Celebrate New Year with Black-Eyed Peas: A Delicious Recipe

It is almost the holidays and my family has a few traditions for Christmas and especially New Years. Usually though we have forgotten to pick up black eyed peas until that time period after Christmas and before New Years so I’ve learned to keep the dried beans on hand year round now!

In some cultures, eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day is considered a tradition that brings good luck and prosperity for the coming year. This practice is particularly common in the Southern United States. The peas are thought to symbolize coins or wealth, and the tradition has been passed down through generations as a superstition associated with ensuring a prosperous start to the new year.

Black-eyed peas are a nutritious food with several health benefits. They are a good source of protein, fiber, and various vitamins and minerals. Some potential benefits include:

1. **Rich in Protein:** Black-eyed peas are a plant-based source of protein, which is essential for muscle repair and overall body function.

2. **High in Fiber:** The fiber content in black-eyed peas promotes digestive health and can help regulate blood sugar levels.

3. **Vitamins and Minerals:** They contain vitamins such as folate and vitamin A, as well as minerals like potassium and iron, contributing to overall health.

4. **Heart Health:** The fiber, potassium, and folate in black-eyed peas may support heart health by helping to manage blood pressure and reduce the risk of cardiovascular issues.

5. **Weight Management:** The combination of protein and fiber can contribute to a feeling of fullness, potentially aiding in weight management.

In addition to their nutritional value, black-eyed peas are versatile and can be used in various recipes, making them a healthy addition to a well-balanced diet.

Over the years, I’ve tried a few different versions of black eyed peas until one New Years a couple years back, I asked to take over duties and made this recipe that has now solidified me making it for my family every January 1!

This past summer, since I like the recipe so much, I thought to try out on my friends while camping. I usually make some kind of soup the last night and thought this could be the option. I am happy to report it was a hit with my friends in the wilderness just as much as my family warming up to it on a cold New Year’s Day around a bayberry candle watching the Rose Parade!

Ingredients –

2 cups black-eyed peas, dry (or 2 cans not dry)
8 oz. Bacon chopped (or more) – I love to go to Kinder’s or Diablo Foods for this!
1 cup white onion, diced
2 tsp. Garlic, minced
4 c. Chicken broth
1 – 2 Bay leaves
1/4 tsp. Red pepper flakes
Smoked salt – I use Cherrywood Smoked Salt from Oaktown Spice Shop – best ever!
Pepper

1) If using dry peas, soak 6 hours or overnight. For camping, I brought a Tupperware and soaked them in that overnight.

2) In cast iron skillet, cook bacon until crispy. Drain on paper towels and chop. Set aside

3) Add onions to cast iron with bacon and cook until translucent

4) Add garlic with onions, cook until fragrant

5) In a large pot, add peas, onions, garlic and chicken broth, bay leaf, red pepper, and smoked salt and pepper to taste

6) Bring to a boil

7) Move to indirect heat if camping over fire, or low heat if at home, and simmer 20-30 minutes

8) Garnish with bacon, more salt (if desired), and a few dashes of Tabasco (if desired)

9) Enjoy and cheers to the new year!

The Goose Hangs High!

I would love feedback! If you have tried this recipe, please rate below and/or comment!

Easy Campfire Muffins Recipe to Try

Once I found this cute cast iron muffin tin, like this one, I knew I was going to have to test out some muffins for breakfast. I’ve mentioned this before but I used to make my own pancake/baking mix before a camping trip until I learned about Kodiak Pancake Mix which can be used for many different baking items, I haven’t looked back. It is easy to use, delicious and packed with protein! I highly recommend if you haven’t checked them out before.

Ingredients –

2 cups Kodiak Pancake Mix
2 Bananas
2 eggs (I pour from my egg water bottles that I prep before the trip and gauge 2 eggs)
1/2 cup cinnamon sugar mix (1 part sugar to 3 parts sugar like I use for monkey bread recipe)
1 to 1.5 cup water
Brown sugar
Oil or cooking spray
Foil

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Easy Keto Cheese Steak Casserole for Camping

I was starting to wonder if I was going to get to camp this summer but thankfully I was able to find a spot for a couple of nights. So a girlfriend and I packed up the car and headed for some nature, float time and hikes! I wanted to make something easy the first night and my friend is keto so spent time searching my brain for ideas until I realized I could just re-create my cheese steak recipe for the grill as a casserole! It turned out so good we nearly at the entire pan between the two of us!

