CROCK POT KALUA PIG AND CABBAGE

This Saturday, I am having a luau with my church. It's going to be great. My first luau since leaving Hawaii. Fun! And since I'm "The Hawaiian," I'm in charge of all of the Hawaiian foods. Lucky me :) But seriously, I'm excited. I will be making Kalua Pig and Cabbage, Chicken Long Rice, Shoyu Chicken, Potato Macaroni Salad, Rice (nice and sticky,) and Haupia. Yummmmm. However, I have never actually made any of these before. Well, I can make rice actually, but that's it. My family made them, or we went out to eat at Hawaiian restaurants. Young's Fish Market is my favorite! The most delicious Hawaiian food. I'm getting so hungry/home sick just thinking about it.


Ok, back to why we are here. So, since I've never cooked any of this before, I knew I had to try out all of these recipes before the actual luau to make sure they'd be tasty. I wouldn't want to show up to the party with a whole bunch of inedible food. No thank you. Only 'ono (delicious) food allowed. So first up, Kalua Pig and Cabbage. My absolute favorite. I found this amazing recipe for Crock Pot Kalua Pig and Cabbage here. I was so excited to find this recipe. You know my love for Crock Pots. This recipe is so legit. It tastes like I dug an imu (hole in the ground used as an oven,) placed the pig on some rocks, and cooked it. (That's how you kalua something btw.) You can't even tell the difference. A-MA-ZING! I jumped up and down I was so excited about it. Haha. I really did. And it's so easy to do. Here's the recipe.


Crock Pot Kalua Pig and Cabbage

All You Need Is (LOVE):

• 2 lb. Pork butt or shoulder
• 2 Tbsp Concentrated Mesquite Liquid Smoke
• 2 Tbsp Kosher, Rock, or Hawaiian Salt
• Small Head of Cabbage
• Water

What to Do:

1. Place pork into the crock pot.
2. Pour the liquid smoke and sprinkle salt over it.
3. Fill the crock pot with water to cover the pork completely.
4. Cook on HIGH for 4-6 hours. (Or on LOW for 8-10 hours)
5. Pork should fall apart when stuck with a fork. Remove pork from the crock pot and shred using forks. Remove bones, if any.
6. Cut cabbage into large chunks and place in the crock pot, with all the liquid.
7. Put the pork back into the crock pot and cook on HIGH until cabbage is done to your liking. (For me it was 30 minutes.)
8. Serve Kalua Pig and Cabbage over hot white rice. Enjoy!

Before I Go:

I am so happy that I tried this recipe. It is so super easy and tastes so good. Even better, the kids loved it! Sammy said she remembers eating it in Hawaii. Sammy doesn't really like cabbage, but she loved this cabbage. Haha. I hope you try out this recipe. If you do, please let me know, I'd love to hear from you. It tastes like home to me. I can picture myself eating outside on the beach, surrounded by my family. :) Feel free to leave any questions or comments below. Thank you so much for stopping by!

Have a great day!

♥ K i K O ♥

SUGAR COOKIES

We decorated cookies with the kids yesterday. What fun! :)

Before I show you all the pictures (taken on my phone by the way,) I'll show you the recipe. I found it on Mel's Kitchen Cafe. Great website with a ton of recipes! You should go check it out. I just changed a couple things. I didn't add almond extract (Sammy's allergic) and I didn't add lemon zest (we didn't have any lemons.) So if you want to see the original recipe click here. Here is the recipe that I used.

Sugar Cookies

All You Need Is (LOVE):

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened to cool room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 5 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt

What to Do:

1. Preheat oven to 400˚F
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars for 3-4 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each egg. Add vanilla extract and mix. Add two cups of flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix. Add remaining flour and mix until flour is incorporated and the dough is soft and smooth.
3. Dust a counter with powdered sugar or flour and roll the dough to desired thickness. 1/4 inch works well. Cut the dough into shapes. Place the cookies on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 7-8 minutes. The cookies will not be brown. Don't over bake them.
4. Cool completely before frosting.

