Rock Island Cafe

Stepping into Rock Island Cafe in King's Village Shopping Center in Waikiki is like stepping back in time.

Neon signs, red booths, and collectibles galore are a backdrop to classic diner food with cool names.

Fonzie's French Fries

Snoopy Bacon Cheese Dog

Mama Mia Pizza Dog

Toto's Gourmet Hot Dog

Elvis' King Creole BBQ Chicken Pizza

My husband and I shared a personal size BBQ Chicken Pizza.  Chicken, red onions, tomatoes, cheese, and BBQ Sauce all made for a really tasty pizza.  The crust was a little chewier than I normally like, but the toppings were plentiful and delicious.

There is no keiki menu, but there is plenty of kid-friendly fare.  Each of my kids ordered a hot dog, and we ordered a side of fries since the hot dogs didn't come with any.

While waiting for your food, you can peruse the numerous displays, purchase a cool find, or play some trivia at your table!

Trivia cards at your table to play while you wait for your food

Service was great, and if you want a serving of nostalgia with your meal, be sure to visit Rock Island Cafe!


Rock Island Cafe
131 Kaiulani Ave

Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 923-8033

Read More

Toasted Heart

Here's a super easy and fun idea when making toast for your kids. I wanted to make it fun so I cut a heart out of foil and placed it directly on the bread. Toast until the bread is golden brown; remove the foil.  

My daughter applied jelly only on the heart to make it fun.  You can make whatever shape or design you want with foil and toast it with your bread.  My kids get a kick out of these simple things.  It makes it fun for them.

Read More

Recipes for National Peanut Butter Lover's Day March 1

Below are ten recipes for the peanut butter lover to celebrate National Peanut Butter Lover's Day on March 1!

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies

Marbled Chocolate and Peanut Butter Treats

Chocolate-Covered Graham Cracker Sandwiches

Peanut Butter Swirl Cookies

Chocolate Peanut Buddy Bars

Peanut Butter Bars

PB&J Sandwich Cookies

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars

Read More

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

Who doesn't love Krispy Kreme Doughnuts?!?!  I think everyone has had a taste of their doughnuts. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of doughnuts but I love the Krispy Kreme ones. When I first tried the Original Glazed Doughnuts, I thought it was the best doughnut I had ever tasted and still love it to date.  It's so good when it's fresh and hot.  Krispy Kreme doughnuts are soft and moist...so yummy!  We always try to pick up Krispy Kreme doughnuts when we're on Maui.  Right now, the only location is on Maui, other than the mainland.

Here are some of the doughnuts we love and wanted to try.

Glazed Blueberry Cake, Oreo Cookies and Kreme and Double Dark Chocolate.

Apple Fritter, Glazed Chocolate Cake and Glazed Sour Cream.

The Original Glazed Doughnuts.

The Oreo Cookies and Kreme is delicious (first time trying it), a must try if you haven't yet.  My kids are always thrilled when we pick up Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.  They especially love the Double Dark Chocolate and Glazed Chocolate Cake.  They are all so good and I love the variety.  

Maui Location:

433 Kele Street

Dairy Road between Haleakala and Kele

Kahului, HI 96732

Ph: (808) 893-0883

Read More

Panko Parmesan Chicken Tenders

I admit - I do buy frozen chicken nuggets for those many nights where I just don't have the energy to cook or there is just no time to cook.

But one night I did have the energy and time to try and make some Panko Parmesan Chicken Tenders, based on this recipe from Cozi.

I thought they turned out great.  My kids loved them too!

Next time I'm going to cut the pieces into bite size chunks to make them more like nuggets.

Panko Parmesan Chicken Tenders (recipe credit Cozi)

Ingredients:

• 1 large egg
• 1/2 c panko
• 1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese
• dried parsley flakes
• 1 lb chicken tenders 
• salt

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Beat egg in a shallow dish.
• Combine panko, cheese, parsley and salt in a separate shallow dish.
• Dip chicken tenders in egg, then coat in bread crumb mixture,
• Arrange tenders on foil-lined pan and bake 20-30 minutes.

