I started the first day of 2009 right...with a bowl of oats.  I've missed my oats these past few weeks as I've been cleaning out the fridge, freezer and pantry. Breakfast:  1 cup prepared rolled oats, a splash of hemp milk, a dash of vanilla, a small handful of raisins and 1/2 an apple sprinkled with cinnamon and turbinado sugar.  On the side a piece of whole wheat bread smeared with 1 tbsp almond butter and a drizzle of cranberry "ketchup". The hubb and I lazed around the house most of today, it was lovely.  I caught up on some blogs, but not nearly as many as I need to!  Maybe tonight I can finish up...  Before going out for some errands today I made a quick lunch to keep me from stopping for something I would regret. Lunch:  A big ol' salad with romaine, spinach, yellow bell pepp, cucumber, dried cranberries, some crumbled feta cheese and light ranch dressing.  On the side, a Stoneyfield Farm yogurt.  I can't wait for my Oikos to return to the shelves!!!  I did pick up some Fage yesterday but want to finish up the last couple Stoneyfields I already had in the fridge before they go bad. Snack:  One of our errands today included a stop at Target.  I was feeling light-headed and a little nauseous so I picked up a Luna Peanut Butter Cookie bar.  It tasted ok, but did help me feel much better. Has anyone else ever heard that eating black-eyed peas on New Years Day will bring good luck in the upcoming year?  I can't remember when or where I heard this, but yesterday as I was making our grocery list I thought that black-eyed peas sounded like a fantastic idea.  Who can't use a little extra luck in the new year?!? Dinner:  Black-Eyed Peas on brown rice, maple roasted beets, carrots and brussels sprouts and oil-free cornmeal muffins.  Say goodbye to my lovely tree...I think this post will be its last appearance.  :( I soaked about 1 pound of dried black-eyed peas in water for about 4 hours this afternoon.  After rinsing the peas, I returned them to a large stock pot and covered them with 8 cups of chicken stock (about 1" of stock over the peas). I added

• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 ham steaks, chopped
• salt + pepper

brought to a boil, and let simmer for about 30 minutes. At this point, to my surprise, the peas were done! I wasn't ready for them yet so just kept them on low heat on the stove.  If you don't have the hours to soak ahead of time, you could skip the soaking step and just cook the peas on the stovetop for 2 hours. For the roasted veggies, I chopped

• 1 large carrot
• 3 small beets
• about a dozen brussels sprouts

and drizzled them with about 1 tbsp of olive oil.  They went into the oven on 400* for 30 minutes.  I pulled them out and drizzled maple syrup across the veggies, tossed them, and stuck them back in the oven for an additional 10 minutes. They weren't quite as maple-glazed as I would have liked for them to be...I'll add more syrup next time. The Oil-Free Cornmeal Muffins are a recipe I adapted from one of my favorite baking books, Sweet & Natural Baking by Mani Niall.  I was looking for a quick corn muffin recipe because corn bread and black-eyed peas belong together.  This one did not disappoint, I loved it! The muffins don't crumble like traditional cornbread, but they are wonderfully flavored and very moist. I will definitely be making them again! I enjoyed my muffin with a bit of Earth Balance spread. Oil-Free Cornmeal Muffins [adapted from Sweet & Natural Baking by Mani Niall] makes 8 muffins Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
• 2 tbsp turbinado sugar
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 large eggs

Method:

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350*.  Spray a muffin tin with nonstick spray.
2. In a medium bowl, sift the flour, cornmeal, turbinado sugar, baking soda and salt together. Make a well in the center.
3. In another medium bowl, whisk the agave nectar, buttermilk and eggs together.  Pour into well and stir with a wooden spoon just until combined.
4. Spoon the batter evenly into 8 of the muffin cups.  Bake until the tops spring back when pressed lightly, about 18 minutes.  Cool for 2 minutes, run a knife around the inside of the cups to release the muffins and remove them from cups.

Now I'm off to finish straightening up our house, put away Christmas and get ready for work tomorrow. Blech.  I can't believe I have to work tomorrow!  I really can't complain because I've had most of the last two weeks off, but its difficult to get motivated to go in for just one day before the weekend...   I hope you all have a lovely evening!