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

Not Fried "Refried Beans"

I know it says refried in the name, but I never really realized that beans were fried until my neighbor said that they had to buy vegetarian beans because the normal refried beans were fried in lard. That's a little gross, but it won't keep me from eating them occasionally. But if I can be a little healthier and have something that tastes good I may as well. Really my "refried beans" are just pureed but I think I make them in an awesome way. This is a little time consuming, in a do a little bit and then leave them for a long time way, so you want to make them a day (and a night) before you need them.

Ingredients:
1 lb dry pinto beans
1 cup salsa

Small Appliances Used:
Crock Pot
Blender

Directions:
Put the beans and 8 cups of cold water in a large bowl and let them soak for 6 to 8 hours.

Drain and rinse the beans, then put them in the crock pot with 6 cups of water or more. Set to low and let them cook for 8 to 10 hours.

Let the pot cool for an hour or so, and then drain the beans by pouring them into a strainer and then rinse them.

Put half of the beans and half of the salsa into the blender. Blend until it looks like refried bean consistency. In the blender, it looks like it could be confused for a chocolate milk shake. That might be a great idea for an April Fool's Day joke.

If the beans cooled too long they may need to be reheated, and that can be done on the stove or in the microwave.

To store them, you can put them in the fridge for about a week or so, or you can freeze them. I freeze them by putting them in ice cube trays and put those cubes in a bag after they are frozen. Canning would also be an option.

I hope this helps you be a little healthier, save some money and to have some great tasting bean burritos!

For other food tips check out these posts:
Making the Most of Fresh Lemons
The day after a Farmer's Market
DIY On-the-Go Applesauce

Frozen Lemon Pie

We have this dessert every couple of months. It's easy and delicious!

Ingredients
Graham cracker crust
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
8 ounces Cool Whip
6 ounces undiluted lemonade frozen concentrate
Juice and zest from 1 lemon

Directions
In a large bowl, combine softened ice cream, Cool Whip, lemonade concentrate, and the juice and zest of lemon. Stir until blended. Pour in pie crust. Freeze overnight of for several hours.

Serves 8 - 12

Taken from: The Essential Mormon Cookbook