Oahu Spots: Hanks Haute Dogs & Giovanni's Shrimp Truck

    I know it has been way too long since I've posted. Life has been kind of crazy getting ready for our move. I am sad (and happy) to say this is probably my last Oahu spot post! I only have two days left on Oahu and they will be spent mostly cleaning and taking care of my babies. After a month with my family and some time getting settled in our new place I'll share with you all the things I love about Northern Virginia. I have high hopes that we will find a lot to share.

   The last few weeks we went to a couple of our favorite places one last time before we leave. These are definitely places to put on your MUST VISIT list if you ever make it to Oahu.


Hanks Haute Dogs - Hank's has been featured on both Diners, Drive ins, and Dives, and Man Vs. Food Nation. It is awesome. I definitely recommend the chicken dog and you mustmustmust get the duck fat fries. They are a little pricey for hot dogs.. just to warn you. They are SO worth it though. My mouth is watering.. I may have to convince James to take me just one more time tomorrow afternoon.




Giovanni's Shrimp Truck - There are a lot of shrimp trucks on Oahu but we heard from everyone when we came here that THIS was the best. It really is everything we hoped it would be. You definitely have to go to the location in Kahuku and NOT Haleiwa because there is a huge difference. We've tried all three kinds of shrimp and they are all worth trying. I personally don't prefer the "Hot & Spicy" because it is really spicy. The flavor is really good, and James gets a half order sometimes because he loves it, but it is a little too much for me. The girls really love the Jumbo Garlic Hot Dog with rice.

Delilah enjoying a Garlic Hot Dog - 2012

James with our lunch - 2012

James on my 22nd Birthday at Giovanni's - 2010

Baby Josie at Giovanni's - 2010

My birthday at Giovanni's - 2010

Our Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a really lovely thanksgiving yesterday. We definitely did. We relaxed all morning. We called Mimi (my mom) to say Happy Thanksgiving and Grandma (his mom) to say Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Birthday (I hope you had a great birthday, Mom!). Grandma wanted a picture so we took one while James and I still weren't looking super awesome.

Josie is making that face because she's trying to see her cute little piggie tails.

She loved them and kept asking me to fix them every time they got messed up.

Me and my cute little kitchen helper started prepping and cooking around 10am.

Elbow deep under the skin. I slathered it in a rosemary garlic compound butter that Josie helped me make.

It was my first time making a full sized turkey. I was pretty worried but it was one of the most juicy turkeys I've ever had.

We had stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, warm rolls & butter.

It was well worth the hours in the kitchen and the extra few pounds!

We had a great day together as a family, and a great meal with our good friend Derek. Nothing is more adorable than listening to two grown men watching football, talking about Josie "pee-peeing in the potty".  We missed our family & friends that couldn't be here, but it was still a really great day. Hope everyone had a very happy thanksgiving!

Oahu Spot: The Counter

The Counter burgers are delicious and fresh. Totally worth the money.

Mini Burgers were perfectly sized for little hands.

The "Fifty-Fifty" with Fries and Sweet Potato Fries. Both fries were awesome. We all ate our fill and had some left over.

James got a custom built burger with Jalapeno Jack, Bacon, Sauteed Mushrooms, Organic Green Chilis, and Garlic Aioli. He was really pleased to find out the green chilis were the real deal. My New Mexico man was a happy one :)

I got a Backyard Barbeque Burger in a Bowl. It was really tasty but I enjoyed James burger more. I would custom make my own next time.

 All four of us were very happy with our lunch at The Counter and would definitely come here again. I think there is a location near where we are moving in Virginia! I wish we had found this place a few years ago. It was a sit down place that was still on the louder side - perfect for families with small children. If there is a location near you, go try it out! It's worth it :)

*I wasn't paid or compensated for this review. They're just yummy burgers I wanted to share with you.*

Ooey Gooey Popcorn: Halloween Edition

Beware! Warning! Caution! Look out, mate! DO NOT MAKE THIS POPCORN IF YOU HAVE NO ONE TO SHARE IT WITH. You will eat the whole bowl. You might not even feel bad about it. It's really that good. Its also a great way to be creative with some of that leftover Halloween candy.


True story: I was sitting on the couch a few days ago watching a movie with Delilah. I had a sudden desperate need for this popcorn. A you-don't-even-understand-how-much-I-need-this-popcorn-right-now kind of craving. I made the popcorn. I ate almost the whole thing by myself.. but I saved a little bowl for Josie. I am a good mom after-all. Did I mention I made a batch a few days before it and we annihilated it? James loves it too.

 ...I said it was a true story not a good story.

Are you convinced yet? Make this popcorn!