Ingredients –

Sliced deli roast beef
Red bell pepper
Orange bell pepper
Yellow or white onion
Italian dressing (I used Ken’s Simply Vinaigrette Italian to avoid any added sugar and carbs)
Sliced provolone cheese
Sliced pepper jack cheese
Butter lettuce (optional)

Peppers and Onion Sauteing over Campfire

Directions –

1) Place cast iron over fire and add tablespoon of oil until heated

2) Add sliced bell peppers and onion to cast iron. Saute until semi-soft

3) Add 1/4 – 1/2 cup Italian dressing until peppers and onion are coated

4) Place sliced roast beef evenly around cast iron

5) Top with provolone and pepper jack cheese until fully covered

6) Cover cast iron with aluminum foil and heat for about 15 minutes or until the cheese has fully melted and roast beef is heated through

7) Serve with butter lettuce (as a lettuce wrap) or side salad

I would love feedback! If you have tried this recipe, please rate below and/or comment!

Make-Ahead Breakfast Sausage for Camping

So while you can definitely make these simply at your campsite with the ingredients and a bowl, I like to make ahead to save time in the morning. You can also freeze these after making which helps keep the cooler cold

I am also lucky to have Oaktown Spice Shop locally and highly recommend their spice blends especially this breakfast sausage one. Yes, you can make your own spice blend but theirs is so tasty, I haven’t made one in years!

Ingredients –

1 lb. ground turkey
Salt
Oaktown Spice Shop Breakfast Sausage blend
Maple syrup (optional)

Directions –

Knead 2 tsp. salt into 1 lb. ground turkey for a few minutes in a large bowl
Add 2 tbsp. of breakfast sausage spice and mix together with hands
Add 1-2 tsp. maple syrup depending on how sweet you like making sure patties remain sticky
Form into small patties
Heat oil in a fry pan
Add patties to pan and cook for about 5 minutes
Flip and cook for another 5 minutes or until the center is 165 degrees
Add to freezer bags if storing in freezer or can keep in refrigerator for 3-4 days

I would love feedback! If you have tried this recipe, please rate below and/or comment!

Make-Ahead Brownies for Your Camping Trips

We love brownies when camping. Whether to just snack on during the day or to add to s’mores cones or banana boats for dessert in the evening (recipes to come later). After all, calories don’t count when camping, right?

We used to get the brownie bites from Costco or Safeway but then I realized I have a great recipe everyone loves so why not just make ahead. Super quick to make and so much better than store bought! Also you can pre-measure out the dry ingredients into multiple mason jars during some down time saving you time the week of camping to whip together. Just dump dry ingredients into a bowl, add eggs, butter, water and vanilla and bake for about 20 minutes!

Ingredients –

1 2/3 C. granulated sugar
3/4 C. cocoa
1 1/3 C. all-purpose flour
1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt

3/4 cup melted butter
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons water

2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions –

Preheat over to 350 degrees

Mix together dry ingredients
Add melted butter, eggs, water and vanilla and mix until well blended
Spray a 13×9 baking dish and spread the brownie mixture evenly in it

Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean

Remove and let cool in pan

I would love feedback! If you have tried this recipe, please rate below and/or comment!

Homemade Spicy Teriyaki Sauce Recipe

This was a new one for last season and since then, I’ve been messing around with my homemade teriyaki sauce. I love spicy and this one definitely has a kick. But if you don’t want spicy, omit the cayenne and red chili peppers.

Ingredients –

2/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup seasame oil

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons honey

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 inches garlic, grated – I bought one of these at an Art & Wine Festival and it has been great for grating garlic and ginger!

3 to 4 oz. pineapple juice

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon crushed red pepper

Green onions, chopped

Skewers

Directions –

Blend or whisk all together

Add green onions to bag
Add cut chicken in cubes, veggies (red onion, bell peppers, mushrooms) and cubes pineapple
Add marinade
Marinate for a few hours or preferably over night before leaving on your camping trip. (Another fun tip, if you don’t plan to have this until the second or 3rd night of your trip, marinate a few hours and then freeze. It helps keep your ice chest cool!)
Also another fun tool that makes coring a pineaple so easy to cut is this! One of my favorite purchases that I didn’t think I needed but now am so grateful to have
When ready, alternate chicken, veggies and pineapple on skewers like these and place on grill. Grill for about 4 minutes on each side.

Remove, serve with some sides like the garlic bread I previously shared and enjoy!

I would love feedback! If you have tried this recipe, please rate below and/or comment!

A Camping Staple – Tri-tip!

Finished Tri-tip cooked on campfire — Finished Tri-tip cooked over a campfire

I spent last week in Austin. I love Austin. Great food, delicious cocktails and don’t even get me started on Torchy’s breakfast tacos!! In any case it made me start thinking about the bbq season. It’s finally warm and the rain has stopped here so time to clean that grill!

