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Slow Cooker Carnitas Street Tacos

March 27, 2018 By Brandy 1 Comment

These slow cooker street tacos take just minutes to prepare! The deliciously seasoned carnitas simmer to perfection in the slow cooker. When you are ready to eat simply serve in a warm corn tortilla and top with shredded lettuce, avocados, cilantro, tomatoes and cojita cheese. This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.

Thursday is Mexican night in our home. The kids look forward to it every week! Enchiladas, tacos, rice bowls, or taco salad, we love it all!

My favorite way to prepare the meat for our Mexican dishes is in the slow cooker. My Instant Pot works too, but I still find myself going back to my slow cooker for shredded pork perfection.

Have you tried the Smithfield Seasoned Carnitas Boneless Pork Shoulder from Walmart? I love how they are already seasoned and ready to cook. It's no revelation that I love Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork. I've shared recipes using them multiple times and buy them on a regular basis for my family. We even used them while traveling across the country in our RV!

Here is a quick and easy-to-prepare recipe for the BEST carnitas to use in street tacos. We had these last Thursday and they were a hit!

Slow Cooker Street Tacos

(scroll down for printable recipe)

Prep Time: under 30 minutes

Slow Cooker Time: 3-4 hours on high or 5-6 hours on low.

Ingredients:

1 (1 ½ lb.) Smithfield Seasoned Carnitas Boneless Pork Shoulder

½ c. water

16 corn tortillas

shredded lettuce/cabbage

tomatoes, diced

avocados, diced

lime wedges

Cojita cheese

cilantro for garnish

Directions:

Place Smithfield Seasoned Carnitas Boneless Pork Shoulder in a slow cooker. Add water. Cook on low for 5-6 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Shred meat.

Wrap corn tortillas in a damp paper towel and microwave for 20-30 seconds or until warm. (I like buying the uncooked corn tortillas in the refrigerator section and cooking them on the stove. After cooking I wrap them in damp paper towels to keep them soft until ready to serve.)

Fill each corn tortilla with carnitas and any other toppings you'd like. Street tacos are the perfect combination of simple toppings and bold flavors. I love squeezing lime and sprinkling with cilantro and Cojita cheese.

Slow cooker carnitas street tacos take less than 30 minutes to prepare. Let the pork slow cook all day for a quick and easy weeknight dinner!

One roast is plenty to serve our family and there are usually leftovers for me to have for lunch---BONUS!

My kids love cilantro lime rice and beans as a side dish with our street tacos so I'll usually make a rice bowl with the leftover carnitas and rice the next day.

Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork is 100% fresh pork, made with all-natural ingredients, and takes about 30 minutes to cook (unless using a slow cooker). We've grilled, roasted, and slow-cooked it and have had great results every time! Perfect any night for a hassle-free meal.

Slow Cooker Street Tacos

Print Pin

5 from 1 vote

Slow Cooker Street Tacos

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 5

Total Time 5 10

Servings

Calories 305kcal

Author Brandy Nelson

Ingredients

1 ½ lb. Smithfield Seasoned Carnitas Boneless Pork Shoulder
½ cup water
16 corn tortillas
shredded lettuce/cabbage
tomatoes diced
avocados diced
lime wedges
Cojita cheese
cilantro for garnish

Instructions

Place Smithfield Seasoned Carnitas Boneless Pork Shoulder in a slow cooker. Add water.
Cook on low for 5-6 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Shred meat.
Wrap corn tortillas in a damp paper towel and microwave for 20-30 seconds or until warm.
Fill each corn tortilla with carnitas and any other toppings you'd like.

Notes

Instant Pot version: place pork and water on the trivet in your Instant Pot. Pressure cook on high for 30 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes then do a quick release of pressure.

Calories are calculated for pork and corn tortillas. 2 tacos per serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 305kcal

Paper Pinwheel Craft for Earth Day

March 26, 2018 By Brandy Leave a Comment

A fun earth day craft for the kids to make this year! This paper pinwheel comes together fast and spins in the wind even faster!

You might also like our eggshell seed starters or our popsicle stick garden markers!

Pinwheel Earth Day Craft

Are you looking for a fun activity to make with the kids this spring? How about a spring planting project, wind energy activity, and up cycled earth day project all wrapped into one perfect container? These little planters were so fun to make and look so pretty out in the yard.

How do pinwheels fit in with Earth Day? Check out this website about Wind Farms!