Ooey Gooey Popcorn: Halloween Edition

{Adapted from Sweet Treats and More: Gooey Vanilla Bean Popcorn}

Ingredients:
1 Bag of Microwavable Popcorn (I used movie theater butter but you can use whatever floats your boat.)
1/2 Cup of Sugar
1/2 Stick of Butter
2TBSP Light Corn Syrup
1TSP Vanilla Extract
Your Choice of Halloween Candy (I used 1/4 cup candy corn and 10 Butterfinger covered pretzels, roughly chopped)




Directions:
Pop popcorn according to instructions. Pour into bowl carefully avoiding the unpopped kernels.
Stir in your choice of candy.
In small saucepan heat sugar, butter, corn syrup, and vanilla, over medium heat, until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Stir constantly.
Pour sugar mixture over popcorn slowly and stir together. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to be sure all candy gets mixed thoroughly.
Let cool slightly & enjoy :)

I have also kept this in a tupperware on the counter and it was still awesome the next day. It's never lasted longer than that.

Brown Sugar Blueberry Cookies & Yaki Mandu

Brown Sugar Blueberry Cookies

I found this recipe over
at Sweet Pea's Kitchen and thought they looked pretty yummy. I'm not really a cakey cookie kinda gal but I had all the ingredients so I thought.. why not? I am SO glad I tried these. A huge hit for my whole family. Even the ones that don't love sweets.  Click on over and try them yourself!

Yaki Mandu

"Yucky Mountain Dew???" "No, Yaki Mandu!" "Oh, uhh.. bring me a couple more please."

I am generally pretty intimidated by Asian food. I grew up with a lot of spaghetti and my moms almost famous lasagna.  Anything of the Asian variety was delivered from our favorite restaurants. However, I saw these and immediately thought "Hey, I bet I could make those!" and make them I did! They were easy, fantastically yummy, and fun too. We served them with rice and that Spicy Thai Mango sauce. Head over to Seaweed & Sassafras2 and try them yourself!

Chimichangas

 Tonight I tried my hand at Chimichangas. They turned out really good! I need to work on my frying - they got a little dark. Everything else about them was really perfect though. I highly recommend trying them. You could add whatever you want to the inside. I'm not going to tell you exactly how much of everything to put in because it's really up to you. Just make sure you don't overfill them or all your stuffing will fall out!

First take warm tortillas (I made four) and fill them with whatever you'd like. I used refried beans, cheddar cheese, and the meat from these Chile Colorado Burritos. I would love to make one with shredded chicken and pepper jack cheeses too. Maybe with some fresh sliced jalapenos. Yum!

Roll your now filled tortilla shells into cute little burritos. Make sure you tuck those ends in. Place them seam side down in a frying pan with hot vegetable oil. Please do me a favor and don't burn yourself. Make sure your oil isn't too hot. Please do me a favor and learn from my mistakes. When they're golden and beautiful, (don't forget the ends like I did.) take them out and set them on a paper towel to soak up the excess oil. 

You can stop there, but I decided to put some of the sauce leftover from my beef and some more shredded cheese over the top and then put them under the broiler until the cheese melted. Yum.
I served them beside black bean and garlic flavored chips with big dollops of sour cream and guacamole. Did I mention, yum?

Try these! They were so good.

 

Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken and Caramelized Onion and Blue Cheese Mashed Potatoes

 I am a huge fan of Buffalo Chicken anything. I've been making this chicken for awhile and putting it on sandwiches or nachos or throwing some into ramen noodles. The possibilities are really endless. (I cant find the blog where I found this recipe so if it's yours let me know and i'll be sure to link you up!)
The other day I made these Caramelized Onion and Blue Cheese Mashies to go with them and it was a match made in heaven!


*Buffalo Chicken*  
Ingredients:
-4-6 bonless skinless chicken breasts
-1 bottle Franks Buffalo Sauce
-1 packet ranch dressing mix
Directions:
-Place the chicken in the crock pot & top with the sauce & mix.
-Cook on low for 7 hours, shred, and then cook for 1 more hour.
-Put in/on/beside everything you eat for the next few days.

easy squeezy, right?

*Caramelized Onion & Blue Cheese Mashies*
Ingredients:
5-6 russet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 yellow onion, diced
4TBSP butter, divided
 1 cup blue cheese
1/2-3/4 cup half & half
salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
-Boil potatoes until fork tender, drain
-Meanwhile, cook diced onion in 1TBSP butter over medium heat until beautiful and brown (be patient or you'll burn them)
-Melt the remaining 3TBSP butter in with the onions
-Pour onions, butter, blue cheese, salt, pepper, and 1/2 cup half and half in with potatoes and mash to your liking. Add more half and half if they're too dry.

Serve by your buffalo chicken and some steamed veggies and enjoy tremendously.