Breakfast Balls

These are super tasty
& they are packed full of energy!
I've seen a bunch of different versions of breakfast balls,
but this recipe is a combination of others using ingredients I had on hand (:

1 cup peanut butter

3 bananas

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups oats

1/2 cup coconut

1/4 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup craisins

powdered sugar (optional - to coat)

Heat peanut butter, bananas, & honey in a large microwavable bowl for 30 seconds. Mash bananas & stir in vanilla. Stir in oats, coconut, chocolate chips, & craisins one ingredient at a time until each is completely coated. Roll into balls 1" or 1 1/2" in diameter. If desired, roll balls in powdered sugar, then refrigerate to set. Makes approximately 35 balls.

xoxo

Pulled Pork Hawaiian Haystacks

I grew up eating Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner all the time.
You know...
A bed of rice,
chow mein noodles,
almond slivers,
pineapple,
cheese,
coconut,
diced chicken with some sort of gravy sauce that I never wanted to put on mine,
whatever you see fit really.
I've seen plenty of variations online lately
with all sorts of different toppings...

When we lived in California,
we were feeding some LDS missionaries for dinner
& decided to have Hawaiian Haystacks.
One of the elders was from the islands.
He informed us that although the meal was tasty,
the only things Hawaiian about it
were the pineapple, coconut, & the bed of rice.
That has bothered me ever since.

When I was planning Little Princess' Lilo & Stitch party
I instantly thought of Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner.

I started thinking of ways to make it slightly more authentic...
Spam?
Pork?
Fish?
Hawaiian Sweet Potatoes?
Teriyaki?
Poi?

Here's what we decided:

Ignore the blue jello with Swedish fish in the picture.
We didn't eat that on the Haystacks...

Pulled Pork Hawaiian Haystacks
Bed of rice
Crockpot Hawaiian Pulled Pork (recipe below)
Chow Mein noodles
Monterey Jack cheese
Almond slivers
Pineapple tidbits
Shredded coconut
Banana Poi (recipe below)

We tried it both with & without the poi on top.
I liked it both ways.
With the poi it is definitely sweeter,
but you don't need to add that much or it may overpower the other flavors.
A light drizzle should do (:

We served King's Sweet Hawaiian Rolls on the side of the Haystacks.
Hubby tried the pulled pork on those & said it was good too.

I found this recipe for Slow Cooker Hawaiian Pulled Pork over at East 9th Street,
but ended up doing a few things differently...

Crockpot Hawaiian Pulled Pork

3 lbs pork loin, cut into 3-4" pieces (next time I might try 2-3" pieces if using it for Haystacks)

1 cup onion, chopped into small pieces but not quite minced

2/3 cup ketchup

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup tomato paste

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp paprika

2 Tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp salt

1 can crushed pineapple, drained (I only used 1/2 can since I needed the rest for Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Balls, but next time I'm going to try the whole can)

Cut the pork & place in crockpot. Add the rest of the ingredients & cover. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or until the pork can be easily shredded with two forks. Shred all the meat in the crockpot & turn off heat.

As for the Banana Poi...

I found the recipe at food.com,

but could not find coconut cream anywhere

so I decided to try it with cream of coconut instead.

I just used whatever was left after making the piña coladas.

(approx 1/2 can)

Because I used cream of coconut instead of coconut cream,

my poi was probably a little sweeter than it would be if I had stuck to the original recipe.

Banana Poi

2 cups very ripe bananas, mashed

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 cup coconut cream (I used roughly 1/2 can cream of coconut instead)

Mash bananas until a smooth paste is formed. Add the lemon juice. Gradually add the coconut cream, stirring constantly. Chill & serve.

If you try this version of Hawaiian Haystacks
let me know what you think...

Do you like it better with or without the poi?

Don't forget to check out the Lilo & Stitch luau!

xoxo

Banana Bread Brownies topped w/ Chocolate Peanut Butter

I saw these on Six Sisters' Stuff last month & knew EXACTLY what I was going to do with my leftover bananas next time I had them. With our banana loving little dudeman this doesn't happen often.

I followed the link at the bottom of their post to Cookies and Cups to see the original post where they found the recipe. They looked even more delicious and it just confirmed that I needed to try these out. Plus, I had just discovered another site with great recipes for sweet stuff. Definitely a win. I'm so glad I checked it out!

So I tried it out and of course it didn't look NEARLY as appetizing as either of the other two. I kind of expected that though since I am terrible at taking pictures of food and nothing I make ever looks like it does in the pictures. I must have mushed the bananas into too much of a paste and stirred it too much since I saw no banana chunks. It tasted wonderful but was incredibly dense.

I also felt like it was missing something...

I've been on a chocolate peanut butter kick lately, so I thought I'd try making a chocolate peanut butter sauce to pour on top of it.

It was exactly what was needed! They now looked more appetizing than the funky thing that came out of the oven AND my taste-buds were satisfied. My only complaint is that I wish they weren't so dense...

Ingredients:

6 Tbsp butter

3/4 cup chocolate chips

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs, beaten

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

Topping:

1/4 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup peanut butter

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 350. 

- Spray a 9x9 pan with cooking spray, set aside. 

- Combine butter and chocolate chips in a medium saucepan. Melt together over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. When melted, set aside to cool.

- Combine the mashed bananas, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Stir in beaten eggs until evenly incorporated.

- Stir in flour and salt until just combined.

- Pour all but 1/4 cup melted chocolate into the banana mixture and stir.

- Pour the batter into your prepared pan. Drizzle remaining 1/4 cup melted chocolate on top, and swirl it into the batter.

- Bake 25-30 minutes until the center is set and a toothpick comes out clean.

- Once cooled, melt 1/4 cup chocolate chips & 1/4 cup peanut butter together, then spread on top of the brownies. 

- Cool completely and cut into squares.

Notes:

- Brownies will be very dense

- Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

I guessed the amounts for the topping since I had eyeballed the amount that I put on top. I had already had a few pieces before I spread it on, so I wouldn't have been able to give an accurate amount anyway. Hopefully my estimates will be right...