The Conversation
Planning a camping trip? If you’re new to the game, remember that fireside nosh goes WAY beyond s’mores and hot dogs. You need substantial food that’s going to fuel you, and that can take some planning! But don’t fret. Snacks like energizing bliss balls and hearty camping meals are easy to prep and lug with you. If you loved our original make-ahead camping recipes, consider these 14 additions before your next trip.
Make-Ahead Chicken Wild Rice Casserole
Bring comfort food to the trailer with this creamy and dreamy make-ahead casserole filled with chicken, nutty wild rice, and veggies galore. (via Lisa’s Dinnertime Dish)
Sausage and Veggie Grill Packets
An abundance of summer produce is chopped up and thrown into a foil packet with tender sausage and garlic for a fuss-free dinner that’s perfect for campground grilling. (via The View from Great Island)
Italian Antipasto Tortellini Pasta Salad
Served cold, this loaded salad is a perfect meal to beat the summer heat. Tortellini is tossed with salami, raw veggies, and olives. (via My Food Story)
Freezer Mini Pizzas
Whether you’re heating them up for lunch or a mid-afternoon snack, these veg-packed mini pizzas will hit the spot and give the fam the energy they need to hike those trails. (via Sweet Peas and Saffron)
Sweet Potato Chili With Black Beans and Chocolate
Make a batch of this cozy stuff and heat it over the campfire for a hearty meal full of sweet potatoes, hearty beans, tomatoes, spices, and a smidgen of chocolate — because why the heck not. (via The Seasoned Vegetable)
Quinoa Lasagna-Stuffed Peppers
Make ’em, stuff ’em, cook ’em, and transport ’em! These make-ahead peppers are brimming with cheesy quinoa goodness for a healthified version of lasagna you can dig into for days. (via The Girl on Bloor)
Cheesy Grilled Potatoes With Bacon
If you pile a bunch of hearty potatoes, cheese, and salty bacon into a foil packet, magic happens. This makes for a fab snack, but you can easily turn it into a campfire meal by adding chicken and veggies. (via The Recipe Rebel)
Grilled Italian Stuffed Sandwich Loaf
With an assortment of meats, veggies, and cheese, these packable ‘wiches are a cinch to prep. Just throw them on the grill when you’re ready and enjoy tender meaty meltiness. (via Neighborfood)
Scrambled Egg and Potato Pop-Tarts
Breakfast for dinner is always acceptable, and these egg and potato-packed tarts are no exception. (via Appetites Anonymous)
Veggie-Packed Southwestern Meatloaf
Crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, this veggie-centric meatloaf allows you to bring good homecookin’ straight to the campground. (via Bowl of Delicious)
Spicy Shrimp and Corn Salad With Lime Vinaigrette
Juicy Cajun-spiced shrimp is tossed with tomatoes and sweet corn in a zesty lime dressing. This glorious salad can be served warm or chilled. (via The Right Recipe)
Mexican Zucchini Lasagna
This veggie lasagna is a wonderful tag-along meal with layers of zucchini, cheese, and saucy goodness. (via Food Faith Fitness)
Vegetarian Chili With Anasazi Beans
A big pot of fire-roasted tomatoes, kidney beans, and Anasazi beans will fill you up and make you feel good, no matter *what* you have planned for your weekend outdoors. (via The Seasoned Vegetable)
Chicken Tuscan Pasta Bake
This robust pasta bake is full of tender chicken, kale, wholesome veggies, and ooey gooey cheese. It’s easy to prep in advance and you can freeze it until you need it. (via Rachel Cooks)
More From Recipes
Welcome to Selfmade Finance School, our new money series with Block Advisors to help small business owners with their tax, bookkeeping, and payroll needs year-round. This week, we explore the tax implications of bringing family members into your business.
The question for today is this: Does hiring your family members make sense for your business? Let me be clear. This is not a piece about whether hiring your family members makes sense for your relationships with those family members. As someone who is part of a family business, I could fill up a lot more than 600 words on my opinions about that. For today's purposes, we focus on whether it makes sense from an overall "good business and tax implication" perspective. As it turns out, there is a decent amount of tax nuance when it comes to employing your family. Let's break it down based on relationship to the employee:
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Spouses Who Are In Business Together
Personally, if I had to be in business with my husband, it would not go well. However, many couples build viable, strong businesses together and I say, good for them! Depending on how you have your business entity structured, it will make a big difference on the tax treatment of you and your spouse working as partners. Because a business jointly owned and operated by a married couple is generally treated as a partnership for Federal tax purposes, the spouses must comply with filing and record keeping requirements imposed on partnerships and their partners. The election to file two Schedule C (Form 1040) forms, (one for each spouse) permits certain married co-owners to avoid filing partnership returns, provided that each spouse separately reports a share of all the businesses' items of income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit. Under the election, both spouses will be subject to self-employment tax and on net earnings from self-employment and receive credit for Social Security earnings.
One Spouse Employs Another
If you have a dynamic where your spouse is an employee of your business, then your spouse's wages are subject to income tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare taxes. If you are self-employed (not a corporation or a partnership), your spouse's pay does not have to be included in your federal unemployment tax account (FUTA) contributions and payments. However, if your business is a corporation or a partnership you must include that spouse's pay in your unemployment tax contribution calculation.
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You Employ Your Child
First, let's be clear. I work in my family business, but I am an adult, so I am treated just like a normal employee. However, if you, for example, run a family restaurant and want to hire your children under 18 to work for you, there are some tax benefits. But first, you should check with your state for rules on how many hours minors can work (in non-agricultural jobs) and reference the Fair Labor Standards Act for information on limitations on the kinds of work children can perform.
"This is an often overlooked or under-utilized strategy. Paying your children for true services they provide in your business can be a powerful tax-saving tool," says Cathi Reed, Block Advisors Regional Director. "If you are a sole-proprietorship or single member LLC, and the child is less than 18 years of age, the business is not required to withhold FICA or payroll taxes. The child can use his or her standard deduction against income you pay."
You Hire Your Parent
Oh dear. If you are brave enough to do this, know that you will need to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on your parent's wages and make the appropriate withholdings, but you don't have to pay unemployment taxes. Now all you have to do is convince your parent that you are the boss. Have fun with that!
Is Hiring Family Members Worth It For The Tax Benefits?
"There are some positive tax advantages to hiring family members. It's important to treat a family member like any other employee. Hiring your children can result in substantial savings for businesses. Make sure your child has real, age-appropriate work to do and a reasonable pay rate, comparable to other employees. Consult with a Block Advisors small business certified tax pro to ensure that you are complying with all requirements," advises Reed. "Block Advisors, a team within H&R Block, is dedicated to meeting the tax, bookkeeping and payroll needs of small business owners year-round. To start working with the tax experts at Block Advisors, visit blockadvisors.com."
In my opinion, you should not hire a family member solely because of the tax benefits. You should always hire based on whether that person is right for the job and keep in mind how this hire could materially impact your relationship with that person and others in your family. Finally, as I mentioned, make sure you have a tax professional on your team when making these determinations. As you can see, things can get a little tricky!
*All details were sourced from IRS.gov and blockadvisors.com
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those held by Kestra Investment Services, LLC or Kestra Advisory Services, LLC. This is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. It is suggested that you consult your financial professional, attorney, or tax advisor with regards to your individual situation. Comments concerning the past performance are not intended to be forward looking and should not be viewed as an indication of future results. Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. O'Keeffe Financial Partners and any other entity listed herein is not affiliated with Kestra IS or Kestra AS Investor Disclosures: https://bit.ly/KF-Disclosures