Read More

Visit Montana: St. Regis Travel Center

On the way to Montana from Spokane, Washington, we made a stop at St. Regis Travel Center. We thought it would be a great place to take a restroom and snack break, and perhaps pick up a few souvenirs.

Turns out the St. Regis Travel Center offers more than just souvenirs and clean restrooms. They have a free trout aquarium, free popcorn, a restaurant, an ice cream shop, and more.

We stopped there twice - once on our way to Montana and once on our way back to Idaho. The gift shop has a large selection of made-in-Montana items, as well as a variety of other products - tees, books, toys, and more! We bought lots of omiyage items (including many huckleberry items) and let the boys pick some toys to keep them occupied on the long road trip.

A few of the goodies we bought at St. Regis Travel Center

If you find yourself on a road trip to or from Montana and you're near Mineral County, be sure to stop by St. Regis Travel Center!

St. Regis Travel Center
55 Mullan Gulch Rd,
St Regis, MT 59866
(406) 649-2407

Read More

Bombay Palace

I love Indian food, so I was super excited to try Bombay Palace, which specializes in Northern Indian Halal dishes, while we were staycationing nearby.

Vegetable Samosas

Bread Basket

Lamb Vandaloo

Chicken Tikka

Butter Chicken

The Vegetable Samosas - crispy, golden brown turnovers filled with a savory blend of potatoes and peas, and served with tamarind and mint chutneys, were delightful!

The assorted breads - naan, garlic naan, and onion Kulcha were addicting. My kids couldn't stop eating up the different breads!

I ordered the House Special Butter Chicken. Charbroiled chunks of chicken are cooked in a tomato & cream-based sauced. The chicken was cooked perfectly, and the combination of herbs and spices to finish off this dish was simply amazing. I would've been happy with just the sauce and some rice or naan. The sauce is that good!

My husband ordered the Lamb Vandaloo. This spicy dish was full of lamb, potatoes, and onions

The Chicken Tikka Tandoori Kababs - pieces of chicken marinated in Indian herbs and roasted in a tandoor oven, came out sizzling on a platter. They were a little too spicy for my kids, but I thought the chicken was just fantastic. Each bite of tender chicken was bursting with flavor.

In addition to the above, Bombay Palace offers a few Pakistani menu items, as owner Imran Khan, who is from Pakistan, wants guests to be able to enjoy the types of authentic dishes he would find back home.

Service was great, and Bombay Palace is definitely one of my faves for Indian food.

If you love Indian food too, be sure to visit Bombay Palace!


Bombay Palace
Discovery Bay Center
1778 Ala Moana Blvd., Space 213.
808-941-5111

Four hour parking is available for $1 with validation.

The restaurant is open for lunch from 11:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and for dinner from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily, 365 days a year.

Read More

Nene Goose Bakery

Mochi Anpan

If you ever find yourself in Kailua (Thursday through Monday between the hours of 6am and 1pm), you must visit Nene Goose Bakery.  But get there early and bring cash.  I arrived at 8:30am and the glazed donuts were already sold out.  But, I did walk away with two mochi an pans, a couple of cute choco animals and a cinnamon roll.  

I was quite impressed with how detailed the choco animals were.  My daughter had the hardest time deciding between the reindeer, the crab, and the seahorse.  Truth be told, I think the deciding factor was size and not cuteness. 

Adorable choco animals are filled with choco chips.

Inside the little bakery, I wanted to buy everything!  It was hard not to grab a loaf of their delicious looking walnut bread or a few more pastries.  Nene Goose Bakery is just another great reason to head out to the Windward side!

Located at 1090 Keolu Drive, Kailua, Hawaii.  