How To Make a Paper Pinwheel

Paper Pinwheel Supplies

Origami paper (or use old magazines or scratch paper!)
Map pins
Double-sided tape
Scissors
Pencil

Tip: Origami paper is a fun choice because it's colored on one side and white on the other which makes for a nice contrast.

Instructions

Step 1: Begin by folding the square diagonally. Then open and fold diagonally once more in the other direction. Cut along the fold lines, stopping 1″ from the center.

Step 2: Place a small piece of double-sided tape in the center of the paper.

Step 3: You’ll notice you have 4 triangles. Bring the right corner of each triangle to the center. The double-sided tape will hold it secure. Overlap each corner in the center.

Step 4: Poke a map pin through the center.

Step 5: Place the pencil behind the pinwheel and push the pin into it. Do not poke all the way through.

You can place your pinwheels in a garden or flower box outside to watch them spin, or create your own planter pot!

Plant a seed and watch it grow, or use small flower starts from your local nursery.

Place your pot outside and watch your pinwheel spin!

You might also like our easy science experiments for kids or our tissue paper globe craft!

Crunchy Cheese Chips: An Easy After School Snack Idea

March 5, 2018 By Brandy Leave a Comment

Crunchy Cheesy Chips are the perfect after school snack. Golden cheese on a tortilla, served with your favorite dipping sauces. Use whatever variety of cheese you'd like!

Today I'm sharing one of my kids' favorite after school snack. A recipe that they make on their own. Crunchy cheesy chips! My husband makes his grilled cheese sandwiches like this. With browned, crunchy, cheese. He made them for the kids and they were hooked. Bagels, bread, and lately...tortillas.

By throwing a handful of cheese right down in the pan, it bubbles and gets crunchy and golden! I went from buying a small bag of shredded cheese once a month or so, to buying one once a week!

Crunchy Cheese Chips

Heat a skillet on medium heat.

Add a handful of your favorite shredded cheese.

Lay a tortilla on top.

Let sizzle and heat until golden brown.

Cut into triangles and serve with dipping sauces.

Dip in salsa, sour cream, or guacamole. Yum!

To make a grilled cheese sandwich this way, lightly butter one side of bread. Place it over the cheese (butter side up). When cheese is golden, flip over and grill the bread. Remove from pan. Add another piece of buttered bread to the pan and grill one side. Place on top of the other bread with the cheese.

If you like this after school snack idea you might also like these...

Baked Apple Chips

These apple chips might take a little while to make, but are worth the wait! My kids eat these right up! I like that they are a healthy and sweet treat.

Monster Cookies

Who doesn't like coming home to warm cookies and a glass of milk? We love monster cookies. Peanut butter, oats, and M&Ms---no flour! I like making them really big to really live up to their name.

Homemade Pretzel Bites

This recipe, hands down, is my kids' favorite snack. My oldest even asked me to teach him how to make these so that he can have them whenever he wants, haha!

Ham and Cheese Rolls Ups from The Gracious Wife

Easter Mason Jar Gift Idea

February 26, 2018 By Brandy 19 Comments

Your favorite seasonal candies all neatly packaged in a plastic Easter mason jar. Wrapped with a bow and perfect for gift giving or spring parties!

Easter in a Jar: Your favorite seasonal candies all neatly packaged in a plastic Easter mason jar. Wrapped with a bow and perfect for gift giving or spring parties!

Looking for a fun and interactive party favor for a spring or Easter gathering? My girls and their friends had a lot of fun making their own little "Easter in a Jar" treats and it was so easy to do!

Each one went home with a cute little assortment of their favorite Easter candies neatly packaged in these plastic jars that I found online from Oriental Trading. They are about the size of a small peanut butter jar and were just the size I was looking for.

We started with a layer of lime jelly beans (to resemble grass) then added a cute little 3" solid chocolate bunny.

We filled in the empty space with chocolate eggs, but you could use Easter marshmallows or any kind of candy you'd like.

I love this colorful assortment of ribbon! The package came with 24 rolls, perfect for all kinds of crafts. We screwed the lids onto the jars, tied each with a bright bow, and our jars were complete!

Who would you give this little Easter mason jar to?

DIY Table Runner in 15 Minutes!

February 23, 2018 By Brandy 18 Comments

Add a pop of color to your table this spring with a DIY table runner! A quick and easy beginning sewing project. Use coordinating fabrics for a reversible runner!

