On the list of things that I love – old skool rap and root beer is right on up there. I use Root Beer A LOT (check out all my other root beer recipes) in cooking because I love the flavor that it adds. Sweet with a hint of spice, it’s perfect for cooking meat.

Using a crock pot makes this tri tip fall apart beautifully and it is the perfect mid-week meal. Start it up in the morning and by dinner you’re good to go.

ingredients:
2-1/2 lbs tri tip
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
dash of cayenne
1 can root beer

Mix all the dry ingredients together and rub it on the tri tip. Place in the crock pot.

Pour in the root beer. Set the crock pot on low for 6-8 hours.

Slice or pull apart the trip tip and serve!

I love using jam/jellies in savory dishes. It adds just the right amount of sweetness. My favorite are Hawaiian Sun products because the flavors remind me of Hawaii. The mango+pineapple combo is something you wouldn’t think would work for ribs, but it makes for an amazingly flavorful short rib that is reminiscent of the islands.

I am giving away a few jars of Hawaiian Sun jam/jellies – make sure you enter!

ingredients:
2-3 pounds short ribs
10 oz jar of Mango-Pineapple jam
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 Tablespoons mirin
1/4 cup water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper

In a bowl combine the Mango-Pineapple jam, soy sauce, mirni, water, garlic, onion powder, salt and pepper. Mix well.

Place the ribs in a crock pot and pour the sauce over. Set the crock pot to low and cook for 6 hours.

The salty sweet combo is a perfect marinade for short ribs and the slow cooking will give you a lovely fall off the bone consistency.

Yes, I did make ALL this food for a Sunday Family meal…

Cooking in the crock pot is great but sometimes I miss that nice crust that you get from the oven. For these ribs I did most of the cooking in the crock pot and then transferred them to the oven right at the end to finish them off. Soft, yet crispy, and flavorful, these Brown Sugar Ribs are a big hit at family gatherings!

ingredients:
2 pounds pork spareribs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup water
2 slices fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
fresh ground pepper

Place the ribs in a crock pot.

In a small bowl combine the brown sugar, soy sauce, water, ginger and garlic. Pour over the ribs and season with fresh pepper.

Place crock pot on low for 4-6 hours.

Take the ribs out of the crock pot, place in an oven safe dish and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. And serve!

My goal with my recipes is to make things that are tasty and don’t take a lot of time. With all the kid’s classes, homework and activities – this is the kind of dinner we eat during the week – fast, simple and delicious.

ingredients:
1 cup ketchup
3/4 cup orange juice
juice of half a lime
3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
pinch of cayenne
freshly ground pepper

6-8 pieces boneless chicken (thighs or breasts)
mini rolls (for sliders) or buns (for regular size)

Place the chicken in the crock pot.

Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl, then pour over the chicken. Cook on low for 4-6 hours.

When chicken is cooked through, use two forks and ‘pull’ it.

I like this BIG on a bun with lettuce and tomato while the kids like it small like sliders.

Either way it’s tasty and an easy dinner in no time flat!

This is so simple to do, great for when you just don’t have time and want to come home and just serve dinner. No fuss.

My kids LOVE this. Warm and flavorful it’s a perfect weekday dinner.

ingredients:
8 pieces of chicken
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoons pepper
1 can chicken broth
1 can water

Place the chicken in the crock pot. Add the garlic, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Slowly add the chicken broth and water along the side of the pot, so as not to disturb the spices.

Turn the crock pot on to low for 6-8 hours. Serve!

My proposal was selected as a winner in the King’s Hawaiian Tastemaker Program put on by Foodbuzzz! Incorporating King’s Hawaiian bread into a Spring Brunch would be easy, because as you can tell from so many past recipes, I love cooking with King’s Hawaiian bread. The soft, tasty Portuguese style sweet bread reminds me of visiting family in Hawaii and completes every meal from breakfast to dinner.

As that well known Disney cartoon set in Hawaii said, “Ohana means family.” Lilo was right and to me, family means getting together and LOTS of eating. I knew that my King’s Hawaiian spring brunch dish would have to involve feeding the ones I love.

Root beer is the drink of choice in our family, so much so that I often use it in my recipes. The sweetness brings a lot out of savory dishes. I decided to make Root Beer Pulled Pork sliders: warm, succulent pulled pork – flavored with spices and root beer a perfect compliment to King’s Hawaiian sweet bread.

I am lucky that the King’s Hawaiian Bread factory is located right here in Los Angeles, with a bakery and restaurant not far away. This means I get the FRESHEST melt in your mouth sweet bread. Sure the supermarket bread is good too, but nothing beats sweet bread made fresh that day.

A quick run to the bakery and I got my rolls for my meal as well as King’s famous Paradise Cake for dessert!

To me this is the perfect way to welcome spring, good food and family. An Ohana lunch is the best way to celebrate the season!

ingredients:
1 boneless pork shoulder (or pork butt) 4lbs
1 sweet Maui onion
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon Hawaiian salt
1 Tablespoon cumin
1 Tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
12 oz root beer (I prefer A & W for cooking)

King’s Hawaiian sweet bread dinner rolls

Slice the onion thin and layer it on the bottom of the crock pot. I like Maui onions best because they are nice and sweet and don’t overpower the meat.

