Weekly Wrap-up & Senior Salon Pit Stop #363

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Welcome to Senior Salon Pit Stop #363

Welcome to this week’s Weekly Wrap-up and Blog Link-up.

It’s a new year at the Senior Salon Pit Stop and it’s time to vroom-vroom to all the great posts that everyone is creating all around the the blogosphere! Scroll down to check out my Weekly Wrap-up along with my Featured posts from the previous Pit Stop!

What’s been going on at Homemade on a Weeknight?

Our summer is off to an interesting start! I’m wrapping up things in the elementary school kitchen and will get a brief break before starting as the manager of our local community pool for the summer. Things are really starting to blossom and grow on our budding homestead. We’ve got our grown layers, our tweenage pullets getting close to laying, our meat chickens are enjoying their new chicken tractor, and our newly hatched chicks are thriving and alert! It’s been a fun ride, for sure.

What have you been up to this past week?

One of this week’s most popular recipes – Smoked Teriyaki Chicken! Summer is definitely coming!

In case you missed it, here are the recipes that I shared to the blog this week:

Have you had a chance to check out the new Facebook group Yum Hungry Hangout & Giggles? It is a place to share your foodie finds, funny facts and in general hangout and get to know each other more through out shared love of food. Please feel free to check it out and maybe join in the fun!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/yumyumhungryhangoutandgiggles/

By joining the Senior Salon Pit Stop, you signify permission (EsmeSalon privacy policy) to share your posts and images here and receive an email reminder when our next Senior Salon Pit Stop is LIVE.

Show off your feature by adding the “I was featured at the Senior Salon Pit Stop” image to your post. Use this code:

You may also be featured on EsmeSalon as part of the Top featured posts.

These posts caught my eye last week! Please check back each week to see if your post is one of the ones that got a feature!

Meatballs with Mashed Potatoes & Onion Gravy shared by Join Me in the Kitchen

Frosted Lemonade shared by Rosebakes

Grilled Corn Salsa shared by Drugstore Divas

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie from The Kitchen is My Playground

Come and meet your Senior Salon Pit Stop Crew.

Meet your SSPS Crew:

Melynda	Blog	Pinterest	Facebook	Instagram
Estelle	Blog	Pinterest	Facebook	Instagram
Esme	Blog	Pinterest	Facebook	Instagram

SSPS Is Hiring – are you interested in joining the Senior Salon Pit Stop Host Team? Please fill out our Co-Host Questionnaire

SSPS Co-Host Post

A few simple rules for the Senior Salon Pit Stop Link Party:

For every post that you share – make one comment on someone else’s post. Help make their day a bit brighter.

Unlimited sharing BUT we ask that you visit one other blog post for each link you share.

Posts can be on any subject that is family-friendly.

Posts with direct sales, shops, or affiliates must contain relevant post content.

That’s it! Come and join the fun and let’s make it worthwhile!

If you are looking for more fun places to link up your posts – check out our Ultimate Handy Linky Party List – check back often as it’s always growing. And if we have missed your Linky Party – please send me a message and we will get it added in!

Don’t miss new recipes from Homemade on a Weeknight – subscribe and get an email with every new post!

Grilled Garlic Parm Ranch Chicken

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Grilled Garlic Parm Ranch Chicken may be a mouthful for a name, but it’s a mouthful you are going to LOVE! The amazing flavors of fresh garlic, ranch seasoning, and grated parmesan simmered in butter make for tender and moist chicken you will be craving over and over again. This is a perfect recipe for a summertime weeknight meal as it takes just a little bit of prep and some time on the grill. It will also go with lots of sides like rice, pasta, veggies, beans, potaotes….

While many see grilling as a summertime event only (maybe starting in late spring and into early fall), I am a year-round griller. It’s such a versatile cooking method that gives you great flavor from the char and smoke. And it usually cuts down on the clean up in the kitchen. While the big pro in the summertime is not heating up the kitchen by using the stove – I still get a hankering for some grilled meats even when there is snow on the ground.

