Traditional Picnic Fare (Made Healthier)

May 13, 2015 By Rachel Leave a Comment

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Summertime is perfect for picnics. Enjoy the sunshine with these healthier versions of traditional favorites.

“Fried” Chicken

Oven-Baked Chicken from Divine Health from the Inside Out — Oven-Baked Drumsticks — used with permission from Lydia at Divine Health from the Inside Out

Personally, I’ve always taken sandwiches on a picnic, but fried chicken is another traditional favorite. This oven-baked version from Lydia at Divine Health from the Inside Out is also conveniently gluten-free.

(If you need an AutoImmune Paleo-friendly option, keep reading below the rest of the menu and I’ll give you an alternative.)

Cole Slaw

You’ll need a side dish to go with that chicken. This cole slaw is easy to make and will help you get the veggies you need. (Not AIP. Sorry.)

Cole Slaw

Rachel Ramey

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Course Side Dish

Ingredients

about 1 head of shredded cabbage*
about 2 large shredded carrots
1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/2 tsp. yellow mustard
1 tsp. seasoned salt I prefer RealSalt's because there's no added junk.
1 Tbsp. vinegar

Instructions

Shred cabbage and (scrubbed, peeled) carrots and place in a bowl.
Mix sour cream, mayonnaise, mustard, seasoned salt, and vinegar well to form the dressing.
Add as much of the dressing to the cabbage-and-carrot mixture as needed to make it a little wetter than your desired end result and mix well.
Chill for at least an hour to allow flavors to meld.

Notes

*You can use shredded broccoli in place of the cauliflower for broccoli slaw. However, it doesn't shred well on a box grater, so that's an option best avoided unless you have a food processor you can run the broccoli through.
Also, if you're using the cabbage, you can use part green cabbage and part red cabbage for a more colorful slaw.

Lemonade

From our archives. Sweetened with natural fruit juice, this healthy lemonade has no added sugar.

Cookies

And for dessert, carry along some cookies. There are several different varieties here at Titus 2 Homemaker, including whole-grain chocolate chip cookies, their gluten-free variation, or these gluten-free chocolate crinkle cookies.

(If you’re AIP, you can try these lemon cookies from Empowered Sustenance. I tried them last week and they’re decent. In my opinion, the honey overpowers the lemon flavor, and I’d like to play around with tweaking them, but they’re not bad.)

If you need an AIP-friendly chicken, try these drumsticks in the crockpot:

Favorite Drumsticks

Rachel Ramey

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Ingredients

about 2 lbs. chicken drumsticks
3 tsp. salt
1-1/2 tsp. onion powder
1-1/2 tsp. thyme
3/4 tsp. garlic powder
Combine seasoning ingredients. Place with chicken in a 1-gallon freezer bag. Seal well and shake to distribute seasonings. Freeze.
On cooking day thaw. Place seasoned chicken on a rack (or a few balls of aluminum foil) in the crockpot and cook on low for 4-6 hours.
Of course if you're preparing this the day you plan to cook it, there's no need to freeze and thaw!