Author: Debbie

Keisha Pittman McKinney: Breakfast Egg Sandwiches {Foodie Friday}

Each week for the past year I’ve made these breakfast sandwiches for Mr. McKinney. I need a little variety in my life, but he can eat the same darn thing every, single, day. I came up with the recipe when we were both trying to do a little better with our eating. We jumped on the Weight Watchers campaign, tried the myfitnesspal app for a while and then learned if we watched what we ate instead of watched everything we eat go in our mouths, we could find the balance we were seeking. That and an evening stroll around the neighborhood with our dog Bailey always helped too!

Mr. McKinney was driving through McDonald’s in the mornings for an egg white delight, which is a great option if you can afford to eat out breakfast every morning or travel a lot. Then, we tried the Jimmy Dean frozen option and still with a 250 or below calorie count, they were a good option. But, I’m always convinced I can make something better and cheaper than we can just buy pre-made so the challenge was on! <she says with her hands on her hip in domestic diva mode>

Keisha (Pittman) McKinney is settling in to married life in South AR after she #becamemrsmckinney. A Digital Media Director by day for a church in Northwest Arkansas, Keisha is remembering what its like to plan ahead for shopping trips to “the city,” getting resourceful at her small town Walmart and creating online shopping personas everywhere. She blogs @bigpittstop about daily adventures, cooking escapades, #bigsisterchats, the social justice cases on her heart, and all the activities tied to becoming a new mama in Jan 2018!

Blog –bigpittstop: new journey, new normal, new you – http://www.bigpittstop.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/bigpittstop

Twitter – https://twitter.com/bigpittstop

Instagram – http://instagram.com/bigpittstop#

Pinterest – http://www.pinterest.com/bigpittstop/

Tasty Tuesday: Celebrating National Soup Month with Chili

Courtney Schulist: Super Easy 5 Ingredient Chili

Grab your spoons, it’s Chili season!! Perhaps I should start off by saying any time is Chili time for me. I don’t discriminate based on weather, but I especially love it during the Fall/Winter seasons. Unfortunately, I don’t always have the time to make the beans homemade on top of making the chili, so this Chili recipe is for those times.

This Chili can be made using only 5 ingredients and is super quick to make. It’s also delicious, but most chili is. READ MORE

Anita Stafford: Savage Chili

When the weather turns cool a bowl of chili is one of my favorite meals. Savage Chili is a recipe I have been making at my house for several years because it is easy to put together and super delicious. This recipe has been adapted from the cookbook Winning Recipes for Tailgating, a cookbook that was compiled by the Winston Cup racing wives auxiliary. I received the cookbook as a gift from a golf tournament my husband was playing in, and this has been a super cookbook. Now and then my husband even gets the cookbook out and makes the chili himself. READ MORE

Maegan Clark: Spicy White Chicken Chili

It’s finally getting cold in Arkansas! I never thought this moment would happen since we were in the 90’s last week, but that’s the South for you – really unpredictable weather. It’s been a cold and rainy weekend so I knew exactly what I wanted to cook Sunday night for dinner… Spicy White Chicken Chili! It’s not too spicy, but it does have a little kick. READ MORE

Katharine Trauger: Second Place Chili

ALMOST WINNING A CHILI CONTEST. YIKES!

My son wanted to enter a guys-only, chili-making contest, and asked me to teach him how to make a pot of chili.So I did. This is my favorite recipe, and I promise I only told him what to do—I did not touch it, the entire process.

Smoky, hot, and red throughout I love it, even for breakfast with an egg on top. Oh MY! READ MORE

Anita Stafford: Dove’s White Chicken Chili

This is a delicious chicken chili recipe that I borrowed from one of my sister’s cookbooks. Helen is as avid a cookbook collector as I am, so when I visit her in Texas, I always spend some time browsing her cookbooks for interesting recipes. This chili recipe came from The Dove’s Nest cookbook published by the Dove’s Nest Restaurant in Waxahachie, Texas. READ MORE

Jamie Smith: 1 for 1 Meat and Bean Chili Slow Cooker Chili

This chili is almost not a recipe, considering it’s so easy! It’s one of my more popular winter potluck recipes that coworkers at one of my jobs usually asked me to make. My husband loves it too!

I call it 1-for-1 chili because essentially, the ingredients are one of everything for one pound of meat. READ MORE

Jessica Bauer: Merry Monday

My eyes blinked into the morning light on Christmas Day. Yes, you read that right: morning light.

For the first time in years, no child rushed into our bedroom on December 25 until after the sunrise. When I asked my husband what time it was as Owen impatiently shifted his weight from foot to foot, he told me 7:00. Seven?? If we had a rooster, he’d have crowed long ago. Parents across the country were already picking up wrapping paper and starting breakfast, some even going back to sleep. Heck, it even took a few minutes for the boys to rouse Nora enough to realize what day it was.

