Loco Moco and Celebrating 7 years of Marriage – Renewing Our Vows in Hawaii

Probably one of Big Bear’s Favorite meals while we were in Hawaii was the Loco Moco. Loco Moco is a local favorite and from what I hear it’s pretty popular with surfers that need an easy protein packed meal for their day on the waves.

So what is a Loco Moco? Delicious, that what haha. It contains: Rice, a Hamburger patty (or two), brown gravy and a fried egg (or two).

So easy that it is kind of sad that we hadn’t been making them all along haha. I’ve made this meal so many time for BigBear since we got back that I’ve lost count. We’ve had it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Big Bear loves them in the mornings because it gives him tons of fuel for the gym and for his day of work as a mechanic.

Since I’m bringing Hawaii to you in the form of a Loco Moco, I also wanted to share a special moment with you from our trip to Hawaii.  You see those beads in the photo? They’re from our vow renewal ceremony. 🙂

Our trip to Hawaii was extra special for a number of reasons but one of the biggest reasons was because we were celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary. Now I know that most people save the big trips for 10th, 20th, 25th and such anniversaries, but the timing was right so we made it happen. Psst, plus 7 is my favorite number haha 😉

We had our vow renewal ceremony early on Friday on our last day in Hawaii. We stepped out onto the sand with about 7 other couples as a vow renewal ceremony was performed for us. There was even a blessing of our Kukui Nut Leis that we brought to exchange with each other during the ceremony.

We took our renewal vows in English and in Hawaiian.

I couldn’t think of a more perfect place to “re-marry” my husband.

Oh, I just loved it so much! Big and Grateful Thank Yous to Outrigger Reef for this! Such special memories that we couldn’t have had without you!

I suppose I’ve yapped enough about our sweet, kissy face vow renewal ceremony, you’re probably sitting there yelling, “Yeah, that’s sweet but let’s move onto the foooood.” Ok OK, I’m moving along. 😉

So yeah, the Loco Moco. It’s so simple that I’m having a hard time writing about it. I mean at  first it doesn’t seem like much. I mean rice… mmm I love rice, burger…ok hubby is happy, Egg…well I’ll live, mmm brown gravy.

But once you put them all together it’s like Hawaiian magic!

Fill your bowl with soft white rice, top that with a well seasoned perfect hamburger patty, cover that up with a bright fried egg and drizzle pour a ridiculous amount of beautiful brown gravy all over the top!

Now taste your little piece of Hawaiian heaven and fall in love.

I’m sure that you’ll love it just as much as we do! Heck you might even add it to your monthly menu like we have!

After our Vow Renewal Ceremony  – Waikiki Beach with Diamond Head in the background 2/7/14

I love little bits of normal life that transport me back to paradise!

Loco Moco
By: Angie Barrett 9/16/14
Makes 6 Servings
                                                                     (Click to Print)

Ingredients 

2 cups white rice

2 cups water

2.5 pounds ground beef (I used 85% lean, 15% fat)

Salt and Pepper

3-4 tablespoons of Worcestershire

6 eggs

Brown Gravy (I used this 5 Minute Brown Gravy Recipe from The Slow Roasted Italian) 

Directions 

Boil water in a medium sauce pan. Once the water is boiling, add the rice, stir and remove from heat. Cover and let sit for about 10 minutes. 

While the rice the sitting, pre-heat the oven to 400F. 

In a large bowl, mix together the ground beef, a dash of salt*, pepper and Worcestershire. 

Mix well and form into 5 burger patties. 

Place patties onto a baking sheet (I use a 2 layer roasting sheet so that the burgers don’t sit int their juices while they cook).**

Cook the burgers for 6 minutes. Carefully flip the burgers and cook for another 7-8 minutes or until done to your liking. 

Crack eggs into a hot skillet and fry eggs over medium-high heat until done. 

To Plate:

Add a large scoop of rice to a plate, top with a burger patty, top the burger with a fried eggs and cover with brown gravy. 

Serve hot.

* I like to use no salt seasoning mix in place of salt

** I normally sear my hamburger patties for a minute or two in a frying pan before cooking them in the oven.