One of our favorite ways to cook chicken is in the slow cooker. This method’s a lifesaver for busy weeknights: simply toss your bird in, set it, and forget it until dinnertime. Slow-cooked chicken is incredibly tender, too. For dishes you know you’ll want to eat again soon, we recommend doubling up on ingredients and tossing leftovers in the freezer. Here, we’ve rounded up some of Real Simple’s best, easy-to-make slow cooker chicken recipes your whole family will love....

A mixer A mixing bowlA spatulaA wooden spoonA cookie sheetA cooling rack While anyone who cooks most likely has the first five items on the list, some cooks find themselves without that last item: a wire rack to cool cookies. How important is this cookie cooling rack? What can you substitute if you don’t have one? Good questions. Here are some straightforward answers. Do I Need a Cooling Rack to Cool Cookies?...

When shopping for chicken breasts, you have a few main options to consider: boneless or bone-in, and skinless or skin-on. Boneless breasts cook the fastest, but are easy to overcook and dry out if you’re not careful. On the other hand, bone-in breasts take longer to cook, but more reliably yield succulent meat. As for the skin, chicken skin contains a lot of flavor, holds in moisture, and can get nice and crispy with the right technique....

The Asian giant hornet is the world’s largest hornet; as the name implies, it’s native to East Asia. There, it’s considered a little scary because you certainly don’t want to be stung by one, but no one is overly concerned about it. That’s because it’s native to that environment, and other animals have evolved protections against it to keep it in check. For example, Japanese honeybees, which the hornets prey on, have an amazing group defense where dozens of them grab onto an invading hornet, forming a ball around it, and raise their temperature until the hornet dies....

The Best Substitutes for Ginger You can easily swap other ingredients in your spice cabinet for ginger without losing flavor. Here are our best substitutions for ginger, both fresh and ground. These ginger substitutions will help you make a recipe without an extra trip to the store! Fresh or Dried Ginger You can use fresh ginger if you don’t have any ground ginger. Converting fresh ginger to ground ginger and vice versa is easy....

If you haven’t been blessed with an outspoken grill mentor, all of those cooking times and temperatures can be a hassle to learn. But this handy guide has them all, sorted by type of food. Learn how long to grill chicken, pork, steak, and various vegetables for results that are both delicious and safe to consume (i.e., free of any potential illness-causing bacteria). Keep this trusty guide on hand, and you’ll soon get the hang of judging when grilled foods are fully cooked....

HelloFresh’s Turkey + Sides Box serves eight people and includes a 14-pound turkey, broccoli cheddar gratin, ciabatta stuffing, mashed potatoes, apple ginger crisp, gravy, and cranberry sauce. If you’re hosting a group of between four and six people, you can opt for the Beef Tenderloin + Sides Box which has the same side dishes as the turkey kit (minus the cranberry sauce) but features six 6-ounce filets. Want an appetizer?...

Whether they’re needed to solve a particular problem—such as trash can smell—or to make the most of an everyday thing already in the house by repurposing it, new uses can be total game-changers, especially in homes already overrun with an excess of odds and ends. There’s no need to buy a new container for snowy boots when a newspaper can do the job—while offering easier clean-up at the end of the season....

Willis, Texas: $610,000 Square feet: 3,399 Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 3.5 Listed by: Kimberly Soderberg, BHGRE Gary Greene - Woodlands This two-story brick-and-stone home sits on 0.18 acres of land. Inside, you’re greeted with a spacious open-concept living and dining area. Vaulted ceilings and sparkling chandeliers give a sense of grandeur to the single-family home. Two-story windows overlook the enclosed backyard letting in tons of natural light. A modern fireplace serves as the focal point with adjacent built-in shelves....

Yet, even with inflation finally starting to slow down, the cost of living remains high. Data shows that by the end of May, Americans were spending an extra $460 per month on food, fuel, and more, as compared to a year before. Red-hot inflation is forcing many people, myself included, to reevaluate the way they spend and how they prioritize their purchases. I knew that in order to keep up with increasing costs of living, I had to do something about my credit card spending....

