Crockpot Hack + Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Recently I ran into a dilemma before heading to work...do I put my sweet potatoes in the crockpot to bake all day? Or do I put my buffalo chicken in the crockpot to cook all day? I couldn't decide...so I did both. Here's the crockpot hack that has seriously changed my life...

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes (Whole30 approved)
Adapted from The Real Food Dieticians 

Slow Cooker Ingredients

1.5 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast
1/3 cup Frank’s Red Hot Pepper Sauce
2 Tbsp. ghee, coconut oil or butter
1 Tbsp. coconut aminos
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
4 sweet potatoes
1 green onion
aluminum foil
slow cooker liner

Homemade Ranch Dressing Ingredients

1/2 cup mayo (homemade or Primal Kitchen Mayo)
1/4 – 1/3 cup full-fat canned coconut milk
1 tsp. dried parsley
½ tsp. dried dill
½ tsp. dried garlic powder
½ tsp. dried onion powder
½ tsp. dried chives
¼ tsp. sea salt (add additional sea salt if desired)
¼ tsp. ground black pepper


Instructions

1. Divide your crockpot using a piece of aluminum foil (see video tutorial). Insert slow cooker liner. Place chicken on one side and potatoes on the other side.
2. In a small saucepan on medium-high heat, combine the hot sauce, ghee, coconut aminos and garlic powder. Stir together and heat until ghee is melted.
3. Pour sauce over chicken in slow cooker.
4. Cook for 6-8 hours on low or until chicken and potatoes are tender. (I just set mine for 8 hours and let it stay on "warm" until I can get home)
5. Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred with two forks. Return shredded chicken to slow cooker and toss with sauce.
6. Serve chicken in baked sweet potatoes, drizzle with ranch and sprinkle with green onions.

Five on Friday!

Happy Friday!

one. Last weekend Matt assembled our new patio furniture. The instructions estimated a 3 hour assembly time but with the help of two minis it took about 9 hours.

 

two. There is nothing worse than stepping out of the shower to a towel that smells like it sat a little too long in the washer machine! Every now and then I deep clean all my towels at once. Here's how I do it: Wash your towels in hot water with one cup of vinegar (only). Wash towels in hot water again with 1/2 cup of baking soda. Throw them in the dryer and enjoy your fresh towels!

three. It's been a hot minute since I blogged about my love for Parsley Plus, but I just received a new bulk shipment and had to give my favorite earth-friendly household cleaning product of all time a shout out. If you love the smell of fresh herbs this product is for you (and your counter tops!).

four. We are working SO hard on getting Tom Tom to graduate from taking a few steps to walking! He definitely knows how to take a few steps at a time unassisted but always ends up choosing to crawl instead. And if he isn't crawling he is climbing. He knows how to get on and off Caroline's bed, can get on and off the couch by scooting a chair over as a step stool and is frequently found just standing on top of his chair laughing at us having a heart attack. Anyway, we are beyond ready for him to begin walking so we can set him down in public places, ditch the snap & go stroller and give him a little more independence. Plus he moves up to the next class in two weeks and will be on the big playground every day and really dislikes crawling in mulch so we're working hard to get him to let go of the tip of our finger and take off. Also, the most steps he'll take at a time is to...you guessed it...his sissy. She is so dang cute with her cheerleading "Come on, Tom Tom! You can do it! Come here! Come to me! Come on!"

five.  Favorite HelloFresh meal this week goes to...Steak Fajitas with Kiwi Salsa & Crispy Beans!!! Hands down the best fajitas ever. And kiwi isn't something I would ever think to add to my tex-mex but I'm so glad I did. Check out this recipe to make it yourself.

I received 3 more promo codes to give my friends a FREE box of HelloFresh meals! I'd be happy to send the first THREE people to leave their email address in the comments a free week of HelloFresh to try!  

Not one of the first 4 to comment but still want to try HelloFresh? Use promo code MG8GKD for $40 off your first box! That means you can try out HelloFresh for $29 and then cancel after your box arrives or keep on going. 

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Wanna join April, Natasha and I on the Friday fun? You can link-up on any of our four blogs every Friday! All you have to do is...

1.) Write your post about five things you're lovin' this week (or any five things you want to share!).

2.) Share the logo on your blog and link back. 

3.) Link-up at the bottom of the post so some new readers can check out your five things and say hello!

Mommy's Magical Stain Remover

Remember when this happened? 

One afternoon while Caroline was left unattended with markers just long enough for me to pee she decided to draw all over the carpet and couch. And then she spent an eternity in time out.

One of our bigger mistakes we've made was purchasing a WHITE couch (pre-kids). Thankfully we were talked into adding a 5 year furniture protection plan. However, when I sent the cleaning company the pictures of the couch to report the damage they laughed in my face and said "nope! nopity, nope, nope!" And so we let it sit for 6 weeks while I pondered how to tackle the stain.

Finally I remembered the super amazing tip from the Pottery Barn associate who helped us pick out ANOTHER WHITE piece of furniture for Caroline's nursery. That time I blame preggo brain for making such a terrible decision. Anyway, she told me to use Mr. Clean's Magic Erasers on our furniture to remove the toughest stains.

And it worked. So I finally un-grounded Caroline.

AFTER!!!
No go stock up on these miracle stain remover pads!

How to Make a Pretty and Easy Christmas Bow!

Happy Monday, friends! Can you believe this is our last full week before Christmas?! I really need to get out of my cookie coma from the weekend and get to work on my Christmas to-do list! I am so close to being done with Christmas shopping. All I have left to do is purchase stocking stuffers for Matt. We decided to skip gifts this year and just exchange stockings which I am pretty excited about. 

