Turkey and Noodles

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Classic Camping Tin Foil Dinner

Tin foil dinners are a staple for us camping. They are easy to prepare ahead of time and can be thrown right on the campfire. Our friends that went with us said they were hooked on them now too! One thing to remember is to not cheap out on the tin foil. If you do, you will want to add extra layers.

The Anatomy of a Tin Foil Dinner

These are a great assembly line meal, whether you are making them yourself or if you have help!

First you will want to lay out your first layer of tin foil. It should be about 18 inches by 18 inches, depending on what you are putting in your tin foil dinner. This is a good starting point. More is better though! If your tin foil is too skinny, you can overlap two pieces to make it the side you need. Make sure they overlap by 3-4 inches.

From here you can start putting on your food. (See the recipes below) After the food is on you will want to roll up the sides. Grab the top and the bottom edge and put them together, and roll them up. Next, do the same to the two sides.

Next, you will need another large piece of tin foil that will wrap your tin foil dinner a second time. You can wrap it the same way or just fold it around the first. They should be wrapped separately so that it is less likely that they will spill out.

Classic Tin Foil Dinners

Ingredients:
Onion (A thick slice for each tin foil dinner)
Ground Beef(1/2 pound-ish for each dinner)
Baby Carrots
Potato Chunks
Montreal Steak Seasoning (Or other seasoning as you wish)

Directions:
Slice your onion into thick slices. Even if you don't like them, you want this on here. It flavors it and protects the meat from getting burnt. I eat the onion (it turns out perfectly caramelized most of the time and is delicious) but my husband hates eating onions and wont eat it. That's another reason that it's in a big slice is so that it is easy to find for the ones that pull it out.I have also heard of people using cabbage to cook their dinners in to keep it moist and from burning like I do with the onion, but I don't like the smell of cooking cabbage so it ruins it for me a little.

Next take a ball of the ground beef and squish it into a patty on top of the onion. Make them whatever size you want, but try to keep them from being too thick to make sure that they will cook easily.

Sprinkle your seasoning on next, then add your veggies. Now you can wrap it up and it's ready to go!

Tomato Basil Soup

I was craving some good soup, so I searched Pinterest for something I could make with stuff I had on hand. I'm pretty proud of what I came up with! The idea for this was taken from this BlendTec Video.

Ingredients:
1 Bag of Frozen Tomatoes (As prepared Here)
1 Can of Tomato Sauce
1/2 Cup of Milk
1/3 Cup of Chopped Frozen Green Peppers
3 Tablespoons of Basil Flakes
1 teaspoon of Montreal Chicken Seasoning
1 Tablespoon of Butter
2 Cups of Cooked Rice, Seasoned with Garlic and Onion (I would have done a little less rice, but I used a premeasured package)

Directions:
Defrost Tomatoes until pliable. Put tomatoes, tomato sauce, milk, green peppers, 2 T of basil, and Montreal chicken seasoning in Blender. Blend at "Soups and Fondues" setting or equivalent.

Melt butter in a saucepan. Add soup mix from blender to it. Add the rest of the basil, and the cooked rice. Heat until simmering, then cook for 5 minutes or so. Serve hot!

I also served it with these Olive Garden Copy Cat Bread Sticks.

Super Easy Lemon Chicken

I recently bought some raw breaded chicken patties to try to convince myself to cook more. Having the chicken already prepared makes things so much easier! Even if you can't cook, this recipe is for you. Some instant mashed potatoes would go great with it but I was too lazy today. (Yes, I do know how easy instant potatoes are. I would much rather lay on the couch.)

Ingredients:
Raw Breaded Chicken Breast (Comes in the freezer section by the chicken nuggets)
Lemon Juice (Frozen, Fresh or Bottled. See Also: Making the Most of Fresh Lemons)

Directions:
Heat Oven to the temperature stated on the package of chicken.

Put the chicken on the cookie sheet. I really like the stone ones because you can't wash them.

Put the lemon juice on top of the chicken. If frozen, just set the cube on top. If bottled or fresh douse the entire top of the chicken.

Put in the oven and cook for as long as the package of chicken tells you. When you bring it out of the oven, cut it open to make sure that the chicken is cooked inside. It should be white not pink.

Can you tell I ate a piece before I took the picture? It was so good, I couldn't wait!

