Chicken Tin Foil Dinner

I decided on Thursday that tin foil dinners and smores in the mountains sounded like a great idea this weekend and so did my friends. So Saturday night we headed up the canyon and did just that. I had never made a tin foil dinner before (shocker with all of the camping that I have done in my life). So I Googled tin foil dinners and got some ideas and this is what I came up with.

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2-3 potatoes

Baby Carrots

Frozen Corn

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1 envelope Dry Italian Dressing

Oil

Kosher Salt

Heat your oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with tin foil. Rinse and dry your chicken breasts and place on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and a little bit of the Italian dressing, set aside. Take your potatoes and wash them. Place on a small piece of foil. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with Kosher salt. Wrap up and place in the oven and place the chicken in the oven as well. Bake until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink, about 20 minutes. The potatoes will take about an hour to cook through.

When the chicken and potatoes are cool, cut into bite size pieces. Mix the soup and the remaining Italian Dressing. Take 2 large pieces of foil and spray with cooking spray. Place the chicken on the bottom, then the potatoes. Add as many carrots and corn as you would like. Take half of the soup mixture and put on top one chicken dinner and the remaining on the other dinner. Wrap the foil up and wrap again with another layer of foil.

I would place these in the fridge or a cooler until ready to heat. When you have your fire going, place the dinners on the outer edge of the fire and cook about 20 minutes, you are basically heating everything up and cooking the carrots and corn. Our carrots were still a little crunchy, but we like them that way. You could also cook these in the oven. I would cook them at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Lemonade

I'm not sure where I found this recipe for lemonade but I've wanted to make it for a while, so on Fathers Day we had a BBQ and I finally made it. I doubled this recipe and ended up only adding 1 bottle of Sprite and the whole pitcher was gone! It would be the perfect drink for The 4th of July (add some frozen blueberries and raspberries to make it festive), a wedding or baby shower or just to drink!

Ingredients:

2 liter Sprite

1 can frozen lemonade

3 cans water

1 package kool-aid lemonade

1 cup sugar fresh or frozen berries lemon slices

Lots of ice

Directions: Mix everything together in a large drink container. This punch is super sweet, but always a hit at a party.

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

I guess that I'm on a side dish/BBQ kick and this is probably because it's hot and I'm not heating my kitchen up for dinner so we grill a lot! I have made this salsa 4 times since I made the recipe up and each time I make it, it gets devoured! If you really don't like beans, like my husband, I guess that you could leave them out but you really can't taste them! I also have to note that you are welcome to add as much or as little of things as you would like to this recipe. The heat level is different each time I make it because of how much spice I add to it! Happy BBQing!

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Makes about 4 cups of salsa

2 cans of corn

2 cans of black beans

8 oz. mild chilies, diced

2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

2 teaspoons cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 cup chopped green onion

1 medium seeded tomato, chopped

1 red onion, chopped fine

1/2 cup lime juice

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and chill for 4 hours. Serve with tortilla chips.

Tortellini Salad

This is the perfect side dish to any BBQ or Summer dinner! It is light, full of vegetables and it even better the next day after it sits for a bit!

Tortellini Salad

Recipe From Our Family Treat

Ingredients:

1 package of tortellini

1 cup cubed hard salami

1 cup chopped asparagus (1 inch length)

2 green onions chopped

1 can large artichoke hearts diced

1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley (Italian)

Dressing:

1 tbsp mayonnaise

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp honey

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp lime juice

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Start by bringing up a large pot of water to a boil. Chop the vegetables, and add into a bowl. In a separate bowl whisk together the ingredients for the dressing. To the boiling water add the asparagus and the pasta. Cook together until pasta is done (follow package instructions) remove and shock both the pasta and asparagus in a bowl of ice water. Add the salami, pasta, and all the vegetables to the large bowl, and toss with the dressing. Let chill for 2 hrs before service. That is it...... seems too easy... but it won't taste that way.

