Friday, January 5, 2018

Creative New Year's Day Meal

Missy Tippens

I came down with the flu on New Year's Day. What a way to welcome in 2018!

So, being a little puny that day, I tried to pull together a somewhat traditional meal. When I was growing up in Kentucky, that meant steamed cabbage (my parents didn't care for greens), corned beef, black-eyed peas, and cornbread. We always called it a meal for good luck.

Well, I hadn't been to the grocery in a while, so I had to do the best I could with what I had on hand. Again, this is the story of my life of never having ingredients I need! :)

Plus, I was running a fever. LOL


First, I had no cornmeal! Oh my gosh, how did that happen?? But, like any good southerner, I DID have grits.

I did not have black-eyed peas, plus my family doesn't love them. But I did have pinto beans.

I didn't have collard greens (first choice) or turnip greens...but I did have a spinach-kale mix.


But (and here's another Tippens move), the greens were getting past their peak and were a little gross in the middle. SOOOO...by the time I threw away the slimy pieces, there wasn't much left. We each got about a tablespoonful. hahaha!

Did I mention I had a fever and chills by that point? And I was starving. My husband kept saying they could make their own sandwiches or something. But I was determined! We would have our good luck meal like from my childhood.

No corned beef? That's fine. I never really liked it anyway! I got a package of turkey sausage hotdogs out of the freezer, thawed them in the microwave, and added them to the beans to cook.

Voila! Our New Year's Day dinner.

Here's to hoping our insanely weird good luck meal doesn't bode poorly for the year. :)


Notice (with your magnifying glass) the microscopic serving of greens!

The grits got a little too thick, but they were amazing with the butter and cream. And the whole thing filled our stomachs. That's a blessing right there!

Plus, look at these pretty new dishes I just bought on clearance at Macy's! I enjoyed eating on them for the first time.


Even hot-dogs, grits, pinto beans, and greens could taste good on these. :)

Happy 2018 everyone!!

Missy

www.missytippens.com

8 comments:

  1. Love the new dishes, Missy. Very pretty. And new dishes do make everything taste better.

    I hope you're feeling better. Nothing like being sick on a holiday. But it sounds like you were a trooper. Motherhood with a heaping helping of determination will do that.

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    1. Mindy, I am feeling better! Hubby ended up getting sick as well. But so far, the kids are staying well.

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  2. You're a better woman than I am!

    At the first sign of the flu (I had it the week before Christmas...), I head for my recliner. No cooking. No dishes. I don't want to touch anything or do anything. So our Christmas was pretty low-key. Everyone else worked to get Christmas dinner on the table!

    I first came across this "good luck" meal when we moved to Texas. It's definitely a southern thing! I've seen it as "red beans and rice," or "grits and greens," but most often the way you served it. :)

    We northerners just hunker down and eat leftovers for New Year's. It's probably snowing on that day, anyway!

    And I love those new dishes! There's nothing like pretty dishes to make a meal sing.

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    1. Jan, by the time dinner was over, I was bundled up on the couch pretty miserable. But by then I'd also called the doctor and my husband headed to a pharmacy that was actually open to get me some Tamiflu. :)

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  3. I'm still gobsmacked that you cooked with a fever and chills! That's dedication to tradition right there and must boost the good luck factor substantially! Feel better soon, Missy!

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    1. Kav, the fever was only low grade, and I had taken Motrin for the aching. The chills only hit later. That's when I hit the couch and bundled under a blanket. :)

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  4. Kudos to you, Missy. You get New Year's bonus luck for effort.

    Last year my daughter and I made some black-eyed peas thing, but both of us were pretty burned out on cooking huge meals by that time. I did our NY tradition of roast pork, roasted potatoes, green beans and applesauce. Unlike the other holiday meals, this one is not labor intensive. Peeling the potatoes is the biggest task.

    Glad you're feeling better. Hope hubby is too soon and that the kids stay well. I'm hoping all this frigid weather will kill of the germs!

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    1. Well, I found out today that my son (in TN) is sick. It kills me to be so far away. I'm hoping he'll make it to the walk in clinic. He hasn't found a doctor up there yet.

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