I’m all about simple, inexpensive and low-stress family fun – the kind of thing you can pull together at the last second when you’ve got an hour to spare on a sunny afternoon. And one of my favorite ways to make a regular meal more fun – especially now that the weather is turning nice! – is planning an impromptu picnic.
You might remember that I have been working with Heinz Ketchup to create a series of videos highlighting fun ways to use their ultra-convenient Dip & Squeeze Ketchup that allows for both dipping and squeezing. You can buy them in a pack of 10 at the grocery store and they’re perfect for eating on-the-go.
Here’s one of my favorite videos that shows how I make homemade chicken nuggets with panko crumbs, perfect for a picnic at the park – or just in your backyard.
And now I’ve got some fun news: Heinz Ketchup is going to give one of my readers a fun picnic prize package which includes:
- Heinz Dip & Squeeze Ketchup
- Picnic basket
- Tablecloth
- Checkered napkins
- Citronella candles
Plus, I’ll randomly choose two additional winners, who will receive a supply of Heinz Dip & Squeeze Ketchup to try out at home. It might seem weird to get excited about ketchup packaging, but the first time I saw one of these convenient new packets, I yelled “This is SHEER GENIUS!” and my kids now beg to use the Dip & Squeeze Ketchup every time I make anything remotely dippable.
To enter, just leave a comment on this post with your favorite place to eat picnic meals with your family, or maybe your favorite food to pack.
For a second entry, share this contest on one of your social networks – Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc – and then come back and leave a second comment letting me know you did.
The contest will run through 10:00 AM EST, Friday, June 1, 2012. A winner will be chosen randomly using the plugin “As The Winner Is” by June 3, 2012.
Good luck and happy picnicking!
I love that picnic basket!!
Just tweeted the contest, too!!
i love the Heinz squeeze and dip and squealed with delight when I discovered them!
I grew up in Hawaii, so I tend to make musubi (rice balls) with just about anything. My kids love them with Spam! Incidentally, they are also great dipped in ketchup…
We love picnics near the lake where my husband works. The kids and I pack up and try to meet him every Friday when the weather is nice!
We like to picnic at a small park, the Narrows Botanical garden in Brooklyn., Its near the water, beautiful and you almost forget you are in the city. My son loves fruit so no picnic is complete without fresh fruit….
I am planning a picnic at a nearby park where they have a nice picnic area, a gazebo, and a playground for my little one to play. I discovered it a couple months ago when it was still too cold for a picnic. Now that nice weather has arrived, I can’t wait to go! We would love to have Heinz ketchup at our picnic–those little packets are awesome!
One of our favorite places to picnic is the zoo. We’re season members, so packing a picnic means we only pay a minimal amount for parking. It has animals, great playgrounds and lots of friendly/informative volunteers. In our picnic backpack is always fruit and meat sticks.
We love to bring a picnic to our zoo in the summer. They have an evening music in the zoo and on sunny, summer evenings it is wonderful with kids running around and music playing while you hear bears roar!
We love to picnic at the beach
Sometimes we pack a picnic lunch, head out for a bike ride with the kids (just 5, and almost 4), and then just find a random park or spot that looks lovely for a picnic
Looking forward to many picnics this summer!
Perfect timing–we’re planning to take picnic lunches to the beach tomorrow!
Oh, and tweeted!
I actually love to picnic in my own backyard. As soon as it starts to get warm my kids beg to eat lunch outside, which we do when ever possible. I find the easiest thing to do is to put together a big platter of cheese, lunch meat, fruit and crackers and then take that outside with a blanket and some drinks. Instant picnic!
Cantaloupe wrapped with prosciutto
My favorite place to have a picnic is definitely the beach! It can be tricky to keep the sand out of the sandwiches though….
My family loves to go to a Sharp Park, one of our township parks, to picnic with friends. Over the past decade, we’ve created some wonderful traditions built around celebrating throughout the summer with our good friends–who we consider part of our family. I make a yummy Walforf salad that always goes fast at every picnic.
Picnic food is usually sandwiches. I am all about easy to fix. I love that the package includes the citronella candles.
I can picnic anywhere. Even on an ordinary night I will lay a blanket in the living room and we will have a picnic…rain or shine!
We enjoy having picnics at the park, by far!
Love picnicing on our trips to the zoo. PB&J are probably my most often made picnic item.
We love to picnic during music in the park in our neighborhood.
I tweeted, @runjillybean
We don’t do too many picnics…but we do eat outside a lot at our picnic table. And last November, my baby, dog, and I had an impromptu picnic in the back yard on an unseasonably warm day.
I like to picnic at the zoo, we have a season pass so packing a picnic makes it a really cheep day! We also picnic in the back yard quite a bit in the summer.
I love watermelon at picnics!
Our favorite place to do picnics is definitely our local park. We usually do an impromptu trip so pbj’s are always great!
We love simple picnics at the park.
We like to take picnics to Lincoln park zoo on the north side of Chicago! Free admission every day!
We live literally 3 miles from Holland State Park (aka Ottawa Beach). Our favorite is to pack a lunch, grill out, take out, whatever along the channel. So fun and we feel like we get a little break from reality
I love to have picnics on the Riverfront or the State Parks in our town. We love all kinds of different foods for picnics! Cold sandwiches, chips and fruit or fried chicken, potatoes, cole slaw and dessert!
I also shared on my facebook page!
We love to picnic at the beach with friends and family!
We have already started traveling a lot this summer and the 5 hour road trip to my hometown gets to be exhausting and expensive. I always pack easy to eat items and make it a point to stop at a nice rest stop on the way. It gives us a chance to stretch our legs and helps our 3 year old run off some energy before getting back on the road.
We picnic in the backyard any night the weather is nice! If we are going out of the yard, I often do hot dogs in thermos with boiling water.
We like to picnic at the local playground. Or “Barney” park as my kiddos call it. I typically pack PBJs.
I love picnics at the beach! And I am in love with that picnic basket!
Totally shared on Facebook, even though it lessens my odds!
we like to picnic at my mom’s back yard thanks
http://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?src=bm&u=http%3A%2F%2Fthehappiestmom.com%2F2012%2F05%2Ffamily-picnics-the-easy-way-plus-giveaway%2F&t=Family+picnics+the+easy+way%2C+plus+GIVEAWAY&v=3
I like a “picnic” on our patio… fewer ants!
I meant to enter this- so glad I’m not late! I love packing a picnic for the beach. My favorite time to go is late afternoon, and sometimes I’ll pick up some chicken from the deli and pack crackers & cheese and fruit snacks and other treats to enjoy!
Steph
My favorite picnic food is fried chicken!
Digicats {at} Sbcglobal {dot} Net
I tweeted
https://twitter.com/MsCarolsueA/status/208306643082018818
Digicats {at} Sbcglobal {dot} Net
There is a local park near us with walking trails and a great playground. We love to pack a lunch and go there for the morning. My daughter is always exhausted and takes a great nap. Win, Win for all –
I tweeted https://twitter.com/SecretsofKristi/status/208385703233593347
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