Before I Go:

I didn't cut them into shapes. I just spooned them onto the cookie sheets. I made little cookies with half the dough and one giant cookie with the rest of the dough. The giant cookie took approximately 15 minutes. I kept checking the oven to make sure that it fully cooked and didn't over bake. And it turned out perfectly. The kids laughed at seeing such a big cookie. These cookies are excellent for frosting. They are so soft that they melt in your mouth. They aren't that sweet, so they aren't "stand alone" sugar cookies to me. But they are perfect with frosting on top. We used Confetti Funfetti frosting because Sammy's not allergic to it. It has no milk. I split it up and added food coloring as shown below. Blue, green, and yellow. We had five types of sprinkles. The confetti sprinkles that came with the frosting, along with a set of four different sprinkles (Carnival sprinkles, star mix, sequins, and dinosaurs) I bought at Sur La Table (LOVE that store!) They had so much fun decorating their own cookies. Sammy quickly ate hers. Kai kept adding more sprinkles. Kona just liked decorating it. He didn't actually eat his, haha. Silly boy. Here are some pictures from our adventures in cookie decorating. Sammy (age 5), Kai (age 4), Kona (age 2).

Supplies are ready:

Ready to decorate sugar cookies

Five types of sprinkles

Blue, green and yellow frosting

Let's decorate!

Finished products :)

Sammy

Kai

Kona

Wait... Take a few bites, add more sprinkles...

A little more... Yes! Hooray! SPRINKLES!!!

I made a GIANT cookie!

And a little "mini-me" cookie.

Yum.

Please leave any questions or comments below. Happy cookie-ing! Thanks for stopping by!

Have a great day!

♥ K i K O ♥

KATNISS-APPROVED PUFFY BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Here is another recipe from The Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook. This recipe is called Katniss-Approved Puffy Buttermilk Biscuits. In Chapter 6 of The Hunger Games, Katniss orders this dish along with a side of goose liver in her Capitol living quarters. I just posted a recipe for Katniss's Favorite Lamb Stew with Dried Plums. I made these biscuits to eat with the stew. Such a simple recipe for tasty biscuits.

Katniss-Approved Puffy Buttermilk Biscuits

All You Need is (LOVE):

• 3 cups flour
• 3 Tbsp white sugar
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk

What to Do:

1. Preheat oven to 425˚ F.
2. Blend flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl.
3. Using fingertips, rub chilled butter into dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk and stir until evenly moistened.
4. Using 1/4 cup of dough for each biscuit, drop biscuits onto a well-greased baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart. Using a spoon, flatten top of each biscuit. Bake until biscuits are golden brown on top, about 15 minutes. Cool slightly. Serve warm.

Before I Go:

This is just a really simple and easy buttermilk biscuit recipe. So give it a try. It is so tasty with strawberry jam. Yum! They also go well with stews and chili. Please leave any comments or questions below. Thank you for stopping by!

Have a great day!

♥ K i K O ♥

KATNISS'S FAVORITE LAMB STEW WITH DRIED PLUMS

The Hunger Games movie finally arrived in theaters this past weekend. Hooray!!! So in honor of this momentous occasion, I decided to cook Katniss's favorite dish from the Capitol. Lamb Stew with Dried Plums. In Chapter 9 of The Hunger Games, when Caesar Flickerman asks Katniss in her interview, "What's impressed you most since you arrived here?" Katniss honestly answers, "The lamb stew." So there you go. I found this recipe in The Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook. You should definitely check out this cookbook. It is truly amazing. Thank you Emily Baines. There are more than 150 recipes inspired by The Hunger Games Trilogy. I am so excited just thinking about it. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is my favorite book ever. Here's what the cookbook looks like. So cool, right? I know!

