Hawaiian Meatballs

When Scott first saw this recipe, he was very nervous. To him, meatballs and pineapple do not go together. To be honest, this ended up great! We had them for dinner with rice on the side, but they could easily be made for an appetizer for a party. I think next time I might just use a mixed variety of bell peppers as we don't particularly like green pepper. I did, as usual for slow cooker recipes, make this the night before and put it in the fridge before cooking. It still turned out great! Scott shared this with his coworkers the day after and they loved it as well!

Hawaiian Meatballs-adapated from "Slow Cooker Recipe Cards" by Taste of Home

Total Time: 6 hours

Serves 8

• 20 ounce can diced pineapple, undrained
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 28 ounces frozen, fully cooked meatballs
• 2 green peppers, diced
• 10 ounces maraschino cherries, drained
• 2 cups cooked white rice, optional

Drain pineapple, reserving juice in a 2-cup measuring cup. Add enough water to measure 2 cups total.

In a small pan, combine brown sugar and cornstarch. Gradually stir in the pineapple juice mixture until smooth. Stir in vinegar. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

In a 4 quart slow cooker, combine the meatballs, pepper and pineapple chunks. Pour juice mixture on top. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until heated through and peppers are tender. Add the cherries during the last 30 minutes of cooking. Serve with rice if desired.

Sweet and Sour Chicken Wings

My dad makes some of the best chicken wings I've ever had. They're super decadent and he marinades them for well over 24 hours. These aren't my dad's wings, but I feel like if he decided to go for an Asian-inspired sweet and sour wing, this is what he'd come up with!

The flavor of the sauce on these wings was just like our favorite sweet and sour sauce for dipping crab rangoon and egg rolls. I was so excited that it turned out! This is probably one of the frist recipes using cornstarch that actually worked properly and thickened the sauce!

I love that you can put this all together, but it only takes 3 hours to get finished, so you don't have to wait all day. Or, in our case, if you have a 7pm volleyball game, you can come home at 5:30 and start the slow cooker to eat dinner right after! The wings fell off the bone, and I had them for leftovers today~still wonderful!

Sweet and Sour Chicken Wings-adapted from Slow Cooker Recipe Cards by Taste of Home
Total Time: 3 1/2 hours
Serves 4

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
• 16 chicken wings
• 6 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 cup cold water

In a small saucepan, combine the first five ingredients. Bring to a boil and stir until sugar is dissolved. Place chicken wings in a greased 4-5 quart slow cooker, and add mixture from saucepan. Cook on low 3-3 1/2 hours or until chicken is cooked through.

Transfer wings to a serving platter and keep warm. Transfer sauce to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, combine cornstarch and water until smooth. Gradually stir into pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Spoon over chicken.