Hawaiian Mac Salad

There is something about Hawaiian Mac Salad that beats all other macaroni salads. There are many different versions. As, me, I have tried most of them. I like the creaminess of the Hawaiian Style mac salad. No plate lunch would be complete with mac salad. I have adapted from all the salads what I like best about mac salad and combined it into my own. We make it in large quantity when I do make it, which isn't nearly enough.

I hope you try this and enjoy. I don't have the exact measurements as I play with it to have it just come out so. You do the same... but these are approximate measurements. Enjoy... and mahalo for coming back to my page.

Wendy's Hawaiian Mac Salad

1 pkg macaroni noodles cooked and drained. (I never use salad macaroni size, full size so it holds
the dressing better.

Place noodles in a large bowl and cool completely.

4 red potatoes cubed and cooked. Don't cook them to be mushy... No bueno... tender but not mushy....

1 handful of matchstick carrots. You will find them in the produce aisle already cut for you, they are very small... like what you would find in an iceburg lettuce salad mix.

Six hard boiled eggs cooled, cracked, peeled and sliced.

2 cans of tuna fish drained and shredded well with a fork, no big chunks....

1 can olives sliced

1 cup cubed cheddar cheese

Just throw all of this in the big bowl with the noodles.

For the dressing, I toss the mixture in the bowl with about 6 Tbls milk. This gives it that extra creamy I spoke about.

I then mix 1 and a half cups of mayo to start into the salad, and if needed, I will add more. I put in a couple of Tablespoons of mustard. It will not be enough to turn the noodles or mixture a yellow color... it is just for a little zip. Fold all ingredients well, add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy. With left overs, you may want to add more mayo if it has been soaked up by the noodles.

Nothing says heaven like Au Gratin Potatoes...

In my home... just know, if you make Au Gratin potatoes, and the whole family is here, there WILL NOT be any left overs. We like them just that much. My grandpa used to have a HUGE garden... he could have fed many, many families from his garden. He loved potatoes. He had an abundance of potatoes... always. I seem to just love SPUDS... love, love, love them. A part of my carb addiction I suppose. I look for different ways to serve them from time to time... but many of the dishes are my comfort foods, and you just don't mess with comfort foods.

I found a great recipe for Au Gratin potatoes here, at, Get Off Your Butt and Bake! I knew I must try it. I added a bit more salt and pepper to the recipe that was posted, as that is the way we like ours. These were so good though. Please visit the blog as she has some FANTASTIC recipes there. I could just wander from blog to blog reading all their recipes.... for days... just the way I role. SMILE....

Here is the recipe posted. It is good... enjoy... I did not add the ham, but will if I have it as a main dish.

Lionhouse Au Gratin Potatoes

• 4 large potatoes peeled and diced or sliced
• 1 medium onion, chopped (opt) – use 1 tsp. Onion powder instead
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 4 tablespoons margarine or butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cups cubed cooked ham (read notes below)
• 2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place potatoes, onion and 2 teaspoons salt in a large saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil. TURN OFF THE HEAT and let sit for 5 minutes, covered. DRAIN the water off the potato mixture and spread potatoes in a 9×13 inch glass baking pan; set aside.

Make a white sauce by melting margarine or butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. When the margarine or butter starts to foam, stir in flour to make a smooth roux. Cook and stir constantly until the roux is nice and smooth, about 30 seconds. Mix the milk, cream, salt and pepper together and slowly add the milk mixture to the roux. Stir this constantly until sauce has thickened nicely. Reduce heat to low and stir in cubed ham and half of the grated cheese. After the cheese has melted, pour sauce over the potatoes. Top with remaining cheese. Bake 40 to 45 minutes. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

NOTE: With either recipe, you can also make it a main dish. Just take 4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or boneless pork chops and dredge them in a dusting of flour. In a heavy skillet, melt margarine, butter, olive oil or Crisco oil and brown the meat on both sides, until it’s nice and golden brown. Just mingle those browned chops or breasts in the potatoes and Au gratin sauce or potatoes and whipping cream . . . before baking. The meat will be tender and delicious and it flavors the Au Gratin Potatoes perfectly!

Bacon Fried Rice

I have two daughters that love rice. Their dad actually makes the best fried rice out of anyone I know. Mine is never as good as his, although I don't get it quite there. I was amazed at the ease of making fried rice, as, well... I hadn't cooked it before I met him. He likes to cook it on a Friday or Saturday morning, and then he will get up and cook some over easy eggs on the following morning and place it upon the rice he made the previous night. This is what his mom did for him as he grew up and now he likes to do it for his kids. Our son loves this as well... but my girls... if it has rice in it, they love it.....

You can use any kind of meat you want with fried rice really... ham, chicken, spam... well to you spam is not a meat but to many people I know from Hawaii... it is. GRIN... ono grinds. It is a diverse dish where some put in peas... cubed carrots, etc. I put in shoestring carrots from time to time but not a lot of time. Peas... we don't... but not that I am against it. I use pretty much what I have on hand.

So... for us... bacon is the way we like it.

Bacon fried rice

Prepare enough rice that you would like to use. I am told it is very important that you rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Put it in a bowl... cover with water, and then swish it around... empty water... add fresh water... swish it around... empty. Do this as many times as needed to have the water run clean. It rinses the starch off... and I have been told by my Japanese mother in law... and many, many Hawaiian friends that this is very important. Cover the rice with water to about an inch over the rice. I use a rice cooker. I had never heard of a rice cooker before I met their dad. I swear by them. I am not sure what I did before I had one... so good.... It is best to cook the rice in the morning or the night before and let cool and keep cold until time to use. I am not sure why... but again... that is what they have told me and it has turned out great every time.

