Happy New Year!

I began a blog several years ago where I posted a picture a day.  As life tends to do, it got busy and I was not able to continue every day.  Life is still busy, but I am going to do my best at blogging our daily life.  If anything, just for the purpose of being able to look back and remember the everyday little things that we tend to forget.  If you are reading this, welcome into our lives....it gets crazy sometimes!  ;)

A YEAR OF GOOD LUCK!

I love to cook and enjoy trying new ways to do so.  So this year for Christmas, Brian got me a pressure cooker.  I'm in the testing stages right now, but I can say that our New Year's Black Eyed Peas turned out delicious!!  If it is a sign of the year to come, things are looking good!  ;)

This is my recipe for Black Eyed Peas in the Instant Pot.  I'm a northern girl who has been transplanted in the south, so I made a few adaptions.  I always try to sneak in a couple extra vegetables here and there for the kids...ie. carrot and celery.

Ingredients:
1 bag of  dried Black Eyed Peas
1 small-Med onion diced
2 cloves garlic
2 stalks celery diced
1 small carrot diced
2 Tbsp diced jalapenos (I used jarred because it is what I had on hand)
1 pkg Smoked sausage, cut up into bite sized pieces
2 pkgs Goya, ham flavored concentrate
Salt and Pepper to taste.

Soak the beans in water overnight

Put 3 cups of peas in the pressure cooker along with half of all of the other ingredients.  Cover the peas with 1-1½  inch of water.  (If you have not soaked your peas, I would imagine you would need more, but I have not tested it yet to tell you.  Cook times would change as well.).   It was my first time using my Instant Pot, and I didn't want to over fill, so I made it in 2 batches.  Close the lid and choose beans/chili.  I put 10 minutes on the timer.  When it was done, I released the steam, removed the peas and started the second batch.  Again, it could probably have done the entire recipe at once, but the Instant Pot is new and I didn't want to over fill.  I also wanted to taste my recipe.  I could add extra spices or whatever it needed to the second batch. 

So there you have it, my recipe for New Year's Black Eyed Peas!