How to Shred Chicken with a KitchenAid Mixer

Of all of the nifty tips that have come across my email or Pinterest account, I'm pretty sure this one is my fave - shredding chicken with a KitchenAid mixer. I've done this multiple times for recipes requiring shredding chicken (or any sort of meat), and it could not be more genius and efficient.

The first time I shredded chicken with a fork - while making crockpot buffalo chicken - it could not have been messier or more time consuming. So the next time I stumbled upon a recipe requiring shredded chicken (for example, baked buffalo chicken rolls), I threw the cooked breasts in my KitchenAid mixer, set it to a medium to high speed, and shred away.

5 Groceries I Can't Live Without

I'm weirdly infatuated with certain things, including food. Of course I have to really "love" these things to be infatuated. With that being said, here are 5 grocery items you would not be surprised to find in my kitchen. Healthy or not, tasty or under-par, these 5 items are some of my faves.

#5 - Jarred Minced Garlic

 

 

Almost nothing is better to cook with than garlic, especially if you're seeking natural flavoring. And almost nothing is better than fresh garlic... unless you're strapped for time and absolutely hate mincing garlic. The answer? Jarred minced garlic. Costs about $5 bucks, lasts a good while and saves a ton of time. Is this stuff even real? I don't know. I don't care. I love garlic... easy garlic!

Fiestaware Love

Amongst one of my many kitchen obsessions is Fiestaware.

(Some non-Fiestware nestled in the cabinets as well.)

  

The Oster "My Blend" Personal Blender + Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie Recipe

I normally like a pretty simple breakfast, and amongst the simple breakfast things I like are smoothies. They're like a one stop shop for all the things yummy, healthy or not. Unfortunately, the reality is that I don't have the money to go out and buy smoothies every morning nor do I want to spend the time cleaning up a blender. No worries though because I found the perfect smoothie solution: the Oster "My Blend" Personal Blender. Yes, this technically IS a type of blender, but it is way niftier than that. Here's how it works:

1. Fill the bottle with smoothie ingredients.

Pinterest for Men + Make-Your-Own Cooking Spray

The combination of men and Pinterest is all too a rarity, and up until I watched my husband benefit from the female-crazed site, I was sure there was no hope for the marriage of the two. However, I am now a firm believer that Pinterest CAN being man-friendly, and maybe one day when the site duplicates, changes its name and perceived concept, restricts boards to only manly categories, and declares itself a boys-only zone, men will be just as much of fanatics as women. What? Websites can't undergo sex changes? Lol, yeah right.

Seriously though, I really witnessed Jeff test out a pin. He was watching me scroll through my pin feed, and when I passed over make-your-own cooking spray, he made me go back to see what it was all about.

Picture and Cooking Spray Recipe from  Natures Nurture Blog

Cute Patterned Target Melamine Plates

Ever since the wedding I've had cute melamine plates on my "to-buy" list. Specifically I've had them on my Target "to-buy" list (with wedding gift cards of course). It might not sound sensible to want another set of plates considering we just received new Fiestaware for the wedding, but realistically Fiesta dishes are just not always necessary for things like sandwiches and chips. And plus, I'd prefer to have something non-breakable on hand to eat on outside or to give to kids.

So luckily, after unsuccessfully finding cute plates on Target's website, I found the perfect patterned set in the actual store.