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

Last week’s menu was a bust. The kids and I had bad colds. Thankfully, I had chicken broth and cooked chicken in the freezer for chicken soup. I think we only followed the menu for 2 days. lol

A menu shouldn’t be set in stone, something to be followed no matter what else is going on. A menu is a tool to help you. And we needed soothing,  EASY comfort foods lat week.

Saturday – Sabbath- Make ahead meals- Hot Dogs & S’mores in the Sukkah

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Chicken, Rice, Veggie Stir fry

Monday – beef –  Cabbage Roll Casserole from freezer, zucchini from garden

Tuesday – pizza –  Homemade Pizza, carrot sticks

Wednesday – super simple – leftovers

Thursday – chicken – Chicken & Rice Casserole, green beans

Friday – Friday Night Fire –  Packet meals – hamburgers or chicken, potatoes & veggies cooked in the fire, S’mores

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday.

Saturday – Sabbath- Make ahead meals- Hot Dogs

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Egg Salad and Chicken sandwiches

Monday – beef – Spaghetti with meat sauce, zucchini

Tuesday – pizza –  Homemade Pizza, carrot sticks, cucumbers from garden

Wednesday – super simple – leftovers

Thursday – chicken – BBQ chicken over the fire, veggie packets in fire.

Friday – Friday Night Fire –  Breakfast for Supper over the fire

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday.

Saturday – Sabbath- Make ahead meals- leftovers

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Hamburgers and fixins’

Monday – beef – Cabbage rolls or cabbage roll casserole, haven’t decided which one yet!

Tuesday – pizza –  Homemade Pizza, carrot sticks, cucumbers from garden

Wednesday – super simple – leftovers

Thursday – chicken – Chicken Stir-Fry

Friday – Friday Night Fire –  Packet meals – hamburgers, potatoes & veggies cooked in the fire, S’mores

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday.

Have you heard about House Party.com? They are a website that manufactures use to get their products into the hands of the public and create lots of buzz about them.  When you have a house party, the manufacture sends you a party kit that includes hostess gifts, gifts for the guests, and free items to use at the party. If the party revolves around food, you get free coupons to purchase the food for the party.

In the case of the Chef Boyardee House Party I had last weekend, I received 6 coupons, each good for one can of Chef Boyardee Pasta. There were also cents off coupons for the guests. Here’s what else the party pack included:

An insulated lunch bag & a chef’s hat for the hostess and Chef Boyardee notepads for the guests. The House Party website also helps you party plan with lots of downloadable activities and party ideas.

Out of the 6 recipes included for me to try, I picked the Ravioli Lasagna and the Taco Roni to make

My 15 yo daughter volunteered to do the cooking for the party. She even took pictures while she was cooking! That’s my daughter! lol

I doubled each of the recipes, so keep that in mind if you make these. The lasagna recipe, for example, makes an 8×8″ pan, but I doubled and baked it in a 13×9″ pan.

Here are the ingredients for the Ravioli Lasagna:

You mix the canned ravioli with diced tomatoes then layer in the pan with cottage cheese. The recipe called for spinach, too, but some of my guests didn’t like spinach in their lasagna, so I left it out.

Then top with mozzarella cheese, and bake!

The Taco Roni was equally as easy. You mixed Beef a Roni with diced tomatoes, corn and blacked beans (recipe called for canned, but I used some out of the freezer).

You cooked this on top of the stove for a few minutes.

Everyone loved these quick and easy dishes! There was nothing left!

You can get all the recipes on Chef Boyardee’s Recipe Page.

If you haven’t signed up with House Party yet, what are you waiting for? These parties are awesome!

Also, if you read this post and would like to participate in a Chef Boyardee ChatThread survey, you will be entered to win a $1,000. gift certificate.

Saturday – Sabbath- Make ahead meals- Chef Boyardee House Party – I made Ravoli Lasagna and Taco Roni – both were delicious!

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Egg sandwiches for lunch, chicken and rice for supper

Monday – beef – Yellow Squash, Homemade Taco Roni – I’m inspired by the house party of Saturday to make a homemade version. I’ll share if it comes out good!

Tuesday – pizza –  Homemade Pizza, carrot sticks, cucumbers from garden

Wednesday – super simple – Rosh HaShanah – Baked Chicken, Tzimmes, Zucchini, Honey Cake, Apples & Honey

Thursday – chicken – Leftovers

Friday – Friday Night Fire –  Chicken,  Packet potatoes & veggies cooked in the fire, S’mores

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday.

If you’ve never had Cincinnati Style Chili before, it’s delicious. If you’ve never had Homemade Cincinnati Style Chili before, you don’t know what your missing! It’s not traditional chili with beans and tomatoes in it. We used to live outside Cincinnati, and we love this chili. You can buy seasoning packets for this chili, but they are hard to find outside of Ohio, if available at all. We are less than 3 hours away from Cincinnati, and can rarely find the packets here.

Besides, the packets are expensive. And so many seasoning packets have wheat in them, not to mention other ingredients I try to avoid. Since I’ve had to stop eating wheat, and feeding my family less additives, this is a consideration for me. This recipe is so easy, though, a seasoning packet is really unnecessary.

Homemade Cincinnati Style Chili

4 cups cooked hamburger (2 pounds raw)

1 – 29 ounce can of tomato sauce

1 cup water

4 Tbsp. chili powder

1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. basil

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Combine all ingredients in saucepan. Simmer for 3o minutes. You can also put all the ingredients into the crockpot on low for a few hours. Serve over spaghetti. Top with grated cheddar cheese, diced onions, and kidney beans, if desired. Some people also top with diced tomatoes. This recipe is enough chili for 2 pounds of spaghetti.

If you serve the chili on a hot dog, topped with cheese, you have a Coney.

I served the cheese in condiment cups. We use less cheese that way.

That’s my rice spaghetti in the picture.  🙂

When cooking the hamburger, you need to stir often with a fork so you get small pieces. My favorite way to cook ground hamburger for recipes is to boil it. I know it sounds weird, but I found out about this on an email freezer cooking list about 10 years ago. You place your hamburger in the pan with a couple of inches of water in the pan.  You don’t want to boil it like spaghetti, though, so don’t completely cover it with water. While it’s cooking, keep stirring with a fork to break it up. You get the small pieces of meat that’s needed for this style of chili, or tacos, etc. Please be aware, when draining the hamburger, that there is grease in with the water, and it will clog your sink if your not careful. I run cold water in the sink, then drain the meat and leave the cold water running for a minute or two. That’s what works for me. Do so at your own risk. I can’t come unclog your sink for you.  🙂  Since I can’t come, if you don’t want to chance a clogged sink, you can drain into a large bowl or pan, let it harden, then dispose of.

I like to keep cooked hamburger in the freezer in 2 and 4 cup bags. This is another recipe I can make quickly by starting with the cooked hamburger.

This Homemade Cincinnati Style Chili freezes great. I put the amount needed for one meal in a freezer container or bag, then freezer until needed. Just thaw and heat while your boiling your spaghetti.