Ice Cream Pie

I think I've said it before but I love ice cream and I love brownies! And together they make the perfect dessert. But add in some berries and you have taken dessert to a whole other level! And that is just what this dessert does. This is the perfect dessert for a warm summer night! This would also be the perfect dessert for a 4th of July BBQ, just add in blueberries instead of raspberries to make it patriotic. Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Ice Cream Pie

1 box of brownie mix (and ingredients to make it)

1 carton of vanilla ice cream

1 carton of raspberry sherbet

Raspberries

Make the brownie mix according to directions. Spray a round spring form pan with cooking spray and pour prepared batter in. Bake according to package directions and let cool, completely. Soften the vanilla ice cream. While the ice cream softens, rinse the raspberries and mash them with a fork. Add them to the softened ice cream and layer over brownies. Put in freezer until ice cream is frozen again. Soften the sherbet and layer over the vanilla ice cream layer. Put back in freezer to harden. When ready to serve, let unthaw until you can slice it and serve with fresh raspberries and if you really want to, drizzle with some chocolate syrup!

Oh My!

I found THIS recipe for a great steak marinade and thought I would try it. I think that I will always marinate my steaks because this was the best steak I have ever eaten!

You HAVE to try it out!

Salty Flavorful Steak

1 1/2 tablespoons salt
2 teaspoons ground pepper
1 teaspoons garlic salt
1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon Daragel Grilling Herbs (or 1/2 tsp. dried rosemary, 1/2 tsp. dried thyme, and 1 tsp. dried parsley)

In a small bowl, whisk together all ingredients. Pour over steak and allow to marinate for 2 or more hours.

*** I just used a grilling seasoning that I found at the store and I only had 1 hour to marinate it and it was still amazing!

Marinated Flank Steak

My husband is a meat and potatoes guy, but sometimes I get sick of cooking and eating meat the same way. I have wanted to try flank steak for awhile but had no idea how to cook it. I had been blog hopping and found the perfect recipe, printed it off and then lost it. I know, sad. But luckily my friend Ariel found me this recipe and it's the exact same recipe I had lost! I made the steak for dinner last night and it was AMAZING! I let the steak marinate all day and it made the steak really juicy! Again, no picture, sorry!

For a picture and the recipe click HERE!

Cowboy Baby!

We love burgers in our house so I'm always looking for a great new burger idea. A lot of restaurants are coming out with more gourmet burgers and I've seen the idea for Cowboy Burgers on a few commercials so I threw some ideas together and made my own! This burger has great flavor and is different from any burger I've ever tasted. And the hubby said it was a do over, which means it's really good! I really hate posting recipes without pictures but I was giving my hubby his burger and had a crying, hungry child in the other hand, sorry!

Cowboy Burgers

Makes 2

2 Hamburger Buns

2 hamburger patties

2 pieces of cheddar cheese (or whatever cheese you like)

4 pieces of fully cooked bacon (2 pieces for each burger)

BBQ Sauce

2 Tablespoons Miracle Whip or Mayo

1 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

Lettuce

Tomato

Throw your burgers on the grill to cook. While your burgers are cooking toast your buns. Combine the Miracle Whip and Worcestershire Sauce. When your buns are toasted spread the Miracle Whip mixture on them. Right before your burgers are done put the cheese on them until it gets melty. Put your cheesy burger on the bun then put the bacon on the burger. Squirt it a couple of times with the BBQ sauce. Layer with the lettuce and tomato. Devour!

Steak Sandwich For Dad

We have a great neighborhood and great neighbors! And because it's Summer in Utah (Kind of) we have been grilling with them. At one of our BBQs my neighbor make some steak sandwiches but I didn't get to try one because I was eating a bigger steak! So I thought I would try making my own and it was great! The steak was so thin and seasoned nicely, the bread was slightly toasted and the lettuce gave it a nice crunch. This sandwich would be great for Father's Day or for any BBQ!

Steak Sandwiches

(Makes 3)

3 Thin slices of round steak

Lawrys Steak Marinade

3 Ciabatta Rolls

Lettuce

Tomato

Miracle Whip

Provolone Cheese

Put the steaks in a ziploc bag and marinate with about 1/2 cup of the marinade for 30 minutes. Throw those babies on the grill. While they cook (which takes about 5 minutes) toast the rolls. Spread the Miracle Whip on the rolls. Top with a slice of the steak and put the cheese on top of the steak so it melts a little bit. Top with the lettuce and tomato. Serve with some chips, fruit, potato salad or whatever you want!

Happy Father's Day and Happy Grilling!

