Fourth of July-Beach Style

Posted on 22. Jun, 2009 by Mary Lutz in Archives

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beachfood Often we will spend the Fourth of July at the beach and it’s not always easy to come up with ideas for food to take to the beach. The food has to keep in hot weather, be easy to transport and be easy to prepare at the beach. In addition, it’s not always easy to make the Fourth of July stand out from any other day at the beach, so I here’s a few ideas that will help you make your Fourth of July sparkle.

Beachy food tips and ideas:

First of all, you want to make sure you have plenty of ice and a good cooler. You don’t want your food to spoil or your beverages to get warm. Yuk! The best way to pack a cooler is to put your beverages in first, then cover with ice.

Then put all of your food products in zippered baggies to keep them from getting wet and place them on top of the ice. If you have two coolers, use one for beverages only and the other for food. In the one for food, use freezer packs to keep the food cold or put all of the ice in freezer baggies. This will keep your food from getting soggy while keeping it cold.

Also, try to limit the number of times the cooler gets opened. Every time it gets opened, it lets the cold air out. And be extra careful if you are transporting meat or mayonnaise. Keep it as cold as possible at all times.

If you head to the beach early in the day and stay through dinner, try to use your meat for lunch. Say if you’re grilling burgers, do that for lunch, then make peanut butter sandwiches for dinner. It will ensure that your meat doesn’t spoil.

Here are some foods we’ve taken (successfully) to the beach and how we did it:

Grilled burgers:

I make the patties at home first then place a piece of wax paper between each and store in a zippered freezer baggie.
I tote the buns in a cloth grocery bag (LOVE those) along with other things like chips and other snacks.
I usually have a “beach” set of mayo, mustard and ketchup, so our home stuff doesn’t get ruined or sandy. I have a set of squeeze bottles for ease at the beach and to save on clean up.
I take veggies like lettuce leaves, sliced tomatoes, onion slices and pickles in a zippered baggies. You can do the same with sliced cheese, even though it’s pre-wrapped.

Steak (ribs or other such meat): We love to make steak on the grill and at the beach it can be tricky, especially to eat.

Pre-season each steak at home and store in a zippered baggie. You can even add your marinade to your steak while it’s in the baggie!
The key to successful steak eating at the beach is to use a plastic plate as opposed to a paper plate or a Styrofoam plate. Be sure to tote some steak knives too! We usually forget the steak knives, but eating with your hands is allowed at the beach!

Good veggies to serve with your beach steak are potato pockets. Here’s how you make them.

Potato Pockets

Chop peeled potatoes into bit size pieces and place on a rectangular piece of aluminum foil coated with olive oil. Add chopped onion and garlic powder and make a pocket with the foil, folding in the corners and sealing tightly. Place in a freezer baggie for toting in the cooler. About 15 minutes before grilling the steak, remove the pocket from the baggie and place on the grill. Turn occasionally for even cooking.

Healthy snacks: Instead of the usual potato chips try these yummy snack ideas.

• Slice some apples and sprinkle with lemon juice to keep them from turning brown.
• Cut up carrots or baby carrots, cucumber slices, broccoli, cauliflower and olives are easy to store in zippered baggies in the cooler.
• Cheese cubes
• Pickles, removed from the jar and put in a, you guessed it, zippered baggie.
• Ants on a Log, aka celery stalks with cream cheese and raisins. Pre-make at home, wrap each one in aluminum foil and tote in a ZB. Some folks prefer peanut butter rather than cream cheese, whatever works!
• Fruits like oranges, peaches and plums are perfect for the beach. You can eat them without worrying about dripping on your clothes or floor! And any peels or seeds can be tossed right on the beach! I would throw them out of the way, like in the grass though, so others don’t walk on them.
• Beef jerky is a great beach snack. Make up individual baggies for each person.
• Peanuts and other nuts are also healthy and good beach snacks that you can divide into individual baggies as well.

Tips for making your Fourth of July beach party really sparkle.

1. Use red, white and blue paper or plastic goods. You can probably get some with flags or other patriotic symbols at the dollar store or department store for fairly cheap.
2. Poke sparklers in your burgers or steak and light them when serving. Use caution especially around small children.
3. Play patriotic songs on your portable radio on the beach
4. Use flag style beach towels and beach chairs if you have them.

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