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The Best Eats for Your Summer Picnic

Julia Canellis Student Contributor, University of Missouri
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Mizzou chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

The most relaxing summertime activity for anyone who loves the outdoors and food is having a picnic. You can go on a date with your friends at a park, field or the beach. No matter what location you choose, I have compiled a list of the foods you need to make your picnic meal complete. Choose a food to make or buy from each category and your picnic basket will keep you full during your trip into nature. 

Salads
  • Fruit salad: cut up any of your favorite fruit and gently mix it together (watermelon, green and red grapes, and strawberries is my favorite combination).
  • Pasta salad: this recipe makes a refreshing salad and only takes a few minutes.
  • Greek salad: cut up your lettuce of choice, a cucumber, an onion, a tomato and crumble feta cheese. Add any greek salad dressing and carefully combine.
Sandwiches
  • Caprese sandwich: this recipe makes a filling and refreshing sandwich that won’t be too heavy on your stomach.
  • PB&J: this is a classic, and it will take only a few minutes to make because all you need is bread, peanut butter and your favorite jelly.
  • Pickle sub: take your favorite sandwich and instead of bread, put the meat, vegetables and sauce in between a sliced pickle.
  • Grilled cheese: this is another classic. All you need it bread, butter and your favorite kind of cheese. Spice it up by adding deli meat or veggies.
Sides
  • Chips and salsa: grab your favorite kind or tortilla chips to dip in any salsa (Donkey Salsa is my favorite). 
  • Lays and french onion dip: this is my go-to for a picnic,.
  • Carrots and hummus: cut up a large carrot or get a bunch of baby carrots. This hummus recipe shows you how to make creamy hummus from scratch. 
Desserts
  • Popsicles: you can buy your favorite brand at the store or make your own using popsicle makers and leaving them in the freezer for a few hours or overnight.
  • Chocolate chip cookies: you can make these from scratch or buy them. As a bonus you can make ice cream sandwiches out of the cookies by adding your favorite ice cream in between two cookies.
  • S’mores bars: this recipe shows you an easy way to make this delicious treat.
My name is Julia Canellis. I am a journalism major at the University of Missouri with hopes of attending law school. I am from Chicago, Illinois and I love playing tennis and listening to podcasts in my free time.
Email: Juliacanellis10@gmail.com