For a fun Friday meal when it is just your family, or when you are expecting guest Hawaiian Haystacks are great! I may have had them when I was younger, but the first time I really realized that I was eating a haystack was at Brigham Young University when I was a freshman.
This week we invited two families over to eat dinner with us and I was a little stressed about what to fix for dinner. I had about 5 menus running through my head and couldn't decide on one of them. Should I make meatloaf and mashed potatoes? But it is more of a winter meal. What about cheesy potatoes instead of mashed. Bean dip would be good and fun to eat--but how many pans should I make? We could have chicken pockets, but it would be hard to keep them warm for those that wanted seconds--you get the idea. Then I remembered the package of Chinese noodles I had picked up at the store the other day and my meal came together.
The nice thing about a dish like Hawaiian Haystacks is that since there is a variety of toppings for the rice and Chinese noodles, it fits everyone's taste, and since the chicken is served in a gravy, it goes further. Typically for ingredients I have the following:
Rice
Chinese Noodles
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Chicken Gravy
Green Onions
Pineapple
I love all of these flavors together--yum! For this dinner I was feeding 15 people, and with the amounts I made it would have feed 20-22. To make the meal go smoother I started my rice at 3 p.m. in my crock pot on high. It was perfectly done at 5:30 when we were ready to eat. I did 12 cups of hot water with 6 cups of rice.
For the gravy I whisked together 1 cup of canola oil with 1 cup of flour until bubbly. I then added 6 bullion cubes, 3 to 4 cups of chicken, and 8 cups of water. I also put in a couple of teaspoons of salt. One time I made gravy with olive oil--yuck! I wouldn't recommend it. It didn't taste quite right.
We used about 3 cups of cheese and 2 cans of pineapple and 1 package of Chinese noodles. I was out of green onions--but I imagine a good sized bunch, sliced thin would have been enough. I served this meal with a yummy watermelon and a green salad.
So the next time you are thinking about a fun Friday meal, consider a Haystack--Hawaiian style!
~Deborah
1 comment:
Hawaiian Haystacks is one of my favorite meals. Other toppings we've had with this are diced celery, diced green or colored peppers, canned mandarin oranges, shredded coconut, fresh diced tomatoes, and sliced almonds.
I agree that it's great for large group meals. Thanks for sharing. :)
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