Tag: picnic

Roasted Potato Salad

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Roasted Potato Salad

Roasting the potatoes first adds a richness to this brightly-flavored potato salad.

Ingredients:

  • 24 ounces new potatoes
  • 4 tablespoons herb vinaigrette (such as Italian)
  • 1/2 cup diced red onion
  • 1/4 cup vegan Parmesan shreds
  1. Cut the potatoes into quarters, and toss with the vinaigrette. Arrange in a single layer on a baking dish.
  2. Place in a cool oven; turn on the heat to 450 degrees F and roast for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through.
  3. Transfer the potatoes to a bowl and add the onion and Parmesan.

Winter Picnic

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Winter Picnic (4)

We’re in the final stretch of winter, and if you’re equally sick of being indoors and dying to get your toddler outside, here’s the perfect idea: Don’t wait! Throw a winter indoor picnic instead.

While Veronika was napping, I set the whole stage including big blankets on the floor, soft balls to throw and play with, and a picnic basket full of little lunch items.

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When she woke up, she immediately needed to check everything out. The balls were a blast to play with, and soon she and big brother were happily devouring their meal.

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We invited a few “babies” along, and Veronika loved putting them in and out of the picnic basket!

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Older kids might have fun talking about favorite warm weather memories as they eat. My two were just thrilled with the change of location from the kitchen table! Did they eat as much as usual? No, but we sure had fun.

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Picnic Scene Craft Challenge

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Travis loves the open-ended craft challenge he finds in his Highlights magazine every month, having crafted robots and camping tents in the past, among others. Today, we wanted to make a picnic scene using nothing more than colored paper, cotton balls, and paint.

I loved the little method that Travis came up with. First he needed a paper base, and he chose green grass. We glued down a separate square of colored paper for the blanket.

Everything else in the little scene was made of cotton balls, which he dipped into paint and then glued on!

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It definitely was a five-year-old’s take on a challenge for kids as big as age 12, but I loved watching his process. There was green cotton ball grass:

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Orange cotton ball food:

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And pink cotton ball people! He then made some black cotton ball ants.

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He loved carefully pouring the paint onto each cotton ball before gluing them down, and enjoyed it so much that he wanted to make a second version. This time his pink person dined on yellow lemonade.

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Serve a Picnic Breakfast

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Oh the dilemmas of summer; you want your child to have plenty of sunshine and fresh air, but by late morning it’s already so oppressively hot that you retreat indoors.

Cue the picnic breakfast! Today we were outside before 7 a.m. (so early that big brother remarked he was a little chilly) to enjoy the fresh breeze, the sound of the birds, and… breakfast!

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Both kids thought this was just the best! Veronika didn’t actually eat much, but she loved sampling the puffs, teething bars, and banana slices on her plate.

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And then she loved tasting her plate!

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To add extra beauty to the moment, don’t forget to break out the bubbles.

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Then head back inside, throw the whole picnic blanket into the laundry machine for the easiest clean up ever, and rest easy that you’ve already gotten your quota of fresh air and vitamin D for the day.

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Picnic-Perfect Basket

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This fun basket is a great way to involve kids in the planning for a summer picnic. It’s perfect for holding utensils and napkins: a mini basket to put in the big basket!

To assemble, Travis helped cover an empty snack box with brown cardstock. We trimmed it to fit and glued on, then let dry.

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Meanwhile, I showed him how to weave a few additional strips of brown cardstock together.The weaving was a little beyond his ability but he helped use a glue stick at each intersection I showed him to complete the weave.

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Leave one strip extra long to be your handle and glue that down on the other side of the “picnic basket.” Meanwhile, glue an empty toilet paper tube into the box. Once dry, add plastic utensils!

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We colored in a watermelon slice on pink cardstock for a touch of whimsy. I colored in a green rind and Travis added black seeds with crayon. Glue to the side of the basket.

