I just love summer and all of the activities we are able to do with family and friends. I especially love picnics.
There are several types of picnics you might want to plan with your outing and I would like to share some important considerations when you are thinking about what to pack.
Informal Picnics
I think of informal picnics as the ones that I have with friends out on a hike or in the back of the car alongside of the road while you are traveling long distances. Thinking about the activity you will have during the day will help you hone in on the specific items you will want to bring. If your hiking, you need to bring along more calories in proteins and good fats. If you are sitting in the car, you might want to focus more on vegetables and healthy carbohydrates. Keeping that in mind let’s look at some picnic baskets.
Hiking Basket – Okay, so you wouldn’t take a basket, but what would you put in your backpack?
Drink: Plenty of Clean, fresh water. You might even like to put a drop of lemon essential oil in your bottle or 2 drops in your camel back, for a refreshing taste. It’s very important to stay dehydrated.
Vegetables: Choose crunchy, highly nutritious veggies like; Carrot/Celery sticks, cucumber, Jicama, or bell pepper slices. You can have them alone or put several into a tortilla and make a roll-up like the Veggie Olive Wrap.
Carbohydrates: These are going to add quick energy. Fruit is a good choice here. On the trail, I choose Apples or Oranges. Both are filled with good energy boosting sugars. You can even bring along a bit of dark chocolate but be careful, it can get messy if it melts.
Proteins & Fats: These are important to include on a hiking picnic. They will make your boost of energy last the rest of the day. I choose nitrate free, dry salami or jerky, hard white cheeses, or for my vegan friends, humus to go with the vegetables above. You will also have some fats in the oil and vinegar dressing used in the Veggie Olive Wrap.
Roadside Basket – So you won’t be needing the calories you would have in a hiking basket, but you still have a nutrition requirement. IMPORTANT NOTE: When traveling long distances in a car, just like on a long airplane ride, it is important that you stop every couple of hours and have a short 20 minute walk-about before continuing on.
Drink: Plenty of Clean, fresh water. You might even like to put a drop of lemon essential oil in your bottles of water. Lemon essential oil provides a gentle detox for your body while you travel. It’s very important to stay dehydrated, so drink up.
Vegetables: I choose to pack a couple of Jar Salads when traveling long distances by car or RV. They are highly nutritious and keep really well in a cooler in the car. Include crunchy vegetables, beans, seeds (sunflower, pumpkin or cooked Quinoa) and plenty of fresh, hardy leafy greens like baby kale, augula, spinach, Swiss chard and some lettuces. Put the dressing (oil and vinegar base) on the bottom of a pint sized canning jar, then load in the crunchy foods and top with a good amount of greens. When you get to your picnic spot, just pull out one jar per person, shake and enjoy!
Carbohydrates: These are going to add quick energy. Fruit is the choice and there is a lot to choose from in the summer. I usually try to limit it to one piece of fruit (size of a closed fist) for each person. The only fruit I stay away from in this basket is banana as they tend to have more sugar and fats then you would need sitting in a car.
Proteins & Fats: You won’t need a lot of foods in this category but, when you travel there is a tendency to snack. So I usually bring along salted mixed nuts, kale chips or popcorn to munch on and squelch the need to snack.
Formal Picnics –
There are all kinds of possibilities when you are packing a picnic for a group at a specific location. You might have a BBQ available or not, you might be able to bring large coolers, chairs, small folding tables, and/or picnic blanket. Whatever the location looks like you will still want to think about your food in the categories listed for the other baskets above.
BBQ Picnic Basket - This basket can get rather large and you may even have others in attendance bring items to share. I still try to stay clear of empty carbohydrates like chips and crackers as well as too many sweets like cookies and other baked goods. If you want to include items like this, it is much healthier if you make them yourself at home. You will avoid the toxic overload of bad oils and ingredients found in processed foods.
Drink (Hydration): Plenty of good clean water is still important here but you may want to make a special drink to bring along in ½ gallon canning jars. These can be made ahead of time and include fresh fruit and fresh fruit juices. With plenty of ice available and multiple coolers, they make a refreshing addition to your picnic.
Vegetables: As mentioned above, any of those items can be put out on the table for snacking or having with your main meal. I like to through in a couple of jars of my favorite sauerkraut and homemade pickles when putting this basket together. You don’t have to worry about them sitting out on the table for long periods of time. You might also like to bring vegetables like, mushrooms, zucchini, or corn on the cob, that you can grill at the same time as the meat.
Carbohydrates: When considering foods in this category, I always like to include a flavorful potato salad, bean salad or hot baked beans (they can be warmed in a pot on the BBQ). Again, several items listed above in this article can be included here as well. Your desserts fall in this category and again, with all the fresh fruit of summer, you could include a fresh baked pie, cookies or bowl of fresh fruit.
Proteins & Fats: There is a wide variety of meats you can put on the “Barbie” for this category of foods. I like to choose simple meats that are easy to handle without needing everyone to have a sharp knife. So, sausages, chicken thighs or legs, hamburgers, and Tri Tip are my go-to meats.
Picnic Blanket Basket – This basket is designed for picnics without a BBQ but, are still held fairly close to the car so you can have more choices. Your choice of blanket really depends on where the picnic will be held, how big the group and what you have available. You might even like to bring a large beach towel to use as a “table” to set the food on and then eat on the picnic blanket.
Drink (Hydration): Plenty of good clean water is still important here but just like was mentioned above, you may want to make a special drink to bring along in a ½ gallon canning jar. These can be made ahead of time and include fresh fruit and fresh fruit juices. With plenty of ice available, they make a refreshing addition to your picnic.
Vegetables: As mentioned above, any of those items can be put out on the table for snacking or having with your main meal. Think of food items you can have available as snacks and to go along with the meal. You can certainly add a large variety of salads in this category. Keep the pasta salads to a minimum or perhaps not at all. Pasta is an empty carbohydrate, converted to sugar quickly and if not used with heavy activity will be stored as fat.
Carbohydrates: When considering foods in this category, I would refer to the list given for the Roadside Basket. It really depends on the activity level of this picnic outing. Desserts or sweets are in this category again and can include any of the items listed above. I try to limit the amount of empty carbohydrates like chips and such. Especially if you are planning to serve sandwiches.
Proteins & Fats: This category is wide open. You can choose wonderful vegetable filled sandwiches, meat sandwiches, or wraps of all kinds. If you are wanting to include sandwiches that include mayonnaise or cheeses, it will be important to store them in the cooler. You could also have a “build your own” sandwich bar. Set all the items out on the beach towel and let everyone make their own.
Hopefully, I have inspired you to try putting together one of the “picnic baskets” listed here. It is important to get outside and enjoy the clean air and time with friends and family. Be sure to check out the availability of your picnic spot as not all parks and recreation areas have opened. Wherever you travel, remember to take care of the environment and “Leave no Trace” when you have finished and head for home.
Kath -