The year is winding down and everyone is settling down after the busy rush of the holiday season. Once the magic and chaos come to a close, it’s refreshing to know that we can start creating new beginnings, goals, and attitudes. One great way to kick off the new year is to gather the ones you love and eat a yummy, traditional southern New Year’s Day dinner. Although the traditional foods are delicious, sometimes the kids don’t think so. Decorate the dinner table with pretend gold coins and paper money, and check out some ideas on how to prepare your meal so the kids too can take part in eating for good luck and fortune with the recipes below.
Black-Eyed Peas (Hoppin’ John): Represents coins
Kids don’t always rush towards a pot of good ole black-eyed peas, so a twist on the traditional New Year’s favorite is a southern classic called Hoppin’ John. The combination of black-eyed peas with other ingredients makes it a more kid-friendly recipe at our house. The rice in the dish represents long life and abundance.
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped fine
- Salt to taste
- 2 cups cooked diced ham or bacon
- 1 cup rice (white or wild rice)
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 can (15.5 ounces) black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
- 1 large tomato, diced
- fresh ground pepper, to taste
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Instructions:
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet.
- Add onions and cook for two minutes.
- Add ham or bacon and continue to cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the rice and vegetable broth; set heat on high and bring mixture to a boil.
- Mix in the black-eyed peas.
- Cover skillet and reduce heat to a simmer; continue to cook for 10 minutes, or until most of liquid is absorbed.
- Stir in tomatoes; season with salt and pepper and continue to cook for 2 minutes or until heated through.
- Remove from heat.
- Stir in fresh parsley.
- Serve and enjoy!
Greens (Kale chips): Represents money (and maybe extra dollars in the kids’ piggy banks!)
Something about mushy, green vegetables will make my children run faster than ever from the dinner table. Although we adults make a delicious batch of collards for ourselves, we try something a little different for the kids: kale chips! As bizarre as that idea first sounded to me, I tried it and my girls gobbled this crunchy recipe up. If the kiddos aren’t a fan of kale chips, the parsley in the Hoppin’ John dish can serve as their ‘greens.’
Ingredients:
- Kale
- Salt
- Garlic Powder
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Remove kale leaves (in medium-size pieces) from the thick stems.
- Rinse and dry the leaves well and place in a bowl.
- Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and garlic powder, and make sure all leaves are lightly coated.
- Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 10 to 15 minutes, or until edges start to brown.
Pork: Represents moving forward (pigs cannot move backwards)
If the kids aren’t fans of a juicy pork loin, they can consider the ham or bacon in the Hoppin’ John recipe to be their ‘pork.’ Or you can make roll-up ham pieces for the kids to dip in mustard. This is a common lunch meat at our house so the girls don’t think it’s a weird, new food.
Cornbread Mini-Muffins: Represents gold and attracting wealth
Mini Cornbread muffins will fit perfectly in little hands. We don’t get fancy on this one --- just the boxed cornbread mix with melted butter on top and the kids scarf it down!
Cultural Additions
Add some interest to the meal and pick a traditional food from another culture. We chose grapes and pomegranates. In Spain, it is tradition to eat 12 grapes at midnight for each stroke of the clock for good luck, and Turkey and other Mediterranean countries eat pomegranates for good luck and prosperity. Even though our children aren’t up at midnight for the grape tradition, this adds colorful fruits to the plate and reminds the children that different parts of the world have traditions different from our own.
It seems that most of these ‘good luck’ foods are geared towards gaining money and wealth. Teach your children that if they are lucky in the New Year and receive these good fortunes, they need to remember to give to those that aren’t so lucky and prosperous. It’s always good to sneak in life lessons whenever possible! Happy New Year!
