We headed down the mountain very early this morning.  Very, very early.  Today was Mason’s baptism.  He was blessed to be baptized by our very dear pastor at our church that we have attended for about 12 years.  It was a glorious day!  Mason loved that the whole day was about he and God and he let everyone know it 🙂
Doesn’t he look precious in his Chinese silks and jade necklace?  He was also sporting his red chucks.  Gotta keep it real 🙂
We were also so blessed to have my sister-in-law and nephew there to celebrate with us.  Our awesome friends the Young’s high-tailed it home from a trip to Denver for the big day as well! Many thanks to our church family for welcoming us back this morning with open arms.  It always feel good to come home and spend the day among friends.

After church and all our visiting with friends and family, we spent some time on the trail.  We didn’t get in a lot of hiking but we did spend lots of time just bouldering around of the rocks.

Happy Sunday!  It was a great day!
Jennifer

When you eat mostly plant based (I am still working on the word vegan), it is sometimes hard to find recipes that feel hearty.  This is a great, super easy and recipe that feels like you are puttin’ some meat on your bones (that is, if you ate meat).  It is a hit at this house.  I  serve it with homemade cornbread and a green salad.  I did break my brown rice rule on this one because it sounded sooo good with white rice.

I found this recipe at food.com but I altered it a bit.  I didn’t get a picture because it was gone before I could take any.  Good luck.  Check it out here if you are in need of pictures.
Pinto beans and rice in a crock pot.

Here is my take on it.

Get out the crock pot.
Turn it on high (or low if you are cooking overnight).
Dump in a bag of pinto beans (I did rinse them first).
Cover beans with water.
Add a jar of picante sauce.
Add 1 teaspoon of cumin and chili powder.
Salt and pepper as needed.

Let cook for a long time (mine cooks for about 6 hours or longer on high but I live at serious altitude so adjust as needed).

Cook rice (white or brown).
Spoon beans over rice and eat up!

…one science fair project at a time.

Phew!  He finished it. Trying to figure out how to slow down the melting of the polar ice caps is a big job, especially for a 10 year old.  We are super proud of him and are super glad that this project only comes around once a year 🙂

Happy Wednesday!
Our day has only just begun! And to think that I have already made it through a 1st grade field trip. That should give me a ticket to a bubble bath and a good book.  Oh well.   Soccer practice, swim team, work clinics, dinner and homework top the list for our busy evening!

Jennifer

Happy Mother’s Day!

We had a very nice day celebrating ME 🙂 The kids and Scott started out by bringing me breakfast in bed.  Then we got up and headed to church (trying out a new one).  Everyone was on their best behavior (which is really all I ask for).  Unfortunately, the weather was super crummy so instead of our usual Mother’s Day hike, we piled in the car and drove over to Vail.  It was snowing pretty good over the pass but cleared a bit once we got down into the Vail valley.  We spent a couple hours just walking around exploring the village and then we headed back home.

I hope you all had a wonderful day celebrating the important women in your life!

Sam was (again) not pictured because he chose to go to a movie and dinner with a neighborhood friend.  I won’t hold it against him for too long.  Maybe just until next Mother’s Day 🙂

Jennifer

Yesterday, after school, we headed over to the Dillon marina to play and get some new pics for my sidebar. Spring pics.  Three kids were cooperating, one not so much.  Oh well, so it goes with four kids.  They don’t always cooperate at the same time.  Here are some of the many pictures that I snapped. I haven’t had a chance to edit them all yet so please don’t grade me on my shots 🙂

Now you might have an idea of the ONE who wasn’t cooperating 🙂  He (who is not pictured above) wasn’t up for having his picture taken and he made us all aware of it!

I did snap this one after we got home.  He even smiled.  Lucky me 🙂

Don’t mind the broken glasses and dirty shirt.  I am certainly not complaining.  I got a smile.

Happy Thursday!
Jennifer

The people in the grocery store are beginning to thinks something is seriously wrong with my kids.

Okay, there are few things that I actually hate.  I really dislike the word altogether.  But….

I definitely hate it when I go out for a run and 3.76 feels like 5 miles.  Hate that.

Just signed up for a triathlon in August.  Swim. Bike. Run. In that order.  Gotta get a movin’.

That is about it for today 🙂

Love,
J-Dub

You gotta love a soccer game with a view!

Well, we do anyways:) 

Sam had his second game this morning and it could not be a nicer day up here in the high country.  Of course, it might have been nice to hike or bike…..oh well, soccer will have to do for today.  I won’t give too many details about the game because Sam wants to blog about it later (he is hanging out with a friend this afternoon).  You will have to settle for just the pictures from me today, words from Sam later.  

Have a great Saturday!

Jennifer

Hey all,

Sorry for the break between posts.  I had some technical difficulties but I think that I am now good. If you got an error message when trying to access my blog, sorry.  Seems that one of the websites in which I get free backgrounds/buttons/etc. was hacked, thus making my blog vulnerable (or something like that).  Anyhoo, now we are good. I got a new and improved blog look and we are back 🙂  I would love to update you on the last couple weeks but I am off to a soccer game. Hopefully I (and Sam) will be posting soon.
Have a great Saturday!

Jennifer

What am I going to cook for dinner?!?!?!?!?
Just like me, I am sure that you get tired of making the same meals over and over again.  Because we primarily eat a plant based diet, it gets hard to come up with dinner meals that make everyone happy.  Okay, so if you know me, you know that I don’t really worry about making everyone happy but it is nice when it happens 🙂  I make one meal every night. If you don’t like it there will be another meal in the next few hours.  I wrote a post about feeding my kids a while back.  You can read it here if you are interested.  We have eliminated meat (with the exception of some fish) and dairy from our diet.  If you are interested in why we started eating this way, send me a message 🙂  That is a whole different blog post!

Sushi rolls.  Without fish. In case you were wondering.

This is one of the easiest meals I make and EVERYONE in my family loves it. When I make this I usually end up rolling the entire package of nori sheets (ten sheets).

I cut up carrots, cucumbers, mango, avocado, cilantro, green peppers and finely sliced ginger (I cut them the size of matchsticks).

I make brown (or white, depending on what I have in the pantry) rice and then let it cool a bit.  I have also substituted quinoa for rice and that is just as yummy although it doesn’t roll as tight because it isn’t sticky. The white rice is definitely the stickiest and rolls up the tightest.  If this is your first time trying it you might want to go with the white rice.

Set out a nori sheet (dried seaweed) on a cutting board or something that doesn’t slip.

Place a row of rice/quinoa along one end of your sheet and then place the veggies (any combination) on top of the rice. Then roll.  I hear at the sushi places they have a sushi roller but I just use my hands and it works pretty well.

I put the rolls in the fridge for a few minutes before cutting them. They seem to slice better once cooled a bit.

Please remember that I am not a chef and not even a great cook 🙂  Good luck!!!

I serve the rolls with soy sauce and wasabi paste.  The wasabi paste is super duper hot.  My kids put a little on their fingers, taste and then freak out running for the water.
My kids also love edamame as a side to their rolls.  Actually, we love edamame pretty much any time with any meal.

Our favorite combination is the mango/avocado/cilantro. Oh Yum!!!!

For those of you with blogs (you know who you are!) please post yummy recipes.  My kids love to try new things and sometimes I don’t have the energy to google another vegan recipe. I just don’t.

Happy rolling!
Jennifer