It’s awards season. The Grammys. Peoples Choice. The Oscars. You’ve seen them or at least some of them, I’m sure. Well, around here at ARWB we have our own kind of special recognition to hand out.
Only there won’t be any little golden statures or glass pyramids. Nor will we be giving out swag bags worth thousands and thousands of dollars.
Just tons of thanks and deep appreciation from all of us in ARWB.
I thought it might be interesting to take a look at our Foodie Friday stats just to see how those posts from so many of you have performed. I was pleasantly surprised.
So here for you are the Top 10 All-Time Favorite Foodie Friday Posts as evidenced by their page views starting with the #1 MOST VIEWED FOODIE FRIDAY POST – Mel Lockcuff’s Chicken Fried Rice Spring Rolls?
I’d say she created a real winner, wouldn’t you? A winner created a winner?
But…you’re all winners in my book and I want to thank all of you who give of your time and talent to ARWB and Foodie Friday.
Take some time to visit these posts and leave a word of thanks and congrats for these gals. You’ll be glad you did. Promise.
One of the first gifts I gave my husband was a Tervis with candy in it. Yes, I felt like I was in middle school. I mean, what gift do you give a boy who you know you really, really like, but you don’t have an official “status” with?I love giving gifts and I couldn’t image his 30th birthday in a new town with new friends coming and going without some kind of birthday present.I knew he had a 2 hour commute each day, so I thought it was an easy option without being too invasive. And, even better, it had the mascot logo of our alma materon it.
Then, came Christmas.As if buying for a birthday wasn’t hard enough, what do you do get for a 30 year old man for Christmas that won’t make him run away?I went with the milk frothier and biscuit cutter.Both were related to inside jokes and I thought it would remind him that I was listening.Plus, on my limited budget at the time, I could get each with a 20% off coupon at Bed, Bath and Beyond.
Little did I know that both of those gifts would eventually sit in my kitchen cabinets and work to my advantage on a Saturday morning!
Our favorite thing around our house is a lazy, unplanned Saturday.And, if I’m smart enough to notice one is coming early in the week, I’ll grab a few extra ingredients for a lazy Saturday morning breakfast.But, my favorite is when that impromptu moment happens and Mr. McKinney decides it is his turn to cook breakfast.Sometimes that involves some cheesy scrambled eggs.Sometimes an opened can of cinnamon rolls.And then there is the Saturday mornings I get to sit at the counter with a fresh cup of coffee and frothed creamer and watch him make biscuits. (yes, I finally used one of those BBB coupons and bought him a pastry cutter for the cold butter)
Now, I can’t thank his previous roommate for all the habits he taught him.But I am oh so grateful that this biscuit recipe was on the list of things he picked up in bachelorhood!
Now, if you are really feeling crazy you can make these biscuits savory.On one particular Saturday, we found ourselves hosting the Posey women (Mr. McKinney’s mom and aunts).After he made these delightful treats for breakfast, I just insisted that he show off and he made a second batch for lunch.We folded in cheddar cheese and dried rosemary and used the smallest biscuit cutter in the set to have a basket full of fluffy delights for our luncheon.Let me tell you, they were more than impressed with his domestic skills.
I really should just thank @unashamedpanda <www.instagram.com/unashamedpanda> for his domestic skills and patience in helping us figure out the recipe with no instructions!
Keisha (Pittman) McKinney is settling in to her new 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 and the social justice cases on her heart.
Whether you are the Pioneer Woman, a contestant on the Worst Cooks in America, or just trying to get culinary in a small south Arkansas town, nothing makes dinner easier than a “cabinet creation.” Growing up, I always dreaded “clean out the fridge” buffet night. I would offer to help my mom get the meal ready because that left me first in line to pick out the remains of my favorite meal of the week. Thus leaving the mushy stuff that I didn’t like for the slow pokes who weren’t listening when the dinner bell rang!
