Time for some family picnic fun!
This post is sponsored by Nuffnang and Yoplait.
Mention France to Dad 101 or I and one of the first things we both think of is great food…and wine! I spent a wonderful week exploring Paris with a friend in 2005 and Dad 101 backpacked through much of Europe, including France in his twenties. Our travel experiences were all of the budget variety and we both agree that you couldn’t find a quicker, cheaper meal that reminds us of France then a crusty baguette, a block of cheese and freshly sliced cold meat. So when set the Yoplait challenge to enjoy a French themed picnic as a family (after all, Yoplait is French for yoghurt!), my first thought was baguette and Dad 101 agreed.
Into our picnic basket went a long, crusty baguette and a selection of cold meats and salads, perfect for mixing and matching to make-your-own yummy sandwich. Next into the basket were some simple Ham and Cheese Mini Quiches made by Immy and Dad 101, and a divine, home baked Peach and Yoghurt Cake for dessert. A tub of yoghurt (Yoplait, of course!) for the small girl and drinks (though no wine for this pregnant mama) and we were ready to head off on our picnic.
Make-Your-Own Baguette Filling Suggestions
- Roast chicken and/or beef
- A selection of your favourite deli meats – sliced ham, mortadella, turkey, etc
- Sliced salami (or your favourite spicy sausage)
- Prawns – cooked and peeled
- Sliced tomato, cucumber, lettuce
- A selection of your favourite cheeses
- Olives
- Sliced gherkin
- Pickle or relish
- Sliced hard boiled egg
- Your favourite crusty bread
Dad 101 goes with swiss cheese, sliced, fresh tomato and a selection of cold meat.
Ham and Cheese Mini Quiche Recipe
You will need:
3 large eggs
4 tablespoons milk
2 sheets of puff pastry
1 cup of tasty cheese, grated
3-4 slices shaved leg ham, finely sliced
To make:
- Preheat oven to 200˚C. Thoroughly grease a 12 serve muffin tray.
- Using an egg ring or similar, cut circles from pastry and line each muffin hole with a pastry round.
- Divide cheese and ham evenly into each pastry round.
- With a fork, lightly beat together the eggs and milk, add seasoning as desired.
- Spoon egg mixture into each pastry round, filling almost to the top.
- Bake until quiches are golden and pastry puffed, approximately 15-20 minutes.
Peach and Yoghurt Cake Recipe
You will need:
1 ½ cups self raising flour
1 cup caster sugar
½ cup desiccated coconut
½ cup tinned peaches, cut into pieces
125gm butter, melted
2 eggs
1 cup yoghurt – we used Yoplait Mango
To make:
- Preheat oven to 180˚C. Grease and line a 20cm cake tin.
- Sift flour into a mixing bowl, add sugar and coconut.
- Stir in butter and eggs.
- Fold through yoghurt and peaches.
- Bake 45-50 minutes.
- Serve with thickened cream or combine 2 ½ cups icing sugar, 40gms softened butter and 2-3 tablespoons of boiling water to make a simple icing glaze.
Yoplait yoghurt has been reformulated, with a fresh, new taste it’s 98% fat free and includes no artificial colours or flavours, just real fruit. And if they are anything like mine, your children will probably prefer their yoghurt straight from the tub to a yoghurt cake any day!
Time for a paddle before we head home.
I have such fond childhood memories of going on picnics with my family. It really is something that the 101 family must plan to do more of, especially given that a picnic is so easy to put together and there are so many interesting outdoor places to explore with children. Thanks for the reminder Yoplait and Nuffnang!
When was the last time you enjoyed a family picnic? Where do you like to go? And what do you pack in your picnic basket?
Christie Burnett is a teacher, presenter, writer and the mother of two. She created Childhood 101 as a place for teachers and parents to access engaging, high quality learning ideas.
Looks like fun Christie. Love the recipes too! We do a picnic afternoon tea + play at a park each Thursday or Friday after school at our great local parks. I try to pack a platter of interesting foods and Miss H and I visit the local cupcake shop for mini cupcakes to take as well. Our mums group ‘Kids on the GO’ is also picnic style so we enjoy a play in different parks and picnic with our friends most weeks.
I love that your Mum’s Group meet picnic style, what a great idea. Would love to know more about how that came about 🙂
Our mums group (originally called Mums on the GO) was birthed out of a Mums and Bubs group happening at our church. The Mums and Bubs is a great group where we sat around chatting and eating homemade goodies while the lady who ran it cuddled our kids and even changed nappies for us. Unfortunately that fun had a time limit as our kidlets grew to be toddlers. They just wanted to eat the goodies too! So, we planned a new mums group called Mums on the GO and each week we meet at a different park (we’re spoilt for choice in Brissy), weather permitting. If it rains we meet at the church hall where there are stacks of great toys and resources.
It has turned out to be a great success. The kids love to play in the parks. Everyone brings along a rug to sit on and BYO morning tea and the mums can catch up while chasing the kids. We now call the group Kids on the GO so it’s more inclusive. Stay at home dads, carers and nanas come too! It’s a very simple formula that works so well.
Occasionally extra activities are thrown into the mix like ‘Messy Play Morning’, ‘Art in the Park’, ‘Teddy Bear’s Picnic’, ‘Water Play Day’ etc etc. It’s lots of fun. I no longer run it (with number 3 on the way) but we still attend it to catch up with our friends. It’s definitely a highlight of our week!
Hope everything is going well with you Christie. There’s lots of fun to be had with two kidlets!
WOW! This picnic makes my vegemite sandwiches and a flask of tea look a bit sad. You have definitely inspired me for future picnics. I love nothing more than having a hot cup of tea out of my vintage thermos (just like Grandma’s) out in the wilderness. Will try your Peach and Yoghurt Cake for the next one. 🙂