New Year's Lucky Meal: Hoppin' John

*Disclosure- I received the mentioned products courtesy of the sponsor for the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.


Well, another year has come and gone. I'd say for the most part 2018 was a great year for me, so I'll be a little sad to see it go. But, I'm hopeful that momentum of this year will carry through the new one and I'm so excited to see what's in store for 2019. I'm big on superstitions or traditions or whatever you want to call them, and while it may seem silly, when the 1st of the year rolls around we'll be sitting down to dinner with a plate full of New Year Lucky Food. I can't recall the last time black eyed peas weren't on our menu, and we definitely aren't breaking the tradition this year. I've been saving this Hoppin' John recipe from Golden Blossom Honey for a while now, and can't wait to start my new year off with a heaping plate of it in hopes that it does have some magical lucky powers.

Even if it doesn't bring in luck, it does nourish the body and tastes great too, so I'd say that's already starting the year off right. Add in a salad and a cornbread muffin and you've already knocked off several items on the lucky food list. This meat-free version is low in fat, so if one of your resolutions is for healthier eating, this is a great recipe to keep on hand for year round healthy dinners. 

Ingredients

1 package (16 ounces) frozen black-eyed peas
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY
2 tablespoons soy sauce
black pepper to taste

2 cups brown rice, cooked
Garnish:
1 ripe tomato, chopped
1/2 cup smoked Gouda or cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 cup chopped scallions
fresh parsley, chopped

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey!

What's your favorite lucky food for New Year's?

Ham & Black Eye Pea Soup

*Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.


Happy New Year! I took this week off to get the house back in order after the holidays and spend a little time with Mariah before she heads back to college this weekend. Since we are part of the country that is getting hammered with subzero temperatures, we haven't left the house much at all this week, though we are going to brave heading out today to see Jumanji. Fingers crossed it is worth risking frostbite for! I've drank enough hot tea this week to fill an Olympic sized pool, and I haven't thought much about eating anything other than steaming bowls of soup to ward off the chill. On New Year's day I opted to go for the traditional first of the year staples of black eye peas, greens and cornbread in hopes of having a good year of fortune ahead of me, so I tossed together this Ham & Black Eye Pea Soup from Golden Blossom Honey for the family to enjoy. 

Growing up in the south, we didn't mess around with eating anything else on the first of the year since we wanted to start the year off right. With this soup recipe, you've got the Peas for Pennies and Greens for Dollars, and if you add a side of cornbread in, you've got your Gold. A well rounded New Year's dinner if there ever was one. I'd say that even if you didn't have this on New Year's Day, it's still early in the month to have a steaming bowl to help with your good fortune this year. And, if it turns out to be just another superstition, at least you still came out a winner by getting to enjoy a delicious meal. 

Ingredients

2 (15 ounce) cans black eye peas, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (32 ounce) container chicken broth
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, diced
2 tablespoons GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1/4 pound black forest ham, in a thick slice from deli dept., diced
2 cups fresh spinach leaves, coarsely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

I used dry black eye peas in my recipe by cooking them in a pressure cooker. If you don't have a pressure cooker and still want to use the dry beans, soak them overnight and cook according to package directions before adding them to the soup.

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey!

Have you been hit with subzero temperatures this week too?

 
 

End The Year On A Sweet Note With Lovely

*Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.


Now that Christmas is behind us, it's time to start planning out our New Year's Eve celebrations. I'd like to say that we throw a huge bash and get crazy, but the truth is we always have a low-key night of staying in ordering pizza, playing board games, and munching on snacks. In all honesty, I can't think of a better way to ring in the New Year than with my husband and girls and lots of yummy eats, so this year we'll be keeping our plans mostly the same. I might actually get crazy and shake things up by making tacos instead of ordering pizza, but we'll see. That might be too much excitement for me to handle in one night. 

One thing that we'll definitely be adding to our New Year's game table this year is Lovely confections, so we can end 2017 and start 2018 on a sweet note.  

Lovely candies are made in small batches with only the finest, pure and simple ingredients. They offer a wide selection of the yummiest sweets, from Caramels and Pretzel Balls to Licorice and Fruit Chews, as well as Chocolate Truffles and Coconut Chips. 

  
What fun is game night with the family without having a few caramels to unwrap and enjoy while waiting your turn? If you know me, you know I am a sucker for sea salt anything, so I set aside a bag of Lovely Sea Salt Caramels to toast in the New Year. My husband is all about the Chocolate Swirl Caramels and the girls really dig the Salted Chocolate Pretzel Balls. While we all have our own Lovely favorite, we can all agree that you can't go wrong with any of their bagged confections. 

While Lovely is delicious in every way, what makes them even better is that they are GMO-free, do not contain artificial colors, flavors, high-fructose corn syrup or trans fats, and are gluten free and kosher. They are the perfect treat to have on hand for your New Year's celebrations! 

You can find products from The Lovely Candy Company at select Walgreen's, Whole Foods, and Amazon as well as many other retailers nationwide. Be sure to grab a few bags for your New Year's celebrations so you can end the year on a sweet note too. 

What are your New Year's Eve plans?

 

Sip Sparkling Champagne & Kiss Me at Midnight

Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.


I'm not a drinker, but it wouldn't be a celebration without a little sip of an adult beverage to ring in the New Year. I usually buy a bottle of wine, take one sip, declare it nasty, then pass it over to Jason to finish off. I know, I know. Wine enthusiasts are probably shaking their head in disgust right about now, huh? I just never acquired a taste for alcohol, I suppose. When we hosted Christmas breakfast, my niece insisted that we have mimosas on hand, so I went to Costco to purchase a few bottles of champagne. I have never had a mimosa before, but I'm up for trying anything once. Surprisingly, I found that I actually really liked the champagne/orange juice combination! Since we aren't complete lushes here, I did have an extra bottle of champagne leftover that I needed to figure out what to do with. I knew New Year's was fast approaching, so off I went to Golden Blossom Honey to find a good recipe to put that last bottle to good use. There I found this recipe for Sparkling Champagne Cocktails.

What drew me to this recipe was it sounded a lot like the flavor of mimosas. A yummy orange syrup combined with sparkling champagne is just the ticket to a happy new year, indeed! Garnish each glass with a strip of orange peel for an extra classy flare.

Ingredients

Syrup:
1 naval orange, thinly sliced
1/2 cup GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY
1/3 cup orange juice
1/4 cup vodka
Cocktails:
1 naval orange
1 bottle Champagne or seltzer

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

Take a sip of this delicious Sparkling Champagne Cocktails, and make sure to kiss your honey at midnight! 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey!

Wishing you all a Very Happy New Year!

DIY! New Year's TP Firecracker Treat Holders

At midnight on New Year's Day, I hear a lot of my neighbors setting of fireworks. I am too cheap and lazy to stand out in the cold setting them off myself, but I thought my kids would get a kick out of making these "firecracker" candy holders to tear into on New Year's. They are super easy to put together because they are made with items you probably already have laying around the house.

All you need is empty toilet paper rolls, scrapbook paper, tissue paper, ribbon and candy. 

Start by cutting a sheet of tissue paper in half. It will now be the perfect length to overlap on the tp roll. Wrap it around the roll, cutting it where the ends meet. Tape to secure. Tie one end of the tissue paper closed with ribbon. Fill toilet paper roll with candy. Secure other end with additional ribbon. Tape colorful scrapbook paper around the roll, and Voila! Cheap and easy firecrackers for New Year's celebrations!

 

These would also work great for July 4th crafting too!

Do you light fireworks for New Year's?