Katniss's Favorite Lamb Stew with Dried Plums

All You Need Is (LOVE):

• 5 lbs of lamb fillet, shoulder or leg, cut into 2" pieces
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 cups beef broth
• 2 tsp white sugar
• 3 tsp brown sugar
• 3 cups diced carrots
• 1 cups diced zucchini
• 1 1/2 cups diced celery
• 2 large onions, diced
• 3 potatoes, cubed
• 5 cups dried plums
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 3 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 tsp chopped fresh basil
• 1 tsp chopped fresh parsley
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cups ginger ale

What to Do:

1. Place lamb, salt, pepper, and flour in a large mixing bowl. Toss to coat meat evenly.
2. Heat olive oil in a large pan and brown the meat, working in batches if you have to.
3. Remove lamb to a side plate. Pour off fat, leaving 1/4 cup in the pan.  Add the garlic and onion and sauté until the onion becomes golden. Deglaze frying pan with the 1/2 cup water, taking care to scrape the bottom of the pan to stir up all of the tasty bits of meat and onion.  Cook to reduce liquid slightly, then remove from heat.
4. Place the lamb and garlic-onion mixture in a large stockpot. Add beef stock and sugars, stirring until sugars are dissolved.  Bring mixture to a boil, cover, reduce to low heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
5. Add the vegetables, dried plums, herbs, and ginger ale to the pot. Simmer for 30-45 minuted, or until meat and vegetables pierce easily with a fork.

Before I Go:

The recipe in the cookbook calls for 5 pounds of lamb and yields 8-10 servings. Due to the fact that I was cooking for three kids and two nannies, I just used one pound of lamb. Therefore, I only made a quarter of the recipe I just showed you. But I halved the amount of beef stock instead of quartering it so that it would be more stew-ish. I also did not add in any herbs. This stew is very rich. The plums give it great taste, but also make it very sweet. Serving with rice helps decrease the impact of this rich Capitol stew. I also made one other thing from the cookbook to go along with it. Shown in the picture above are Katniss-Approved Puffy Buttermilk Biscuits. They are extremely delicious as well.

Curious as to what the inside of this cookbook looks like? Take a peek at this stew recipe by clicking on the images below. Thank you for stopping by. I hope you enjoy this recipe. Let me know in the comments below if you try this recipe and how it turns out for you. Don't worry, it's not as scary as it looks. It's actually fairly easy if you follow the steps. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to leave them in the comment section below. Oh, and have you read The Hunger Games Trilogy? Do you absolutely love it? I sure do! I got Phylicia hooked on the books as well. If you have not read them, read them now. Before you make the stew. Get hooked too! Haha. Thank you for stopping by!

Have a great day!

♥ K i K O ♥

S'MORES COOKIE BARS

Camping. That was one of my favorite things to do as a kid. Spending time with your family. Sleeping in tents. Seeing all of the stars at night. Swimming in the ocean. Sitting next to a cozy campfire. But of course, the thing that I most looked forward to when going camping were the... S'MORES! Graham crackers, chocolate and roasted marshmallows, yes please! Oh how I love to reminisce. Now on to the recipe! I found this recipe for S'mores Cookie Bars on one of my favorite blogs. Definitely go and check out Lovin' From The Oven. She's great and has tons of delicious recipes.


S'mores Cookie Bars

All You Need Is (LOVE):

• 1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 King-sized Hershey's Bars
• 1 1/2 cups marshmallow fluff/creme

What to Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in the egg and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combines.
3. Divide the dough in half and press one half of the dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place the two chocolate bars side by side over the dough. Spread the marshmallow fluff on top of the chocolate. Place the rest of the dough on top by flattening it into little pieces and laying it over so that the marshmallow layer is completely covered. Then press the dough together so the top layer of cookie is nicely meshed together.
4. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Before I Go:

These are so delicious so be careful not to eat them all at once. Share some with the kids! These taste best when warm. If they don't completely disappear and actually make it into the refrigerator, just heat it up in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds to warm them up before eating. Still so tasty. Please leave any questions or comments below. I'd love to know if you try these and how they tasted to you. Thank you for stopping by!