Read More

Ko Olina Lagoon 4 (Ulua)

Normally when our family goes to the Ko Olina Lagoons, we go to Lagoon One (Kohola).  We usually get to Lagoon One early enough to find parking in the small lot, but on a recent visit, we were meeting people later than we usually go to the lagoons, so we decided to meet at Lagoon Four (Ulua), since it has a much larger parking lot than the other lagoons.

We love going to the lagoons.  No matter which we lagoon we end up at, we always have a great time!

Ko Olina Lagoons
Ko Olina Resort
92-1480 Aliinui Drive
Kapolei, HI 96707

Read More

Noi Thai Cuisine

I was really bummed when I missed the Noi Thai Cuisine media event late last year, so when Nadia asked if I wanted to go there for dinner, I couldn't wait to give the restaurant a try!

Housemade Sausage

Crispy Taro Roll

Heating of the Tom Yum Lobster Soup

Tom Yum Lobster

Yellow Curry Crab

Crispy Garlic Chicken

The complimentary Housemade Sausage was a pleasant way to start off the meal.

The Taro Rolls - fried spring rolls stuffed with prawns and taro, were presented in a glass filled with plum sauce. They were absolutely delicious, and surprisingly light. They were my favorite dish of the evening (I ate 3 of the 5 rolls!).

The Tom Yum Lobster, which is heated tableside in order to draw out the flavors of all of the ingredients, was full of lobster, straw mushroom caps, lemongrass, galangal root, green onion and cilantro. The combination of flavors in this soup was delightful.

I love chicken, so I was very eager to try the Crispy Garlic Chicken. It did not disappoint! Each piece of chicken was covered in a tasty garlic sauce, and I loved the crispy fried basil leaves that topped off the dish.

I don't eat lot of Thai curry dishes, but I thought the Yellow Curry Crab was very delicious. Each bite of curry was full of crab meat, and I liked that the coconut milk was not too overpowering.

Prices are a lot higher than most other Thai restaurants I've been to, but dining at Noi Thai Cuisine was everything Nadia said it would be in her write-up - an experience which included amazing food beautifully presented in an elegant ambiance.

And service was excellent!

Thank you, Nadia, for a great Thai meal!



Noi Thai Cuisine

Royal Hawaiian Center
2301 Kalakaua Ave C308

Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 664-4039

Read More

Mini Chimichangas

My favorite menu item at Mexican restaurants is the Chicken Chimichanga.  So when I found myself with extra wonton wrappers after making these Crab and Cream Cheese Wontons, I decided to make Mini Chimchangas!

I simply stuffed each wonton wrapper with some refried beans, leftover shredded chicken, cheddar cheese, and olives (you can really just use whatever you have on hand in your pantry or any leftovers in the fridge), sealed them, and deep fried until golden brown.

I served the Mini Chimichangas with salsa, guacamole, and sour cream.

YUM!

Such a yummy way to use up pantry items and/or leftovers!

Read More

2016 Hugs and Hearts Festival

While staycationing in Waikiki over the weekend, we stumbled upon the Hugs and Hearts Festival, presented by Millwood `Ohana Productions (we were wondering why traffic was crazy - they shut down Kalakaua Avenue!).

We had no plans on going to the festival, but we decided to pick up something sweet to eat after having dinner nearby.

There were many vendors selling food and wares along Kalakaua Avenue.

We ended up buying some Mini Donuts from Franny's Hawaiian Mini Donuts.  They were very yummy, but the machine was not working well so the wait was very long, and be sure to count your donuts to make sure you get the amount of donuts you paid for!) and Red Velvet Deep Fried Oreos from Snow Factory.

Guava and Lilikoi Passion Fruit

Coconut and Chocolate

Red Velvet Deep Fried Oreos from Snow Factory

It was fun trying out some new eats, and it was nice to be able to sit along the beach to enjoy the sweets.

It was a nice evening at the Hugs and Hearts Festival!

Read More