Black Eyed Peas- Abby Style

Let me just be real honest here and put up a disclaimer. You're about to see several recipes come through in the next couple of days that are going to leave you saying: "Where did Abby go and why did Paula Deen take over her blog?!" Never fear, it's still me! My parents gave me a new dutch over, a fantastic knife set and the best pair of onion goggles for Christmas and it truly seems to have revolutionized my cooking. I'm now three for three for fantastic meals in the past three days and I just had to share them here. Even though it's "technically" the new year now, I'm still counting them for last year's resolution to try new recipes. Hope you enjoy!

My mom was always a firm believer that we needed to eat our black eyed peas on New Year's day to bring us good luck. Some years we had a beans and rice type soup meal and others the beans were just a small side dish. Really, all I remember is that black eyed peas really aren't my favorite, so I'd eat my one spoonful and move on to something better. Since getting married, I haven't really put much emphasis on making sure we get our beans, mainly due to selfishness. There are just other things I would rather eat!!

Once again, this year I probably would have just let the tradition pass us on by, but after seeing too many a tweets about everyone getting their BEP and luck in for the new year, I started feeling guilty. So I concocted a recipe in my head and sent Cody to the store for supplies. Would you believe the store was out of BEP's on New Year's Day? Apparently you're supposed to plan ahead for this meal. Luckily Cody found a stock boy who was very slowly refilling the shelves {as in, picking up 2 cans off the crate at the end of the aisle, walking to the middle, putting them on the shelf, then walking back down to the end. I'm sure his employers appreciate his speed!} and was able to get 2 cans from him to save our meal!

Here's what you'll need:
2 cans black eyed peas, undrained
1 large can green chilies
1 pound ground hot sausage {the breakfast kind}
Broth

While the sausage was cooking, I made my cornbread and had it ready to go in the oven, though I didn't put it in yet. I put the beans and chilies in a pot to start warming them up and added salt, lots of pepper and minced garlic to season. Once the sausage was done, I added it directly into the beans pot and added roughly 1 1/2 to 2 cups of broth, just to make sure it didn't dry out. I let it simmer together for the 15 minutes while the cornbread was cooking.

Y'all. I do not like the taste of black eyed peas, yet I will totally make these again. They were delicious! {full disclaimer, I added ketchup to my beans. I believe it's what took the recipe over the edge :} If you're looking for an easy, cheap {roughly $5 and we'll get at least 4 servings out of it} meal, try this one out!

Looks like the Neinasts will have more than their fair share of luck this year!