Have a great day!

♥ K i K O ♥

NO BAKE ENERGY BITES

So I'm definitely cheating on this post in several ways! I'm going to share a recipe with you however, I did not make it for the kids!! Sammy the 5 year old has a severe allergy to peanuts and tree nuts and a most recent allergy to oats! 2 of the main ingredients in this recipe :( However, I have been wanting to try out this recipe forever and never have! Anyway, I want to share this with you because for those without these allergies it makes for an awesome snack. For kids, it's a good after school snack, healthy dessert, or even an "Ah, were late for school" breakfast! Feel free to store away just for you (Hey! A nanny has got to eat!) Speaking of nanny's eating, i shared these with Kiko and she liked them as much as me!! So here is the original recipe for No Bake Energy Bites..I didn't follow this recipe (I don't know why i cant seem to follow recipes!) so here's my yummy yummy version.

Here's the recipe:
1 c uncooked oats
1/2c Peanut Butter
1/3 c honey
1/4 c crushed walnuts
1 TBSof coco powder
1/2 c chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla

I first combined the oats, the peanut butter, and the honey and mixed them together. I then combined the walnuts (I just "crushed" them with my hands), coco powder, and the chocolate chips into the oat mixture and mix all together. Lastly , add the vanilla and mix! I took a tablespoon and plopped (very technical cooking term) it into my hand to form a little ball. My batch makes anywhere from 10-16 depending how big I make the balls. Put them into the fridge for just a half and hour and YAY eat up! Love an easy recipe!

Let me know what version you come up with, check the original recipe for all the yummy substitutions you can do also! Questions, concerns, and  comments are always welcome! Thanks and enjoy!
-Phylicia

CROCK POT YUMMIEST POT ROAST

Let me tell you how in love I am with our Crock Pot. It's so wonderful. You can make dinner in the morning and it's ready at dinnertime. I know that slow cooking isn't a new thing, but to me it kind of is and I still get excited when I make something fabulous. Crock Pots ROCK! Ok. Now that I've calmed down, let me tell you about the recipe of the day. I got this recipe from the Crock Pot Girl. I changed it a tad bit, but it's basically a halved version of hers that I make. This is my boss' favorite meal that I make. The meat is so juicy and tender. It just melts in your mouth. The gravy is amazing. So amazing in fact, that Sammy, who does not like mushrooms at all, actually asked for more mushrooms and said, "I only like mushrooms with this sauce!" The kids love it. I love it. We all love it. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Sammy even licked her plate clean once. (Until we reminded her that that's not using good manners.) But seeing her do that made me smile :) So are you ready for the most amazing delicious pot roast of your life? Here we go!

Crock Pot Yummiest Pot Roast

All You Need Is (LOVE):

• 2 lb. Pot Roast
• Salt, pepper, & garlic powder (for taste)
• Flour
• Olive Oil
• 1 can Cream of Mushroom
• 3/4 c Beef Broth
• 1/2 package dry onion soup mix
• 8 oz. Sliced Mushrooms

What to Do:

1. Set Crock Pot on LOW for 4 hours (you want the Crock Pot to heat up before you add the meat in because adding hot meat to a cool pot can damage the Crock Pot, and we don't want that)
2. Sprinkle salt, pepper, and garlic powder on all sides of the pot roast and use a spoon to rub it into the roast (or your fingers, but I don't like touching raw meat [I even use tongs to flip the meat over])
3. Coat your entire roast with flour so it is completely covered
4. Add olive oil to a skillet and set to medium heat
5. Once the oil is heated, place the pot roast into the skillet and brown on both sides (browning is essential as it seals in the flavor and prevents the pot roast from becoming chewy)
6. While the roast is browning, add the cream of mushroom, beef broth, dry onion soup mix, and mushrooms into the Crock Pot and mix well with a spoon (be careful because the Crock Pot may be hot)
7. When the pot roast is finished browning on both sides, transfer it into the Crock Pot
8. Spoon the sauce over the pot roast so that it is completely covered
9. Place the lid on top
10. When the 4 hours on LOW is finished, set it to HIGH for 2-3 hours (I usually set it for 2.5 hours on HIGH) or until meat is tender
11. Eat it all up! (But save some for me please. Just kidding.)

