Friday Night Picnic Date

Last Friday night, I decided to plan a little surprise date for my fiancé and I. He has been working so hard for the past few weeks, staying at work late and going in early. I wanted to do something special and nice for him that would be personal but also relaxing so we could enjoy a nice Friday night together. We only see each other during the weekends, so we try to make the most of that time. I was brainstorming ideas and finally decided that I would plan a nice picnic with all of our favorite foods. The weather has been beautiful lately, so a picnic worked out perfectly! I got to work on the menu earlier in the week and made sure I made a list of all the ingredients I needed. I also carved out Thursday night as my night to cook and bake so I would be well prepared before Friday! This was the menu that I planned out:

Appetizers:

Hummus

Milton's gluten free crackers

Dinner:

Mediterranean Meatballs from Picket Fence Paleo (http://picketfencepaleo.com/mediterranean-meatballs/)

Salads in Mason jars

Hawaiian bread rolls

Dessert:

Grapes

Carrot cake muffins (recipe coming soon!)

I wanted something yummy and light as an appetizer or something to snack on at the park during our picnic. We love hummus and I have recently been on a Milton's gluten free crackers kick, so I thought that would be perfect as a snack food. We also dipped the meatballs in the hummus, which...YUM!!!!!

I decided to make Mediterranean-style meatballs. I used the Picket Fence Paleo recipe, but omitted the olives and apricots. These meatballs turned out absolutely delicious! I highly recommend them. I also bought some Hawaiian bread rolls so my fiancé could make meatball sandwiches. He loves this bread, it is always so fluffy and yummy! So I thought I would treat him with that option. My mason jar salads also complimented the meatballs nicely! I used a red wine vinaigrette on the bottom, then loaded all the veggies in!

The carrot cake muffins were also baked on Thursday night. I had to try a few versions of various recipes before I came up with one that I was pleased with! I will be sharing this recipe soon! I packed a few muffins along with some green grapes...Vasken's favorite!

I had such a nice relaxing time together. Thank you to my friend Jessica for the cute strawberry blanket for our picnic!!!!

I'm so glad with how this evening turned out. The food was delicious and it was such a cute, fun, and relaxing way to start the weekend together! Take advantage of this beautiful summer weather, and plan a healthy and fun picnic for your loved ones as well!!! Have a great day everyone!