The assembly instructions for a kit can be a bit daunting, however, so we’ve made the process easier with visuals you can follow along as you build. Grab a partner to help hold up the pieces and get started on your new backyard getaway. Related Video

“I was tired of putting the space off, and I didn’t want to stick with what I kept seeing on Pinterest,” Porcher says. “I felt the space could use a spot of color, and I love colors in the coral family. Canyon Ridge just spoke to my soul. This color brings new life to my eat-in space. I love the energy it brings.” You can find tons of DIY-friendly woodworking plans on her website, but here is a quick look at her instructions on how to build this window seat....

Ideally, you want to wait as long as possible after framing to begin drywall installation so the wood has a chance to acclimate. But if you have to rush, time spent checking and correcting framing problems will pay big dividends. Although studs can often be straightened, the procedure is sometimes more trouble than it’s worth. Ripping out the deformed stud and replacing it can be the most efficient solution. Another strategy, called sistering, involves installing a new stud next to the bad one....

How to Broil Hamburgers in the Oven If you don’t feel like dealing with your grill to make burgers, then your oven is the way to go. The broiler provides high, direct heat that cooks burgers quickly and gives them a nice char. How to Cook Hamburgers on the Stove Cooking hamburgers in a skillet may be the simplest method around, and it’s a delicious one, too; the burgers will cook in their own rendered fat, yielding juicy, flavorful meat....

Earlier in her career, Yokota worked as a licensed marriage and family therapist. Today, with a popular blog, a totally done-over home, projects featured in publications including Real Simple and Apartment Therapy, and a new book (Home Therapy: Interior Design for Increasing Happiness, Boosting Confidence, and Creating Calm, available starting December 6), Yokota is on a mission to help everyone enrich their lives at home through design, ultimately creating homes that reflect and serve them....

A diffuser is a plastic attachment for your hair dryer that helps keep the natural curl pattern. It’s a game-changer when it comes to heat-styling curly hair. But use it incorrectly, and you can end up with frizzy and undefined hair. People make several common mistakes when using a diffuser. Here, we spoke with three celebrity hairstylists to help steer us straight away from these five diffuser mishaps. If you need to dry your wet hair just a bit, Michael Dueñas, a celebrity hairstylist and consulting creative director, says you can scrunch it a couple of times with a micro-fiber towel to soak up some of the water, but be gentle....

Steps for Growing Cilantro Indoors from Seed Cilantro (Coriandrum sativum) is a fast-growing, cool-season annual herb that can go from seed to harvest in about three weeks. It usually sets seeds (which are known as coriander) in about a month and a half. Plan to sow new seeds every 2 or 3 weeks to keep up your supply of fresh leaves. Step 1: Use a Container with Drainage Holes Like most herbs, cilantro doesn’t like “wet feet” (in other words, if their roots stay too wet, the plant will rot)....

The shutters are also customizable. We chose a whitewash for our finish, but feel free to stain them darker to match the hues of your kitchen. We chose iron hardware, but gold, copper, or brass would also look chic. What You Need 1x4s, cut to desired length1x3, cut to desired lengthSandpaperDrillScrewsWood pastePutty knifeStainStain brushDoor hinges (4)Door handles (2)Measuring tapePencil Before You Begin: Cut Wood to Size Cut 1x4s to length....

“Many things can strip the moisture in fingernails, but the common culprit is washing and drying the hands multiple times a day and frequently using detergents, household cleaners, and nail polish remover.” Keep a hand lotion or cuticle oil—such as OPI ProSpa Nail & Cuticle Oil To-Go ($10; ulta.com) in your car, purse, or at your desk. RELATED: How to Pick the Best Nail Shape for Your Hands However, removal needs to be done properly and, ideally, by a pro....

Like learning how to slice and dice an onion or how to peel a mango, learning how to chop (or mince) garlic just takes patience and practice. Garlic cloves are rather small, so improving your knife skills here, particularly if you’re working toward a mince, will help you out with any recipe, no matter what you’re chopping. What You’ll Need Cutting boardChef’s knifeGarlicGarlic press How to Peel Garlic Peeling garlic is a must: The papery skins are not pleasant to eat....