Cut the pork shoulder into smaller pieces and arrange it on top of the sliced onion.

In a small bowl combine the brown sugar, Hawaiian salt, cumin, paprika, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and oregano. Mix well and pour and rub into the pork.

Pour the root beer on top of the seasoned meat. Cook on low for 8 hours.

When the 8 hours is up, take two forks and ‘pull’ the pork. It will be nice and tender and should shred easily. Make sure you mix up the onions on the bottom of the pot.

Cut the King’s Hawaiian rolls in half and place a nice helping of pork on top to serve!

I paired it with another family favorite, Potato Salad – the recipe that is in the new O.G. Favorite Recipes cookbook!

The family LOVED the Root Beer pulled pork. They raved about the tasty pork and the soft sweet bread! Both O.G. AND the Baby had several helpings each!

Having a gorgeous slice of King’s Hawaiian paradise cake for dessert was definitely the way to top off the meal!

I adore pink. I love everything pink and my friends know this, therefore they gift me with all. things. pink.

For my birthday I received some gorrrgeous pink peppercorns. I knew immediately I needed to come up with a recipe that showcased them.

Don’t let the minimal ingredients (we’re talking 3) fool you. Making it in a crock pot only increases the the flavor of the very few ingredients.

ingredients:
3-4 lb chuck roast
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 Tablespoons pink peppercorns
1/4 cup red wine vinegar

That’s it? Yes – that’s all you’ll need. Trust me.

Place the roast in the crock pot. Pour in the red wine vinegar. Sprinkle with salt and peppercorns.

Turn on the crock pot to low for 6-7 hours. Walk away.

Check on it at around 6 hours, you don’t want it to overcook and dry out. You could make a gravy to go with it, but I quite like the ‘pop’ of the peppercorns with the beef, all by themselves.

Of course, if you don’t have pink peppercorns, don’t sweat it – regular old ones are fine, just not as pretty!

This is the base sauce that I use for just about everything. I’ve adapted it many times and here’s how I use it to make ribs in a slow cooker.

ingredients:
1 cup ketchup
3/4 cup orange juice
juice of half a lime
3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
pinch of cayenne
freshly ground pepper

1 rack baby back ribs

The reason I like this sauce is I feel like I put together the perfect combination of sweet, savory, spicy and citrus. It all works together. If you want to change out some things, no problem. Just TASTE IT to see if it works. And the way you can tell is by tasting it BEFORE you use it. If it’s yum, you are good to go.

Mix all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. If you are going to use this as a sauce you can heat this until boiling and then bring to a simmer.

Otherwise, if you are going to use this as a marinade, just mix it together and then pour or brush on as needed. Chicken, tri tip, ribs, whatever. This sauce won’t let you down.

To make ribs, I break down the ribs into pair and place them in the bottom of the slow cooker. Pour the sauce on top, set to low for 6-8 hours and you’ve got a mighty fine dinner on your hands.

Shoyu is the Japanese word for soy sauce, and Shoyu Pork is a Hawaiian plate lunch staple. This is a version that I put together for my crock pot ’cause I had many important things to do. Like sit on my couch and watch Cake Boss…

The smell that fills your house will bring you joy forever. Well, for a few hours anyway.

ingredients:
one 3-4 pound pork butt
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup mirin (sweet rice wine)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup water
4 slices of ginger

In a small bowl combine the soy sauce, mirin, brown sugar and water. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and set aside.

Butcher down your pork into pieces, I’d say about 2-1/2 to 3″. Keep some of the fat to cook along with the meat, you’ll take it out before you serve it.

Cut your ginger into slices, about 3-4 is all you’ll need and sliced about 1/4″ thick.

Place the pork in the crock pot and pour the sauce over it. Add the ginger slices, pushing them down into the mixture. Set the pot on low for 6-7 hours.

The pork will get a very dark brown as it nears the end of the cooking time, it should be tender and fall apart. It is GREAT served with hot white rice and some mac salad – voila, my own in-house plate lunch!

16 hours to make this?? Don’t freak. There’s only 3 ingredients – trust me, you won’t even have to work for it.

ingredients:
one 4-5 lb pork butt/shoulder
1 Tablespoon Hawaiian salt
1-1/2 Tablespoons liquid smoke

Place the pork in the slow cooker. Pierce it all over with a paring knife.

For the salt I used a mix of regular, coarse Hawaiian salt and a specialty Black Lava salt that I got from Hawaii. The charcoal, smokiness gives it a little something extra.

If you can’t find the ‘special’ salt, don’t sweat it. Just use the coarse Hawaiian salt by itself – you can get a ton of it for a couple of bucks at a Japanese market.

Rub the salt into the top of the pork. Then pour the liquid smoke over and rub that in. Turn the slow cooker on to low…

Midway around the 8 hour mark, this is what your pork will look like. At this point turn the pork over,then walk away for another 8 hours…

Once the 16 hours is up, shred the pork using two forks, moisten with the juices if necessary, and serve.

Super simple! This is great for parties because there is NO work involved – just serve it with some Hawaiian sweet bread rolls, and you’re done!