5 Quick ideas For Summer Picnics With Kids

One of the best parts of summer is eating outside. We'll do picnics at home and traded park picnics for the beach now that it’s finally warm enough. I’ll pack up a few toys and we’ll just snack and play for hours. I've been getting bored with the same sandwiches and snacks I've been packing in the cooler months, so I've switched it up for summer.

As a quick hot day hack, once your food is all packed up, my kids will usually drink more water if it's cold so I bring their thermos with water and ice so it stays cool. If you don't have one, you can also bring partially frozen water bottles since they will melt a little in the heat. I'll also toss the sunscreen next to the cold bottles so it's cool and refreshing when we are reapplying it if we are hanging out for a while.

Enjoy! Tag me @jasminepennamma on Instagram if you end up trying any of these on your next beach trip. 

1. Strawberry Mango Salsa I haven’t been to Underwood Farms yet this season to pick strawberries because they were ripe late with the cool spring, but I’m already feeling the strawberry overload in my family. After a trip to Underwood, the farmers market, or Cosco, we always come back with way too many strawberries. Just add chips! I’ll also play around with adding a spoonful of honey some days because this salsa is mainly for the kids!

Strawberry Mango Salsa:
2 cups of chopped strawberries
1 cup of chopped mango
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
3 tablespoons red onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 lime, juiced 

2. Salmon Tacos Never thought of bringing fish to a picnic? Great, me either. Fish tacos were the weirdest thing I ever heard of once I moved to Los Angeles, but I changed my mind after a friend introduced me to Malibu Seafood. It's hit or miss if the kids will eat salmon, but this is an easy meal for me to do if I'm in the middle of Keto and trying to cut down on carbs because I can sub the taco shell for a Jicama wrap or lettuce wrap. I cook my salmon in the oven and then cut into pieces to take with me. I keep the dressing simple with a little bit of avo and lime juice right before I eat it. 

Salmon:
1 1/2 lbs boneless salmon 
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tsp ancho chili powder
3/4 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

3. Ginger Chicken Salad Bowl I'm semi-keto again this summer so I've been trying to mix up my meals so I'm not as bored as I was eating chicken and leaves all last summer. I still usually don't meal prep as I should so this recipe is totally easy for when I know I don't want to snack on all of my kid's chips or crackers while at the park or beach. It doesn't take me too long to cook up the chicken and red onions, and then everything else is tossed together with the baby kale as a dressing.  I'll put the hot chicken in a separate container and add on top of the bowl of salad once I'm ready to dig in.

Ginger Chicken Salad Bowl
2 ish cups of baby kale
1/4 cup red onion
2 chicken breast cutlets
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
1 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon sesame oil
¼ cup olive oil

4. Fruity Lemonade Everything is better in a mason jar including lemonade for the kids. I'll buy lemonade and toss in a few slices of lemon and strawberries or watermelon because the kids get a kick out of it even though it's so simple. 

5. Fruit Salad Cones If my kids eat nothing else, they will always eat a ton of fruit on a warm day so a fruit salad with whatever fruit I have at the time like grapes, blueberries, and raspberries are easy. I'll pack a waffle cone or bowl to serve it in and they are good to go. 

If you have a few kids hanging out, my daughter taught me this trick from a cooking class she took at camp. For fresh whipped cream to add to the top of your fruit salad cones, bring a mason jar filled halfway with whipping cream, a dash of vanilla, and sugar to taste. While you are scooping out the fruit salad, have the kids shake up the mason jar with the lid on. In 2 minutes of shaking, you'll have fluffy whipped cream!

Tag me in your IG Story so I can see if you have the kids make this one! It makes the Cutest video!