Slow Cooker Luau Chicken

I love a fruit/meat combo meal. Do you? There’s a little Mexican food place near us that serves super good “tropical tacos”. They put a fruit relish on top instead of salsa...yum! Now this isn’t Mexican food and it’s not really Asian. I’m not sure what it is but it has pineapple in it so it’s some kind of island-y dish. I do know it’s really good and insanely easy, though.

Slow Cooker Luau Chicken

 

4 chicken breasts ~ cut into bite sized cubes

1 18-ounce bottle of barbecue sauce

1 8-ounce can of crushed pineapple ~ undrained

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

 

Place cut up chicken in your slow cooker.

 

In a medium bowl, stir together the bbq sauce, pineapple, brown sugar and soy sauce.

 

Pour over the chicken and stir to combine.

 

Cook on high 3-4 hours or on low 4-6 hours.

 

Serve over rice.

The cast of characters.

Cut the chicken into bite sized 

chunks and place in your slow cooker.

Combine the bbq sauce, pineapple, 

soy sauce and brown sugar.

Pour over the chicken and 

stir to combine. Cook!

Serve over cooked rice!

Cece’s Pineapple Bundt Poke Cake

I got this recipe from a friend of a friend back in California. She told me about it the other day and said how good it was and I said....send it to me NOW! And she did. And guess what? She wasn’t kidding! This easy cake is pineapple-y goodness through and through. You need to try it because you’re life is seriously lacking if you don’t. And...AND....just so you know...it’s super good with vanilla ice cream on the side.

Cece’s Pineapple Bundt Poke Cake

1 yellow cake mix

1 20-ounce can crushed pineapple ~ drained, juice reserved

1 3.4-ounce box vanilla instant pudding

3/4 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

2 tablespoons vanilla ~ divided use

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon butter ~ melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a bundt pan very well cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, eggs, oil, pudding mix and 3/4 cup of the reserved pineapple juice.

Beat for 2 minutes.

Stir in 1 tablespoon of the vanilla.

Fold in the drained pineapple (I squeezed mine dry between my hands to get more juice)

Pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 35 - 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Mix together the powdered sugar, remaining tablespoon of vanilla and the melted butter.

While cake is still hot and in the pan, poke holes all over the cake using a skewer.

Pour powdered sugar mixture over the top of the cake and allow to sit in the pan for 45 minutes or so.

Turn cake out onto a serving platter, removing pan.

Drizzle cake with a powdered sugar glaze if desired.

Let's make a cake!

In a large mixing bowl, combine 

the cake mix, eggs, oil, pudding 

mix and 3/4 cup of the reserved pineapple juice.

Add the vanilla....

...then fold in the drained pineapple.

Pour the batter in the pan.

Bake it up then poke 

holes all over the top.

Mix togther the rest of the pineapple juice, the powdered sugar and the butter.

Pour that mixture over the cake and 

let it sit in the pan for about 45 minutes.

Next...the unveiling! Wish me luck!

Ahhh....perfect! Drizzle with 

powdered sugar glaze, if desired.

Serve with vanilla ice cream 

or not...it's good either way!

Pineapple Chicken Wings

Yep, yep, yep! These wings are SO good! If you like making Asian food at home then you are in for a treat because these are good, good, good! Now of course IT Guy wouldn't touch them because he's crazy and doesn't like stuff like this...but I can tell you it's very yummy! And easy, too! These would make great appetizers for your next party or tailgate extravaganza!

Pineapple Chicken Wings



20 chicken wings ~ cut up (discard pointed wing tip)
1 cup pineapple chunks1 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a rimmed cookie sheet with cooking spray.

Arrange cut up wings onto the prepared pan.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Bake wings for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until done.

In a small saucepan, combine the pineapple chunks, pineapple juice, brown sugar, and sugar. Bring to a boil.

In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch, soy sauce and water. Stir until smooth then pour into boiling pineapple juice mixture.

Turn down the heat to medium and continue to stir and cook until thick.

Place cooked wings into a large bowl then pour sauce over and toss to combine.

Serve over rice and enjoy!


 
Let's make some wings! (Oops! 
I see the brown sugar made it into 
the picture but not the regular sugar.)

 
Cut up your wings and place 
them on a rimmed cookie sheet. 
Salt and pepper to taste.

 
Bake!

 
Combine the pineapple chunks, juice, 
and sugars in a small sauce pan. 
Bring to a boil.

 
Then combine the soy sauce, water 
and cornstarch and pour that into 
the pineapple mixture. Reduce heat 
and cook and stir until thick.

 
Pour sauce over the cooked chicken. 
(What you see in the background 
are some of the wings in bbq sauce 
because IT Guy doesn't do Asian food. 
Silly IT Guy.)

 
Serve it up!

Sunshine Cake

What's better than a yummy and easy dessert? Not much. This little cake has "simple" written all over it but boy, is it good! You can add some coconut to it...throw some pecans in there...and make it extra yummy. But as it is....super good!

