Sunday, August 26, 2012

Foil Packet Cooking=AMAZING!

Yeah, I had a baby almost 7 months ago and these last 10 pounds just would not come off.  Luckily, I am surrounded by lots of other ladies who have had babies in the past 4-5 months and were experiencing the same problem.  They told me about this diet called the 17-Day Diet.  It consists of 4-17 day diet cycles that you progress through gradually to get to your goal weight.  I'm in the first cycle which is called Accelerate.  I can eat any vegetable I want all day long, so I have had a salad for lunch almost everyday usually topped with some kind of lean protein:  ground turkey, chicken, tuna, salmon.  For breakfast, I'll eat two eggs with fruit and then dinner is usually some kind of lean protein with lots of veggies!  I wanted to try something different when cooking all this protein.  This is where the foil packets come in.

To make a foil packet,  lay a large sheet of heavy-duty foil or a double layer of regular foil on a flat surface.  Put the ingredients in the center of the foil.  Bring the short ends of the foil together and fold twice to seal; fold in the sides to seal, leaving room for steam.  Place on Grill!

We have used the packets to cook 4 different times this week and we are so hooked!  We keep trying to find excuses to cook stuff in the packets on the grill.  We made the garlic shrimp twice last week.

Garlic Shrimp
Mix 1/2 stick softened butter, 1 cup chopped parsley, 2 chopped garlic cloves, and salt and pepper.  Toss with the juice of 1 lemon, 1 pound unpeeled large shrimp and a big pinch of red pepper flakes.  Divide between 2 foil packets.  Grill over high heat, 8 minutes.

Dijon Chicken Breasts  We LOVED this!  I can't think of any other recipe I've made that made the chicken as moist as this recipe.
Combine 3 tablespoons olive oil with 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard and 3 tablespoons white wine.  Stir in 1/2 tsp. each of onion powder, garlic powder, and poultry seasoning.  Toss 4 chicken breasts with this mixture and place in four separate foil packets.  Grill over medium-high heat, 12 minutes.

Sesame Fish
Combine 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp rice vinegar, 2 tbsp lite soy sauce, 1 tsp chopped garlic.  Place tilapia on foil and pour mixture over fish.  Sprinkle each fish with toasted sesame seeds.  Grill over high heat, 10 minutes.