Before I Go:
Serve with mashed potatoes or rice. If I have a busy day, I just make rice in the rice pot to serve with the pot roast. The rice pot cooks the rice and keeps it warm until dinner (just like what a Crock Pot does). You see, I'm from Hawaii. We are big on rice down there. We love rice. So in our house, we have the ginormous 25 lb. bag of rice from Costco. Just thought I'd share that quick fact with you all. But when I do have time (which is more often than not), I prefer to make mashed potatoes from scratch to go with it. I also serve it with a vegetable. Gotta get that green into the kids! They love zucchini and it's easy to cook up right before serving, so that's my go-to vegetable to go with the pot roast. But anything will do. I use a lot of mushrooms for this recipe because I love mushrooms and they shrink into the gravy anyways. And I use fresh mushrooms. I love those best. I hope you try out this recipe because it is the most delicious thing ever! It will change your life. It's just so simple to make and oh so tasty. Make this for someone and they will be begging you for more. Feel free to leave any questions or comments below. I'd love to hear if you tried this recipe and how it turned out for you. Thank you for stopping by!

Have a great day!

♥ K i K O ♥

SWEET-N-CREAMY NON-DAIRY MASHED POTATOES

First off, let me start by saying that before this recipe (that I created,) I have never made mashed potatoes from scratch, in my entire life. So for me, I was very excited when I came up with this recipe because it is so super tasty! Sammy (a five-year-old girl that I nanny for) is allergic to dairy, but loves mashed potatoes. So I came up with this delicious mashed potatoes recipe that is completely dairy free, and a healthier version than the norm. I make this all the time (about once a week) and it is always a huge hit with the kids!

Sweet-n-Creamy Non-Dairy Mashed Potatoes

All You Need Is (LOVE):

• 5 lb. Russet Potatoes
• 1/4 c I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light (or Original)
• 1 3/4 c Silk Vanilla Soy Milk
• Water (to boil)
• Olive Oil (in boiling water)
• Salt and Garlic Powder (for taste)

What to Do:

1. Fill a pot with water and bring to a boil
2. Peel and rinse the potatoes
3. Cut each potato in half
4. Add the potatoes into the pot of boiling water
5. Add about 2 Tbsp of Olive Oil to the pot to keep the potatoes from sticking (feel free to skip this step)
6. Boil potatoes for 25 minutes
7. Drain potatoes and put them in a bowl
8. Mash the potatoes with a big spoon (or any mashing utensil you'd like)
9. Empty all the water from the pot
10. Set the pot back onto the stovetop and set it to medium heat
11. Add the butter and milk into the pot
12. Add in the potatoes and mix until creamy
13. Add salt and garlic powder for taste and mix well
14. Enjoy!

[Peeled and halved potatoes]

[After mashing with a spoon]

[Ready to eat. Yum!]

Before I Go:

I just used what we carry in the house. Feel free to use any soy milk and butter substitute. The Silk Vanilla adds a hint of sweetness and makes it taste like you used heavy cream. We carry the I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light tub in our house. It has less fat, which is very nice for me and Phylicia. :) But you can use the original, obviously. Remember, these mashed potatoes are so delicious, they can be addicting! So be careful. Try them out and you'd be surprised just how creamy and tasty these are. Feel free to leave any questions or comments below. I'd love to hear if you tried this recipe and how it turned out for you. Thank you for stopping by!

