We are hunkered down as Snowmaggedon 2016 aka Winter Storm Jonas aka Snowpocalypse  envelops the house in a swirling curtain of snow.

Trees in the yard – white out sky

We can usually see the mountains from our kitchen window but today the sky is white just beyond our neighbor’s fir trees, their branches dipping towards the ground, heavy laden with the snow.   Our  dogs are loathe to go outside… I can’t say that I blame them as it is 19degrees…and so far today we have only seen one intrepid neighbor out for a quick walk with their pup.
Yesterday I made a hearty  lentil stew in the crockpot and will probably have more of it today before I freeze the remainder for another day.

This is how the lentils look when you put them into the crockpot.

Ingredients:
1 bag of dried lentils (Laura Lynn), rinsed
5 cups water
1 can diced tomato
2 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
2 whole carrots, sliced
1 whole onion, peeled and chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, sliced
2 slices of bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp chipotle pepper ( optional)
Salt ( as needed)

Put the water and can of diced tomato into the crockpot and add the rinsed lentils set on high and cook for about 1 hour.  Add in the butternut squash, carrots, onion and jalapeno and cook for 2 hours on high. Add in the bacon and cook for 1 more hour before turning to low.  You may need to add more water at this point.
We had this last night with a glass of red wine and an aged cheddar cheese and crackers and it was very filling.  It definitely has some heat some if you don’t like spicy you may want to reduce the amount of jalapeno and chipotle pepper.

Done! #Snowpocalypse Stew – lentils, butternut squash and carrots