Waikiki Meatballs

Meatballs:
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
2/3 cup cracker crumbs
1/3 cup minced onion
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 cup milk
Sauce:
3 T cornstarch
1 (13oz) can pineapple tidbits, save syrup for sauce
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup vinegar
1 T soy sauce
1/3 cup chopped green peppers
3/4 cup sliced carrots/parboiled
1/2 cup sliced celery parboiled

Mix meatball ingredients throughly.  Shape mixture by rounded tablespoons into balls.  Bake in oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes
Mix cornstarch and sugar.  Stir in reserved pineapple syrup, vinegar, and soy sauce until smooth.  Pour into skillet.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and boils.  Boil and stir 1 minute with chopped green pepper.  Add meatballs, pineablle tidbits and parboiled carrots and celery heat through.  Serve over cooked rice.

Coconut Cake

2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup powdered milk
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 pkg instant coconut pudding mix (if you can't find this, then use a vanilla pudding mix and instead of a tsp of vanilla, use a tsp of coconut extract)
1 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 cups flaked coconut

Grease a 9x13 pan.  Blend everything together and then add the coconut and pour into the pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 min

Frosting:
1 cup butter
5 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup cream of coconut
1/2 tsp coconut extract
toasted coconut (as desired, can use it as a garnish or mix in)

Beat butter, then add powdered sugar and cream of coconut--sometimes the cream of coconut will separate so be sure to blend it before adding it to the frosting.  Then add the coconut flakes.

Pani Popo (Hawaiian rolls)

My niece, Lia, made these roll for our Hawaiian themed New Year's party. I don't like coconut but all the food at that party seemed to have a bit of coconut in it so I gave it all a try. Even though these rolls are covered in coconut milk, they were sweet enough that I still loved them. When a friend of mine had her own Hawaiian themed party I knew just what to bring! The best thing about them is how completely simple they are to make.

Ingredients:
Rhodes Rolls (or any dinner roll recipe)
1 can coconut milk
3 Tbsp sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup sugar

Directions:You can just use any dinner roll recipe you want, or use the frozen rhodes rolls (but thaw them and let them rise). Once the rolls are risen to how you would usually bake them, mix 1 can coconut milk, 3 tablespoons sweeten condensed milk, and 3/4 cup sugar, and then pour this mixture over the rolls and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. (I found that my rolls only needed about 20 min to bake)

Hawaiian Haystacks

We recently had these at a church activity. Super easy to make and tasty too. It's easy to customize to everyone's taste with the different toppings you can put on top. My favorite toppings are the chow mein noodles, green onions, cheese, and pineapple. Yum.

Ingredients:1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups milk
1 (10 3/4 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sliced mushrooms
6 chicken breasts, cooked and cut into pieces

Directions:Melt butter in large saucepan. Add flour and salt and stir. Add milk and cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Add cream of mushroom soup, mushrooms and chicken. Simmer on low heat for 15 minutes. Serves 8.

Serve over sticky, white rice with the following toppings:

grated cheddar cheese
chopped celery
chowmein noodles
pineapple tidbits
chopped tomatoes
coconut
toasted sliced almonds
chopped green onions
soy sauce

Hawaiian Chicken Bowl

I found this recipe on On my Menu (and stole her picture too :) It was a hit at my house. It was one of those rare meals that everyone loved. Surprisingly they even all tried it with the ranch and loved the ranch dressing on top. Besides tasting good, I loved that it was soo simple to make and put together.

Ingredients:

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 can (8 oz) crushed pineapple

1 bottle (16 oz) barbecue sauce

4-6 cups rice, cooked

Steamed broccoli

Ranch dressing

Directions:

Place meat in 3 1/2-5 quart slow cooker. Combine pineapple and barbecue sauce and pour over meat. Cook on high heat for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours. Layer in bowls: rice, chicken, broccoli, and a little ranch dressing. Makes 4-6 servings.