Have a great day!

♥ K i K O ♥

POTATO CHIP CHICKEN

So here it is my first one! First recipe and first blog entry wooo hoo! Well I wanted to share with you one of my Nanny dinner time favorites with you. Anything that all 3 of the kids like is considered a hit for me! When I hear "Phylicia, can I have more please!", it's like music to my little nanny ears! This recipe always gets that response and I love it! I usually want a little more myself! Now bare with me because I don't really have a recipe for this, I think I saw it on T.V. once and then just tried to duplicate it, so I usually just eyeball it. 

Here's what you will need:

About 1 lb of chicken breast (a little over 1 lb of chicken breast tenders feeds like 2 adults and 3 little ones)

3/4 c of flour

1/2 bag of potato chips

1 egg

1/4 c milk

Small amount of vegetable oil

Seasoning for chicken optional (I used garlic salt)

You'll also need:

A skillet big enough to fit your chicken

a Baking sheet or a baking pan

A rolling pin or something to mash your chips

2 gallon size Ziplock baggies

A couple of bowls

Begin by adding oil to skillet and setting on low medium heat. The oil should just coat bottom of skillet. Then preheat your oven to 350.

Next add your flour to one ziplock bag!

Then add your chips to another.

Make sure to get all of the air out of your bag before you seal it. Once your bag is sealed, crush your potato chips by rolling them with rolling pin.

Be sure to finely crush the chips!

Next in a small bowl mix together your egg and milk to create an egg wash mixture.

Set up your miniature chicken factory as follows: flour, eggwash mixture, and potato chip crumbs (I like to put them into a bowl). 

Take your chicken and place into bag. You can put them all in there at once if you want!

Now give your flour chicken a little shake. This gives your egg wash a little something to hold unto ;)!

Next stage of factory is the egg wash mixture! Make sure to coat both sides! This gives your potato chips something to hold onto!

Time to take your chicken to the next level! Place your chicken in the potato chip crumbs. Press down and coat both sides.

Potato coated chickens!

Now that your pan is nice and warm, add your chicken in there!

I usually flip my chicken after about 3 or 4 minutes. You may need to adjust your heat to medium, but just be careful it's not too hot or your potato chips will burn :(. You kind of just have to look at it to tell. 

When it looks golden brown like this, it's ready to be flipped. 

Once there is no more pink showing through (from the chicken) transfer it onto/into baking sheet or pan and pop it into the oven. This final step just gives it the last bit of crunch and keeps it warm if your preparing your sides or trying to coral everyone to the table! About 10 minutes should do the trick!

!Voila! Potato Chip Chicken! So tasty! This particular night, I served it with mashed potatoes and zucchini! But you can serve it with anything and it's sure to be a hit!

Post your questions, comments, and critiques! 

                                    Thanks!!!!

                                                             Nanny Tips!
* Clean as you go! This is key for me for any recipe I do it makes life so much easier. As soon as you know your done with one ingredient PUT IT AWAY! I know its crazy right clean up time will be soooo much easier!


*The kids like their food VERYYY plain! But if your kids or whoever your cooking for like a little spice in your life then spice it up Girl (or Boy!) Try sprinkling Cayenne pepper, chicken seasoning, cajun seasoning, or whatever before the flour step!

*Want to make this recipe a little healthier? Try the All Natural Baked Lays Ruffle Chip for a healthier chip option. Also instead of coating your pan with oil try a generous coating of cooking spray instead. Just be sure to keep your heat low because it will burn quicker!

*Buy chicken breast nugget pieces and make potato chip chicken nuggets instead. Serve with ketchup, eat your heart out McDonalds!

*Use regular size chicken breast for a more adult serving size!

*Other side suggestions: Buttered noodles, Noodles mixed in Broccoli Cheddar Soup, French fries, cut your chicken and place over a fresh salad!