A Picnic At The Beach with #Glad

My husband had a milestone birthday this year.  And I wanted to do it up right.  Lots of food, a ton of decorations, and about a gazillion friends from every stage of his life.  But he didn't want that.  He wanted a simple, quiet family dinner for his birthday.  And a titanium spork.

So I decided to give him what he wanted.  Both the quiet dinner and the spork.

The weather has been wonderful lately, and after our dreary winter, we had no excuse not to go outdoors and enjoy the sunshine and warm breeze.  Oh ... and it also meant disposable plates and no floor to sweep for me, so win/win!

He had mentioned something about wanting fried chicken.  Instead of picking up KFC, I found this great recipe for Better Than KFC Oven Fried Chicken.  It was SO good!  The recipe calls for soaking the chicken in milk for up to 3 hours before breading it.  I made sure to keep the chicken covered in the milk by using a smaller baking pan (about 9"x11") with Glad Cling Wrap on the top to keep it fresh and mess-free in the fridge.



And what picnic is complete without potato salad?  I made Jack's Potato Salad and wasn't disappointed!  This recipe is to die for!  I reduced the recipe to 1/5th, and didn't put the eggs in.  The recipe asks you to spread the combined ingredients on a tray in a single layer to cool it before serving.  I wrapped my tray with Glad Cling Wrap, spread the salad over it, and then covered it with another layer of Cling Wrap.  When I transferred the salad to my Lunch To Go container, there was zero mess to clean up ;-).



We also had carrots and sugar snap peas in a Glad Lunch To Go container.  These containers have nifty little cups that snap into the lid for dressing - perfect for picnics!  When I opened the container up, I took the dressing cup out and nestled it into the carrots and peas for a super easy veggie dip.

I added some grapes to the picnic basket and then packed up some cheese cubes and boiled eggs in separate Glad Snack and Sandwich bags.

Here's the great thing: because I was packing everything in Glad, I knew I didn't have to worry about freshness being an issue.  In fact, I packed everything the previous day, except for the chicken!  It was so easy to just grab everything and go.  And the grapes, cheese, veggies, potato salad ... it was all just as fresh as if I had just packed it.

Now, you know how I feel about doing the dishes.  Okay, I like the feeling of accomplishment when I'm done, but I really do not like the stacks of dirty dishes on my counter each night, especially after we've been out enjoying a family activity.

So, whenever we go out on a picnic, I pack disposable dishes, cutlery, cups and napkins in a large Glad Freezer Zipper bag.  If you only pack enough dishes and so on for that meal (for us, it was 6 of everything), it all fits perfectly in the freezer bag.  Zip it up and it's all in one place, super easy!

We did bring some silverware forks for the Mason Jar Brownies we had instead of birthday cake.  I packed the silverware in a Glad Sandwich Zipper bag, and then used it to transport them back home when we were done -- the messy forks were contained and easy to dump into the sink when we got home.



Of course, we made sure to sing Happy Birthday and have Daddy blow out his candle, but after our brownies and presents, we played along the shore while the sun went down.  It was a gorgeous evening for it, and the kids managed to stay out of the still frigid water ... for the most part.

Does your family go on picnics?  How do you pack your picnic food and keep it fresh on the way?

*I received Glad products and compensation in exchange for this post, but all of my opinions and experiences are my own!*