I mention packet meals in my What’s For Dinner? weekly menu quite a bit. That’s because we love them. They are fun too make. And because everyone makes their own, you know everyone will eat it!
You’ve probably heard of packet meals before. Some people call them hobo meals. They are popular with scouting groups and campers.
Basically, you take your meat and veggies seal it up in aluminum foil and cook it over the fire.
We usually place a raw hamburger patty on top of a large piece of foil. (You want it large so you can fold it over and crimp the edges well. ) Sprinkle any seasonings that you want on top of your meat. Seasoned salt, salt & pepper, garlic powder are all favorites.
Then pile on your raw veggies. Sliced potatoes, carrots, green peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli. Really, any veggie works. The harder the veggie, the thinner you want to make the slices, the softer the veggies, like yellow squash, the thicker you want to slice it. You can then sprinkle on more seasoning before sealing your packet well. Some like to put a pat of butter on top, also. I never do, my husband always does.
Make sure your packet edges are sealed well. Then place on top of coals in your fire pit. You can also place in a grill with a lid. Cooking times vary greatly according to how hot your fire is, and how big your packets are.
We usually start with 5 -10 minutes, then turn the packets over and cook another 5-10 minutes. Then pull one out, open carefully as a lot of steam will come out of the packet. Check your meat and veggies for doneness.
Since you can’t mark the packets, we have everyone carry their packet and place it on the fire (kids have Dad’s help!). That way everyone knows where their packet is.
Because the kid that doesn’t eat onions will be very unhappy when he gets a packet with lots of onions.
These packet meals are really a great family dinner. As every gathers around together to make their packets, then gather around the fire as they cook.
Don’t forget to finish the meal with S’mores!
Linked to: Raising Homemakers, Family Time Tuesday
Our family loves these too. In fact they want them in the winter when we don’t have fires in the firepit. We’ve found that they cook just as well in a 350 degree oven. I always leave them in for an hour.
Another thing we like is to add 1 T of soy sauce to a cup of water and then put a few T of the mix into each packet before sealing tight. A boneless chicken breast, instead of a hamburger patty, with veggies works great with the soy sauce, onion and potato slices.
That’s pretty cool! We have never done that before!