Since this past weekend was Memorial Day, that means the summer barbeques and picnics have officially begun! Praise the Lord our 3 months of warm weather is FINALLY here!!
Summer is my favorite time of the year for many reasons, but one of the things I most look forward to is parties with friends at the beach. While this is super fun and an awesome time, it can be a little taxing on some of us with our health goals. Having pasta salad and hot dogs is great in May and then mid- July comes and you’ve already eaten 10 hot dogs over the recommended ‘1 hot dog a year’ limit, and it feels that if you just look at another pasta salad your shorts may bust open. Or at least this is how I feel…
To keep myself on track with my healthy lifestyle during the summer party sessions, I make sure I always come prepared. I come with healthy food options. I offer to bring foods and side dishes to share so that I know that I will always have healthy choices.
Making these dishes delicious is a must so that you don’t feel deprived and everyone loves it and wants you to bring your “dish” to every summer party. Win/win. 😉
I am going to share with you my Summer Picnic Essentials, four things that are perfect for picnics, dishes that everyone loves and will be begging you to bring again and again.
A Salad the people can’t refuse.
I really appreciate a good salad. Mostly because salads could really suck if you don’t put love and care into it. My best friend Rachel and My Auntie Carol make the BEST salads, and if they make it, everyone’s eating it, even the guys. They were my inspiration for this picnic essential because I have watched as people swarm around the salads that they bring to parties. These are always healthy and delicious leaving you completely satisfied.
This weekend, for example, My Aunt Carol made a salad that we were all raving about. It was a chopped salad with romaine lettuce, raw zucchini, blueberries, sliced radishes for a crunch, edamame and a poppyseed dressing… It was unbelievable. We ate it on Saturday and couldn’t stop talking about it until, well, today. I am still talking about it and decided to base a blog around it. It was that good. Never underestimate the power of a good salad.
Some killer Kabobs
I have always loved kabobs with chicken or shrimp. Partially because it’s a fun thing to say, the pronunciation of ka-BOBs automatically puts a smile on my face, but it’s also fun and easy to eat. When prepping for picnics I try to think about what would be the easiest dish to bring. A dish that’s either totally prepared or would be easy to cook once I get there with the least amount of prep and clean up needed. Kabobs are a great option. All you have to do is defrost the shrimp, and cut up the chicken. Throw it in a bag of olive oil and an Italian seasonings packet or a teriyaki sauce, and mix it all up so it’s entirely covered and coated in the sauce. Stick the shrimp or chicken on the skewer then pack it all up. Grill it once you get there. Easy peasy, and a great way to get the protein in.
Guac and Veggies
Guacamole and cut up veggies is the best appetizer to have at any party all year long, but especially during the summer. For starter’s, almost everyone I know loves guacamole. At any party, once the guacamole comes out people swarm around it, and you better run over too or it’ll be gone before you get there. It’s a serious concern at every party we have.
You can serve it with tortilla chips or veggies. Nothing really beats a tortilla with guac on it, but a cut up carrot or celery stick is still pretty freaking great and a healthier option. Even if you bring both cut up veggies and chips, just decide to eat mostly the veggies with a just couple of chips. #balance. It’s all about balance and making small healthier choices.
Cut up watermelon
Nothing screams summer more than biting into a juicy ripe watermelon and having the sweet red goodness streaming down the sides of your mouth. Having watermelon at a picnic is the ultimate summer essential. It’s the perfect dessert that leaves you hydrated, full and satisfied. I prefer to have watermelon up cut into chunks, but some prefer the quarter moon cuts. Whatever tickles your fancy, or is easier for you, people will love it either way. It’s the great healthy dessert option for you to have over the plethora of sugar-filled store-bought baked goods that everyone else will be bringing.
Coming off a four day weekend, with three beach days filled with friends and family, partying and picnicking, I would definitely say that these are the four summer picnic essentials that will help you to continue choosing healthy options and staying on track with your healthy lifestyle.
I hope you enjoy and this helps you make healthy choices all summer long, but more than that, I hope you enjoy every minute of this summer time season. It only comes once a year, so get outside, feel that glorious vitamin D seeping into your skin, play, laugh and let the good times roll.
Happy Summertime. =]
sad and my Italian grandma is probably rolling in her grave right now, but it’s true. I try to eat very little to no gluten products, and normal pasta and even wheat pasta just didn’t give me the return I wanted after eating it. Yes, I am thinking of the ROI I get from what I eat, I take my health very seriously. So when I found this pasta and saw that its only ingredients were red lentils and water, I had tears of joy in my eyes which was immediately followed by a happy dance in the middle of the aisle. Because….. PASTA!!!! I COULD EAT IT AGAIN and NOT feel guilty!!! Best.Find.Ever.
good one, so I just didn’t eat it. Or I should say I drastically cut down how often and how much I ate it. I can still remember the day I found their Cauliflower pizza crust. I read the ingredients and it wasn’t perfect but still pretty freaking good. Then, I looked around me to see who was looking, like a total sketchy criminal, and then I quickly put three crusts into my carriage and then abruptly walked away. I truly felt like I was stealing because I couldn’t believe that it existed and I couldn’t get my hands on enough of them. 
