Do you ever combine recipes to make your own?

Yes I just cooked a pot of black eye peas.

I soaked them in water over night, rinsed, added new water.

Added some chopped onion and celery. and ham hocks and cooked on low for a couple of hours.Took the ham out and cut it off the bone and cut up lightly added it back to the pot. Added a little bit of honey for sweetness Then I had some left over rice so I added that an small handfull of uncooked rise and let it cook somemore till the new rice was done and wellah.Added a little salt & pepper and it was done. It was great and now I also have the leftovers in the freezer for when I want somemore.

This is/was a old family tradition I guess you could say, as my Dadf was from Texas and he always had to cook a pot of black eye peas for New Years, for luck. I just tweeked it in my own way.

Sound good.

The only thing I would have done differently is NOT soak the beans overnight. I would have just started them in the crockpot on high for the first 2-3 hours, then low for 2 hours, then add other ingredients & slow cook on low for 2-4 hours, depending on the size of the hambone. I hardly ever put meat in beans, but that's how I'd do it when I used to eat meat in my beans! Omit potatoes &...

Make some rice on the side or throw some in with the beans in the last hour of cooking. You need to keep an eye on the water level for the rice to cook correctly. Hard to do in a small crock-pot.

Yes I have added or changed a few ingredients around in recipes. They turn out pretty good for the most part. I know some people hate tuna casserole, but I add different crunchy food to it and it tastes good to me.

As for the Patriots game last night, all I can say is what a great achievement. It was a good game.

Yes, I combine recipes, esp if I don't find exactly what I'm looking for. I often make up my own too and it's always a little different each time I make something. I like to use a lot of spices and experiment with them. I make bean soup in the crock pot too, glad yours turned out well.---Luvs

I do that a lot. My grandaughter is always asking "what's for supper ?" and I usually say I'll let you know when I'm finished. I use mushroom soup a lot and add sauteed onions, garlic ,and green pepper then add either cooked chicken or ground beef and serve with pasta. That's how chef's come up with new recipes, by experimenting.

I've never met a recipe that I didn't try to improve on. It's a force of habit that I learned at a very young age, from my Mother.

I love doing this kind of stuff, and the more outrageous the recipe, the better I like it!

It's totally amazing what you can end up with.

Not so much as combine recipes. I sort of just start throwing stuff together that seem to fit whatever I am trying to achieve and make it somewhat tasty and throw it into a pot and cook it. If it doesn't come out to good I just add some pepper and a couple of tablespoons of 100,000 heat unit cayenne powder and that usually fixes it right up.

I just recently combined recipes and added stuff on my own to make a better hawaiian wedding cake.

I like to take a recipe, cook it the way they say the first time and then add or subtract according to our tastes.

Sure. That is what cooking is all about.