When ready to prepare the rice.... in a large skillet place...

1 pkg hickory smoked or plain bacon. (You wouldn't want maple... )
1 large sliced onion
1 zucchini sliced
1 handful of shoestring carrots

Saute until you are satisfied with the readiness of the bacon.
Add:
Sliced mushrooms (we love mushrooms so we use a whole package of them (fresh, not canned)

stir until everything looks done to your liking. Turn burner onto a medium or low setting so this won't burn at this point.

Add rice by the cupful... one cup at a time and cook after each addition to make sure it doesn't clump...

add soy sauce...

This is totally by taste... don't start out with a lot. Start out very sparingly as soy sauce is very salty as well as the bacon. Add some, stir, add some stir... until your liking.

Move all the rice towards the middle from one side to give you some room for scrambling your eggs. I use about 6 eggs. I just crack them into the pan and just stir them until they are scrambled and fluffy or in chunks. I then fold them into the rest of the rice. Add pepper to taste.

Garnish with sliced green onions.

This is a fun and easy dish. If you make this... be sure to make enough for left overs the following morning. Cook an egg over easy and eat on top of a bed of heated up friend rice.... pure heaven.

Red Beans and Rice so good...

Not too often do I just love something from a fast food chain, that makes me want to eat it often. I must tell you that I have to resist turning into Popeye's chicken each time I pass it due to my fixation of their red beans and rice. AUHHHHHHH.... and if I do pass it, I want to do a u-turn to get me back. I like them that much! NO JOKE. So I have dabbled a bit and have come up with my own version. I am thinking I am pretty close.... but... would still stop there anytime for them.

I just cook my rice in a rice cooker and I add a little bit more water than usual... as I like our rice kind of sticky for this recipe. I add half water and half chicken broth as I just like that flavor, and I also add about a half tsp of garlic powder to the broth mixture and about 2 TBLS of butter. (And I wonder why my butt is so... just forget it...)

2 cans of red beans (don't drain)
1 can kidney beans (drain but reserve the liquid)
4 shakes of tabasco (more if you are daring)
1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 capfuls of liquid smoke
1 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbls. butter
1/2 tsp. pepper


Pour everything into your pot that you are going to cook with. Stir and let boil for approximately 10 minutes.
I smash mine with a potato masher. Some people like to keep all the beans whole. I do not. I like to smash them as when you do the beans become starchy and will start to thicken on their own. I turn the heat down to medium at this point of them cooking.

I smash about half to three forths of the beans and let them simmer for about 20 minutes or so. They thicken as they cook so you need to be careful and continue to strir now and then so they don't burn... (another reason to turn them down. Serve over rice.

I serve mine with enchiladas and corn... but also with fried chicken and macaroni. I do make a mean macaroni too... so my kids say. Five kinds of cheese... again another reason my butt grows.
Enjoy!!!!
S

Bacon and Zucchini Stir Fry

I really love G's mom. She is the sweetest lady and a fantastic cook still and she is in her 80's. She puts so much love in her food and has for years. This is one of the things she taught me to cook. It is one of my favorites to cook for the kids. Aside from the bacon it is so healthy. HA... but the bacon is what makes it so good. Dang! There are no exact measurements on it either so anything goes. My kind of recipe... and often why blogging is hard for me... I just throw things together a lot with no attention to how much I put in of an ingredient. Anyhow... enjoy... so good... and the veggies are so abundant during the summer months.

Bacon and Zucchini Stirfry:

6 to 8 slices of bacon cut into pieces
1 tsp minced fresh garlic
salt and pepper to taste
1 large onion
10 mushrooms
3 zucchini
1 yellow squash
fresh diced tomatoes




Place the bacon, garlic and onion in the pan to cook. I like to cook it well enough to be edible at that point but still limp.


I then add the zucchini, yellow squash, and mushrooms. My squash is cut in medium size medallions as if they are too thin they will get soggy and not so good for my taste buds. If too thin, the mushrooms will overcook while you wait for the squash to finish. No good either... Stir fry this until desired doneness of he squash, while adding salt and pepper to taste. Turn heat completely off at this point and add add the fresh tomatoes. Serve. This is a great dish.

Potato Fingers

My grandpa tried to convince us when we were little that potatoes were the most universal food and could be prepared so many ways. Maybe this is where the carb obsession grew for me. I to this day find comfort in mashed potatoes... mmmmmmmm.... and loaded baked potatoes might be considered a best friend if I really wanted to go there... So today I ran into a recipe at a website and had to try it. It was a tad different than a recipe I already had for these, but I like variety... so I gave it a try.

Her blog is here and you must check it out It is called See Jane in the kitchen

The recipe is called potato skins

Enjoy... so very good. She has another recipe that I tried out that is similar to a southern gooey butter cake. You will love it... I will be visiting her often.

Potato fingers


8- 10 small baking potatoes, baked
3 TBS. oil
2 TBS. fresh grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder (I added this... not in original recipe) always a need for bad breath
1/4 tsp black pepper
grated cheese
sliced green onions
bacon
sour cream


Cut baked potatoes in half and scoop out the middle then cut them in half again so each potato will make four skins. In a bow, mix oil, cheese and seasonings. Brush the skins with the oil mixture on both sides. Bake in a 475 degree oven for 7 minutes, remove from oven, turn over the potatoes and bake for 7 more minutes. Take out of oven and top with cheese and bacon, bake for another minute or two. Remove from oven and top with onions and sour cream.