Eight tips to help you prep the perfect picnic this Father's Day

Planning and preparing a picnic can take the spontaneity and fun out of it, but with a little savvy shopping and creative thinking you can pull it off easily. Remember, most parks don’t allow fires or gas braais, so best be prepared and take ready-cooked items.

Here are eight suggestions to make packing the perfect picnic plain sailing.

Choose the main item/s first and build the meal around it — Ready cooked BBQ chicken; cooked or fried chicken portions, wings are a popular choice; salami sticks, meatballs, cold meats, cooked beef or plant-based burgers; cooked sausages, boerewors or viennas — plant-based or animal protein; a selection of cheeses or ready-made soup, stew, curry warmed and packed into a flask, pot with tight fitting lid or even in a Wonderbag.

Don't forget the greens — ready-made salads such as a mixed or Greek salad that comes conveniently packed in a container with a sachet of dressing; potato salad; coleslaw; beetroot in vinegar; bean salad; pasta salad; rice salad.

Fill the gaps with popular ready-made sides such as guacamole — cooked new potatoes with garlic butter; ready-made hummus, tzatziki, vegetable dips, vegetable crudite with a dip, olives, pickled onions, gherkins, chicken liver pate or snoek pate.

Breads — a great way to fill hungry tummies and think anything that doesn't need slicing, such as French loaves, focaccia, garlic bread, breadsticks, rolls, pita breads, flatbreads, and don't forget to pack a bread spread, butter or margarine.

Fruit — seasonal items and easy peelers such as naartjies, apples, bananas, a selection of berries, peeled pineapple or melon cut into wedges.

Treats — samosas, sliced biltong, droe wors, chips, nuts, pretzels, peanuts and raisins, savoury crackers, sweets.

Drinks — bottled water, flask of coffee/tea, fruit juices, fizzy cold drinks, sparkling wine or grape juice, red and chilled white wine with screw top lids, beers.

Celebrate — It’s Father’s Day, so put together dad’s faves such as easy-to-pick-up brownies, cupcakes, small cakes, pastries and biscuits.

Don’t forget the essentials and remember to pack as lightly as possible for a good picnic, such as paper plates, serviettes, cutlery, paper cups, chopping board, sharp knife, serving spoons, wet wipes, rubbish bags, salt and pepper, bottle opener, picnic blanket and fold-up chairs.