Reena Evans

By Published On: September 6, 2017

“Cook for everybody else like you cook for yourself,” is something Reena Evans’ grandmother, Ida Armstrong, and mother, Minnie Evans, always told her.
Reena doesn’t measure anything, she “just goes by taste.” She looks at a recipe to try and find something new to cook, but most times just uses it to get an idea from. Pinterest is where she likes to do her recipe searching.
The recipes she submitted are ones she got from friends saying they were all “something easy.”

Reena Evans CookReena learned to cook from her mother at a young age, and she also worked at The Magnolia when her sister and their mother did.
Some things she, sister and Minnie cook alike, but they “can’t get their fried chicken like Mama’s.”
“Minnie puts garlic salt in everything. And I even started using it,” she said. Minnie also adds it to her salads, which Reena loves.
Reena cooks the chittlins for Thanksgiving because the family says she cooks them like her grandmother did. And for a family barbecue, they love her baked beans, to which she adds pancake syrup, grape jelly and brown sugar.

Her sons, Demarious, 10, and Decorian, 3, Pittman “will eat just about anything, but spaghetti and soul food, like pinto beans and greens are their favorites.”
She likes fresh vegetables and said she grew up picking them. And the boys like peas and any kind of beans and the younger one likes cornbread. “Give them green beans and corn with anything and they are satisfied.”
Reena grills or boils shrimp pretty often and says that’s a favorite of hers, and her kids like it, too.
She is not big on sweets and doesn’t make many. “I’ll leave that to Mama,” she said.

Stuffed Shells
1 lb. ground beef
Spaghetti sauce
Shredded cheese
Jumbo shells  (found at WalMart)
Season and brown beef. Boil shells until tender. Drain beef. Once drained, mix in spaghetti sauce and cheese, and stuff mixture in the shells. Place shells in pan and cover with shredded cheese. Bake until cheese is melted.

Upside Down Pizza
1 lb.  ground beef
Pizza sauce
Shredded cheese
Package of pepperoni
1 can Pillsbury crescent rolls
Brown beef. Once browned, drain, and stir in pizza sauce. Make layers of meat, pepperoni, cheese, and repeat. When finished layering, top with crescent rolls , laying them flat. Put in oven until crescent rolls are golden brown

No Bake Lemon Pie
1 graham pie crust
2 cans sweetened condensed milk
1 tub of Cool Whip
3/4 cup lemon juice
Mix all ingredients together. Pour in pie crust. Put in freezer until frozen.

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