Check out these other dishes:
Ridiculously Easy Chicken Parmesan
The Original Lemon Chicken (Easy,but not SUPER Easy :)
Egg Salad Sandwiches

Mentioned Above:
Making the Most of Fresh Lemons

Chicken a la King

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Chili Dog Casserole

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Egg Salad Sandwiches

Ingredients:
6 Hard Boiled Eggs
2 1/2 Tablespoons Ranch Dressing (or Mayo)
2 Tablespoons Italian Dressing
3 teaspoons Mustard (Spicy or Brown is good, if not yellow works!)
1/4 Cup Fresh Chopped Onions (Optional)
Bread (I used sourdough, but any will work)
Tomato (Optional)
Lettuce (Optional)

Directions:
Cut up eggs into small pieces. Mix the eggs, ranch, italian, mustard and chopped onions. Toast bread if desired. Spoon egg salad onto bread, lay lettuce and tomato slice on top, as well as the other slice of bread.

Originally Taken From: Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook (1981), Adapted by Monica

Lemon Chicken

Ingredients:
Chicken
Flour
Montreal Chicken Seasoning
Garlic Salt
Cooking Oil
Lemon

Directions:
Mix a plate of flour and your seasonings. Dip the chicken into the flour and make sure it is well coated. Heat 1/4 Cup of Cooking Oil in a frying pan, keep the heat at medium low. Set the chicken in the pan, cook for a minute on each side and then squeeze the lemon over it. Let the chicken continue cooking until thoroughly cooked, keep adding lemon as you flip it over.

Taken From: Ben Jamer

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

I make these every few weeks at our house, it's a cheaper breakfast than cereal. For you Bisquick users, get a Kitchen Aid, it is just as fast to make the batter this way! Not to mention better tasting!

The 4th of July Flags in the picture are a free printable. Click here to view.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 Cups Flour
2 Tbs. Sugar
1 Tbs. Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 Egg
1 1/2 Cups Milk
3 Tbs. Vegetable Oil (or whatever you have on hand)
3/4 Cup Chocolate Chips

Directions:
Mix the dry ingredients, then add the egg, milk and oil. Mix well, then add the chocolate chips. Another option to help with the chocolate chips sticking to the bowl is to coat them with flour first. I put them in a container with flour and shake it.

Set the skillet at 350 degrees if electric, or medium if it's on the stove. Pour the pancake batter onto your hot skillet and flip when bubbling. Let cook on the other side for a couple of minutes, each side should be a golden brown.

They taste great with our Maple Syrup.

Taken From: Miller, Jan, ed. Better Homes and Gardens: New Cook Book. Des Moines, Iowa: Meredith Corporation, 2006. Simplified by Monica.

Grandma's German Pancakes

AKA: Creepy Crawlers.

Time: Thirty Minutes

Ingredients:
6 Tbs Butter
6 Eggs
1/2 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Flour
Powdered Sugar

Directions(In Monica's Words):
Put butter in a 9x12 pan and put it in the oven while it preheats to 400 degrees. Meanwhile, beat eggs and add milk then flour. Don't mix too much if using the kitchen aid, it should be lumpy. Pour batter into the pan and bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top and serve hot, with maple syrup.

Directions(In Grandma's Words):
For one 9x12 in pan whip up 6 eggs good then add 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup flour. Turn on your oven to 400* and put a half of cube butter or margarine in. melt it in the oven while you are mixing the other ingredients. Bake for 20minutes, Shake on Powdered Sugar before serving. Mine turn out different every time, and they will usually slump down when you get them out of the oven at first. You can also use this recipe for making individual cream puffs to put chicken or tuna salad in for lunch.

Taken From: Grandma Roberts, Family Recipe Box

Ridiculously Easy Chicken Parmesan

I keep this stuff on hand at most times for when I want something quick!

Time: About 10 minutes from start to finish

Ingredients:
Frozen Breaded Chicken Patties
Spaghetti Noodles
Spaghetti Sauce
Shredded Mozzarella (optional)
Parmesan

Directions:
Cook the noodles on the stove. Warm the spaghetti sauce on the stove or in the microwave. Warm the chicken patties in the microwave. If you're feeling fancy, cut the chicken into strips. Serve the noodles with the sauce on top and the chicken on the top or on the side, sprinkle mozzarella (you can warm it for a little bit in the microwave to melt it) and parmesan on top.

Taken From: A Random Idea Created From Hunger Pains