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Finally, we colored in a piece of white cardstock as the “blanket.” Travis’s choice of gray and black seemed a littler, er, dark, so I added a few pink stripes! To make it sturdy, glue this cardstock onto corrugated cardboard, and then glue the basket onto the “blanket.”

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For the final touch, we tucked in some paper napkins. This craft makes a great caddy for kids to use all summer long, easily able to reach utensils and napkins when the family dines al fresco. Or bring it along to the next true picnic! You could even tuck in salt and pepper or a few other light items.

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Homemade Rocket Pops and Picnic Celebration

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Travis and I originally intended to make these homemade rocket pops for the 4th of July, but we were short a couple of ingredients. But there’s no better time than a summer afternoon to declare a random family celebration. Prepare these fun popsicles, set up a picnic, and celebrate… whether it’s a true holiday, or just a hot afternoon! That’s precisely what we did today. Read on for the recipe… and a fantastic chance to win $1,000!

First up: Making the rocket pops:

In a blender, combine 1 cup strawberries, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1 tablespoon water; blend until smooth. Pour into the bottoms of popsicle molds or small paper cups. We tried it both ways since I had a hunch our molds would work better and our 9 oz cups seemed too large. Small (5 oz) dixie cups would have been ideal!

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Let the strawberry layer freeze for 30 minutes. Travis was quite intrigued about this layered method of preparation.

Meanwhile, make the blueberry layer; puree 1 cup blueberries, 1 tablespoon lime juice, and 1 tablespoon sugar. Set aside.

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Spoon 2 tablespoons vanilla non-dairy yogurt over each layer of strawberry mixture. Add 2 tablespoons blueberry mixture to the top of each pop. Insert the handles (or, if using cups, cover with foil and insert a popsicle stick). Return to the freezer for at least 6 hours.

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Now it was time for the picnic! We headed to a local national park, laid down a blanket and enjoyed our pops. Okay, so they got a bit melty on a 90 degree day, but that only added to the amusement.

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We decided ours were Bastille Day pops, since our picnic coincided with France’s day to celebrate red white and blue instead of America’s.

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Whatever the reason to celebrate, your child will love being involved in the picnic from start to finish, first by preparing a special recipe and then by helping to clean up at the end!

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I love projects like this that inspire kids to learn without even realizing it; they use their own creative process and enjoy tangible results. How does your child love learning while having fun? I’m so excited to announce the Limitless Learners Contest through Education.com, where your child can win $500 toward college, $1,000 for a school library, and a lifetime free membership to Education.com by explaining just that!

Children must be entering kindergarten through grade 5 and will think creatively about what education means to them. Using art or writing (depending on age), entrants describe a time they had so much fun they didn’t realize they were learning. A winner will be chosen from each grade level.

I hope my readers will tap into this amazing opportunity. Entries must be received by October 31, 2019. Further details are available at https://www.education.com/contests/

Rainy Day Art Picnic

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Rainy Picnic (7)Our thoughts have been with those in parts of the world and the country ravaged by hurricanes this month. We’re incredibly thankful that Tropical Storm Jose was only a mild disturbance in our neck of the woods, and highly cognizant of others who were far less fortunate…

The only real inconvenience from our rainy windy day was that we needed to find amusement indoors, and this beautiful “picnic” spread helped make a drizzly afternoon magical.

Rainy Picnic (1)While Travis was napping, I prepared the picnic – a blanket on our living room floor, along with art supplies and index cards on which to produce preschool-sized masterpieces.

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Don’t forget the picnic fare! We had chips, peanut butter crackers and olives. Little tea sandwiches would be adorable, too.

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When Travis woke up and saw the picnic, he ran right to it. Watercolors were a big hit.

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He told me this one was a painting of our cat, with a body, tail, and whiskers – definitely the closest I’ve seen him come to realism.

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Don’t forget to snack in between producing your works of art, of course.

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We left all our artwork to dry, after which we could stand back and enjoy our neat little art gallery. A vivid display on this gray day!

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