood by Truman Capote*
-The Blue Mountain by Meir Shalev
-I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith*
-Borderliners by Peter Hoeg*
-The Underland Chronicles (The "Gregor Books" - 5 book series) by Suzanne Collins

I'm not sure if I technically met the challenge, but I had so much fun with it that I wanted to post my results anyway.


I completed five books (indicated with *).

I read at least half of two. "Animals Make Us Human" I got bored with and only read about half. "The Blue Mountain" I had through ILL and had to return before I could finish. I was only a few chapters away from the end.

The books I was perhaps most excited about reading, the Underland Chronicles, I never even started. They aren't available at my library and I have wanted to purchase them, but I'm so cheap I couldn't convince myself to spend so much money on myself. They are still high on my "To Read" list!

I really had fun with this challenge. I'm not sure I would have read any of these books without the recommendation of friends. I've been trying to pick a favorite, but I can't. "In Cold Blood" perhaps has stayed with me more than the other books, if for no other reason than the haunting pictures of the murder's eyes on the title page. "Child 44" I enjoyed so much that I also read the rest of the trilogy. "Redemption" is a Christian-fiction novel, not something that I usually read, but I appreciated the message - a couple fighting to save their broken marriage. "Boarderliners" was very different, and very hard to put down. Perhaps sometime in 2014 I will succeed in writing full reviews.

I may attempt this challenge again next year, it was a lot of fun. I am also challenging myself to read through my own bookshelves. It is embarrassing how many books I have sitting on my shelves that I have never read! I started working on this a few months ago. I started with the A's and have made it to the C's. I'm not reading every book, just ones that I haven't read before (or haven't read for many years and want to read again).

Father's Day

Shamelessly copying an idea from a facebook friend, in observance of Father's Day I asked my girls some questions about their Daddy. The answers were, at least to me, too precious not to share.

From three-year-old Belle:

What is your Daddy's name? Dad Sam
How old is your Daddy? Nine years old
What is Daddy's favorite food? vegetables and bananas
What is Daddy good at? work
What does Daddy do at work all day? Just work.
What is something your Daddy has taught you? He taught me about church.
What did Daddy do before he had kids? He got baptized!
What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? I like him to dance with me.
How does Daddy show you he loves you? He shows me a smiley face.

From four-year-old Peanut:

What is your Daddy's name? Sam Wirgau
How old is your Daddy? 16 and a pound years old
What is Daddy's favorite food? ice cream
What is Daddy good at? preaching at church
What does Daddy do at work all day? work and work
What is something your Daddy has taught you? He teaches me about Jesus.
What did Daddy do before he had kids? Got married!
What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Dance and dance and dance!
How does Daddy show you he loves you? By taking care of me.