This chair is also perfect for outdoor concerts and movies and especially helpful on river trips where you are sitting upright in a boat all day. Wet wipes are always useful to have around.

These Surviveware wet wipes are nice and thick and large enough so you only need to use 1 or 2. Please remember to pack out all used wet wipes and dispose of them in a trash can, even if they say biodegradable.

Bring a small bottle of hand sanitizer with you to clean your hands before you eat your picnic. I like this travel-sized bottle of Dr. Nothing can ruin a nice picnic faster than a swarm of mosquitos or pesky gnats.

Be prepared to fend off insects with some good bug repellant. Natrapel is a plant-based, non-toxic bug repellant that works pretty well. However, if you know biting insects will be a problem, you might want to go with something that contains DEET. You can read more about the 7 Principles and find examples in our Leave No Trace blog post.

READ NEXT. We hope this post helps you plan a memorable picnic hike! What are your best picnic hike tips and essentials? Do you have a favorite hike or experience to share?

Let us know in the comments! With two decades of hiking and seven years of van life under her belt, Kristen has dedicated her life to helping people experience the positive effects of nature.

As a pioneer in the outdoor blogging space, she founded Bearfoot Theory in and has since authored more than blog posts about outdoor travel, hiking, camping, and van life. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Skip to content.

Download my FREE Outdoor Trip Planning Toolkit Enter your email to get access to printable PDF packing checklists, itineraries, and more. We suggest picking a shorter hike ideally miles roundtrip for your first hiking picnic.

Weather Conditions: Checking the weather forecast before you set out is crucial. Trail Difficulty: Understanding the difficulty level of the hiking trail will help you prepare better.

We suggest picking a trail with less than ft. But is it possible to prepare a picnic without too much effort? Can you have a nice picnic without a special basket, blanket, or utensils?

After all, some of my best memories from my own childhood are of picnics that took place on old bed sheets with simple sandwiches.

There are a few essentials that you will need for your picnic, no matter what foods you bring on your excursion. These include:. My family has a picnic blanket that we keep in the back of our car at all times.

Messes happen and hands get sticky no matter where we eat, so having napkins on hand will be helpful. While having special picnic cloth napkins can feel refined, paper napkins or even paper towels work well here, too. You can use classic plastic cups or you could get some reusable ones like these.

I like to bring some of our daily metal utensils with us less waste , but you can also bring disposable options. Once we went on a picnic with a bottle of wine but forgot the corkscrew whomp, whomp.

If you pack wine, make sure to bring a corkscrew. So instead of beauty, I like to go with practicality when thinking about what bag to pack our picnic in and I actually can go one of two ways, depending on the picnic fare. In an effort to be a good steward of our surroundings and the environment, I always try to make sure that we pack out whatever we packed in.

This means packing up all of our trash. Bonus tip : If you forget a bag, you can also use any containers you brought that are now empty to pack things back out as well. There is nothing sadder than arriving at your picnic destination only to discover that your food has leaked or been crushed.

So to help you avoid this painful moment, here are some tricks that I have developed over the years. Make sure to pack anything liquid in a leak-proof container. I like to think of packing my picnic basket like packing my groceries, heavy and sturdy things at the bottom, light and delicate at the top.

For berries, I like to wash them right before packing and then store them in a container with some paper towel to soak up any excess water and protect them from getting knocked around in the container.

Similarly, for stone fruit, I like to wrap each piece of fruit in a piece of paper towel in order to protect it from getting bruised or worse, and then these babies go right at the top of the packed bag. Here are some of our favorites:.

The combination of salty, sweet, creamy, and crunchy make these a to-die-for appetizer. Wraps make great picnic fare because they are so easy to eat.

Consider adding sliced beets, chickpeas or white beans, romaine lettuce or baby greens, sliced red onions, bell peppers, sprouts, or whatever strikes your fancy. Salads that just get better the longer they marinate are perfect for picnics.

This one also feels fancy enough for a special occasion while being simple enough for a quick last minute excursion, too! A fun spin on a picnic classic. Here are a few picnic food ideas for delicious, do-ahead appetizers and vegetable salads using seasonal summer produce and healthy grains and legumes.

These popular recipes are cheap and easy to make, transport and enjoy:. For dessert, bake something easy from scratch. Look for sturdy, packable picnic treats, like brownies, bars or loaves of sweet quick breads. Try these favorite picnic dessert ideas:. Summer fruit needs only a simple dressing of freshly grated zest and the juice squeezed from one fresh lemon.

For extra sweetness, toss the fruit with 6 to 8 ounces of strawberry or lemon yogurt. Tip: To prevent bananas from browning, carry the unpeeled fruit to the picnic and slice into the salad just before serving.

For beverages, skip the soft drinks and choose something appropriate for warm weather, such as iced tea or lemonade in a sealed water bottle or jug. Hint: Freeze some of the beverage in ice cube trays and use them to keep the beverage cold without diluting it.

In that case, look for beer in cans and boxed wine, many of which are cheaper than the bottled version anyway. Fill your own pitchers or reusable beverage dispenser for a cheaper and more Earth-friendly option. Keep our free printable summer picnic checklist handy so you are always prepared.

Carole Cancler is a Seattle, Washington native and granddaughter of immigrant farmers. Her career crisscrossed the food and technology industries, via degrees in Food Science and Computer Programming.

Carole transferred her corporate skills to entrepreneurial ventures as a food product manufacturer, website developer, and business development consultant.