On the contrary, I LOVED nights when my mom just winged it. She was (and still is) the queen of creativity in the kitchen. She taught me how to make incredible meals on a tight budget. She can always remake leftovers in to a new creation.She can take parts of two different meals and if you don’t pay attention, you think she has cooked a fresh dish 3 nights in the same week! It’s a not-so- secret talent and it’s been fun as we have added son-in- laws to the mix at our holiday table to watch their amazement at her dinner creations.
What she does best is always seek to be present with her people. Doing this takes lots of preparation. Mama will cook the week or weekend before we come and have meals ready in the fridge or freezer that we just have to bake and eat. (That leaves us more time for shopping, craft projects, window shopping, bargain hunting, cashing in coupons, and more shopping – all the essential things for time with your mama!)
She is also really great at her own “semi-homemade” treats. She will have the meat or cooked parts ready and just stir it all together at meal time. That’s exactly what happened with today’s dish. On their own, any of these ingredients are just fine. But, together, they are magic! And if a Cajun likes anything, it’s the magic that happens in a slow, stewed gumbo.
3 14.5-ounce Margaret Holmes Okra, Tomatoes, and Corn
1 14.5-ounce can petite diced tomatoes
1-2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 27-ounce cans Margaret Holmes Red Beans and Rice
“soppin” bread – frozen garlic bread recommended
Instructions
Place the chicken breasts in crockpot with 1 Tablespoon Cajun seasoning and 1/2 cup water.
Cook on low for 4 hours. Remove chicken to cutting board and dice in to cubes. Return chicken to crockpot and add canned veggies, tomatoes, and 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning.
Cook for 2 more hours on LOW. A few minutes before serving, add shrimp (chopped to desired size or left whole) and canned red beans and rice.
Stir together and serve hot with any sort of bread to sop up that goodness!
Notes
In case you are wondering, we are Texans, not Cajuns…therefore we let the people who know what to do, do it and we take full advantage of what comes our way!
Keisha (Pittman) McKinney is settling in to her new 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 and the social justice cases on her heart.
I had cut the first piece of the Crawfish Pie which is always the hardest. I set the slice aside to let it cool. Steam in a camera lens just doesn’t work. When I came back to start snapping pictures, someone had taken a huge bite out of the middle of the pie. I thought I would just die. All I could do was laugh and pull out two more slices. That’s the kind of fun that ensues when you are cooking and blogging at deer camp.
Crawfish Pie is on the menu tonight but first a little back story on how this recipe came about.
So, when Debbie said she needed volunteers for the Foodie Friday posts, I knew I wanted to help. I loved her idea of theming each month to a song. I noticed February was themed towards the song…Jambalaya on the Bayou. Lightbulb moment, I have a friend who lives in New Orleans and he could help me out with an easy Cajun dish. I emailed this idea to Debbie and she responded back with…”Is your idea to cook together with your friend?” I figured, that was something that could be arranged. The only problem, he lives in NOLA and I live in Arkansas. Oh the logistics. I called up my buddy Brian and we put together a plan.
Our only chance to meet up was at Brian’s family deer camp. This worked perfect for me being that it was only a couple hours from my house and the hubby and kiddo could get in a little hunting too. Did I mention, I know Brian because he’s my best friend’s brother-in-law? Yep, that’s right! This was also a chance to hang out with my bestie too. Y’all…she calls me Betty Crocker and I call Brian Guy Fieri. I’m sure you can see why…lol.
With our plan in place, we were ready to meet up back in January. Low and behold, the only snow we’ve had all winter decided to hit that very weekend. I thought, well, how are we going to get this Crawfish Pie recipe done together if the snow stops us from meeting up? I guess I should tell you that our big hurdle was the fact that we were taking our camper. Pulling a camper through snow and ice did not sound appealing. It was either leave a day early to beat the snow or Brian and I were going to have to skype to make the recipe together. Brian had already made his 6 hour drive so I was thankful my hubby had the fore sight to leave a day early. We had easy driving and Brian and I could still cook together. Yay!
Without further ado…Brian’s Crawfish Pie! If you love Pot Pie and Cajun food then this recipe is for you!
