Hello Friends,

Continuing the Hawaiian Theme from over at Papa's Kitchen, today we're preparing Slow-cooker Pork Roast with a delicious smoky taste. This is a simple way of making traditional Hawaiian kalua pig without having to dig a hole in your back yard.

Kalua Pig in a Slow Cooker

Ingredients

• 1 (6 pound) pork butt roast
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Hawaiian sea salt
• 1 tablespoon liquid smoke flavoring

Directions

1. Pierce pork all over with a carving fork. Rub salt then liquid smoke over meat. Place roast in a slow cooker.
2. Cover, and cook on Low for 16 to 20 hours, turning once during cooking time.
3. Remove meat from slow cooker, and shred, adding drippings as needed to moisten. Serves 10-12.

Tropical Salad with Pineapple Vinaigrette

Ingredients

• 8 slices bacon
• 1/3 cup pineapple juice
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• salt to taste
• 1-1/4 (10 ounce) packages chopped romaine lettuce
• 1-1/3 cups diced fresh pineapple
• 2/3 cup chopped and toasted macadamia nuts
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 1/3 cup flaked coconut, toasted

Directions

1. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
2. In a cruet or jar with a lid, combine pineapple juice, red wine vinegar, oil, pepper and salt. Cover and shake well.
3. In a large bowl, toss together the lettuce, pineapple, macadamia nuts, green onions and bacon. Pour dressing over salad and toss to coat. Garnish with toasted coconut. Serves 8.

Have A Happy Saturday,

Phil

Hi Myrna,

If you liked the Hawaiian, how about one from South of the Border? This was good and easy and I almost always have the ingredients for this. I paired this with brown rice and sauteed peppers and onions, but wouldn't it be good if you just shredded the chicken and rolled it up in a lo-fat tortilla with lettuce and tomato?

Crockpot Sour Cream Salsa Chicken

Ingredients

4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
1 package reduced-sodium taco seasoning mix
1 cup salsa
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup light sour cream

Directions

Spray the crock pot with cooking spray. Add the chicken breasts. Sprinkle with Taco Seasoning. Top with salsa. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. When ready to serve, remove the chicken from the pot. Place about 2 Tablespoons cornstarch in a small amount of water. Stir well. Stir the cornstarch mixture into salsa sauce. Stir in 1/4 cup of sour cream. Serves 4.

Have A Terrific Week,

Phil

Here's a dinnertime warmer with a hint of spring's sweetness, designed for that day when you'd rather be outside enjoying the Sunshine with your Family, than inside slaving over the hot stove.

Chicken & Sweet Potato Stew

Ingredients

• 6 bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed, trimmed of fat
• 2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into spears
• 1/2 pound white button mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 6 large shallots, peeled and halved
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary, or 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 1/2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar

Directions

Place chicken, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, shallots, garlic, wine, rosemary, salt and pepper in a 6-quart slow cooker; stir to combine. Put the lid on and cook on low until the potatoes are tender, about 5 hours. Before serving, remove bones from the chicken, if desired, and stir in vinegar.

Have A Great Week My Friends,

Phil

Hello Friends,

Just in time for those Labor Day Weekend Cookouts. Take one of these slow cooker barbeque bean recipes to your Labor Day potluck and wait for the compliments to roll in!

First for those who like the Milder taste in their Baked Beans, these are loaded with a variety of meats and get a little bit of sweetness from molasses and brown sugar. Also, if you don't have a slow cooker, you can bake them in the oven until heated through.

Western-Style Baked Beans

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 2 (28 ounce) cans baked beans with pork
• 1 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1/2 pound cooked ham, chopped
• 2 tablespoons minced onion
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 1/4 cup water (optional)

Directions

1. Crumble the ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir until no longer pink, 5 to 10 minutes. Drain off grease and transfer the beef to a 4 quart or larger slow cooker. Stir in the baked beans, bacon, ham, onion, chili powder, ketchup, brown sugar and molasses. If it seems thick, stir in the water. Cover and cook on High for 3 hours or cook for 6 to 8 hours on Low. Recipe makes a Gallon, or enough to serve 30.

Then if like mine, your tastes run towards the Spicier side, then these will be more your cup of tea. Not your usual baked beans. Green chiles and hot pepper sauce give zest to these eat-'em up sweet-and-hot baked beans.

Texas-Style Baked Beans

Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 8 (16 ounce) cans baked beans with pork
• 2 (4 ounce) cans canned chopped green chile peppers
• 2 small Vidalia onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 cups barbeque sauce
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™), or to taste

Directions

1. In a skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef until no longer pink; drain fat, and set aside.
2. In a 3 1/2 quart or larger slow cooker, combine the ground beef, baked beans, green chiles, onion and barbeque sauce. Season with brown sugar, garlic powder, chili powder and hot pepper sauce. Cook on HIGH for 2 hours, or low for 4 to 5 hours. Serves 24.

Finally for a little something really different, you might like to try these Baked Beans made in the slow cooker that are slightly sweet and tangy, with a smoky, meaty flavor that everyone will love. The best part? They're very easy to make.

Bandito Beans

Ingredients

• 1 pound mild pork sausage
• 1 (15 ounce) can wax beans, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can cut green beans, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can lima beans, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained
• 1/2 (28 ounce) can barbeque baked beans, with liquid
• 1 (15 ounce) can chili beans, with liquid
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup barbeque sauce
• 1 small green bell pepper, diced
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 teaspoon fennel seed

Directions

1. Place sausage in a skillet over medium heat, and cook until evenly brown. Drain grease, and transfer sausage to a slow cooker.
2. Into the slow cooker with the sausage, mix wax beans, green beans, lima beans, and black beans. Mix in baked beans with liquid and chili beans with liquid. Stir in the tomato paste, brown sugar, barbeque sauce, green bell pepper, onion, and fennel seed.
3. Cover slow cooker. Cook on Low at least 5 hours. Makes 24 servings.

For some more hot ideas to have a Cool Labor Day Cookout, be sure to check out Papa's Kitchen. Also, while you're inthe mood to Celebrate, why not stop by over at Happy Labor Day and leave a few Comments for our Adland Friends.

Hope Your Labor Day Holiday Is Happy,

Phil