A Mason Jar Picnic

Doesn't everything look better when it's put in a mason jar?  I have been reading about people making mason jar meals (which you can read about here and here) and I loved the idea.  I just knew salads and berries could be taken to a whole new level if they were put in mason jars. Last week I was taking Kate and her friend to Wasaga Beach for the day and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to have a mason jar picnic.

I bought two different sizes of mason jars and got some groceries to make the following: a salad; berries; blueberries with yogurt; guacamole with tortilla chips; banana chocolate chip muffins; juice; and water with ice.  

We loaded everything in the cooler and headed off to the beach. 

We set the table with pretty tablecloths and matching paper napkins.  I chose a red and yellow colour scheme as I thought it looked very summery - and I happened to have tablecloths in those colours that seemed a good size for a picnic table. Tablecloths are my favourite thing to thrift and both of these came from thrift stores a few years ago. 

We laid out our feast and dug in - well not before snapping a few photos.

I made bean salad to use in the mason jar salad meal.  It included the following:1 can wax beans, drained1 can green beans, drained1 can chick peas, drained1/2 vidalia onion, chopped1/3 cup canola oil1/2 cup vinegar1/4 cup sugar salt and pepper
The trick to mason jar salad meals is to put the dressing at the bottom of the jar and then add vegetables into the dressing that are firm and hardy and can benefit from marinating.  Then layer the more delicate vegetables - like lettuce and spinach - at the top so they are not in contact with the dressing and not getting squished by the heavier vegetables.  Shake the salad just before eating to mix the dressing with the rest of the salad.  The mason jar meals can last several days in the refrigerator and some people have been making a bunch of them to use for lunches all week long.
To make our mason jar salads I put some of the bean salad at the bottom of the jar along with two tablespoons of the oil/vinegar mix that the bean salad was marinating in.   Then I added the following (in order going up):1/4 cup chopped walnuts2 tablespoons sunflower seedschopped carrotssliced cucumberchopped red peppers
When I tried the salad at home I added a sliced egg on top, but I had run out of room in the jar on the day of the picnic so I just brought whole hard-boiled eggs along to eat with the salad.  

We also ate blueberries and yogurt for lunch.  Later in the afternoon we ate the berries, the muffins, and had the guacamole and tortilla chips.

We had juice and iced water to drink.  The ice also helped keep everything cool.

  

I had no idea that playing in the waves for several hours could be so exhausting.  There are no photos of the beach as it was very windy ... and wind is good for waves, but bad for cameras since there was sand in the air.  


The combination of a great picnic lunch and swimming in wild waves made it a perfect summer's day.

Have you ever made a mason jar meal?  Do tell.  I'm dying to try some other ones.

Linked to Summer Link Party at Ginger Snap Crafts,
Show and Share at Southern Lovely,
Inspiration Friday at At the Picket Fence,
Simply Creation's Home Party at Simple Home Life,
Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating,
Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming,
WOW us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style,
Fridays Unfolded at Stuff and Nonsense