One of my first night staples when camping is tri-tip. Why is it a staple? Always a hit, I can cook different levels for different people’s preferences, and it makes for great leftovers in breakfast burritos!

So living in California where I do, we have an local bbq place that has amazing tri-tip so I won’t lie, I cheat on this recipe. However, I thought I would do the post for anyone who wants a sure proof tri-tip!

If you live in the Bay Area, you can just cheat and go get an already marinated bag of Kinders tri-tip and throw it on the grill once you are set up at campsite. However if you don’t have a local one or need it to be cheaper given a larger group my suggestion is this –

Go to Costco and buy their large tri-tip – rule of thumb is 1/4 – 1/3 per person but I like leftovers for other meals so go 1/3 – 1/2 per person
Find at least 2-3 Kinders bottles of original marinade

Add meat to a large ziplock bag and add Kinders marinade
Seal bag and shake around to fully coat the meat
Marinate for at LEAST 24 hours

So for camping, I always marinate the night before the trip so it is ready to go when I get to the campsite the next day

For Grilling Over Campfire –

Start campfire and work the fire until you have a good amount of hot coals in the pit
Put cast iron over heat until hot to touch
Add meat fat side down in the cast iron and place directly over heat – if you aren’t getting a sizzling sound right away, putting a foil down on the grill and searing off of that before adding to the cast iron works
Sear fat side down for 5 min and then flip for 5 more minutes
If you are using foil to get a sear, add tri-tip to cast iron pan after this step
Cover cast iron pan with foil
Continue to cook for 10-12 more minutes for medium rare, 20-25 for medium, 30-35 for medium well
If you have a meat thermometer (I personally love my Thermapen), cook until temperature is at the desired doneness
- Rare: 125-130° F
- Medium Rare: 130-135° F
- Medium: 135-145° F
- Medium Well: 145-155° F
- Well Done: 155° F
Once the temperature is close to your desired doneness (about 5-10 degrees below), remove from the heat and tent with foil for 10-15 minutes before slicing to let the juices sit. The meat temperature will continue to rise during this step
Normally most my friends like medium rare so I cook to that, remove, cut the ends and add those back into the cast iron and cook to medium well for the friends who want that

For Grilling On a Grill

Preheat grill until about 350 degrees or until sizzles with a drop of water
Add meat fat side down
Sear fat side down for 5 min and then flip for 5 more minutes
Continue to cook for 10-12 more minutes for medium rare, 20-25 for medium, 30-35 for medium well or desired temperatures (above)
Remove from heat slightly before reaching desired temperature and place in a tent foil made of aluminum foil for 10-15 minutes before slicing

Serve with garlic bread, corn, salad and/or potatoes!

I would love feedback! If you have tried this recipe, please rate below and/or comment!

Delicious Camping Chili with Leftover Ingredients

Usually by the last night of camping, I try to either make a meal out of everything we have leftover or a meal mostly from cans. My last camping trip I decided to try making a chili based off of both because it’s usually what we have at the end – even some beer!

Ingredients –

1 medium onion, chopped
5 cloves minced garlic
1 green bell pepper chopped
2 jalapeño peppers chopped
1 can of Chipotle chili’s in adobo sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 16 oz can chicken broth
1 12 oz beer
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinse
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tsp Tabasco
Any leftover items you might have – cheddar cheese, sour cream, green onions…

Directions –

In a Dutch oven or cast iron pan, add a couple teaspoons of oil and create a thin layer on the bottom. Last summer I bought this pan from Macy’s and it worked great for this meal and fed four people easily!

Move pan closer to the flames and heat
Add the chopped onion and minced garlic until onion is soft
Add a bit of the adobo sauce from the chili can, tomato paste, peppers, cumin and Italian seasoning.
Stir and cook for about 3-5 minutes until peppers have softened
Add tomatoes, broth, and beer with the sugar and mix to combine
Move the pot away from the heat towards the edge of the campfire grill
Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes
Add beans and re-cover and cook for another 10-15 minutes
Remove from heat and serve into bowls
Add the toppings you have (sour cream, cheese) and serve with campfire cornbread – recipe to come!

I would love feedback! If you have tried this recipe, please rate below and/or comment!

Fun Tailgate Food: Goat Cheese & Meat Stuffed Peppers

Baseball season is finally here and with that being an Oakland A’s fan means many tailgates. I love tailgating for the friendship bonding time and getting to test out new recipes that sometimes make the camping menus on our trips.

Usually my bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers are a staple for tailgates but lately it seems like all my friends are either Keto, Paleo or vegetarian so for our first tailgate of the season, I wanted to come up with something that everyone could eat. So here I give you a meat option for those Keto and Paleo friends and a goat cheese option for the vegetarians.