I think it was the combo of Christmas Vigil Mass, followed by an obsession with the Santa tracker app. READ MORE

Jessica Bauer is a small-town girl raising her bunch in southwest Arkansas. Her cast of characters includes a husband of 10 years, three mostly sweet kids, and 11 chickens. She blogs about them all at Life With the Bauer Bunch. Stop by to check out the good, the bad, and the funny in motherhood.

Lyndi Fultz: Salad for Breakfast

Add a salad to your breakfast and start the day right.

Here is one idea you may not have thought about that ensures you get the day started off right by consuming vitamins and nutrient-rich foods from the get-go… try adding a salad to your breakfast plate.

That’s right, salad. Add it right next to your eggs and bacon. You don’t need a fancy recipe or tons of ingredients. I like to use a spring mix with lots of colored leafs, drizzle with olive oil and a dusting of cracked black pepper. I try to always have a pretty bowl filled with cherry tomatoes next to my fruit tray so it is quick and easy to grab a few and add. However, skip the tomatoes and it still will be delicious.

Nancy Kay Grace: End of the Year Reflection

The end of the year provides a great time for reflection. The process takes some time, but looking back over the past is beneficial. Does it sound too daunting? A simple plan will help you and give guidance for your next year’s goals.

Guide for End of Year Reflection

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Tasty Tuesday: National Soup Month

#CelebratingNationalSoupMonth

Brrrr. Arkansas has been in a real deep freeze so far this new year. I can’t think of a better way to chase away that chill during National Soup Month than with a brimming bowlful of warm and hearty soup. Our ARWB members have a variety of them for you to choose from this week. Be sure to pay them a visit and let them know how much you appreciate their willingness to share these savory ideas with you.

Rachel Hough: Best Damn Soup Evah

Enter….the best damn soup evah! What makes this soup so great? Well, it’s wonderful on it’s own as it’s a just a homemade vegetable beef soup, but what makes it even bettah’ is that every ingredient in the soup was either grown and harvested by me, or killed/butchered by us. I know where EVERY. SINGLE. INGREDIENT. comes from and since I’ve either frozen or canned all the ingredients, it’s super easy to make. READ MORE

Renee Birchfield: Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

I love summer so much, but it has a lack of some foods that I love. Soups, stews and chilis are some that I miss the most in those hot months. Thankfully it is just about the right temperature to eat them again. Fall started last week so even though it’s a bit warm still I am jumping in with decorations and this Roasted Butternut Squash Soup.

Last year I went to a little dinner party that we dubbed Dinner with the Doc, I wrote about it here, we had this amazing soup and finally I got around to making it. I’m so glad this is what I get to have for lunch this week and don’t have to share. READ MORE

Amy Gramlich: Stovetop Sausage and Cheese Tortellini Soup

As my husband says, you can’t go wrong with cheese tortellini. Earlier this week, I couldn’t decide which of the sausage and cheese tortellini soup recipes on Pinterest I wanted to try. None seemed healthy in any form or fashion so I couldn’t use that as a determinant. But delicious? All sounded highly delicious. The two recipes I was vollying between are this sausage and tortellini soup from Party in My Kitchen and this Crockpot sausage and tortellini soup from Little Fellows.

Ultimately, my pantry and fridge made the decision for me. I had cream cheese and did not have evaporated milk. I went with the Little Fellows recipe as a base but made a few changes. Now, y’all know I love coming home to a good slow cooker meal, but I forgot to brown my sausage before work which really messed up my whole slow cookin’ process. READ MORE

Keisha McKinney: Souper Saturday Mexican Chicken and Roasted Tomato Soup

So, for 2 weeks I’ve been wanting homemade soup. I was all ready last weekend and the lazy bug kicked in so it didn’t happen. But the almost blizzard conditions (remember I’m from TX) that blew in on Friday left me freezing to my bones and fully committed to my Saturday adventure of multi-tasking – cleaning and cooking simultaneously.

I’ll admit, it was just about throwing a bunch of junk together and crossing my fingers that it worked. I’d love to be cool like Mix n Match Mama, Dining with Debbie or Heather’s Dish and actually make up a recipe that you could duplicate. But, my style is more to tell you what I did and why I did it and let you figure out if its something you want to repeat. You see I’m all about knowing tastes and learning what makes a great food marriage (at least a good party in your mouth) and then making that magic happen over and over. READ MORE

TARAMAHOOTA SOPA CON ARROZ VIA RICELAND FOODS DININGWITHDEBBIE

Riceland Foods (Debbie Arnold): Taramahoota Pollo Sopa Con Arroz

Good friends are such a blessing. And they are especially so when they share delicious, original recipes with you and allow you to share those as you please. My good friend, Chef Liz Bray, created the original version of this Taramahoota (tear uh ma hoot uh) soup years ago when she was developing recipes for Fagor 3 in 1 Pressure Cookers. It has become a family favorite and one I have shared often with others. READ MORE

Katharine Trauger: Turkey Minestrone

Okay, I’ve been working more on being organized because I got a good start when I froze leftover turkey from the holiday, in approximately one-pound packages.

