Quick & Easy Memorial Day Recipes

Archie and I are head to toe in Old Navy. I’ve linked my favorite red, white and blue looks from Old Navy below :).

This Monday, May 31st is Memorial Day! Memorial Day informally marks my favorite time of the year. More time outside and more time getting together with the people I care about most. This weekend is typically a weekend filled with BBQs, pool parties and trips to the beach (or as we like to say in the tristate area trips “down the shore”).

Short on time and don’t want to show up to that BBQ empty handed? No worries, I’ve got you covered with this week’s blog post. I’ve rounded up several of my favorite food items to bring to your Memorial Day gathering. The thing about outside get togethers – people want a quick bite, something they can easily much on. None of these recipes took me longer than 15 minutes to make. No long hours in the kitchen and no long grocery lists. It’s a win win!

Strawberry, Banana, Blueberry Bites

You Need:

What to Do:

• stem and slice strawberries in halves
• slice banana
• if using toothpick, place blueberry, followed by 1 slice banana, and 1 half strawberry and place on plate
• making skewers? follow same directions as placing on toothpick in your own order
• cover with Saran Wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve

***we squished the blueberries so Archie would be able to eat these as well, but that step is not necessary!

Fruit Flag

You Need:

• 1 container of strawberries
• 1 container blueberries
• 1 bag white chocolate or yogurt pretzels
• 1 small bowl
• 1 serving dish

What to do:

• wash fruit
• place washed blueberries in bowl on top left of serving tray
• slice washed strawberries in halves
• Rotating the strawberries and yogurt pretzels, line forming the stripes of the American Flag on the tray.

Avocado Salsa

You Need:

• 1 bag frozen corn (thawed)
• 2 cans olives (drained)
• 1 red pepper (chopped)
• 1 red onion (chopped)
• 5 garlic cloves (minced)
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 3 TBSP apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp salt (we omit added salt in our recipes because of Archie!)
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 4 ripe Avocados (peeled)
• 1 bag tortilla chips

What to Do:

• In a LARGE bowl, combine corn, olives, red pepper and onion
• in another bowl mix: garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, oregano, salt and pepper
• combine both bowls of ingredients together and mix well
• Right before serving, mix chopped avocados into salsa
• serve with tortilla chips

***This makes a large bowl of salsa FYI

Taco Salad Flag

You Need:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup salsa
• 1 envelope taco seasoning
• 1 bag shredded lettuce
• 1/2 cup black sliced pitted olives
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes (sliced)
• 1 bag tortilla chips
• 13×9 dish

What to Do:

• cook ground beef in large skillet until meat is no longer pink. Drain ground beef after cooking.
• stir water, salsa and taco seasoning into ground beef.
• bring to simmer and cook uncovered for approx. 10 minutes or until liquid is absorbed
• place chips on bottom of 13×9 dish covering bottom
• layer beef evenly on top of chips
• cover beef with layer of shredded lettuce
• arrange olives in upper left hand corner forming the stars of the flag
• alternate sliced tomatoes and cheese to form stripes of flag
• add extra chips to sides of dish and serve

***if you’re not serving right away, skip bottom layer of chips

Fruit & Cool Whip Parfait

You Need:

• 1 bunch bananas (sliced)
• 1 container strawberries (sliced)
• 2 containers blueberries
• 1 container of cool whip
• glasses or plastic cups

What to do:

• cover bottom of cup with blueberries
• layer cool whip overtop blueberries
• place strawberries and bananas over cool whip
• add one more layer of cool whip (this is your top layer)
• garnish with mixture of blueberries, strawberries and banana

**If you’re traveling with parfait, place parfaits on tray, top parfait with toothpicks and cover with Saran Wrap.

Patriotic Ice Cream Sandwiches

You need:

• Individual ice cream sandwiches
• red sprinkles
• blue sprinkles
• sandwich bags

What to Do:

• Remove ice cream sandwiches from fridge
• over bowl (this may get messy), sprinkle sides of ice cream sandwich with sprinkles
• place sandwiches in individual sandwich bags and save in freezer until ready to serve!

Patriotic Pops

You Need:

• 1 cup vanilla yogurt
• 2 tbsp honey (we omitted honey for Archie!)
• 1 1/4 cup sliced strawberries
• 1 1/4 cup blueberries
• 12 freezer pop molds

What to Do:

• Place 2 tbsp yogurt, 1 tbsp honey and 1 cup of strawberries in blender and process till blended
• pour mixture into freezer pop mold
• overtop strawberry mixture, place one layer of vanilla yogurt in freezer pop mold
• blend 2 tbsp yogurt, honey and 1 cup blueberries
• pour blueberry mixture overtop yogurt layer in freezer pop mold
• top with holders
• freeze until ready to serve!

There you have it! Quick, easy and ready to serve. If you’re making one of these recipes this weekend, comment below or send me a picture. I’d love to see your creation <3.