Dinner to Go: Quesadillas

In the summer, its a little bit like Union Station in our house around dinner time.  Most evenings, someone is heading to practice or a game or a swim meet or music lessons or a friend's house or somewhere.  Many of our summer dinners are easy to take with us foods, or something that folks can eat whenever it is they are home without any special prep.

On swim meet nights, we need our dinner to fit both these criteria.  We are poolside for about 4 hours in the evening.  The swimmers are in and out of the pool for warm-ups and their events, and I'm trying to time when they eat based on their schedule.  The non-swimmers are lounging about, reading, listening to music, waiting for the 2 minute period that pops up every half hour or so when they have to pay attention to the swimming sibling.  And everybody's hungry.

I have a couple standards for swim nights; quesadillas is one of them.  They are probably the easiest and a great way to use up some leftovers when there's really not enough to make a meal.  Of course, I did not invent the quesadilla, but I'll share this easy method to get dinner in the picnic basket.

Quesadillas

Quesadillas served with fried plantains and sour cream. 

Basic Ingredients
Tortillas (I prefer flour, but you can use corn, too) - 2 per quesadilla
Cheese, grated - cheddar, mozzarella, Monterey Jack *you can make it easy and buy the pre-mixed, pre-seasoned packs in the grocery store cheese section

Fillings: this is the fun part - it can be whatever you want.  For meats, make sure they are cooked thoroughly as the few minutes of heating will not cook it properly.  These are just suggestions to get your thoughts going.

Meats
Chicken, chopped or cut into slender slices - perfect use for any leftover chicken
Ground beef - if you have tacos or make spaghetti sauce, cook a little extra and save
Ham - chopped or in thin slices
Steak - in thin slices
Fish - tilapia works well
Shrimp - tails, shells off

Veggies & Extras
Fresh spinach - raw works well; don't use frozen
Asparagus spears - cook first
Grilled corn
Tomato salsa
Guacamole
Black beans - cooked
Jalapeno slices

Easy to cook

Fill quesadillas with cheese and your favorite meats & veggies

• On a flat grill pan, heat tortillas.
• Sprinkle one tortilla with cheese.  Add any other fillings, generously spreading across tortilla.
• Top the cheese & fillings with the second tortilla.  Allow cheese to melt a little bit, then flip over.
• Let cheese melt and tortilla brown slightly.  Remove from pan.
• Slice into quarters.
• Wrap stack of quesadillas in foil.

Quesadilla pizza - cheese & pepperoni

Quesadilla with shrimp

If you like, you can also pack sour cream, guacamole, and salsa to serve on top of the quesadillas, too.

Enjoy!

Pack Your Bags: for a Picnic!

Summer, according to my own non-scientific, unofficial, research, is the most popular picnic season of the year.  Even in my own household, we’ll opt for the backyard rather than the dinner table on a pleasant evening.  And at the beach?  I don’t know that we’ve eaten a meal without a healthy portion of sand in it.  We pack lunch for the middle of the day, and then will pack up a hot meal to go back to the beach after the sun has started to go down a bit.  It's one of my favorite spots during the summer – toes in the sand, wine at hand, and dinner in the basket nearby.  And of course, we have our twice/week picnic – brunch and dinner poolside at my kids’ swim meets.

For our simple picnics, daytrips, and swim meet, I routinely pack some of these easy-to-prep and carry meals.  I’ve noticed that kids don’t actually eat as much as you would imagine when they are out having fun, so I keep the food simple and quick-to-eat.

• Wraps – a tortilla, filled with shredded veggies, lettuce, or spinach, a meat option (cold cuts, salmon, chopped chicken) and/or cheese, a dressing to keep it from being dry – wrap individually in foil, label if they are different fillings
• Seaweed wraps – also known as kimbap or sushi rolls – a sheet of dried seaweed, filled with rice, meat and veggies
• Quesadillas – 2 tortillas, pan grilled with mixture of meat and cheese in between
• Sandwiches – cut them differently (horizontal vs. vertical thru the middle) to indicate different fillings
• Boiled eggs
• Bagels
• Cut fruit, grapes, berries – cut the rind off of melons to reduce the weight and save space 

For some expert tips on packing a picnic basket, I asked Danielle Rozier, Owner/Chef of Savory Gourmet Catering, if we could take a peek into her picnic cooler.

To start, she fed me this bit of etymological trivia – “the word picnic is derived from the French word "pique nique" to describe an outdoor meal. The earliest versions of picnics come from the Middle Ages when members of the upper class would "dine out" during a hunt.”  Great for a round of Jeopardy or to impress your fellow picnickers.