I hope you did not throw yours out or force your family to eat turkey until it was coming out of their ears!

Anyway, I’ve had three pounds of frozen turkey to look at in the freezer and have been dreaming until I just could not STAND it anymore!

So I made turkey minestrone. Sort of. Except I am not sure what that is and I did not have eggs to make noodles with (after making two cakes in a row. Well, really four, if you count mistakes…) READ MORE

Riceland Foods (Heather Disarro): Tomato and Brown Rice Bisque

I have yet to meet a person who isn’t a fan of the traditional grilled cheese and tomato soup comfort meal. For a while I may have been the only one who wasn’t a big fan of tomato soup. The canned version really isn’t my cup of tea; the flavor typically a little too sweet for my liking. However, once I came around to tomatoes in general I couldn’t help but be drawn to the homemade versions of tomato soup I then came in contact with. READ MORE

Celebrating National Soup Month with #ARWB! Check out these tasty bowls of deliciousness.

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Debbie Arnold: Lucky Black-Eyed Peas and Collard Greens Soup

#CelebratingNationalSoupMonth

It’s tradition, y’all. And in the South we’re all about tradition. Black-eyed peas and greens can be found in some form or another on just about every Southern table on New Year’s Day ensuring wealth and good luck.

Legend has it that the tradition dates back to the Civil War era (what doesn’t in the South?) when Union soldiers stripped the fields bare except for peas and greens which they left thinking they were animal feed. That was a win-win for those poor Southerners. This recipe can be found on Riceland Foods blog: READ MORE

KELLEE MAYFIELD: Gluten Free Flaxseed and Almond Meal Pancakes {Foodie Friday}

This is for all of the gluten sensitive, gluten intolerant, celiac, paleo dieters, and folks who enjoy breakfast.

According to Niall McCarthy, contributing writer at Forbes.com, “The number of Americans going gluten-free has tripled since 2009.”

“Today, some 3.1 million people across the United States follow a gluten-free diet,” McCarthy reports in his article published Jan. 17. “Seventy-two percent of them are classified as ‘PWAGs’ – people without celiac disease avoiding gluten.”

I’m a “PWAG” – person without celiac disease avoiding gluten – and I know I’m not alone. I haven’t had an official blood test done to determine my exact food sensitivities but I know how I feel when I avoid gluten. I have more energy and my skin is clear. Any stomach (read more)

Kellee Mayfield – Delta Moxie

In 2007, my family and I moved to Lake Village, Arkansas in Chicot County (I refer to it as LA…lower Arkansas) smack dab on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River.

It’s rural. To give you bigger city folks a frame of reference…there is no Starbucks within a 90-mile radius.

I am an artist, traveler, real-food-eating, sensible-shoe-wearing mother, wife and former sales representative for a medical device company.

Join me as I paint, admire art, and share the experiences that enrich our lives through travel.

And I’ll share my home base in very southeast Arkansas and the Mississippi Delta. All with a southern drawl.

Let’s connect on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat, LinkedIn and Facebook – @deltamoxie.

Bethany Stephens: How to Hostess with the Mostest

’Tis The Season!

Whether you’re hosting family for the holidays, putting together a big New Year’s Eve shindig or simply vowing to make the leap and entertain more in 2018, one thing is clear: keeping it simple is the best approach.

A common thread during my childhood was parties and get togethers of every kind. When I was growing up, we lived in a lot of interesting places… and my parents were always warm hosts with a knack for entertaining.

All that helping, observing and listening helped me glean a few tips for party hacking and laid back hostessing. Let me help you take a deep

breath and plan a fun – and survivable – party! READ MORE

Beth is President of Soapbox Influence. She is passionate about big ideas and storytelling. Prior the hatching the concept for Soapbox, she spent 15+ years in marketing, content creation, social media, PR and communication strategy across a number of sectors (nonprofit, tourism, community and economic development). As a blogger, writer and social media lover herself, she loves bridging the gap between brands and influencers by helping talented content creators work for some of the world’s biggest brands and make a living from their living rooms. Beth is exhaustingly enthusiastic, immensely fond of Arkansas and has an acute affection for coffee and technology. While most humans are made up of 75% water, Beth is probably about 40% red wine.