Anyway, all of my gifts are wrapped and sitting prettily under our tree. Per usual, I referenced my friend Laura's tutorial on how to make the easiest and fluffiest bows for my presents. This girl can seriously rock a bow and I was amazed at how simple they really are to make once she showed me! And because she is really, really awesome, today Laura is sharing a little tutorial on bow-making...

And also, you can follow Laura on Instagram {here}! {Warning: You will have major hair envy!}

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Guess what? I'm almost through with all of my Christmas gifts, and last night, as I wrapped, I thought, "this bow on top is so stinkin' easy, and it really gets a lot of attention”. I figured I'd share a little tutorial, so you can impress your friends and family too with this ridiculously easy (but oh so pretty) Christmas bow!

I bought my ribbon from hobby lobby, I'm not sure what it's made of, but it's amazing and not too pricey! I don’t believe this method will work with grosgrain or silk ribbon, but it WILL work with acetate – for all you ribbon connoisseurs. step 1: Go ahead and wrap your present, and top it with a ribbon. Leave the ends of your ribbon loose – later referred to as “ribbon 1”. step 2: Dispense enough ribbon to make your bow - i unreeled about 5 feet. Now cut it, and reel it back up, as if it’s on a spool again. the bigger your circle, the longer your bow “loops” will be. My circle is a tiny bit bigger than my hand. step 3: Press it together in the middle, like you’re forming a BOW [who woulda thought?!] step 4: Cut a tiny v-slit on one side of the bow – be sure to not cut all the way to the middle. I'm actually using my kitchen shears because, depending on the amount of ribbon you use, it can get pretty thick! step 5: Repeat on side 2. it’s VERY important that your “v's” don’t touch [even a little bit].  If they do, you’ve just destroyed your beautiful bow. sorry ‘bout it. step 6: Place the bow on your present, and tie the loose ends [from ribbon 1] to stabilize the bow. Tight! Lastly, “fluff” your bow by pulling each loop, one at a time, towards the center knot with ribbon 1. I find that it works best if you start from the inside of each loop, separating each layer, and just working it until it looks the way you like! Don’t forget to curl the loose ends! Now, stand back and admire the beauty of the easiest bow EVER!  

Easy Funfetti Layered Birthday Cake

Making a layered birthday cake can be intimidating, especially if it's going to be sitting on display at a party for all to admire. So I've created a new and improved layered cake tutorial so you can see just how easy it really is! 

For this cake I kept it simple using a box of Funfetti cake mix and homemade whipped vanilla buttercream icing. If you want to start from scratch you can find a recipe for funfetti cake {here}.

Step 1: Prepare your cake pans to make sure the cake slides out nicely after baking.  Grease the pan in it's entirety and sprinkle with flour until the pan is completely covered. You can also use the wax paper technique found in {this tutorial}.

Step 2: Make the cake batter according to the directions on the box and pour an equal amount of batter in two 8" or 9" pans making sure each layer is the same height. Since it is a birthday cake, feel free to dump a lot of extra sprinkles in the batter!

Step 3: Bake your cake with perfectly level layers. There is no way to prevent your cake from slightly raising in the middle, however you can reduce the heat from 350 degrees F to 300 degrees F and increase the baking time for a more even layer. The lower temperatures bake the cake slower, which prevents it from doming. A good rule of thumb when you reduce the temperature is to bake it for one and a half times as long as the recipe originally suggests. So if the recipe says 60 minutes at 350 degrees, it will take approximately 90 minutes at 300 degrees. But keep an eye on it! Check it periodically after the original suggested time to be sure you don’t over bake it.

Step 4: Let your cakes sit in their pans for at least 10 minutes. To remove your cake, first run a knife around the edge and turn them out onto a wire rack. Cool on the racks completely.

 
Step 5: Chill the layers in the fridge overnight in plastic wrap if you have the time. If not, chill for at least a few hours. 

Step 6: Unwrap the layers and prepare your icing. Your icing should be at a consistency where if you drop your spatula straight into the bowl, it should slightly bend one direction, not stick straight up.

Whipped Vanilla Buttercream 

1½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 lb confectioners’ sugar, sifted
3 Tbsp. heavy cream
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

In a large bowl, whip the butter with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth (about 1 minute).  One cup at a time, add in the confectioners’ sugar and mix on medium-low speed until incorporated.  Add the salt.  Continue to beat on medium-high speed until smooth (about 1-2 minutes). Mix in the heavy cream and vanilla on low speed until well blended.  Increase the mixer speed and whip on high speed until light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl as needed (about 4-5 minutes).

Step 7: Place your bottom cake layer on a cardboard round {so it is easy to transport to a cake stand later} and pipe along the rim of the cake and fill in with icing. For this cake, I let Matt pick the middle filling flavor since it was for his birthday. Of all the flavors, he chose black cherry. Really, Matt? 

For more information on using Kool-Aid packets to flavor your frosting {click here}.

 
Step 10: Stack your layers and it is time to frost the cake! Your first layer should be a crumb coat, a thin layer of icing that seals in any loose crumbs. Using an angled spatula, spread the icing over the top first, then the sides. Place cake in fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes to harden the icing, allowing for a smoother second coat.

Note: To keep your icing crumb-free, always wipe crumbs off your spatula before dipping it back into the bowl.

Another Note: Using a cake turn table will make the icing process much easier! You can get a cake turn table at Walmart or Michaels for about $10 {I promise it's worth it!}

Step 11: Spread on the second coat of icing, and move cake to plate or stand.

 Step 12: Add the finishing decorative touches. To add numbers, letters or pictures to the cake, gently place a cookie cutter on top of the cake and pour just enough sprinkles to fill the inside of the cookie cutter. Then carefully press the sprinkles down so they stick into the frosting.

Time to eat cake!