This recipe couldn’t have been possible without my person Guy Fieri. Big thank you goes out to my buddy Brian for the effort put forth to make his Crawfish Pie with me for ARWBal. We had so much fun cooking together or should I say me watching Brian cook…I did wash the dishes though.
Mmmmmmm. Yum. Soup month is my favorite! Soups are so easy to prepare, taste delicious, and are my new best friend as a mom to four little ones because clean-up is EASY and dirty dishes are minimal.
I have a rule for myself in my home. Anytime I make soup I must make double or triple the recipe. Soups are easy to freeze and save for a later date. They make excellent lunches as leftovers and are typically very healthy.
My thought is, if you are making a soup it doesn’t take that much extra work to double the ingredientsto throw in the pot and itsaves you time for a future meal.
My mom got me a HUMONGOUS soup pot for Christmas a couple of years ago, and it is still one of my most used and favorite gifts because when I make soup, I am really making about three soups. If you don’t have a big one, I suggest you make the investment and get one now. It is hands down one of my most helpful kitchen items.
The recipe I’m going to share with you is for a HUGE soup pot, so don’t double or triple the recipe to save it. Actually use the ingredients and amounts that I listed.
To freeze this soup, put it in freezer bags and lay them flat in the freezer. To thaw them out, you can put them in the refrigerator the day before. Or, if you are like me, you will forget. So, I just put my soup frozen and all on the stove top on the lowest heat available to thaw it out and warm it up. It works every time.
Having a plethora of frozen soups in my freezer has saved me in hosting on more than one occasion. You will always have something to serve unexpected company for a quick bite to eat.
Enjoy! Print this recipe or pin it to make later. But make it soon! Soups and cold weather are comfort to the soul!
2 Whole Chickens- cooked, deboned, and shredded or chopped (This is your preference) I prefer mine to be deboned and pulled apart in bitesize pieces about an ¾ inch long.
2 Tablespoons Cumin
2 Tablespoons dried Oregano
1 ½ teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon white pepper
Instructions
Quick rinse or soak the beans according to the package directions.
Put the beans in the large soup pot with the chicken broth and bring to a boil.
In saucepan heat the butter and add the garlic, onion, and green chilies. Sauté.
Add the onion mixture to the pot with the beans.
Add the cooked chicken and the spices.
Turn heat to medium low and cook, stirring occasionally.
I cook mine ALL DAY on low heat and let the smell fill my home. But, it can be ready to eat in 2 hours of cooking.
Garnish with sour cream, cheese, and chips if you desire.
It also goes great with a hot pan of homemade cornbread.
Notes
NOTE: I sometimes add in more chicken broth to make my soup the desired consistency that I like.
Amanda Farris is a former teacher/coach who hung up the whistle when she got promoted to mom. She still keeps those competitive juices by running in local races and playing competitive board games with her kids. She is the reigning Jenga champion in her home.
I have loved Cajun food for as long as I can remember. I grew up in Southwest Arkansas and lived a couple miles from the Louisiana line so a lot of our food was Cajun inspired. My Dad put Tony Chachere’s Cajun seasoning on everything we ate and I still do to this day. I eat it on chicken, veggies, in soups, on garlic bread, and even on my eggs in the morning! Trust me, its good stuff.
As much as I love Cajun food I may love pasta even more so any recipe that combines the two is a win in my book! I have been making my not-so-famous One Pot Cajun Pasta for a few years now and it is always a huge hit with my friends. I love that you can put whatever meat you want in it and it still tastes good. I usually use chicken and sausage because that it what I usually always have on hand. I have also made it with chicken and shrimp and shrimp and crawfish before and it is good no matter what meat combo you use!
Now this is a one pot dish but despite the name you don’t just throw everything in to the pot and hope for the best, there is actually a method to the madness. So let’s get to it!
First you cook both the chicken and sausage through with some Cajun seasoning and then you add the veggies. I use red, green and yellow bell peppers, an onion, 3 cloves of fresh garlic and some sliced mushrooms. You can totally add more veggies or substitute any of these for something else, this is just what I like!
