Picnic Time

With the sun out later and the weather more inviting, our family starts to take lots of meals outdoors. We grill and eat on the patio enjoying lots of variety there. But we also go to the pool, playground and outdoor concerts with packed meals. Our travelling picnics are rather redundant evenif they yummy and enjoyed in the beginning.

I need some ideas for picnics that are dairy-free, easily transported (ie not too too many components) and family friendly. I would love some that are more elegant although variety is more important than anything else right now.

What are your favorite picnic foods?

Shavout

Tomorrow is Shavout. There are several good descriptions of the holiday out there so I won't repeat all that here. It is a harvest holiday as well as commemorating the giving of the Ten Commandments and Torah at Mt. Sinai.

It is a mitzvah to hear the commandments read in Hebrew during Shavout. It is a tradition to eat sweet dairy foods during Shavout to remind us that Israel is a land flowing with milk and honey. The two are combined at our local Chabad with an ice cream party and special service for the children at Mincha tomorrow. Last year's was so fun we will be back this year.

We will welcome Shabbat in a special Shavout style manner with a dairy picnic dinner at shul and Shabbat under the starts

Chag Samech All

Baking Day

Today was baking day. So much baking all at one time is rough on the kitchen but it was fun. Froggy helped lots. We also baked ahead for a weekend trip. We will finish up the final touches tomorrow.

Today we made:

• Strawberry muffins
• Strawberry crisp
• Granola
• Challah dough - it will rise overnight in the fridge and get baked tomorrow.
• Chicken pot pies
• Chocolate covered macaroons

Tomorrow we will bake the challah and pack our pick dinner of Salmon burgers

Menu Planning Monday - Selecting Recipes

Last week Orgjunkie threw out a challenge. How do you choose your recipes? Here is my top 10 ways of choosing a recipe.

My Top 5 List for Selecting New Recipes

1. I start with the need I want to fill, vegetarian, leftover chicken, or breakfast.
   
2. I look for recipes with simple, uncomplicated instructions.
3. I look for recipes that use simple fresh ingredients as the focus. I don't like to use processed products.
   
4. I prefer recipes that are already non-dairy although I have become more efficient at modifying recipes to suit my family.
5. I pass on all pork recipes

As a bonus, I love it when a recipe comes to me from someone else that is recommending it. If a recipe meets my above criteria and is tried and true how can it possibly go wrong :)

The Menu

Monday - Baked Salmon, Peas, Rice - A real dinner after all the cold meals at the beach
Tuesday - Pasta with Homemade sauce and salad with greens from our garden
Wednesday - Picnic at the pool - Salmon burgers, carrot sticks, and fruit
Thursday - Frittata and Salad
Friday - Challah, Roast Chicken, Roasted Root Veggies, steamed boccoli,
Saturday - Dinner at Aunt Petal's

WFMW - Writing Prompts

I got an early Mother's Day present thanks to Chasing Cherrios. She shared a poem prompt that she did with her daughter. It was wonderful fun to do with Froggy. Her answers were confusing at times but always sweet.

Here is her poem. The bold is the prompt. The regular text is dictated by Froggy.

My Mom

I really love it when my mom makes me happy

My mom likes to wear clothing

My mom always tells me, “Weed in my gardens”

The best thing she does is love me!

It makes her happy when she hugs me

My mom loves to relax by putting kisses on my face when I get booboos

I like it when she makes me happy

The best thing she cooks is scambled eggs

When my mom shops she likes to buy mommy snack

My mom’s favorite household chore is cleaning and baffing

My mom’s favorite TV show is Mogly

If she could go on a trip, she would go up to Boston

I love my mom because she kisses me when I am hurt

This week's edition of Works For Me Wednesday is supposed to be a themed edition but I missed that until it was too late. Check out how everyone is being frugal over at We Are That Family.

Menu Planning Monday - Beach Prep

This is a short week as we prepare to go on vacation. We will be spending Mother's Day weekend at the beach. That is the best present I could get. Since we will be camping I need to plan and bring camp food as well. We eat out one meal a day when camping and try to keep the remaining meals real simple. We do have a camp stove but obviously can't do any baking.

Recipe Review

The chicken roll ups were a huge hit. They looked nice too. I will make them again for company. They are super easy.

1. Roll a chicken breast around some asparagus spears and secure with string
2. Brush with sauce*
   
3. Grill for ~15 minutes

The couscous not such a win. I liked it but I was alone in that. I don't know why no one else took to it.

The popcorn chicken was also a lose. Froggy who loves all chicken nuggets turned her nose up at "Mommy's nuggets" I am not sure if it was the seasoning in the breading or the fact that the breading did not adhere well. I will try another similar recipe to see.

The Home Menu

Sun -Pizza - Never got around to it last week
Mon - Chili - from the freezer
Tues - Brown Sugar Salmon, broccoli, rice
Wed - chicken nuggets, green beans, potatoes - the hope is that leftover nuggets will come on the trip as easy finger food.

The Beach Menu
Sandwiches - cold cuts, pb&J
Hard boiled eggs
baked oatmeal - cooked at home
Salmon patties - cooked at home
Salmon pasta salad
Spaghetti with meat sauce
melon
cookies
Lara Bars
Smores

Check out Orgjunkie to see how others are staving off disaster with menu planning