Happy New Year - No Black Eye Peas for Us

I know that for most people Black Eye Peas are the traditional food for the New Year, but that's not the tradition in our family or in most Hispanic households. We usually have Menudo, which is supposed to be great for a hangover, but this year I made Jalapeno Poppers and Meatloaf Pie. I know...doesn't really make sense. There is no rhyme or reason, but hey, it's a New Year and why not start it off being different and unpredictable right? 

 I've written about Meatloaf Pie before, it's my son's favorite dish and you can find the post and recipe HERE.

The Jalapeno Poppers idea and recipe came from one of my favorite food bloggers, The Pioneer Woman. The Pioneer Woman, Ree, is one of the nicest, funniest bloggers online. I have followed her forever and own her books. I've always wanted to try her Jalapeno Poppers so today I did. 

Super easy and you will love them if you try them! Just three ingredients, Jalapenos, Cream Cheese and Bacon! That's it! That's all!

I bought 10, cut them in half and removed the seeds. Here they are all naked and ready to be all dolled up! Oh...important thing to remember, don't touch your eyes with jalapeno juice on your fingers and if you like them a little hotter leave some of the white membrane and/or some of the seeds.

The first step to covering up their nakedness is to fill them with cream cheese....room temperature cream cheese. I found that just using a simple dinner spoon worked best. 

Then you take a package of bacon and cut it into thirds and wrap each pepper with a slice. Warning...use a toothpick to hold them together. I ran out of toothpicks and made the last few without them and the bacon slides off...you'll see that in later photos.

Be sure you place them on a rack so that the bacon grease can drain, that will help to crisp up the bacon. And Voila! You end up with this!

I took all the toothpicks out for the picture but you can see in that one in the middle that the bacon opened up...which is why I say to make sure to use a tooth pick to seal them.

Aren't they lovely? And they are so delicious! I could have eaten them all and I almost did! The great part is they are low-carb! Yes, still doing the low-carb thing. I strayed a bit during the holiday's but tomorrow is Jan 2nd and it's time to get myself back on track!

May the very best of last year be the very worst of this year! Happy New Year!