Did you catch that Carolina Football game yesterday? It gave me heart palpitations! But, it was a great game! I love to watch football games, especially when they are close. :)
I woke up yesterday and decided that the Christmas decorations had to come down. It made me very sad, but I knew with me going back to work today and the kiddies coming back on Thursday that all of my energy would be ZAPPED by this weekend. So I took my trees down. I leave up white lights on my entertainment center until February and of course, I have my snowmen out. I just can't go cold turkey! I also have some "mini" trees with white lights that I like to leave in my kitchen window. The white lights bring a little light into the dark days of January and February. I love lights and wish I could have them all year long!
It is a tradition in the south to eat collards and Hoppin' John (black eyed peas and rice) on the first of January. I couldn't do the collards this year, (tummy issues) but I found a great recipe in one of my Christmas gifts for a crockpot version of Hoppin' John. Now, you can eat this other times of the year, it is just tradition to eat it on January 1st!
This is a really quick dish to throw together. Since it has sausage in it, I used it as my main meal this year. I added butter beans and yellow squash to my New Year's feast.
To make Crockpot Hoppin' John you will need:
Crockpot liners (this makes for quick clean up later!)
1 package of smoked sausage (I used Turkey Kielbasa)
2 and 1/2 cups of chicken broth (divided)
2 cans (about 15 ozs) of black eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 box of dirty rice mix
1/2 cup salsa
*You can add 1/2 cup of lump crab meat if you wish. I didn't due to my MULTIPLE allergies.
Go ahead and slice and cook your sausage on medium heat for about 5 minutes. You really just want to make sure the sausage gets brown on both sides. Then, using a slotted spoon, place the sausage in the Crockpot.
Then place the pan back on the burner and add 1/2 cup of chicken broth. Stir it around to get all of the bits that the sausage left behind. Pour this over the sausage in the Crockpot.
Add your black eyed peas, 2 cups of chicken broth, 1/2 cup of salsa and the dirty rice mix. Mix all the ingredients together.
Cover and cook on low 3 to 4 hours or until your rice is tender. While this is cooking, make up some cornbread. You won't be sorry!
This is a great dish for New Year's Day or Sunday supper. It has just enough kick to it and it is very flavorful. I will be making this again!
And y'all! I was on Facebook today and discovered that Leslie Sansone (Walk Away the Pounds) is doing a mile a day challenge this year. You can join her site for free and have access to walking videos online! Since I can't Zumba with my foot and tummy issues, this is a good way to get some daily exercise in! I did one mile today streaming on my ipad! :) Check it out if getting more exercise is on your resolution list! Check it out here..
Let me run, I hope y'all are having a good day!
Tootles!
:) JKP
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