Any ideas for picnic food??

yorkshirepudding_4

hi guys, it's my daughter's 2nd birthday shortly and we are having a picnic, there will be 30-40 people there and we are doing ALL the food ourselves, (that's the royal we) I'm on a very tight budget so I need some ideas of cheap picnic foods that are a little different, I don't want to do sandwiches or anything else too samey. I need things that I can make a lot of in one go, and that won't take too long to make! Really want to impress everybody, we only get together once a year. Please help. Thanks in advance

Pink.

Hi Yorkshirepudding,

There are lots of ideas on these older threads that might help you:

What yummy foods do you include in your picnics?

Any ideas for picnic food

Beach picnic food ideas

O/S picnic foods

Pink

tiff

Fritatta cut into wedges
Rice salad
Pasta salad

Counting_Pennies_2

Pinwheel sandwiches always look nice.

montrose5

Try cous cous with peppers or chicken. Add what flavours you want and you can cater for veggies. It literally costs pennies to feed the hoards

Lillibet_2

We're having this at my son's 1st birthday picnic today (although weather dictates that it is an indoor picnic:sad:) It looks & sounds impressive because of the colour but in reality it has very little of the salmon in it & lots of cheap bulking-out ingredients & is perfect for a picnic You can up the amount of rice & reduce the other ingredients if you need to keep it really cheap or just up the rice & I would think you could then make 4 plaits out of 3 lots of filling (would need 4th puff pastry slab). It isn't as complicated as I've made it sound & can be made in advance & frozen :

Salmon Plait (to slice into 10)

x1 213g drained tin (tuna can size) RED salmon (don't use pink, you need the red colour)
Large handful cooked rice
3 hardboiled eggs, chopped
Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (dried doesn't work)
3 drops worcester sauce (optional)
2 very finely chopped spring onions (optional & I don't bother)
Good grind of blackpepper (no salt because the fish has enough)
1 slab ready made puff pastry
Beaten egg to glaze.

Grease baking sheet.

Roughly mix together the salmon, rice, eggs, parsley, pepper, onions & sauce if used.

Roll out puff pastry to approx. same size as size of baking sheet. Glaze this side with the beaten egg. Mentally divide the pasty into 3 long thirds. on the 2 outside thirds take a sharp knife & cut into 2cm wide downward pointing strips which are still attached to the middle section (are you getting this? Like cutting tassles but at a downward angle). Spoon mixture into middle section, leaving a gap top & bottom. Fold over "spare" middle bit of pastry at top & bottom to form ends & glaze. Fold over one top "tassle" from right side & glaze, then one from left & glaze. You should start to see a plait like pattern emerge (although it is not how you would plait hair obviously!). When all pastry is folded over glaze again going right down the sides.

Cook at 180 degrees until pastry is risen & crispy & looks done(about 25 mins?)

Can be served hot or cold. I like to serve cold on a platter with watercress (& black olives if I want to be really posh). I have also made it with tinned tuna & with steamed flaked haddock when I have had an abundance of these, it works fine but looks most impressive with the red salmon.

For that number of people I would also roast & slice 2 large turkeys. That would give you enough sliced cold meat & would be more economical than other meats, plus easier on the cooking front than lots of fiddly bits.

HTH & good luck & Hope you get better weather for your picnic then we have for ours;)

thriftlady_2

My laptoplunch boxes arrived today :j Really fast and friendly service. OH is trying out his tomorrow (hummus, pitta, cold sausage, carrot sticks, apple, weetabix cake and almonds ).I had to leave the water bottle out to get everything in as they are a bit on the small size for a grown man The kids are in love with them and can't wait till next Wednesday - nor can I

rchddap1

My partner and dad are off to silverstone on Sunday thanks to renault (aren't they nice). They are providing the tickets, car parking pass, breakfast and a little lunch (sandwich, drink & crisps). However, not knowing how big (or how nice) this lunch is I intend to send them off with a little picnic of sorts. If its not used at the circuit they can munch it whilst sitting in the queue to get home.

I'm out for most of the day Saturday and they're leaving at 'silly o'clock' Sunday morning. So ..... suggestions for a nice picnic that can easily be prepared Sat night (or before) please.

seraphina

Although I'm vegetarian, I usually pack pork pies and sausage rolls - they transport well and my DH loves them! You can DIY sausage rolls with some ready made puff pastry and sausages of your choice, cook them the day before and pack them up the night before.

I would also pack some rolls - if you cut them in half and remove some of the bread filling you can pack more sandwich filling into the bit where you took the bread out of. This way you get more filling and the sandwiches stay together better.

Cherry tomatoes are great picnic food as well - if you're making a box up you can squeeze them into the spaces between things to stop things moving.

Have fun!

dianadors

If you read the thread on the freebies site, it says that they give you a breakfast roll as well as your lunch - so I wouldnt take too much. Enjoy your day - I'm really envious!