Beki's list of lists

I may be a bit controversial but I used to find picnics quite rubbish generally for us. I find it quite hard to make them exciting and used to resort to taking veggie sticks and then buying stuff from a cafe etc. But since Coronavirus, it has meant that being outside was our best and safest form of entertainment and cafes were generally been closed or limited. I have had to up the picnic game.

1. Individual boxes – I love a sharing picnic, I love the romantic side of that where you have plates of food and you just dip over to get what you fancy and sit there for hours laughing and joking in the sun! Ha! I hope I am not in my own that this is far from the reality of a picnic in our house. For a proper family day out I tend to pack everyone individual lunches. The main reason is to make sure my daughter eats something! She was v good at sitting and joining in but not eating her lunch and we would have demolished her share!

2) Bento boxes – I absolutely hate mushed up food, in fact I am not a fan of ready made sandwiches. I prefer bread, butter and then add in some cheese or ham when I am about to eat. Bento boxes are perfect for my fussiness. I have yumboxes for the kids and the Sistema Bento box for us. I also find it a low waste, low plastic option for us!

3. Eat near the car- maybe it’s because we have bought a Camper we want to be near so we can make coffee and generally adore what has now become our 4th baby. But having the picnic near the car enables you some more freedom on the walk. We seem to have acquired alot more stuff again since number 3 and minimising how much food we are carrying has really helped.

4. Take the pressure off. My friend says they survive picnics on a cheese sandwich and an apple and it’s so true. The kids don’t tend to mind (usually there are ice-creams or cakes at some point in a day out as a treat!) And as long as it fills you up then it doesn’t need to be a banquet. The Bento boxes help us keep it lower carb, higher protein and veg but generally simple is best.

5. Make it the night before!! This may seem super obvious to naturally organised people but we have tried so many times to get out the door early and just having it all ready the night before certainly helps. Don’t get me wrong, we are still pretty rubbish at leaving the house (I think the neighbours watch us leave and come back and laugh at us!) But every little trick helps!

What’s your favourite picnic destination? What do you do to make picnics easier and family friendly? We found the weaning process and picnics v hard, any tips?