Black Eyed Pea Soup

Since it has been so cold, I've been making some new WARM recipes in the crock pot. Here is one that I got brave and made, wasn't sure I'd like black eyed peas... I am not the typical southern cook nor eater. However, Mark and I both loved it and have plenty of leftovers for lunches this week!

Ingredients:
-1 pound dried black eyed peas
-1 pound spicy sausage, I used Hillshire Farm Hot Smoked Sausage
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1 cup diced celery
- 4 cloves garlic, diced
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions:
- Soak your beans overnight. Drain in the morning.
- Use a 5 to 6 quart crockpot. This will serve about 8 people.
- Dice the veggies, and dump them into your crockpot with the pre-soaked beans.
- Add sliced sausage.
- Pour in broth, and stir in Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
- Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for about 6.

Tips from Kitchen of Reality:
- I hate tiny diced up onions-- so I peeled and then cut the onion in half and put it in the crock pot. It left the flavor and then I took it out before serving.
- Mark and I both hate celery, so we left that out too.
- The spicy sausage was AWESOME!! Totally flavored the whole dish.
- This is a great dish to serve with cornbread.