Have Food, Will Travel
Posted by Danielle Bean in Food on Friday, June 26, 2009 10:00 AM
Whether you do it at the beach, at the park, at the zoo, or in your own backyard, summertime is a great time for eating outdoors.
I have such fond memories of the giant cooler my mom would fill with egg salad sandwiches and other treats (like Doritos!) for our family’s trips to the beach years ago.
Now that I’m a family picnic-packer myself, I am even more grateful to my mom because know the work that went into preparing that portable feast.
Since we are blessed to live so close to so many beautiful lakes here in New Hampshire, the kids and I do a lot of “eating at the lake” in the summertime. It simplifies meal preparation and saves me cleaning the kitchen.
Lucky for me, some of the simplest snacks I pack are also some of their favorites:
Hard Boiled Eggs are easy to prepare ahead of time, come in their own biodegradable “wrapper” and are a healthy source of protein. I pack a shaker of salt along with them.
Frozen Grapes are healthy, hydrating, and taste like candy. Not for babies, of course.
String Cheese is a portable source of calcium and protein that my kids never seem to tire of.
Fresh Peaches are a perfect beach snack. The dribbles are no problem, as I send my sticky kids for a swim after they enjoy the juicy stuff.
Pizza is surprisingly convenient on-the-go, especially if it’s leftovers and your kids don’t mind it cold. One recent evening, though, I baked two pizzas at home, covered them with foil and brought them along with us to the lake where I handed them out from the picnic table. We’ve also gotten take out pizza and brought it along with us before too. But that does cost more.
Muffins can be made to suit your family’s tastes (and your nutritional requirements). Baked in paper wrappers ahead of time, they always pack well and are popular with my lake crowd.
Animal Crackers pass as “dessert” at the lake. If I’m feeling really indulgent, I’ll spring for individual boxes with the circus animals on them. But it’s lots cheaper to buy a big box and pack them into “snack bags” yourself.
How about you? What are your favorite picnic foods?
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