Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs

It's been too long. That's just how I start every post now I guess. I don't know what is wrong with me.

It was back to school week here in our lovely little town. It is always bittersweet for me. I am the crazy parent that loves having my kids at home with me all summer, but I also love order and routine and a bit of freedom. For example, on the first day of school I sat in the coffee shop with some other moms and one grandma until 1:00pm enjoying that freedom! It was awesome. Especially since the bus is now bringing Faith home instead of me driving to the school. That gives me almost an extra hour in the afternoon but still gets her home only 15 minutes later than I would. It is crazy math I know. I will spare you the details of how that actually works out.

Here is my big baby all ready for 7th grade with his "Are you kidding me mom" smile. Picture taking has gotten difficult these last few years.

Here he is doing a little better because I asked him to smile. You get what you get! We've taken a picture on the first day of school every year by this tree for 7 years now so it's not like he doesn't know what to expect.

Since I am not allowed to come in with him anymore this is what I have to settle for at the school. You see that lady coming out. She was so funny. She saw me with my camera lense hanging out the car window and shouted, "You go mom!"

I love her but why did she get to go in??????

We also take a picture on the porch every year. Notice the difference in 7th grade smile and 1st grade smile.

She isn't embarrassed at all and she was super excited!

I love this girl. She just makes life fun.

This is her teacher, Mrs. Olmschied. She is so sweet and wonderful. I am so excited for Faith to be in her class. It is only her 2nd year teaching. I am into the new teachers. They are young, fresh, exciting, not burned out, and happy to be there! When I asked Faith about her day and the things she loved the most she said, "Mrs. Olmschied's shirt." Fashionista! She is into those kinds of details.

Thank you bus!!! Evan begged me not to put Faith on the bus insisting that there are bad kids and bad things learned on the bus. One would think I would listen to his advice and be really concerned if this was actually coming out of the mouth of a 12 year old. I was willing to take the risk however knowing that this child tells me everything and that she is young so they keep her up front. The bus makes me very happy. Faith has loved it too! The next picture I took has her completely smiling but it is totally blurry. Bummer!

It has been a wonderful first week. Very busy trying to work out everyone's schedules, but it will be nice to get back to the order and routine and some more blogging and creativity in the kitchen of course too.

So onto the food, right?

I was craving something different than my normal Greek loving palate usually asks for, and I want to savor all these days that we can still cook on the grill before winter arrives in like 2 weeks I am sure. Hawaiian chicken came to mind because I had a fresh pineapple that really needed to be used before I ended up tossing it. I hate wasting. You'll love this marinade. It goes together very quickly.

You need 1/4 cup of each of these.

One small can of pineapple juice.

1-2 tablespoons of sucanat or brown sugar if you must.

1 teaspoon of each of these.

1/4 teaspoon of black pepper.

Place all of that into a small sauce pan and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. I cut up my chicken while that was simmering.

Then pour the marinade over the chicken, cover, and place in the fridge for an hour. You only need an hour, but I am sure the flavor would be even better if it had longer. If my chicken breast is thick I cut it into large chunks but if it is thinner I usually cut it into a longer strip so I can thread it onto the skewer, folding it over, with two pokes into the chicken to make it thicker. See the second kabob and the first piece of chicken on it? That gives you an idea of what I mean.

For the kabobs I used that fresh pineapple and made sure I placed it right next to the chicken on the skewer. I also used red and green peppers, red onion, and grape tomatoes. Use whatever you like best but don't skip the pineapple and please don't use canned pineapple. It just isn't the same. I might cry. Also, brush your grill with olive oil to help them not stick.

We ate ours with a simple salad that night but these would be great served over a bed of brown rice as well. You could even add a bit of Teriyaki sauce to the rice water for a little more flavor if you were feeling adventurous!

These were so delicious! Aren't you proud of me for not making them Greek? Miles loved them so much that he suggested I make more last night for a potluck we were invited to. I opted to sit my rear in front of the TV for a change yesterday so I made something even faster, but I am sure we will do this again before grilling season comes to an end. These might even be company worthy!

Wow. I am done before 10am so you can make these for supper tonight if you wish! Hope you've had a great back to school week too or a great start to September!



Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs

Ingredients

5-6  boneless chicken breasts, cut into cubes or strips

1 small can fresh pineapple juice

¼  cup soy sauce

¼  cup olive oil

¼ cup teriyaki sauce

1-2 tablespoons sucanat or brown sugar

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1 fresh pineapple cut into chunks

1 large green pepper cut into 1 inch pieces

1 large red pepper cut into 1 inch pieces

1 red onion cut into 1 inch pieces

 cherry or grape tomatoes

hot cooked rice, optional

Directions

Put chicken in large shallow dish. Pour pineapple juice, soy sauce, olive oil, and teriyaki sauce into a small pan. Add sucanat, garlic powder, ginger, mustard, and pepper and stir. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Pour over chicken, reserving  ¼ -½ cup for basting later. Cover and chill for 1 hour. Remove chicken from marinade.  Thread chicken, pineapple, peppers, and tomatoes on skewers. Grill kabobs over hot coals 20 minutes or until chicken is done. Turn and baste frequently with reserved marinade.  Optional: Serve over hot rice.