Ringing In The New Year With The Ranch Kitchen

The new year is almost here and it's time to make those new year resolutions! This year, my resolutions are to organize my house, blog more by posting more recipes and continue to spend time doing the things we love as a family. Family is first in my life and above all things it's always my goal to make special moments and cherish the quality time I get to spend with them all.  I am extremely thankful for the year we have had and realize how lucky we are in so many ways.

Nothing speaks the New Year's foods like black-eyed peas, cabbage, my Cajun Baby Back Ribs or this fun black-eyed pea appetizer below. Let The Ranch Kitchen help you ring in the new year with this medley of good luck, prosperity and healthy recipes that will start your year off right.

For starters to bring in that good luck you must have black-eyed peas.  I'm a little superstitious, so we make these from scratch on New Year's Day.  These Black-Eyed Peas are a sure fire hit and simple to make.  You can use your crock pot and cook them all day or put them on the morning of for you lunch or afternoon for your evening meal. If you are Kielbasa link sausage fan, add that to the pot as your cabbage cooks for an easy meal everyone loves too.

Since cabbage is green naturally in color, it represents the color of money. So eat lots and lots of cabbage on New Year's Day as well.  Cabbage is good for you to start with and my Granny's is Wilted Cabbage is one of The Ranch Kitchen's biggest hits.  Cabbage, my friends, is a worldwide vegetable that everyone loves and this recipe is easy, easy to make and serve. 

This Black-eyed Pea Salsa is more of an appetizer for New Year's Eve, but is great as a side vegetable  along any meal when you are wanting something a little different.  I made this in bulk this year and will serve it with tortilla chips.

Next it's tradition to serve pork ribs for our meal as well on New Year's Day. This crazily represents how pigs root their noses forward when they nudge the ground...I can't make this up...so it means you will be going forward in the new year. At any rate..eat some pork and don't go backwards. It's the other white meat and my Cajun Back Baby Ribs are the best way to make them. You don't have to have a grill to make it, so your oven will do just fine. 

So Happy New Year from The Ranch Kitchen!  Thanks for following my site. It's been such an unexpected thrill these last years adding to my site and sharing our recipes with you.  Here's to the new year with all the luck, prosperity and happiness you can have!

Alise - The Ranch Kitchen

Happy New Year from The Ranch Kitchen! Foods for good luck!

Crazy to think we are about to close off the year 2015!  I remember thinking as young woman how old I would be in 2015...  Well I am a bit older, hopefully a bit wiser and life is speeding by, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

As we look forward to tonight, our New Year's Day celebrations or simple family meals, here are some tried and true recipes that are good luck foods.  We always try eat to these recipes to bring us prosperity and good health in the year ahead.

One of my favorite appetizers to serve on New Year's Eve is this The Ranch Kitchen's Black-eyed Pea Salsa.  It's a fast and easy side to make and is great with corn tortilla chips or as a side vegetable.  I love to serve it in a large over-sized champagne glass or footed crystal bowl for some height with the chips underneath it.  There is seldom any of this left, but if there is and you make a ton it will keep up to one week in your refrigerator.  

Click here for the recipe for The Ranch Kitchen's Black-eyed Pea Salsa

Each New Year's day I also make sure to cook a pot of black-eyed peas from scratch on my stove-top. I'm a little silly about eating it out of the can as I think I have to cook it to have the good luck.  But if I had to I would as we are that superstitious about it!  These are one of my very favorite peas and one thing we always make sure they are full of is some smoked ham.

You can eat the black-eyed peas alone or over white rice and make your own Hoppin' John dish.  I usually make around two pounds of black-eyed peas so that we can take them out with our other evening meals the next few nights.  One note is to buy  your black-eyed peas early on New Year's Eve or before as the stores are always sold out.  And I have been known to cook them in a crock pot beginning at midnight of the new year to have them ready the next a.m. for lunch.  

Click here for The Ranch Kitchen's Black-eyed Peas

At our house, you also have to make sure you make my Granny's Wilted Cabbage.  Cabbage is a sure fire way they say to have wealth and prosperity in the new year ahead...so we always make sure to eat a ton of it! This is as close as I can remember her recipe and we really do love it.  The surprise is the mustard that you add to the cabbage.  Don't add too much mustard or it will overpower your cabbage.  The mustard really gives it an added kick.  We rarely have much left of this cabbage recipe.  You can also add smoked ham or Kielbasa sausage to it to make a complete meal.  

Click here for Granny's Wilted Cabbage

And last try these Baby Back Ribs because anyone can cook them, you don't have to have a grill and can even get them done on a counter top oven.  The trick is to spray your foil with oil, season liberally with your favorite Cajun Seasoning like Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning and cook away.  

 

My husband's mom, Billie Nolan always served up ribs on New Year's Day at her house along with sauerkraut as her cabbage side dish.  It was always a great lunch and welcomed meal after a night out the evening before.  Our tradition the last few years was for Scott to smoke the ribs on his smoker, but in a pinch or when it's up to me to make them this was always my go to recipe.  You can baste these ribs with BBQ sauce ten minutes before taking off the grill, just before serving or eat alone as they are that good.  

 

I like to make huge double or triple batches and use the left over rib meat in pork enchiladas using my King Ranch Chicken recipe.   We will miss her lunch this year as she is now watching down from heaven on us, but will eat these quickly before we head to Houston to take our Bethany for her internship there.  We wish her the best and are going to miss her.  

Click here for The Ranch Kitchen's Baby Back Ribs Recipe

I hope these food help bring you the very best year yet.  To say I am excited about the year ahead is an understatement.  As we all know luck is what you make it.  It's truly  about how hard you work to achieve your goals and to have a little fun in the process.  

So here's to slimming down, blogging more for me, making time for yourselves and loving your families, friends and life.  

Enjoy your evening with family and friends and from our ranch to your home - Happy New Year!  

Alise - The Ranch Kitchen 

Happy New Year From The Ranch Kitchen!

Here's hoping your new year is truly your best yet!  May you remember that life is meant to be lived and have more fun than you've had in years past.  And remember that above all we need to be thankful for all the little and big things in our lives because we learn how to live because of them.

Below are some recipe posts that will help bring luck in 2014 if you, like my family, are a little superstitious and eat your cabbage for good fortune, your black-eyed peas for luck, and ribs....well that's because my husbands family always eats ribs on New Years Day.  

Enjoy and HAPPY NEW YEAR!  These are some of my families favorites that we enjoy each year at New Years Day lunch! We couldn't ring in the year without them!


The Ranch Kitchen's Black-eyed Pea Salsa

Granny's Wilted Cabbage

Country Style Pork Ribs

Get cooking!  

Alise @ The Ranch Kitchen!