If you’ve been following along here at Farmhouse Harvest at all this summer, you know my grill is getting a workout, and this homemade rice a roni is the best quick grill side!
When the warmer months hit, the last thing I want to do is heat up the house by turning on the oven… Cooking on the Grill keeps the kitchen cool, adds so much flavor to our food, and just feels like the best way to feed a big family during the summer season.
I’ve been enjoying those quiet homemaking projects that bring peace and beauty to our everyday life. From quick porch-side dinners to backyard flower harvests and the daily realities of chicken keeping… Here’s a little peek into what summer homemaking looks like around our place right now.
How to Make Homemade Rice-A-Roni on the Grill
One of my absolute favorite dinner shortcuts when the weather warms up is a simple grilled protein paired with a quick side dish right on the grates. Not only does it taste like summer, but the cleanup is so much easier. You just burn off any residue from the last meal, give it a quick scrape with a wire brush, spray it down with a little avocado oil, and you are ready to go.
While I love serving up a quick batch of grilled fish or chicken, I’ve also been making a simple homemade “rice-a-roni” style side dish cooked right out on the barbecue using a pizza stone!
Fast Farmhouse Summer Rice Side:
- The Prep: Simply add your butter, long-grain white rice, and broken thin spaghetti pieces straight into your skillet along with the garlic powder, onion powder, dried parsley, salt, and pepper.
- The Liquid: Pour your warm chicken broth right over the top and give everything a quick stir to combine.
- The Grill: Cover the skillet tightly with a lid and place it directly onto your preheated grill grates or hot pizza stone.
It cooks up beautifully completely hands-off on the grill and is ready to fluff with fresh backyard parsley by the time your mains are done, leaving you with zero extra heat in the kitchen!
Our Trick for Discouraging Broody Chickens
If you raise backyard chickens, you know that summer often brings a fair share of broody hens. A few months ago, we were battling a full-blown nesting box rebellion, every single box was packed with hens determined to hatch out a clutch of eggs!
Right now, we are down to just one stubborn lady (one of our beautiful Copper Splash Marans). My daughter has been propagating them, and we have about 20 of them right now. Most of the, aren’t laying yet, but we love the gorgeous, dark brown eggs they give us… To break the rest of the flock of their broodiness, we used a handy little homestead trick:
The Frozen Egg Trick:
Breaking up the broody clusters is improtant, because otherwise, they will sit on the fresh eggs, poop in the nesting boxes, and leave you with a bit of a mess to clean up before you can display those beautiful eggs.
Bringing the Outside In & Growing Peonies
For Mother’s Day, my husband bought me some absolutely stunning floral arrangements. They finally passed their prime this week, but instead of tossing them out, I love to forage through the faded bouquets, trim down the stems of whatever is still thriving, and move them into a smaller vase for the windowsill.
But the real stars of the show right now are the peonies growing right outside our living room window.
I planted these about three years ago from small root starts I found on Etsy. Today, those tiny roots have grown into gorgeous, lush 3-foot by 3-foot bushes that erupt with the most romantic, feminine pink blooms every spring.
You Should Plant Peonies This Year!
They’re so expensive to buy in stores, and bouquets, but so easy to grow yourself.
They last forever in a vase! I’ve kept a single vase of homegrown peonies on my kitchen table for up to three weeks just by snipping off the expired petals as time goes on.
I love them so much I’m seriously thinking about dedicating an entire garden box just to grow peony starts this fall!
Finding Peace in the Simple Routines
I was chatting about anxiety and how easy it is to feel overwhelmed… For me, I’ve come to realize that God is truly the source of peace. Just like a good starter, His peace requires daily attention… Tending to it through His word, prayer and meditation. He created the outdoors for us to enjoy. One of the ways I find that quiet, grounding rest is simply by spending time outside and in the garden!
Whether it’s walking the garden rows, listening to the birds chirp, or just the rhythem of mowing the lawn, there’s a feeling of peace waiting for us outside.
Taking care of a home, a flock, livestock, a blog, and a garden is hard work… But it’s the perfect space to slow down, breathe deep, and appreciate the scratch-made life.
What does your summer homemaking routine look like right now? Are you harvesting anything from your garden yet? Let me know in the comments below!
I wanna know what YOU think, Please review the Recipe Card!
Homemade Rice-A-Roni on the Grill
Ingredients
- 1 cup Long-grain white rice I use jasmine rice
- 1/2 cup Broken thin spaghetti pieces or vermicelli broken into 1/2-inch bits
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 2 1/4 cups High-quality chicken broth or bone broth heated
- 1/2 tsp Onion powder (Or garden vegetable seasoning blend)
- 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp Dried parsley plus fresh chopped parsley for garnish at the end
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the Grill: Preheat your grill to medium heat (around 400°F). If you are using a pizza stone like in the video, place it on the grates while the grill preheats so it gets nice and hot.
- Add Rice and Pasta to the Skillet: Add the butter to the bottom of your skillet, then add the white rice, broken spaghetti pieces, onion powder, garlic powder, dried parsley, salt, and pepper.
- Add Liquid and Cover: Carefully pour the warm chicken broth over the rice and seasonings, giving it a quick stir to combine. Cover the skillet with a lid and place it directly onto your preheated grill grates (or onto your hot pizza stone). Let it simmer covered on the grill for 15 to 20 minutes until the liquid is fully absorbed.
- Rest and Fluff: Carefully remove the skillet from the grill using heat-resistant gloves, keep it covered, and let it rest on the counter for 5 minutes. Remove the lid, fluff beautifully with a fork, and top with fresh summer parsley.
