Renal Diet HQ Podcast 046 – What To Avoid On A Picnic With CKD

Renal Diet Headquarters Podcast 046 – What To Avoid Taking With You On A Picnic With Kidney Disease — Summer picnic with a basket of food in the park.

Podcast #46 Released on July 15, 2015

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What to Avoid Taking with You on a Picnic

Eggs

Egg salad is certainly delicious, and there are very few people on Earth that can turn down a deviled egg, but eggs are generally terrible picnic food. They can spoil very easily, need to be kept cold, and smell terrible when left out for even a short time. Save your favorite egg recipes for your next indoor potluck.

Soggy Sandwiches

Sandwiches are a really easy and delicious option for picnics, especially when there are kids involved. The problem is that many sandwiches are going to end up being too much trouble, or might end up being inedible by the time you arrive at your picnic.

There are some things you can do to combat this issue:

The first is to just do not bring sandwiches that are going to end up soggy, which unfortunately means no PB&J for the kids. Instead, stick to sandwiches that do not rely on mushy ingredients and go with simple meat, cheese, and lettuce options.

The second, and perhaps more desirable, option is to choose sandwich options that are easily assembled on site. Chicken salad sandwiches are a great example, as you can bring bread and a container of your delicious salad and simply scoop it onto the bread without many other needed condiments, etc.

Ice Cream

Ice cream is just too much trouble when it comes to picnics. Ice cream requires too much maintenance to keep it cold enough, and then you still have a melty, drippy, sticky mess to deal with while eating.

Fried Chicken

There are some reasons why this delicious picnic staple can be a bad idea. The first is because it has the potential to go bad and make you sick, especially after it has been cooled and then reheated by sitting out in the sun.

The second is because it is so messy, with all of the grease and bones and napkins needed. The third is because it can be so unhealthy in the first place; anything deep fried should certainly be avoided, especially for kidney disease patients.

Foods That Require Too Many Utensils

As a general rule, picnic food should be portable and hand-held. Anything that you have to cut with a knife is going to be difficult to do, especially if you are sitting on the ground somewhere such as a beach or park.

Either choose only hand-held foods and foods that are simple to scoop up with one utensil like a fork or spoon, or hold your picnic somewhere will you will have access to tables. In this case, make sure you are using quality utensils, as many cheap plastic forks and knives are easily breakable.

Transcript RDHQ 46