Summer Picnic Essentials

Gar and I (plus the pups) have been trying out best to enjoy as much sunshine as possible now that summer is here. In Florida, I took the sun and warmth for granted but after long winters here, it makes summer that much more special!!! Sometimes we can’t dedicate an entire day to spend outside, but we can eat a meal outdoors and kill two birds with one stone. I typically opt for the easy way out, picking up sandwiches, packaged treats, and pre-cut fruit from the market. Louisa has great options that would make for perfect picnics! I’m inspired to step up my own game.

Guest post by Louisa from Living Lou

Picnics are easily one of the best things about the summer. Whether it’s a picnic in a beautiful park or along the beach as the sunsets, picnics are definitely magical. When I was travelling through Europe with my sister a couple of years ago, we had so many picnics in parks or along river banks in whichever city we happened to be in at the time.

These picnics weren’t fancy, but they always included some form of cheese and bread or crackers, usually grapes or another fruit and maybe some type of charcuterie. Just simple, and cheap ingredients we’d find at the grocery store and piece together for some kind of meal. That sort of picnic is perfect when you’re travelling and don’t have access to a kitchen, and they also work well for a spur of the moment picnic, but if you have a little more time to plan and a kitchen, you can make something a little bit fancier.

Here are my go-to eats for a picnic:

I love this sandwich because you can make it ahead of time the night or day before and it holds up really well for travelling. It’s also vegetarian and is made with cream cheese, pesto, sundried tomatoes and artichoke hearts and is so yummy.

These are like pizza but better. I know, how is that even possible? The twists are perfect because you don’t need any cutlery and can dip them in extra pizza sauce and you’re basically eating a delicious pizza, but they are so much easier to pack and carry around.

Basically, anything on a skewer is a great idea for a picnic. I love making these shrimp lollipops because not only are they adorable, but they are really easy and can be prepped the night before. These shrimp skewers are packed with flavour and are an Indian speciality made with cilantro and mint.

These mini frittatas are another great no-cutlery choice. I love to make these on the weekend and bring them to work for lunch, but they are also really portable and are the perfect picnic treat. I love this recipe because it has potatoes, spinach, cheese and pesto.