Foil Cooking (and Coupon)

Do you ever cook with foil?  I remember making foil packets of food and cooking them over the fire in Girl Scouts.  No pots needed.  We do the same thing on the grill and in the oven sometimes, and the kids love it!

Take chicken breasts, put each on a large square of foil and let each family member add their own seasonings, then wrap and grill or bake. Try soy sauce, honey and garlic powder for the kid who likes Teriyaki; salsa and shredded cheddar for the Mexican food lover; BBQ sauce for Dad; marinara sauce and provelone/parmesan to make an easy chicken parmesan. Everyone has what they like without much mess, and without cooking multiple batches of food (and without Susie saying "But Mom, I don't LIKE salsa!").

Do the same idea with pork chops or with fish (lemon/pepper, cajun spiced, Italian herbs, teriyaki glazed...).

Another easy item to customize is baked potatoes.  You can scrub and pierce baking potatoes, then sprinkle with salt and wrap each tightly in foil.  Put them in the crock pot (seriously!), grill them, or bake them, then top (broccoli, cheese, sauteed onions, bacon, grilled chicken). 

Try roasting a head of garlic in a foil packet over the grill and use it on meat, potatoes, or breads.  Yummy!

We often make all our food on the grill in the summer, and we use foil packets for the side dishes. One of our favorites is roasted potatoes.  Take a large square of heavy duty foil (or use two layers if you use bargain foil so it won't rip) and place about a cup of cut potatoes on it (French fry sliced, thin slices, or bite size chunks), about half a chopped onion, one clove of chopped garlic, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and a generous drizzle of olive oil.  Wrap up and crimp the foil ends tightly, then just grill until the potatoes are tender (we put them on before the meat because they usually take a little longer).  Make sure you turn the packet(s) a couple of times so the potatoes don't burn.

Along with the potatoes we make a veggie packet.  Same idea--take a large piece of foil and place corn, peas, beans, broccoli or whatever you like on it, add a pinch of salt and some herbs and olive oil/butter if you want, wrap up, pinch the ends and grill. We poke a couple of holes in the packet to get some smoky flavor in there, and it's very easy and tasty  And no mess!

You can even finish off a meal with dessert in foil packets.  Put some sliced peaches or pineapple onto the foil, top with brown sugar or honey, add a dash of vanilla or cinnamon in foil packet and grill, then serve over angel food cake, pound cake or ice cream. 

There are a bunch of foil packet recipes and ideas on the HERE, HERE, and HERE.

If you need to replenish your stock of foil, here are some coupons.

$1.00 off Reynolds foil
$1.25 off Reynolds 100% recycled foil
$1.00 off Reynolds parchment paper (parchment paper makes cookies and baked good come out much better)

If you've never cooked in foil before, try it.  It's fun, easy, and relatively mess-free.  Happy cooking!