Eatin Good

We have been eating good around my house lately! My husband is a meat lover so when I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it out! I have never cooked brisket before and was a little scared, but it was super easy! The brisket was super moist and juicy, I only wish I got a bigger brisket

(we fed 5 of us) so we could have more leftovers! I served the brisket with red potatoes that I boiled, cut in half, covered in cheddar cheese and bacon bits and heated until the cheese is melted-yummy!

Ingredients:

4 or 5 pound brisket

4 oz. liquid smoke

4 oz. Worcestershire

Garlic salt

Celery salt

Onion salt

1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce

Method:

Place brisket in a large, shallow Pyrex.

Add the liquid smoke and Worcestershire sauce all over.

Rub brisket with lots of garlic salt, celery salt, and onion salt.

Refrigerate overnight.

Bake in a covered roaster at 325 degrees for 3 hours.

Add one cup of your favorite BBQ sauce and cook uncovered for 30 minutes.

Let cool 1 hour before slicing and serving

Some Tips:

I only marinated the brisket for 1 hour and it worked out great

Make sure you double line your pan with foil to make clean up easy!

And cook the meat in the marinade

If you live in Salt Lake, get your brisket from Sniders Bros. Meats on Highland Drive (they even seasoned the meat for me)! I learned that most stores have to order brisket for you, but they usually have it everyday.

Oven Ribs

I had some ribs in our freezer and decided to make them, except I didn't want to grill them. So I decided to cook them in the oven instead. I wasn't sure how long to cook them or what temperature so I Googled oven ribs. I found a couple recipes that I liked and combined them. I don't mean to toot my own horn but they were the best ribs I have ever had. They were really moist and the crust on them was great. I hope you try them, they are worth the time!

Oven Ribs

Rack of Ribs
1/4 cup Salt
1/4 cup Sugar
1 Tablespoon Paprika (more if you want, but taste it first)
1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
BBQ Sauce

Mix the salt, sugar, paprika and garlic powder together. Coat ribs with the mixture, making sure it sticks to the ribs. Place in large pan (I just used a glass pan) and fill with 1 inch of water or halfway up the ribs. Cook at 250 degrees for 1 hour. Turn ribs and cook for another hour. Pour the liquid out of the pan and coat the ribs with as much BBQ sauce as you want. Cook at 400 degrees for 30 minutes and serve!

Ribs My Way

I am definitely no grill master, but this summer I have been working on it. I have only made ribs twice, but I think I've got the hang of them now. I like to buy my ribs at Costco or Sams Club. They come in a vacuum sealed pack and usually have 3 racks in them. All of the ribs I have purchased have not had a lot of fat on them, which is great.

After I buy the ribs I buy the biggest foil pan that I can find. Although I like doing the dishes, this is not one I want to clean, so the pans are great because you just throw them away. I get the foil pans from the grocery store, they are usually located on the baking isle. Make sure you get one that comes with a lid.

So you have your ribs and your pan. Now you need seasoning and BBQ sauce. While I was getting the ribs at Sams Club, I came across Weber Grill Rub. This seasoning is amazing! It is tangy, spicy and sweet all at the same time. You can use it on ribs, steak, chicken or whatever your little heart wants. I also grabbed some BBQ sauce at Sams Club. For a great BBQ Sauce we love Chris N Pits, but use your favorite.

Now you are home with your ribs, pan, BBQ sauce and seasoning. Take your ribs, one at a time and put them in the foil pan (you may need to cut you racks to fit them in the pan). Cover the rib with BBQ sauce and then sprinkle a generous layer of seasoning on top. Repeat until all racks are done and then put the lid on. Let sit at least 4 hours, but for moister ribs let them sit overnight.

When ready to cook, set your grill to low heat and let heat up for 10-15 minutes. I cover the ribs again with a good coating of seasoning just before I put them on the grill. Put the ribs on the grill, BONE SIDE DOWN, very important!!! Let the ribs cook for 1-2 hours or until done. As the ribs are cooking, rotate them around the grill to get even cooking. Cooking time depends on how big your grill is. My grill is larger so they take about 1 1/2 hours. I used my friends grill the last time I made them and they only took 1 hour because his grill was smaller. So make sure you keep checking the ribs and rotating them.

When they are done, serve with the same BBQ sauce you used to coat them with, corn, salad, your favorite fruit and enjoy!

Oh, and I didn't get a photo of the finished ribs because we ate them too fast, sorry!