50 States; 50 Meals: Hawaii

Aloha!  I am so behind I don't even remember what night we had this dinner last week.  Picking this menu was so difficult mostly because I didn't think the girls would like the traditional Hawaiian fanfare. When I looked up the meals my choices were raw tuna (Ahi Poke), shredded Salmon (Lomi Lomi Salmon), Spam made to look like sushi (Spam Musubi) or something called a Loco Moco.

None of those sounded "kid-friendly" so I decided to play it safe and decided on Hawaiian chicken and pineapple skewers.  I couldn't help feel like I was taking the easy way out and not really making true Hawaiian food and kept thinking about the Loco Moco.  A Loco Moco was first served on the big island in 1949.  It is white rice topped with a burger patty, gravy and a sunny side up egg.  My hubby was on board but I was sold when my youngest said boldly that she would try it.  That NEVER happens.  I went the easy way since I still planned on making the chicken skewers.  I used frozen hamburgers and jarred gravy.  Sidebar: Ballpark makes a frozen precooked burger.  It came highly recommend from the gentleman working at Wegmans and he was right.  We used the left over burgers for a busy dance class night.

So there is a Loco Moco.  You may not be able to tell but I plated this dish in a bowl.  A coworker of mine was stationed in Hawaii while he served in the Navy.  He told me the best way to eat this meal is to cut it all up in the bowl so the egg yolk gets over everything.  I made one sans egg for my youngest to eat.  Both girls loved this meal and actually wanted to have it again this week.  I'm so happy I made it.

I did still make the chicken and pineapple skewers.  I got some help with a packet of McCormick Grill Mates Hawaiian Luau for the chicken.  I marinated the pineapple in soy sauce and brown sugar.  I skewered them separately so we didn't have to worry about the cooking times.  The chicken was so good I enjoyed it a few more times on top a salad for lunch.

  So I had to throw some Spam into the mix since Spam is so popular on the big island.  I picked up a single serving package of Spam and fried it up real quick.  My oldest housed it!  Loved it.  I would eat it again if I was stranded somewhere and it was the only thing left to eat.

To finish off our feat I broke out the Hawaiian sweet rolls.  My daughter loved the rolls so much she kept asking for me to use them as sandwiches in her lunches.

Here's our feast