Do you have a favorite meal you like to start the New Year with?

I haven’t always had a New Year’s Day meal tradition; however, my husband and his family always have ham on Christmas Day and there are lots of leftovers. In recent years, I’ve started to make a traditional black eyed pea recipe to use up the leftover ham.

It was so cold in Kansas City today and we had no where we had to be. I had the black eyed peas simmering on the stove and one of my favorite Pandora stations playing while I took down our Christmas decorations. Staying in and staying warm felt wonderful on the first day of 2019.

Eating black eyed peas on New Years is supposed to bring you luck and prosperity in the new year – I’m not opposed to setting myself up for success as we head into 2019! Cheers!

Black Eyed Peas Recipe

*I searched for a variety of black eyed peas recipes online and combined a few. I’ve included how I made ours below.

Ingredients

• 1 pound (16 oz.) dried black eyed peas
• 2 cups diced ham
• 1/2 of a yellow onion, diced
• 1 T. olive oil
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

• Rinse black eyed peas in a colander and discard any peas that are discolored.
• Pour rinsed black eyed peas into a large stock pot and soak overnight. The water should go 2 inches above the black eyed peas in the stock pot.
• Once the black eyed peas are soaked, pour them back through a colander to remove them from the soaking water.
• Add the olive oil to the stock pot and add the diced onion to it and saute.
• Add the black eyed peas to the onion in the stock pot and cover with water – the water should go 2 inches above the black eyed peas.
• Add the diced ham, bay leaves, and salt and pepper to taste.
• Bring the black eyed peas to a simmer and continue to keep it at a low simmer, adding water and stirring occasionally until the black eyed peas are fork tender, at least 2 hours.
• Remove the bay leaves before serving.

Eat up!