• When packing for a picnic, make sure you keep non-perishable foods (trail mix, potato chips, etc.) separate from perishable items. This will save cooler space and ice for items that need to have it. Remember, the more you pack in the cooler, the less cold it will be. An ideal percentage is 50% food and 50% ice.
• Pack your cooler in reverse order. Put your dessert in first, the entree courses next, then, the starters last - you won't have to search everywhere in your cooler to find the food for the next course and will keep the cooler cold longer.  (I love this idea, why didn’t I ever think of this?)
• Freeze beverages (that are not in cans) the evening before - they can act as additional ice in your pack. If you're worried about condensation, wrap them in aluminum foil (which may preserve coldness longer) or put in ziploc bags. Even if you don't freeze them, make sure they're cold before packing.
• Use plasticware to pack food for individual servings to save time and reduce the need for serving utensils.
• Always create a picnic packing list, so you will never forget to bring the bottle opener or blanket again.

-       Blanket

-       Napkins

-       Plates

-       Silverware

-       Serving utensils

-       Cups and wine glasses

-       Corkscrew or bottle opener

-       A knife

-       Cutting board

-       Condiments

-       Salt & Pepper

-       Garbage bag

-       Sunscreen

-       Bug spray or citronella candles

-       Camera

-       Damp wipes or cloths for washing up

• But what are the chances the ground is wet? To ensure a good dry place, use a nylon/fleece blanket (perfect for outdoors) or consider taking along a tarp to go under your blanket as well.  (I found two new damp-proof picnic blankets this season – one at Target, one at $5Below.)
• When considering the perfect picnic place, find one that fits the weather conditions. If it's hot, look for a place in the shade, such as a sheltered picnic area at the park (hold the cooler there and your guests will thank you for that), if it's windy consider a place on the side of a hill (rather than the side with the wind!), and if it's cool find a place that is nice and bright (remember the sunscreen!).
• Picnic baskets are very stylish, but think of using a cooler as well since it will keep food cold and act as a table.
• If your food will be open, keep bugs away by keeping it protected when not in use. Consider napkins with weights (such as small rocks); put one on each corner.
• Always throw away any perishable food that has been left out for more than a few hours, even if it is tasty.

I am a list-maker, so I really like Danielle’s tip about making a checklist of your picnic supplies, but I would also add the obvious – the food!  When having a big dinner at home or packing for a cookout or picnic, I like to make a list of everything being served so I don’t forget a crucial part of the meal.  Can’t tell you how many times I’ve forgotten the salad, the cranberry sauce, or the dessert, when I’ve failed to check off my menu. 

And be sure to clean up after yourself when you are done.  Pick up your trash, put out your bbq coals, and leave the place as nice as when you arrived.

Enjoy your picnic!

Thanks to Danielle for her tips!  Through her catering company, she combines her passion for food & people. The combination of her southern background, natural instincts for food flavors and her Cajun cooking mastery has made Chef Danielle’s food sought after. You can say that her food is a combination of Savory (delicious flavor) and Gourmet (using the freshest and best quality ingredients). For more information, check her website www.savorygrmt.com and to keep up with entertaining tips and delicious recipes, “like” her on FaceBook.

Hold Everything - My First Giveaway Contest!

It's summer time and the livin' is easy.  Hopefully, you and and your family and friends are going out for fun activities, maybe a picnic, a day at the beach.  How're you going to get all your stuff there? How about in a durable, decorative bag from 31 Gifts?

This month, I am hosting my first give-away (don't you love winning fun stuff?)!  For your next day out in the sun, you can win a Picnic Thermal Tote from 31 Gifts.  It's an insulated tote that you can carry to the beach, to the park, vacation.  Or if you're schedule is like mine, load it up with snacks for a day of running around; it's so much easier and less expensive to have juice, water, and munchies on hand rather than having to stop when someone gets cranky.

This tote is a favorite of Adrienne Lyne, my 31 Gifts consultant.

I almost always have the Picnic Thermal Tote with me! Since it’s the weekend, and we will be spending some quality family-time together, I have packed a wonderful snack bag for our time together! (I am cheating…I have two Picnic Thermal Totes with me!) I start by filling a Ziploc bag with ice to keep it all cool. I add several juice boxes and water bottles, some cubed cheese, grapes, lunchmeat, and some salad fixin’s (for my carb-free husband). And my other Picnic Thermal Tote is Mommy’s Survival Kit – two bottles of wine!

How do you get a chance to win?  Two simple steps.

1 - Follow my blog by email or RSS feed (there's a button/email fill-in space over on the right of the page) or "like" my FaceBook page - Just Piddlin' with Frances.  (If you have already done this, you can go on to step 2.)

2 - On FaceBook, answer the poll question (posted June 15): Where is your favorite spot for a picnic?  If you aren't on FaceBook, you can post your answer in the comments on this page.

Easy, right?  Of course - I want to leave you time to get out and enjoy your summer day.

Prize winner will be selected randomly from FaceBook page fans and blog followers, combined, on June 30, 2012.  Winner must be a person, not a business entity or organization. We will attempt to contact winner by FaceBook or email for a mailing address to deliver prize.  If winner does not respond within 3 days or declines prize, another winner will be selected.  Winner will not be expected to pay any costs to this blog to enter the drawing or for the prize.  Winner will be announced when prize is accepted.