363 ... , 364, .... 365 Black-Eyed Peas!

Well.... almost, at least between the two of us we ate enough black-eyed peas last night to bring us good luck for everyday in 2008. Growing up I remember my mom making black-eyed peas every New Year's Day, but I never ate a one until today (amazing that I got where I am today with no luck!). Plus, I got started right away with one of my resolutions and had some leafy greens with dinner. Here are the BBQ Black-Eyed Peas from V-con.

The recipe calls for collard greens, but we decided on swiss chard instead. I also added three strips of sauteed tempeh bacon, and was lazy and used store-bought bbq sauce (a Texas brand of course). One little problem though... I got fresh black-eyed peas from the store. Having never used them, I thought they were ready to go like the canned variety. But when I tasted the crunchiness when I opened the bag and snuck a taste, I was quite surprised. So I added some water to the bbq sauce and let the peas, mushrooms, and chard simmer for about 40 minutes. I actually think it made the bbq flavor soak into the beans more than the original recipe might have, and with good results. I stuffed the pea mixture into a steamed chard leaf and rolled it up as a wrap, then had some just plain on the side. This was good stuff. I will certainly be fixing black-eyed peas before Jan. 1, 2009!

Resolutions for a New Year

I am thinking that telling the blogworld my New Year's resolutions will somehow mean that I actually carry them out. We'll see how it goes, I have quite a few (in no particular order of importance)...

- Improve my piping skills (this means lots of practice cupcakes :-)
- Learn how to knit and be more crafty in general
- Volunteer at FNB once a month
- Find a job that I love (or at least one I don't hate)
- Learn how to use my new camera!
- Be a more effective advocate for veganism
- Visit someplace I've never been before
- Eat more green leafy things
- Clean the stovetop right away when something boils over
- Run and do yoga more regularly
- Wear sunscreen and floss everyday
- Recyle more and drive less
- Be a more supportive, caring friend, sister, daughter, and wife

We are about to head to dinner then on to two different parties. Not wanting to come empty-handed, I made black bottom blondies and peanut butter bombs, both from My Sweet Vegan. I snuck a taste of both, and OMG, the bombs are in fact, the bomb. I think I saw someone describe them as Reese's in cookie form (or maybe it was in the recipe, I should go look to reference correctly, but I'm too lazy), they are better than that. John and I even ate one raw and loved it. These should get mowed at the party (but if not, fine, more for me!)



Hope everyone has a wonderful beginning to 2008!