The Budget Casa

Picnics are a fabulous way to dine al fresco for less. As days get warmer and longer, plan an early spring picnic out at your local park to enjoy and observe nature as it thaws and starts anew.

Have a nature scavenger hunt for kids and have them collect flowers, leaf buds, and spot robins. If your picnic is just adults, take a small hike on a local nature trail or pop open a bottle of chardonnay and toast the passing of winter (our favorite budget-friendly chardonnay is Double Dog Dare, you can find it for $6 or less). No matter what you do on your picnic, make sure you pack some fabulous food.

A picnic shouldn’t mean boring sandwiches or stress. Of course, you can’t go wrong with hotdogs and chips, but don’t get stuck in a picnic rut. Use picnics to try new foods, different salads and sandwiches. If you are picnicking with friends, instead of having everyone just pack their own food, divide up the duties. Have one friend bring the salads, one bring the drinks, one bring, sandwiches, and the other desserts. It’s a great way to ease stress and to taste other people’s picnic recipes.

Get out of your PB&J picnic rut and try some new delicious and easy picnic-friendly foods like cherry chicken lettuce wraps and s’more brownies.

One of our favorite picnic-friendly foods is Barefoot Contessa’s curried couscous, with our own little additions. Often we just mix in leftover vegetables (e.g. broccoli, cauliflower) or whatever is on hand that would taste good. And don’t fret about the curry, even curry haters love this salad.

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups of couscous
1 tablespoon of butter
¼ cup of plain yogurt
¼ cup of olive oil
1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon of curry powder
¼ of ground tumeric
1 ½ teaspoons of kosher salt
1 teaspoon of ground pepper
1 cup of leftover chicken chopped
½ cup of dried cherries (we love cherry-flavored cranberries, they are less expensive, chock full of healthy vitamins, and tasty)
¼ cup of chopped green onions
¼ cup of almonds
½ cup of shredded carrots

1. Mix 1 ½ cups of boiling water to 1 ½ cups of couscous. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes. For added flavor using chicken stock instead of water.
2. Mix in the tablespoon of butter and fluff with a fork.
3. Wisk together yogurt, olive oil, vinegar, curry, tumeric, salt and pepper.
4. Pour over curry and mix well.
5. Add the chicken, cherries, onions, almonds and carrots. Mix well and season to taste.
6. This salad tastes best served at room temperature, so you can pack it and eat it right away.


While food is the best part of a picnic, but don’t forget the picnic accessories. The right picnic basket can make your picnic planning so much easier. And ditch those boring paper plates for fun chic plates. But of course, paper is unnecessary waste, so try these stylish reusable melamine plate from Target. We also love these bamboo veneer utensils (pictured above); they are safe for use indoors or out and are biodegradable; $10 gets you a set of 8. Here are some of our favorite picnic finds for under $30.


Loft Party paper plates $6 for a set of 8 10.5" plates and $4 for a set of 20 matching napkins.


Target melamine plates, $29.99 for a 12-piece dinnerware set.


Of course, don't forget your reusable acrylic drinkware from West Elm, $12 for a set of 4 large tumblers.

For more fun picnic accessories, check out the Mighty Goods Perfect Picnic Guide.

What is your favorite picnic recipe or idea? Share it with us.