Make the most of gorgeous spring weather and treat yourself to a picnic! Whether it's an end of year celebratory picnic with your girlfriends, or a romantic time out with your man, we've come up with some delicious and simple dish ideas to help get you started...

Picnic lunches

Potato Salad
Chop up a few potatoes; pop them into a pot of water, cook and cool. Drizzle wholegrain honey mustard dressing over the potatoes and add raisins, chives and pumpkin seeds. Potatoes are a fantastic source of vitamin C, which helps you absorb iron. 

Brown Rice Salad
Cook up some brown rice, drain and let it cool. Add dried currants, mandarin segments, cashew nuts and pumpkin seeds and dress with olive oil.

Nuts and seeds are excellent sources of protein and brown rice is a low fat source of fibre, iron, calcium, B vitamins and protein. Fibre helps fill you up and keep your digestive system healthy. Iron is essential for a healthy immune system, calcium is needed for muscle function, B vitamins keep you energised and protein is required to help repair damaged cells and for making all sorts of hormones.

Sandwiches
Sandwiches make a cheap, high fibre healthy meal, depending on the ingredients of course! Make sandwiches with fancy whole grain bread and fill them up with lean meats, tuna, or salmon. Add chopped cherry tomatoes, lettuce, hummus, carrot, avocado, low fat cream cheese or cottage cheese for a tasty sandwich. Try peanut butter sandwich with grated carrot and raisins for an interesting vegetarian alternative.

Snacks
Rice Wafers with Hummus
Hummus and rice wafers are yummy but healthy and is reasonable inexpensive too. Hummus is full of protein, and is a source of iron and calcium. Try pumpkin and kumara hummus for something a little bit different. 

Grapes and Cheese
Choose a low fat cheese like Edam and cut into small cubes.

Cottage Cheese on Rice Crackers
These are tasty and are a good source of calcium and protein.

Dessert

Tropical Fruit Salad
Combine chopped up pineapple, guava, mango, rock melon and honeydew. Tropical salads are rich in taste, vitamin C and fibre. Add fruit to skewers or mix in a bowl.

Blueberry Muffins
Homemade blueberry muffins made with wholemeal flour and minimal sugar and saturated fat are best. Wholemeal blueberry muffins are great source of fibre, and vitamin C.

Strawberries
They are yummy and packed full of vitamin C and vitamin A, which helps you see. And guess what? Strawberries are almost in season, which means they will be cheap.

Yoghurt
Feeze a few pots of yoghurt and bring them along frozen to your picnic for a delicious cool dessert. Yoghurt is a good source of vitamin D and calcium, which are great for your bones.

Krystle Chester