When the veggies get soft you add in the dry pasta and chicken broth and stir, stir, stir! I tried that pot sized pasta the last time when I made this recipe and I have to say that I really loved it!no more breaking pasta and having it all different sizes! You bring all of that to a boil and then let it simmer for 10 minutes while making sure to stir it a lot so the pasta doesn’t stick!
After 10 minutes, or when most of the liquid is gone, you add in the heavy whipping cream (my fave) and Parmesan cheese and keep stirring. I turn the stove off at this point and let it sit for a few minutes to let it thicken up a little.
After that you just dish it up and eat! You can eat it plain or top it with green onions, more Parm, and it you’re feeling frisky a little more Tony Chachere’s. I always add a little more Tony’s…HA!!
So there you have it, my secrets to a super yummy, super easy, One Pot Cajun Pasta! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!!
Ricci is an Respiratory Therapist by day and a lobgger by night. She loves big hair, anything monogrammed, traveling and living in the natural state. She has one fur child, a dog named Sophie, and thoroughly enjoys being the “cool Aunt” to her many nieces and nephews. You can catch up with her on her lifestyle blog, Ricci Alexis, or find on any social media platform as @riccialexis
I love weird stuff – to a degree. In particular, I love midcentury modern weirdness, and I found this cake on Mid Century Menu, a blog about recipes and cocktails from the 1930s-1970s (sometimes beyond, but who’s counting?).
As a kid, my mama would make chocolate cake with leftover mashed potatoes. Did I care? Not a whit. And, I would not have known if she hadn’t told me. When I ran across this recipe, I knew I had to make it for a number of reasons, including:
My love of cake, first and foremost;
My love of pinto beans;
My love of weird things, particularly cheap, fast and easy weird things; and
I needed a dish for a church potluck.
Something that spoke to me about this recipe, besides being unusual, is its use of cheap, readily-available items almost everyone has in their cabinets. Pinto beans (and mashed potatoes, for that matter) sustained by family for generations, and we ate what was prepared until they were gone – no tossing anything out because we were tired of eating it. Essentially, the pinto beans in this cake serve as a filler so you don’t have to use as much flour for volume, and they are tasteless after the cake has baked, the same way the mashed potatoes are in my mother’s chocolate cake.
I like to think this recipe was born by someone who made too many beans, wanted to create some way of feeding them to her family one last time but had too few ingredients (or money with which to buy them), and made something actually delicious with what she had on hand. You can find the original recipe at MidCenturyMenu, but I simplified this even more to be as cheap, fast and easy as possible. My version is below, and the steps I took to make it are somewhat unorthodox, too.
The main thing to keep in mind with this cake is to use what you have on hand. Have some apples or pears about to go bad? Dice those up and toss 2 cups into the cake instead of the can of apple pie filling. Have leftover nuts from Christmas? Chop those and use in place of the walnuts. If you don’t have raisins, replace with canned pineapple or leave them out altogether.
If you use the cinnamon and sugar combination to prepare the bundt pan, you may notice your cake comes out dark. Rest assured, it’s not burned. You can use flour if you’d prefer, but I like to use the sugar and cinnamon to give the cake a little extra crunch and flavor.
And the original recipe called for cooked pinto beans that were fresh, dried or frozen. I used canned because it’s what I had available, they are already cooked, and I can’t taste any difference between canned and the other preparations.
As for how much time to bake the cake, I say start with 50 minutes and add or subtract time according to your oven. Everyone’s oven bakes differently so keep an eye on the cake after 50 minutes and check for doneness in 5-minute increments.
To ice or not to ice? I say a cake without icing is a great big muffin. You can make homemade frosting, dust the cooled cake with powdered sugar, ice with whipped cream or grab a cheap can of store-bought frosting, melt it to pourable consistency in the microwave and drizzle to your heart’s content. Whatever you do, this cake will stand up to it.
I hope you try this and are pleasantly surprised. If you’ll excuse me, I have cake to eat.