Two years ago I like suddenly realized I had as much acene as a high schooler and wanted to clear up my face for my wedding. My sister read an article about the correlation between dairy and breakouts, so I tried to cut it out to see if it would help and it did, drastically. Since then I really haven’t eaten much dairy, which is the most depressing thing ever, especially when making pizza. I have tried vegan cheeses and other weird stuff I have found and it tasted like garbage. Then, I found the almond cheese and felt like my prayers were answered! Now I must preface that’s still not normal cheese, it doesn’t get gooey and oily deliciousness but it does melt, taste goods and is perfect for pizza. 
found this one because I just didn’t understand how they could make gnocchi out of cauliflower, granted there is flour in this find, but I still couldn’t wrap my head around it so I totally thought it would taste terrible. I bought it regardless but held off trying it. When I finally did I was kicking myself for waiting so long. It tastes GREAT! You just need to make sure that you follow the instructions on how to cook the gnocchi because you saute it frozen which is much different than normal gnocchi. Besides that, it tastes amazing with sauteed onions and mushrooms. 
foods and drinking wine. It’s my most favorite memory growing up. Because of that tradition, anytime I see friends we ALWAYS do some kind of happy hour spread. Sometimes it’s a pathetic attempt, and other times we get fancy. Trader Joe’s Eggplant and Red Pepper Dip is perfect for both types of Happy Hour! To start it is FREAKING DELICIOUS and you can eat it with crackers and cheese or, cut up bell peppers or cucumbers to dip into it. One time I even put it on a sandwich as like a condiment spread, and my goodness that was 
am always on the lookout for fun foods at Traders and was near the hummus section hoping that I would find some kind of non-hummus hummus dip. I knew there were edamame dips and other bean dips in the world so I wanted to see if they had anything similar there. I didn’t find exactly what I was looking for but I was NOT disappointed. This dip is like the combination of hummus flavored jalapeno dip with the consistency of the alloete brand cheese. I can’t get enough of it right now. I haven’t played around with the different ways to eat it yet, but for now, I am FULLY satisfied just eating it on a cracker. I have done that every day since I have bought it. 
bars. They are individually wrapped in little small squares and are a perfect snack before a workout class or if you need a little something to hold you over until your next meal. I used to make these protein ball things that I would eat before a workout, but when I found these they were essentially the same thing and lasted longer and I’ve been completely addicted since! They come in three different flavors and I have tried and like them all. My favorite is the citrus flavored one. 
eating all of it. Growing up my mom would always buy my dad muffins from Stop n Shop as a Saturday morning treat. She would always buy bran muffins because that was his favorite and because they were always around we also ended up loving bran muffins. So one day when I was on my treasure hunt in Trader Joes I found these Vegan Blueberry Oat Bran Muffins. My first thought was, “no way these actually taste good, that would be too good to be true”. I bought them anyway because I had friends staying over that night and my GOODNESS they were amazing. These muffins are nice and dense and have the perfect berry ratio.
have been to Trader Joe’s you will know that they have an incredibly tempting sweet’s and treats section. I have also purchased a number of those “just to try” and then accidentally ate the whole thing in a weekend, so I try to steer clear. But when I do splurge, I get the Chocolate Coconut covered almonds. They taste like a mini Girl Scout Samoa Cookie, and they are completely addicting. 
taste better. I have friends that actually have this in their purse at all times, just in case there is an opportunity to use it, and I totally get it! It literally makes anything you eat taste like an Everything Bagel, and I don’t know anyone who DOESN’T love an everything bagel. Throw it on roasted veggies, chicken or steak, avocado toast, eggs, the options are endless. 
This is so important for many different reasons. For starters, being fully hydrated makes you more awake and alert than coffee actually does. 
easily lose track of how many calories you are actually consuming in a day and are likely eating things your body really doesn’t NEED. Even though we all know we don’t NEED M&M’s, if you are drinking enough water to stay hydrated and have your healthy snacks already packed you are less likely to go for that mid-afternoon treat.
I can’t stress the importance of moving more enough. Think about the daily pattern of a typical 9-5 job. You are sitting on the drive to work, siting once you get to work for 8 hours or so, sit on the drive home, sit for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and sit on the couch at night. Maybe you have an hour or 30 minutes of movement for some kind of exercise.
In order to start my mornings right and get in the proper mindset, I take advantage of my long drive to work and fill my mind with positivity. Most days I listen to some type of motivational or business-related podcast/audiobook, and then during the last 5 minutes I listen to a couple of upbeat songs that get me going for the day. I like to call them my “walk-out songs” 😉 