Her first cookbook, The Home Preserving Bible is available on Amazon. Carole also writes food preservation articles for Mother Earth News. Outside of work, Carole volunteers on fundraising activities for service organizations and has tutored adorable elementary and middle school students.

Raised in the fifties and sixties by Midwestern parents, Carole was imbued with a strong work ethic and prudent values second hand clothes, home-cooked meals, and after school jobs. She transfers these pragmatic, though sentient, ideals to the pages of the website she owns and operates at Greater Seattle on the Cheap.

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Cut culinary costs with these cheap picnic recipes and spend your summer savings on outdoor activities! · 1. Must Have Classic Deviled Eggs · 2. Party Perfect Keep reading for our extensive picnic checklist, which includes some food suggestions, tableware essentials, and clean-up necessities. Food and Some of our favorite easy picnic sides are cold salads and pasta side dishes like cowboy salad and zesty Italian pasta salad. These dishes are

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Low-cost picnic must-haves - EASY PICNIC SIDES · Fresh Veggies and Dip – Grab your favorite veggies out of the fridge; they're going on a trip! · Chips – Has your family ever Cut culinary costs with these cheap picnic recipes and spend your summer savings on outdoor activities! · 1. Must Have Classic Deviled Eggs · 2. Party Perfect Keep reading for our extensive picnic checklist, which includes some food suggestions, tableware essentials, and clean-up necessities. Food and Some of our favorite easy picnic sides are cold salads and pasta side dishes like cowboy salad and zesty Italian pasta salad. These dishes are

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This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. It should be easy to eat and clean up. And the less utensils needed, the better. Wraps, roll-ups, stuffed pita pockets, and good, old-fashioned sandwiches are the go-to picnic foods since they're a snap to serve and eat. Avoid foods with mayonnaise.

But this delicious, no-mayo potato salad would work out fine. Pack everything in lightweight, resealable containers. Pretzels, homemade potato chips , fresh or dried fruit, nuts , and crackers are some of our favorite picnic snacks that are easy to pack and store.

Watermelon is the perfect picnic fruit since it provides the seeds for a seed-spitting contest. Cut it into strips and layer them in a plastic container with the rinds facing out, so each of your friends can grab their own slice.

Prevent food from spoiling by keeping everything cold with re-freezable ice packs. Or, fill a couple of resealable bags with ice cubes: They'll chill food as it's transported. Add ice cubes to drinks during the picnic. Empty out whatever remains before you go, for a lighter trip home.

Staying hydrated is one of the best ways to beat the heat on a scorching day. Bring an assortment of beverages, such as bottled water and juice. Some kinds of ketchup and mustard come in mini jars that are small enough to throw in your tote.

Keep the jars to refill at home for your next picnic. And don't forget the salt and pepper. Whether you choose eco-friendly paper, plastic, or bamboo, lightweight, stackable dishes make packing easy.

If you're serving salads, you may need tongs or serving spoons. Bringing wine or beer? Pack a corkscrew or bottle opener. It's always handy to have a cutting knife and a firm surface for slicing meat, cheese, and bread. Look for a knife with a cover for safe transport or wrap the blade in a kitchen towel.

You can also buy a ready-to-go picnic set that includes these items. My family loves a good picnic. In fact, we love them so much that we have been known not only to have them in our backyard, but even in our living room! Sitting on the ground or floor , passing different dishes back and forth, and fewer table manner expectations—it is the kind of relaxed meal that everyone can enjoy.

But is it possible to prepare a picnic without too much effort? Can you have a nice picnic without a special basket, blanket, or utensils? After all, some of my best memories from my own childhood are of picnics that took place on old bed sheets with simple sandwiches.

There are a few essentials that you will need for your picnic, no matter what foods you bring on your excursion. These include:. My family has a picnic blanket that we keep in the back of our car at all times.

Messes happen and hands get sticky no matter where we eat, so having napkins on hand will be helpful. While having special picnic cloth napkins can feel refined, paper napkins or even paper towels work well here, too.

You can use classic plastic cups or you could get some reusable ones like these. I like to bring some of our daily metal utensils with us less waste , but you can also bring disposable options. Once we went on a picnic with a bottle of wine but forgot the corkscrew whomp, whomp. If you pack wine, make sure to bring a corkscrew.

So instead of beauty, I like to go with practicality when thinking about what bag to pack our picnic in and I actually can go one of two ways, depending on the picnic fare. In an effort to be a good steward of our surroundings and the environment, I always try to make sure that we pack out whatever we packed in.

This means packing up all of our trash. Bonus tip : If you forget a bag, you can also use any containers you brought that are now empty to pack things back out as well. There is nothing sadder than arriving at your picnic destination only to discover that your food has leaked or been crushed.

So to help you avoid this painful moment, here are some tricks that I have developed over the years. Make sure to pack anything liquid in a leak-proof container.

I like to think of packing my picnic basket like packing my groceries, heavy and sturdy things at the bottom, light and delicate at the top. For berries, I like to wash them right before packing and then store them in a container with some paper towel to soak up any excess water and protect them from getting knocked around in the container.

Similarly, for stone fruit, I like to wrap each piece of fruit in a piece of paper towel in order to protect it from getting bruised or worse, and then these babies go right at the top of the packed bag.

Here are some of our favorites:. The combination of salty, sweet, creamy, and crunchy make these a to-die-for appetizer. Wraps make great picnic fare because they are so easy to eat. Consider adding sliced beets, chickpeas or white beans, romaine lettuce or baby greens, sliced red onions, bell peppers, sprouts, or whatever strikes your fancy.