Sunshine Cake



1 box yellow cake mix
1/2 cup oil
4 eggs
1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple with juice


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, eggs, oil and ONE of the cans of pineapple with it's juice.

Mix until all combined then pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for about 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Allow to sit on wire baking rack until completely cooled.


Frosting

1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple with juice (3 tablespoons pineapple removed and patted dry)
1 3-ounce box vanilla instant pudding
1 8-ounce container Cool Whip

In a medium bowl, combine the pudding mix and the pineapple. Stir until blended.

Fold in the Cool Whip until combined.

Frost cake with pineapple frosting then scatter the reserved pineapple over the top.

Chill for several hours before serving.

Optional: Scatter pecans and coconut on top of frosting.

 
Let's make a cake!

 
Mix together the cake mix, the eggs, 
the oil and ONE can of pineapple.

 
Pour into the prepared pan...

 
...and bake. Cool completely.

 
For the frosting, mix together the 
pudding and the remaining can of 
pineapple. Then fold in the Cool Whip.

 
Spread frosting on the cooled cake.

 
 Slice, eat, enjoy!

Hawaiian Style Pasta Salad

Nothing tastes better to me than a cool dinner on a hot day and this was perfect! A little bit of meat satisfies IT Guy and the fact that I don't have to do any cooking except boil some pasta, is good for me! This recipe is easily doubled if you need to feed more than 3 or 4 people and is great for parties! Hawaiian luau anyone? No kidding...this thing come together is no time at all. The time it sits in the fridge takes up more time that putting it all together! Perfect!

Hawaiian Style Pasta Salad



4 ounces bowtie pasta ~ cooked and drained
1 green onion ~ chopped
1/2 cup red bell pepper ~ chopped
1 8-ounce can pineapple tidbits ~ drained, juice reserved
1 - 2 cups diced cooked ham
1/4 cup mayo
3 tablespoons sour cream
1/4 cup reserved pineapple juice
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
pinch garlic powder
pepper to taste

In a small bowl, combine the mayo, sour cream, pineapple juice, mustard, honey, garlic powder and pepper. Whisk to blend then chill for an hour or so.

In a large bowl, combine the cooked pasta, green onion, bell pepper, drained pineapple and the ham. Toss to combine.

Drizzle dressing over the pasta and other ingredients then chill before serving.

 

The ingredients.

 

Stir up the stuff for the dressing.

 

Combine the cooked pasta, bell pepper, 

pineapple, ham and green onion.

 

Mix the dressing and the pasta 

salad stuff. Chill and serve!

 

This stuff is SO good!!!

Pineapple Thai Fried Rice

I went to California a few weeks ago and while I was there, a friend invited me and some others to her home for lunch. She's a vegetarian so I knew we wouldn't be eating meat that day but I knew whatever she served would be yummy because she's a great cook. And I was right. She made this. Or something very close to it. I didn't ask her for her recipe (shame on me) but I dissected it while I was there and took mental notes of the ingredients then came home and made my own. I have to say that this is pretty close to what my friend made. And lucky for me...I didn't have to share any of this with IT Guy because he's not a fan of Asian food so beside giving some to my son-in-law, I had it all to myself. This would be great if you add some cooked shrimp or chicken to it or use this as the filling for lettuce wraps. Once you get all the ingredients prepped, this comes together in a flash and is SO good!!!!

Pineapple Thai Fried Rice 



2 cups diced pineapple
1 red bell pepper ~ diced
2 cups leftover cooked jasmine rice ~ white or brown
2 eggs ~ beaten
3 tablespoon oil ~ divided use
6 green onions ~ diced
2 cloves garlic ~ minced
3/4 cup cashews
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 - 2 teaspoons sriracha sauce
1 small lime ~ cut in half
Salt to taste
Cilantro ~ if desired

Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat.

Add one tablespoon of the oil then pour in the eggs and scramble until done. Remove to a plate.

Add another tablespoon of the oil to the pan and add the pineapple and peppers. Saute until the pineapple is caramelized, about 5 minutes.

Add the garlic and green onions and combine. Cook and stir another minutes. Remove veggies to the plate with the eggs.

Add the remaining oil and the cashews and cook nuts for about a minutes, stirring constantly.

Add the rice, soy sauce and sriracha sauce to the pan and stir to combine. Cook about 3 minutes until the rice is hot.

Pour the eggs, pineapple, peppers, garlic and green onions to the rice in the pan and stir.

Squeeze 1/2 of the lime to the rice mixture and stir. Salt to taste.

Garnish with cilantro, if desired.

 

Okay...let's go!

 

Scramble the eggs.

 

Saute the pineapple and the peppers.

 

Add the garlic and green onions.

 

Then saute the cashews.

 

Add the rice, soy sauce and sriracha.

 

Dump everything back into the pan.

 

Give it a stir.

 

Then serve! SO good!!!