When I saw weave the chicken on to the skewers, this is what I mean:

Substitutes and Variations:

The butter sauce is pretty versatile and could be used on beef, pork, or seafood. Just adjust your cooking times to the appropriate meats. If you don’t think your family will like the kick of heat from the red pepper flakes, simply omit.

Suggestions for Sides:

As I mentioned above- you can serve this with a wide variety of sides. I personally like to make about half again as much of the butter sauce and toss it with some linguini. It would be equally good over some buttered rice. Or you could let it cool down some and serve it as the protein in a nice entree salad.

Tools that may make this recipe easier:

When it comes to skewers I used to be a soak the bamboo skewers kind of griller. And don’t get me wrong – this is a perfectly good method. But once I tried the metal skewers, I’ve never looked back. There is something satisfying about how sturdy they are and knowing it won’t snap if you really load them up. You will also need some sort of grill – be it a small table top unit or a full sized grill – most of the skill comes from the cook!

Now Let’s Get Cookin’!

Grilled Garlic Parm Ranch Chicken

Grilled chicken breast drizzled with a buttery sauce of parmesan, ranch and garlic.

Course Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword chicken breast, chicken skewers, Garlic, grated parmesan, grilled, grilled chicken, parmesan cheese, ranch seasoning, skewers

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Servings

Equipment

18 Skewers metal or bamboo (if bamboo, soak in water for an hour)

Ingredients

2 lb Chicken Breast cut into 1inch wide strips
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
½ cup Oil
1 cup Butter
3 Garlic Cloves minced
1 tsp Basil
2 tsp Parsley
2 tbsp Ranch Seasoning Packet or see recipe below
1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

Preheat grill to medium-high (425degF).
Add strips of chicken to a mixing bowl with salt, pepper and oil. Mix until evenly coated. Then weave onto skewers (2-3 straps per).
In a saucepan over medium heat, add butter. Once butter has fully melted, add garlic and saute about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low and add all remaining ingredients, EXCEPT parmesan cheese. Let sauce simmer while grilling chicken.
Grill for 10 minutes then spin to other side and grill another 10 minutes.
Add parmesan cheese to sauce and stir well.
Brush sauce over chicken and let grill 3 minutes. Flip each skewer and brush again with sauce. Grilled 3 minutes more then remove from to platter or cutting board. Pour remaining sauce over top of chicken and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Notes

I love to link up my posts to lots of blogs around the internet – check out this Ultimate Handy Linky Party List to find some of the places I share to!

Estelle Forrest self-published this cookbook after a lot of playing around in the kitchen. You can purchase your own copy here:

AVAILABLE IN PRINT OR KINDLE eBOOK VERSIONS

Don’t miss new recipes from Homemade on a Weeknight – subscribe and get an email with every new post!

Homemade Brownie Mix

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My family absolutely loves fresh baked brownies. And while the box mixes make it super easy to whip up a batch, we have really been trying to control our sugar and preservative intake. Also, when you move to a small rural town in Central Montana, the sticker shock of buying something like a box of brownie mix is unsettling. So what’s a mom to do? Sort out how to make Homemade Brownie Mix – so the kids can keep making their own brownies when they want!

I used quart sized mason jars (it will hold two batches worth of mix) and a label maker to add the wet ingredient add-ins and baking instructions. If you wanted to double it all, it will fit nicely into a half gallon mason jar as well. If you don’t have or don’t use mason jars – you can also use a zippered freezer bag. I say freezer because they are thicker and less likely to rip if they snag on anything.

Substitutes and Variations:

You can use sugar alternatives like monkfruit or stevia. Just make sure to check your ratios.

You can make these as a regular pan of brownies, or you can get funky with it. You can mix in chocolate chunks or walnuts or pieces of snickers bars! You can also make these fun Peanut Butter Brookies by mashing together a scoop of my Sourdough Peanut Butter Cookie mix and a scoop of the prepared brownie mix.

Tools that may make this recipe easier:

You will want to use a good whisk to make sure that all of the ingredients are thoroughly combined. Since you are making enough for multiple batches at once, you need to make sure that it’s as close to homogeneous as you can get it. You will need some sort of airtight storage container like a Mason Jar or Freezer Zipper Bag.

Now Let’s Get Cookin’!