Snow Day and Lentils

Hi all! Guess what... we have a SNOW DAY today!! It is 6am and there it is not even snowing, but we are under a blizzard warning with 8-15 inches expected (isn't that a large range?). Anyways, now that we were already awake to take Jen to the airport for her business trip, I thought I would post this yummy recipe. It was a big hit, even with some skeptical flesh eaters!

Sloppy Lentils
pg 104 Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker

1 T olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 small red or green pepper, chopped
1 T chili powder
1.5 c dried brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
1 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
3 c water
2 T soy sauce
1 T prepared mustard
1 T light brown sugar
1 t salt
freshly ground black pepper

1. Cook onion and pepper in a fry pan in oil until softened. Add chili powder to coat.

2. Transfer onion mixture to a 3.5-4 qt slow cooker. Add the rest of the ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

my changes: I added lots more veggies in the beginning (celery, lots of carrots), which added a little extra good flavor. I also added garlic in the beginning sauteing (just because I like garlic kind of a lot). I doubled the mustard because J likes mustard. Besides that, we had the sandwiches open-faced with melted cheddar cheese and fresh onion on top. Very yummy!

Beer Fest

Yeah for beer!! Joey found a beer tasting festival in Boulder on February 28th. We thought it was going to be a nice, relaxing time since our ticket only bought us sixteen - 2 oz samples. Little did we know... most bartenders weren't checking tickets, and there were 77 beers on tap, all of which were over 8%! Needless to say, we had a good time!

Dogs!

SO tired...

Hiking near the foothills - it was so windy we could barely look at the camera.

Sammy looking out the window

Are there any brains in your head, Sophie?

Sophie LOVES it when we hold her close!

See, they are like real dogs!

Recent Events etc...

our broomball team!

skiing in keystone

from the gondola

how many ropes do you need sammy?

sunset from our porch

this is when sophie got into my lunch bag and ate a brownie!

Crested Butte

Trip to Crested Butte Colorado

siblings in front of the collegiate group mountains on the way back from crested butte

beautiful picture of the collegiate group - justin has climbed mount shavano in this group - a 14er towards the left in this picture

apparently mary likes to hit justin while trying to take a nice picture

we think this is the part in the road where we spun out on the way into crested butte

camp 4 coffee!! so good! cutest little building too

halfway down one of the runs (in order from L to R: erica, joey, mary)

here's the beer joe bought us for falling down first (see erica's blog for that pic). he got us 2 below - the good stuff! no coors light for us!

mary at the top with a beautiful view

Sammie & Sophie Update

we're ready for our close-up!

thanks for the cool new christmas present, cousins katie, megan and jessi!!

we love to put wholes in them, then eat the little parts, then poop them out later!

sometimes i am not sure if i am a cat or a dog...

are there any brains in your head, sophie?

i really don't like this sweeper!! i want to bite it!! i am going to try to bit it right now!!!

Christmas Time!

Hi all! Here is the recap of our winter break in Michigan/Chicago
(they are backwards in order I think...)

new year's eve in chicago
we did an all-inclusive club situation in chicago - kira was supposed to come but she was very sick. so maria, jerry, mary and justin rocked it out, with kira's bf ryan joining us later.

new year's eve in chicago
not really sure about these faces...

new year's eve in chicago
nice big earrings mary

celebrating christmas in augusta
...and eating delicious cheddar beer soup

celebrating christmas in clare
with justin's grandparents, paul, melissa, ashley, and aidan

celebrating christmas in alpena
makenna the cheese-ball

celebrating christmas in alpena
mary always puts the ribbons on her head - is this some sort of weird christensen tradition?

celebrating christmas in ionia
mary, katie, megan, and jessi lynn in front of the dozens of stockings

celebrating christmas in ionia
mary and the tofurkey (aka roast beast)

celebrating christmas in ionia
mary and erica breaking the "wishbone" from the tofurkey

celebrating christmas in ionia
paula's new puppy beau - he was a ball of energy, running around everywhere!
then, he would crash (as seen here)

celebrating christmas in ionia
katie with her handknit scarf and hat (courtesy of aunties erica and mary)

celebrating christmas in ionia
making a plate of cookies for santa! nice handpainted plate, kennedys! :)

celebrating christmas in ionia
kennedy children in front of the tree. how did they get SO BIG!

celebrating christmas in ionia
megan loved beau, and beau loved megan right back!

celebrating christmas in ionia
coloring time! many mornings were spent coloring, most of the time with a crayon holder with the very neat label "MARY'S" on the outside, circa 1990.

christmas card making in denver
mary and justin designed the cards, justin cut the block for printing, and mary and justin both drank beer and printed over 80 cards!