Picnics Made Easy

A picnic meal doesn’t have to be a complicated event. Serving up cold food items makes the menu simpler to manage. There will be less things to carry and fewer cleanups afterwards. Sandwiches are a preferred picnic item. In the past a sandwich consisted of two pieces of bread and lunch meat. Sandwiches have been given an overhaul in recent years. To add spice to ordinary sandwiches, choose from different breads. Sandwiches can made from pitas, flatbreads, and tortilla wraps. Cut the bread the night before and store in an airtight container. Select meats from the deli counter at the grocery store. Fresh turkey breast, ham, chicken breast, and salamis are available. Store the sliced deli meats in the freezer. The morning of the picnic, take them out so they can slowly thaw and stay cold until they are ready to be consumed. You can run into trouble with condiments at a picnic, especially anything that is made from dairy products. Refrigerate mayonnaise based foods and sauces until ready to pack the cooler for the picnic. To eliminate having condiments bottles sitting out without refrigeration, use condiment packets like the ones available at fast food establishments. Salads of all types are great cold picnic options. Macaroni or potato salad is best when served cold. If your get together is large, investing in single serving plastic cups with lids will avoid bringing too much to the picnic. When mayonnaise based salads come to room temperature they begin to get soupy and could spoil. Rather than a fruit salad, bring along whole fruits. Fruit doesn’t have to be refrigerated. It can be cleaned off before you leave the house and kept from the light in a paper bag. Choose a variety: apples, peaches, oranges, plums, and etcetera. Fruit makes a nutritious dessert option than ice cream or candy. Plus it's naturally sweet. Individual bags of chips and other snacks keep everyone’s hands from dipping in the same bag, dirty and clean. It also eliminates opened bags of chips that need to be transported home. Picnickers get more variety this way without spending a fortune on snacks. It also allows everyone to choose the snacks or chips they like so everyone gets what they like most. Nuts are an easy snack for a picnic. They need no refrigeration and can be easily transported. For easy handling by others, separate nuts into individual snack bags. Any bags that are not used can be emptied back into the can to be eaten later. Cold food items equate to an easy and simple picnic menu. There is no need to use a barbecue. Packaging foods individual allows for less mess and easier serving.