Recipes

May 23, 2014- Picnic Style

Summer Picnic foods

Summer is coming!!  Who doesn’t want to lay out in the sun at a local park or at the beach!  Lazy days where it’s too hot to cook dinner in the kitchen are perfect for planning a picnic or backyard bar-b-ques. Most of the recipes in this round-up can easily be made ahead of time so that on picnic day, all you have to do it pack up and go! Enjoy a beautiful day outside with your family and friends, or a romantic date for two. Read on for some fun picnic ideas that goes beyond the typical PB&J sammies!

Get ready for some delciousness!

strawberry lemonade

Stay highdrated with strawberry lemonade from utryit.com !  Refreshing and delicious? Yes, please!

Strawberry Meyer Lemonade Spritzer:
Makes 2 drinks

6 to 8 strawberries
1 Meyer Lemon, juiced
1/4 cup agave
2 cups of ice
3 cups of sparkling mineral water (or club soda)

In a shallow dish, crash the strawberries with a fork. Evenly divided the smashed strawberries into 2 tall glasses. Add half of the Meyer lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of agave into each glass, stir until mixed.

Place a cup of ice in each glass and fill up with club soda. Gently stir to mix the ingredients and enjoy.

salad in a jar

Salad in a jar is all the rage right now, especially this recipie from espacioculinario ! And seriously, the more reasons to use cute mason jars the better!

Whatcha’ Need:

Black beans (beans)

Tomatoes

Lettuce and or/spinach

Paprika

Carrots

Chia or Flax Seed
Dressing:
2 tbsp. olive oil.
2 tbsp. lemon juice.
1 Tbsp. vinegar.
Citrus zest or fennel.
1/2 tsp. mustard.
1/2 tsp. salt.
Pepper to taste
It is important to put the strongest ingredients in first, like beans. Add  dressing. Then place a layer of corn, diced seeded tomato, carrots, green leaves and your choice of chia or flax seeds.
The idea is that the dressing is kept in the bottom until serving time for green leaves to stay crisp. 
YUM!!

And if you are anything like me sometimes you get hanngrryy! snack attacks, make sure to take some of these delicious looking granola bars from yummymummykitchen!

Makes 10 bars
2 cups oats (be sure to get gluten free if desired)
1 cup brown rice crisp cereal
pinch of salt if using unsalted peanut butter
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1/2 cup peanut, almond, or seed butter
1/4 cup maple syrup, agave, or honey (I used sugar-free syrup made by Nature’s Hollow, which is sweetened with Xylitol)
1-2 tablespoons Chia or flax seeds (optional)
1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional, vegan or gf if desired)
Line an 8-inch square baking dish with foil or parchment paper and coat with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, stir together oats, cereal, salt, oil, peanut butter, syrup, and seeds with a rubber spatula. Mixture should hold together when pressed into a ball. If it is too dry, add a little more syrup until the mixture sticks together.
Press oat mixture into the prepared dish. Place into the refrigerator or freezer until hardened, about 10 minutes. If topping with chocolate, place chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Heat at 30 second intervals, stirring between, until melted. Drizzle over bars with by dipping a fork into the chocolate, or transferring the cooled chocolate to a bag with tip snipped off. Cut into bars. Store granola bars in the refrigerator, covered.

Have lots of fun in the sun folks’!

-K