It was the last day of school today, ahhh summer… couple of months without running to make the school bus.  The past couple of weeks have included lots of picnics and parties to celebrate the year’s end.  We’ve also just enjoyed our favorite summer pastime- Sunday Concerts on the Green.  Packing a picnic or planning something to bring to a party can be tricky when trying to keep the food choices healthy, but it’s possible.  Whether they’ll actually eat the healthier choices when confronted with ice cream truck offerings and ring pops, is another story!

I made a few types of salads to bring to different events.  I got a nice surprise the other day with a box of 3 different Briannas salad dressings from the company sitting on my front porch.  Who doesn’t love free stuff?  They sent it to me because I had called them in order to respond to a reader’s question.   I’d never tried the 3 flavors they sent me, so that day used the Champagne Caper Vinaigrette on a mixed greens and Romaine salad with orange bell peppers, celery, cucumbers, mint and parsley.  The dressing was nice, a little sweet but complemented the choice of vegetables well.  The boys ate the salad without any complaints.

We used the Santa Fe dressing for a pasta salad we packed in a picnic dinner for our Concert on the Green. 

• Cook Farfalle pasta according to directions, then chill. 
• Blanch zucchini and summer squash whole in boiling water.  Shock with ice water and then sliced first in half lengthwise then in 1/4-1/2 inch pieces. 
• Red and yellow bell pepper sliced into thin strips (not too long).
• Chop scallion (green onion)
• Dress with Briannas Santa Fe Blend dressing and sea salt to taste
• Toss all together.  Also great with chicken added.

My eldest two liked it but youngest found it a bit spicy for his three year old palate.

I also made a fruit salad (no dressing on this).  Sliced bananas and squeezed lemon juice on them —they don’t turn brown and also gives them a nice tartness.  Sliced and hulled strawberries. Picked the grapes off the bunch but left them whole (I only use organic grapes because the sulfur dioxide they usually spray on grapes makes me weeze. All my berries are also organic if not local).  Tossed them all gently with the raspberries.  I don’t find it necessary to add sugar because I find the sweetness of the grapes and bananas goes nicely with the tartness of the berries.  My children usually devour fruit salad.  We had also packed a separate container of cut up watermelon chunks. 

And for non-salad items this week we roasted chicken drumsticks.  In a large bowl, coat the drumsticks with olive oil, salt, pepper and Penzy’s Mural of Flavor (mixture of garlic powder, thyme, oregano and basil would do).  Roast in oven for 45-65 minutes at 350F (you can start it at 425-450 for 10 minutes for crispier skin).  After 45 minutes check temperature with instant-read thermometer, should be 160 to remove from oven.  Will continue to cook while it rests.  You can make this to eat immediately, but is delicious cold too.  The kids love eating drumsticks because they’re allowed to pick them up and eat them without forks. 

We also brought along the bread almost every event we went to lately.  I’ve been experimenting with combinations of different flours and really like the 1 cup spelt, 1/8 cup ground flax seed and 1 7/8 cups all purpose (unbleached, unbromated) flour.  It only takes minutes to mix and just being around to bake it.  There’s just something about fresh baked bread that’s still warm.  My kids can hardly get enough of it. 

With all these great foods to choose from, kids are bound to eat well.  Of course an after dinner treat of an ice cream from the ice cream truck is bound to please.

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