I don't generally decorate the house for Valentine's day or St. Patrick's day, but I do enjoy decorating for Easter! Fresh flowers, bunnies, Easter egg decor, I love it all. The pretty pastel colors really brighten the home. I love the selection of home decor fabrics that Walmart carries. Our local Walmart has an entire wall full of them for under $5 a yard. A great price for a quick and easy spring update. How pretty would a pair of pillows be in springtime colors (tutorial here)? Or placemats (tutorial here)?

I picked up a yard and a half and made a quick and easy DIY table runner to go across the table. Even after adding a scalloped edge it still was still a 15 minute project!

For 60 more sewing projects, check out my sewing book for kids!

15 Minute DIY Table Runner

Supplies:

1 ½ yards fabric

measuring tape

scissors

scrap paper

pins

sewing machine

iron

Cut two pieces of fabric 18" wide and whatever length you want. I wanted mine to cover about ¾ of my table length so I cut my fabric 50" long.

Cut a piece of scrap paper to the width (18") and draw a quick scallop template with a salad plate or cereal bowl. Then cut out and pin to the edge of your two fabric pieces.

Cut.

Pin your two pieces of fabric, right sides together. Leave a 4" opening for turning right-side out after sewing.

Sew all the way around with a ¼" seam allowance. Clip curves and turn right-side out. Iron seams and top stitch around entire table runner, catching the opening in the seam as you sew.

I love the added detail that the scallop adds on the table runner, and it only took a couple extra minutes! The perfect addition to the table for Easter dinner...or dessert!

Here is another quick and easy table runner idea from Diary of a Quilter.

Organize Your Living Room With IKEA Built Ins

February 20, 2018 By Brandy 17 Comments

Organize your living room and make IKEA built ins for books, toys, and electronics with billy bookcases! Add trim, doors, hardware, and a top for a custom look.

Organize your living room and make built ins for books, toys, and electronics with IKEA bookcases! Add trim, doors, hardware, and a top for a custom look.

Our new living room presented a challenge when it came to organization. The only wall to put the TV on was above the fireplace and the two small windows on either side made it difficult to find storage units to fit without covering the windows. We also didn't want anything taking away from the pretty fireplace mantel so we looked for things with a shallow depth. Everything we found was either too tall, too short, or too narrow. So we got creative!

IKEA Built Ins: Living Room Storage

We put a narrow Billy bookcase and a wide Billy bookcase from Ikea side by side and attached them together. Then we added doors over the wide bookcase as well as handles. For a custom look, my husband trimmed them out, mounted them to the wall, and added a top with a ledge that matched our fire place.

A couple of coats of paint over the top and trim, and we had a custom organizational piece!

We made two of them. One for toys, and one for electronics.

Our toddler is finding his way into everything so it's nice to have one area that he can go crazy in. He loves opening and closing the doors and making a mess of his little space.

The other built in houses the DVD player, Wii, remotes, and the kids' Kindles. (We keep a baby lock over the handles to keep little man out.)

I love the streamlined look of everything now and it really helps reduce clutter by housing the electronics and toys out of sight. With 7 people living in a home that seems to be designed for 5 people, we've had to get creative in almost every room of the house! Up next I'll be showing you guys the baby's closet nursery. We don't just call it a closet because it's small---it's an actual closet, ha! Our master bedroom has two of them so we gave him one and we use the other for our clothes. We're making it work! The best part about all of this? We are more organized than we've ever been. We are choosy about what we bring into the house more than we would be if we had tons of closets and square footage to hide junk in!

Billy bookcases and doors: IKEA

Handles: Lowe's

Wicker Baskets: Target

Wire Basket: Walmart

Drapes: Click here for the tutorial

Pillows: Target

Fan: Lowe's

More Organizational Posts on Gluesticks...

IKEA Built Ins: Wall of Storage

Tiny and Tidy Closet Nursery

Fish Fillet Sandwich

February 13, 2018 By Brandy Leave a Comment

Mix up dinner with a delicious fish fillet sandwich. Family friendly, low fat, crispy and delicious! This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser.

Mix up dinner with a delicious fish fillet sandwich. Family friendly, low fat, crispy and delicious! The perfect weeknight meal!

Wednesday nights are our busiest nights of the week. It is the night that my children have Boy Scout and Youth Group Activities. This means that we usually have to be out the door by 6pm. A task that isn't easy to do when it comes to homework and dinnertime. That is why Wednesday is our sandwich night.

