At Home Date Night Idea + Featuring Buffalo Chicken Pizza Recipe
J and I do this thing. It started initially because we couldn’t afford much else. But as the years have gone on, we’ve continued to do it because it’s something that’s ours.
We take our at home date nights pretty seriously. Don’t get me wrong, we enjoy a nice dinner out or catching a movie, but sometimes by time the weekend rolls around, the idea of having to be on seems exhausting. That’s when the at home date night gets activated.
It’s easy to fall into normal habits during “dates” at home. You’re on the couch with your dinner on a TV tray and a movie. You’re both glued to your phones. The dryer dings and you grab the clothes and start sorting. The floor needs sweeping. The next thing you know, one of you has fallen asleep on the couch which effectively ends the night all together. Fail. Right?
Well, we switch things up. If you’ve hung out around here long enough you’ll remember when we built a fort at Christmastime and it was the best thing ever. Back in Athens, we used to have living room picnics, pre-Bailey. We’ve discovered the secret sauce to our at home date night success. We’ve blended it all together and do living room campouts!
We blow up the air mattress and set it up in all its cozy glory. We pick shows off our DVR that we’ve been saving to watch together (or rent a redbox or two). And best yet, we pick an old favorite recipe that’s easy to make together for dinner.
For some reason, just doing something slightly different like sleeping in the living room makes it all feel more intentional. I’m no longer focused on the cleaning. Our phones stay in our bedroom. And we live on the bed in the living room. Sometimes we leave the set up all weekend long, turning date night into date weekend.
Friday, before I left for work, I started some buffalo chicken in the crockpot. Buffalo Chicken Pizza is one of our faves, and I thought it’d be fun for us to make together. When J got home from work, we set up the air mattress and prepped the pizza, laughing and joking through it all. Absolute perfection, if you ask me!
Buffalo Chicken
- 3lbs raw boneless skinless chicken breasts (frozen or unfrozen, I used unfrozen)
- 12 oz Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
- 1 packet of ranch dressing mix
- Place all your ingredients in the crockpot. People will tell you it matters what order you pour them in, but it doesn’t. I was in a hurry and just dumped it all in.
- Cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 4-5.
- Shred the chicken about 1 hour before serving to allow it to soak in the juices.
I usually make this earlier in the week to use for salads. With the leftovers, we make Buffalo Chicken Pizza!
Buffalo Chicken Pizza Sauce:
- 2 tbs butter
- 2 tbs all purpose flour
- ~1 cup cold milk
- ~1 cup franks red hot sauce
- Melt the butter over medium heat
- Whisk in the flour until a rue forms
- Whisk in the milk, bringing the heat up to medium/high. Whisk constantly to avoid burning. The sauce will begin to thicken
- Whisk in hot sauce, reducing heat to low.
Buffalo Chicken Pizza:
- Pre-packaged pizza dough (I used Mama Mary from Harris Teeter)
- Sauce
- Mozzarella & Cheddar Shredded Cheese
- Buffalo Chicken
- Preheat oven according to instructions on the dough.
- Spread a generous amount of the sauce on the dough
- Add a hefty helping of buffalo chicken on top of the sauce, spread out.
- Sprinkle a mixture of mozzarella & cheddar cheese
- Bake according to instructions on the dough.