KD Reep is a writer, public relations practitioner and aspiring romance author in Little Rock. She owns Flywrite Communications Inc., a marketing communications agency in Mabelvale. She is a six-time recipient of the Public Relations Society of America’s Prism award and has been published statewide as well as in the Arkansas Times, Savvy Magazine, Bourbon & Boots, Arkansas Money & Politics, Delta Farm Press and Rice Farmer magazine, among others.
Years ago we went to a BBQ at a friend’s house. My husband sampled the beans she had made and kept offering them to me.
Well, full disclosure: I don’t really love beans.
I kept declining to try them, and finally did (just to shut him up. Y’all know the feeling!). Well, I’ll be! I actually liked these beans!
She called them Settler’s Beans and gave me the recipe. I’m not sure where it originally came from, but over the years, I’ve tweaked it and we now call them Cowboy Beans since I added BBQ sauce and chili powder to the recipe.
These are hearty enough to be a meal, but will also be a great compliment to lots of main dishes. They are also great to bring to a potluck. I’ve taken them to my church picnic for the last several years and the bowl is all but licked clean.
You can make them in a pan or in a slow cooker if you want them to stay warm for a while.
Feel free to halve the recipe if you aren’t making beans for a crowd. But at our house, the more Cowboy Beans, the better.
2 15-ounce cans each great northern beans and red beans, drained and rinsed
½ cup ketchup
½ cup barbecue sauce
¼ cup brown sugar
3 Tablespoons yellow mustard
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoon chili powder
Dash of hot sauce (more if you like them spicy)
Instructions
Combine all ingredients and simmer over medium heat until flavors are blended and beans are warm. If putting in a slow cooker, you can keep them on low for 4-6 hours.
Brittney Lee is a native Arkansan with a love for bright lights and big city. She often escapes her 20-acre home south of Fort Smith to shop, eat, and catch a concert in the big city. She blogs about her life, her faith, her adventures, her dogs, and her country home at RazorbackBritt.com.
I’ve been dreaming about this salad for weeks. Seriously. As I filled out my content calendar for the January, I typed in this post title. You see, several months ago I came up with the title and giggled at writing the word “hearty.” It was going to be January and super frigid and figured we would all want something hearty right about now.
The winter descriptive meant that I had to come up with something wintery. Which means one thing to me when it comes to salads… root vegetables. These are the things I dream about. How about you?
The intention was to add a can of black beans to this salad to add a pop of interest. But them I happened upon our very own community member’s salsa with black beans and corn… well, let’s just say that mixing that delicious salsa with ranch dressing takes this salad to the next level. The next atmosphere. The next galaxy.
Thanks for the idea, Helen.
May you all have a big bowl of hearty winter black bean salad and be filled with joy.
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
7 radishes, sliced into quarters
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/8th teaspoon sea salt
1 cup My Brothers Salsa™ black bean and corn salsa
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
¼ cup crumbled feta
4 tablespoons ranch dressing
2 heads of romaine lettuce
Instructions
Preheat oven to bake 375 degrees.
Place sweet potatoes and radishes on sheet plan and drizzle olive oil and salt and mix. Bake for 30 minutes.
While root vegetables are baking, combine the following ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl and toss: salsa, cherry tomatoes, crumbled feta, and ranch dressing.
Shred romaine and place in large bowl.
Add roasted sweet potatoes and radishes to mixing bowl and toss. Pour over romaine lettuce.
Arkansas Women Blogger member Lyndi Fultz writes about living and eating well from her life in beautiful Northwest Arkansas at nwafoodie. Much of her blogging inspiration comes from this gem of a place, which she refers to as the proverbial land of milk-and-honey. Read more related to cooking, entertaining, gadget suggestions, ingredient explorations, local finds, local restaurant treasures, kitchen tour spotlights, and always with a healthy and simplistic approach.
s a former teacher/coach who hung up the whistle when she got promoted to mom. She still keeps those competitive juices by running in local races and playing competitive board games with her kids. She is the reigning Jenga champion in her home. 
Arkansas Women Blogger member