Buffalo Chicken Burrito Bowls -- The Week the House Smelled Like Something Good

Mason's church day camp was this week — Monday through Friday, nine to three, at the stake center in Orem. He came home every day sunburned and sticky and full of stories about archery and leather stamping and a kid named Porter who ate a bug on a dare. Mason is seven and the world is still simple for him, or at least it looks simple from the outside, and I have chosen to believe the outside because the alternative — that my seven-year-old is carrying grief he can't name — is a thought I can only hold for a few seconds before I have to set it down.

Olivia started swim lessons at the community pool. She's nine and already a competent swimmer, but competent isn't confident, and Olivia is never confident, and I watch her on the pool deck tugging at her swimsuit and adjusting her goggles six times before getting in and I think: that's me. That's the quiet Cooper girl adjusting everything until it's perfect before she'll let anyone see her try. I want to wade in and tell her the goggles are fine. I stay on the bleachers. Some lessons a mother can't teach by talking.

I made slow cooker pulled pork on Tuesday — pork shoulder on sale at Smith's for $1.49 a pound, which is the kind of price that makes me feel like I've won something. Rubbed it with brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, salt, onion powder. Into the slow cooker at seven in the morning. By five o'clock the house smelled like something good was happening, and something good was happening, even if it was only pork. We ate it on hamburger buns with coleslaw from a bag. Ethan had three sandwiches. Three. The boy is a bottomless well of appetite and silence, and I'm learning to read both.

Friday afternoon I found Lily in Grace's room. We haven't changed it — the crib is still there, the mobile, the little knit blanket my mother made. We keep the door closed. But Lily is five and doors are suggestions, not rules, and she was sitting on the floor next to the crib holding the blanket against her cheek. She looked up at me and said, "It smells like baby." It doesn't. It hasn't for months. But I sat down next to her and held the blanket too and said, "Yeah, it does," because some lies are kinder than the truth, and because for one minute, in that room, my daughter and I were close to something we've both lost, and I wasn't going to take that away from her.

That pulled pork Tuesday reminded me what a slow cooker can do for a hard week—it works quietly all day and hands you something warm at five o’clock without asking anything of you. These Buffalo Chicken Burrito Bowls have become another one of those meals: bold enough to feel like an event, simple enough that I can start them before school drop-off and forget about them until everyone is hungry. After a week of bleacher-sitting and nursery doors and sunburned kids and a lot of feelings I didn’t know where to put, this is the kind of dinner that earns its place at the table just by showing up.

Buffalo Chicken Burrito Bowls

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 6–8 hours (slow cooker) | Total Time: 6 hours 10 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup buffalo sauce (such as Frank’s RedHot)
• 1 packet (1 oz) ranch seasoning mix
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
• 2 cups long-grain white rice, cooked (for serving)
• 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup frozen or canned corn, drained
• 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
• 1 cup shredded romaine lettuce
• 1/2 cup pico de gallo or fresh salsa
• 1/4 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
• 1 avocado, sliced (optional)
• Fresh cilantro and lime wedges, for serving

Instructions

1. Load the slow cooker. Place chicken breasts in the bottom of a 4–6 quart slow cooker. Pour buffalo sauce and chicken broth over the top, then sprinkle with ranch seasoning. Scatter butter pieces over the chicken.
2. Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on LOW for 6–8 hours, or on HIGH for 3–4 hours, until the chicken is completely tender and shreds easily with a fork.
3. Shred the chicken. Use two forks (or a hand mixer on low) to shred the chicken directly in the slow cooker. Stir it into the buffalo sauce and let it rest uncovered for 5 minutes to absorb the juices.
4. Warm the beans and corn. While the chicken rests, warm the black beans and corn together in a small saucepan over medium heat, or microwave for 1–2 minutes until heated through.
5. Build the bowls. Divide cooked rice among six bowls. Top with a generous scoop of buffalo chicken, then beans, corn, shredded lettuce, and pico de gallo.
6. Finish and serve. Add shredded cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and avocado slices if using. Garnish with fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 490 | Protein: 38g | Fat: 14g | Carbs: 52g | Fiber: 7g | Sodium: 980mg