Oatcakes with everything! Summer lunching just got simple (and nutritious)

Lunching during the summer holidays is almost always an outdoor affair, imbuing what is ordinarily a fairly run-of-the-mill meal, with the precious alchemy of being outdoors!

For this reason, I've always found that there's a particular importance at this time of year in never leaving the house without the 'picnic stuff!' What this constitues has evolved over the years, and for the first time ever, sandwiches are currently off the menu. Partly, it's because the triangles-with-crusts-off have lost their shine, but also, because a window of developing taste-bud opportunity has allowed for a broader array of foods to be packed than the 'little kids' era made possible.

As part of this cooler-bag overhaul, oatcakes-with-everything are top of the menu! My children - aged 8 and 10 - particularly enjoy the 'construction' element of the oatcake lunch, taking care to mix, match and layer from the 'buffet' of hummus, cottage cheese, chopped tomatoes and mixed seeds, to name but a few.

The oatcakes of choice at Stockan's 'thin' bakes, which are made with fine milled wholegrain oats, making them perfectly crisp and light. High in fibre and with no added sugar, these oatcakes are the perfect accompaniment to cheese, chacuterie and even sweet toppings such as jam. There's also a 'thick' version, perfect for those who like to go heavy on the toppings, or use their oatcakes as a 'tortilla' for dipping (naming no names!)

In all, this 'oakcake era' of picnic'ing is proving to be a much easier (and tastier) way of coordinating the reality of being perpetually 'out and about'...with eating well, and on a budget. As many a parent will relate, between the excursion- and errand-juggling, there is a value and necessity in both these outcomes, affording Mums (and Dads) a precious freedom to have their summer-with-the-kids (oat)cake, and it eat it too!

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