Keto & Paleo Friendly Bell Beppers –

Ingredients:

Mini bell peppers – I grabbed the 1.5 lb at Costco
1 lb. Ground beef (or turkey but I feel beef has a lot more flavor)
Taco seasoning packet
1/2 to 3/4 cup Tomato sauce
Small onion
Tomatoes (optional)
Black olives (optional)

Directions:

Slice mini bell peppers in half and scrape out the seeds
Add a little bit of olive oil to pan and add and saute onions for a few minutes. Then add ground beef and cook fully.
Add taco seasoning to ground beef and the tomato sauce. I added enough sauce that it was coated but not watery. Let beef simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Fill bell peppers with meat mixture
Top with tomatoes and olives if you want. The people in our group preferred no tomatoes or olives but really up to your audience
Create foil packets and add bell peppers to them. Grill for about 10 minutes or until the inside of the bell pepper looks heated through

Goat Cheese Mini Bell Peppers –

Ingredients:

Mini Bell Peppers
10.5 oz. Goat Cheese Log – I find the Kirkland brand 2 pack goat cheese logs at Costco the best for value
2/3 cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Three cloves of garlic, minced
2 – 4 Jalapenos (depending on spice level), seeded and chopped

Directions:

Slice mini bell peppers in half and scrape out the seeds
In a large bowl, combine softened goat cheese, diced jalapenos, minced garlic, and shredded parmesan cheese
Fill the mini bell peppers with the goat cheese mixture. Note: I find just using your hands is the easiest for this and I fill them to almost overflowing the brim of the peppers
Create foil packets and fill packets with bell peppers. Grill for about 10 minutes or until cheese looks heated through and oozing.

I would love feedback! If you have tried this recipe, please rate below and/or comment!

Easy Pancake Mix Recipe for Camping

One of my favorite traditions is this week – Mardi Gras! Also known as Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday and the main reason I love it – Pancake Tuesday. I love a good breakfast for dinner sometimes, and during college, I always heated up my pan and put together crepes, or pancakes, with all the fixings for my roommates and I. Of course some hurricanes always paired nicely. So this week, I give you breakfast!

I make large batches of this mix before the summer starts so I always have it ready to go for camping trips throughout the season. It’s also great just for an easy breakfast on the weekends. Just bring this mix, a small thing of buttermilk and 2 eggs.

Fun camping hack! Before every trip, I crack open eggs into a large bowl and very slightly beat (just to fit through the funnel). I then use emptied and cleaned plastic water bottles that I collect before preparation and insert a funnel into one. Then pour the eggs in through the funnel until full. Seal tightly and save in the fridge until you load your cooler. Of course you can’t do any crazy egg varieties this way (sunny side up, over easy) but works great for scrambled eggs, breakfast burritos and recipes like this that ask for 2 eggs!

Also this is one recipe I do on my small propane grill that I also bring. You can very much do it on indirect heat in a cast iron on the campfire in the morning but I’m usually doing such a big breakfast, I’ll have both the small propane grill and campfire grill going at the same time and just end up doing the pancakes on the propane grill.

Last year I got these stack-able pots and pans that I absolutely LOVE (see above)! GSI Stackable Pots

They even come with a small cutting board. It saves on space when packing the car, and gives you two pots, one saucepan and a cutting board all in the size of the big pan. Totally worth the money and less stress of trying to find the right pans to bring. If you are going to do the pancakes on the grill, I recommend a cast iron pan and melting a half stick of butter in the pan first to reduce sticking with the heat of a campfire.

Multi-use Baking Mix Recipe (adjust this to how much of a batch you want to make)-

3 cups Flour
1 tablespoon Sugar
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt

Recipe –

2 cups of Multi-use Baking Mix Recipe
2 cups (475 ml) buttermilk
2 eggs
Butter
Optional – chocolate chips, coconut, fruit slices you have at camp

In a large bowl, whisk together 2 cups baking mix, 2 cups buttermilk and two eggs until well blended.
Melt a little piece of butter in a medium saucepan (or half stick in a large cast iron). Put 1/4 cup batter at a time into the skillet.
If you want to add other items, spread on top of pancakes here. Chocolate chips are of course a big hit with the kid campers!
Cook edges look slightly brown and firm (about 3 – 5 min), then flip.
Cook other side until golden brown and firm.
Repeat until batter is gone.

I love to serve up with bacon and french pressed coffee!

Another fun tip – if you want to get people up at your campsite to start the day, start cooking bacon 😉

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

I would love feedback! If you have tried this recipe, please rate below and/or comment!