We rotate between homemade sub sandwiches, chicken patty sandwiches and lately have been having fish filet sandwiches as well. We love fish and have been incorporating it more into our diet for the health benefits. Tilapia is a favorite, but for sandwich night we like Gorton's Beer Bettered Crispy Fillets. They are so easy to prepare and are delicious on a brioche bun!

When I was at Walmart I also saw Gorton's Mac & Cheese Shrimp Bites and thought we'd give them a go. The verdict? We were pleasantly surprised with the crispiness and flavor! Such a fun appetizer option to try.

Fish Fillet Sandwich

Ingredients:

Gorton's Beer Battered Crispy Fillets

Buns (We like brioche or hamburger buns)

lettuce

pickles

tartar sauce

butter

fresh lemons

The fish fillets and mac and cheese bites both cook at 425 degrees so you can cook them at the same time. The Mac and Cheese Bites cook a bit faster so put those in 5-10 minutes after the fillets.

While the fillets are baking, butter the buns and lightly grill them in a pan.

When the fillets are done, layer a bun with lettuce, pickles, 1 or 2 fillets, tartar sauce and a squeeze of fresh lemon.

You can serve the mac and cheese bites with a bit of cocktail sauce or ranch if you'd like!

If you liked this Fish Fillet Sandwich then you might also like...

Pulled Pork Sliders on Homemade Pretzel Rolls

Avocado Turkey Sliders

24 Easy Summer Sandwiches from Country Living

10 Minute Knit Baby Hat

February 11, 2018 By Brandy Leave a Comment

This baby hat is so easy to make and uses just knit scraps of fabric! Make a few to keep on hand for baby shower gifts!

This baby hat tutorial is so easy to follow and is so soft and stretchy. Make a few to keep on hand for baby shower gifts!

Oh my, I discovered this post in draft mode and realized that I never posted it last year! What a sweet little trip down memory lane. My baby is now a toddler and keeping me busy as he climbs up chairs, tables, and attempts to scale the countertops as well! Anyways, without further adieu: the 10 minute Knit Baby Hat Tutorial.

***

One thing that I didn't even think of until we got home from the hospital was picking up a little that for Mac. It really wasn't cold here until the week that he was born. The day I went into labor it was 75 degrees out! Then a storm came in and by the time we heard hospital it was in the high 40's. That might not seem cold to most of you, but for us in the Sacramento area, that's cold!

Pinterest to the rescue! I found a quick tutorial with printable pattern from How Does She? and whipped up two hats in a matter of minutes. I love the added detail of the knot on the top. It comes in both newborn and 0-3 month sizes.

These would be great to give as baby shower gift! Make a few in different patterns with a package of long sleeved onesies. Perfect for fall and winter babies!

He stayed nice and toasty in his stroller on his first family outing even though he pretty much slept through the whole thing!

Click here for the free Baby Hat Tutorial.

(source: How Does She?)

Kids Candy Bar: DIY Chocolate Candies

February 8, 2018 By Brandy 2 Comments

Raid the pantry to see what fun add-ins you can find for your own chocolate candies! Kids love making their own food and these DIY chocolate candies are super easy...and yummy!

Last week, as I was finding space for groceries in my pantry, I couldn't help buy notice that the baking shelf was overflowing with bags and bags of candies and nuts leftover from the holidays. We also had two bags of Ghirardelli melting chocolate left over too. An idea was born...one that my girls were totally on board with. DIY chocolate candies!

I filled up a muffin tin with goodies and found a plastic chocolate mold that we've had forever.

The girls chopped mint chips and nuts into small pieces and had a great time coming up with combinations to use in their chocolates.

We melted the chocolate and added a small amount into each chocolate mold, followed by a sprinkling of add-ins.

Some looked more appetizing than others, that's for sure!

We topped them off with chocolate and set the trays in the freezer for a few minutes.

When they were set we popped them out and had our own chocolates! The most unique chocolates out there. Kaylee said, "Just so you know---peanut butter and mint don't taste that great together." She now knows from experience.

If you liked these DIY Chocolate Candies you might also like...

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles

White chocolate, peanut butter, and rice crispies cereal combine to create these deliciously crunchy peanut butter truffles!

Homemade Rock Candy

A science experiment and treat all in one! We had a great time watching these grow. It took a few days and was worth the wait!