School mode is just about in full force at our house.  I’ve been to three open houses, dropped off supplies, and gotten my own classroom ready to go!  And ready or not, here it is!  Bye summer!  You will be missed!  But we are so ready for fall!!  I start packing school lunches next week, and sometimes my kids get so tired of the usual stuff.  I thought it would be fun to put together a collection of nice homemade treats.  I thought about making some of these on a Sunday and having them ready to go for the school week ahead.  Hope you enjoy it too!

The post Lunch Box Treats appeared first on Diary of A Recipe Collector.

Superhero Lunch Box with Free Lunch Box Notes – A fun MARVEL superhero-themed lunch box and you can print fun Superhero Lunch Box Notes for your little superheroes!

Do you have any superheroes in your house?  How about any children who love them?  We do for sure!  My oldest son can tell you so much about all the superheroes.  He is definitely a young MARVEL enthusiast!  From books to games to costumes, he’s got it all.  I’m even thinking about giving both my boys a superhero-themed bedroom in the near future.

Well now at Walmart, you can find these MARVEL Granola Bars in Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip.  I knew these would be perfect for my little guy and for a superhero-themed lunch box.  I also made some fun lunch box notes to go with it!

I started off making some Cheese & Pretzel Muscle Builders and Grape & Pretzel Muscle Builders.  Next I made a Flash Grilled Cheese.  My little guy is going to be so impressed that mommy knows who Flash is and that he has his shield in the form of a grilled cheese!  #coolmom

Then I made a quick Captain America Snack mix with graham crackers, red & blue candies, and mini marshmallows and a fun Hulk-Smash Yogurt with lime-flavored yogurt and sprinkles.

Tips to prepare this lunch quicker:
-Prepare the Captain America Snack Mix in advance and place in baggies.

-I portion out the yogurt into the bento containers and freeze it.  That morning, I take out the container and add the rest of the lunch items to it.  If not using a bento container, you can freeze yogurt in individual cups with lids.

-Prepare the pretzels separate from the cheese and grapes in little storage bags.  When it’s time to get the lunch box in the morning, just grab the pretzels bag and the grape and cheese cube bag and pack it in the lunch box.  Your little superhero can build his muscle builders while he or she eats!!  Now they have an excuse to play with their food!

But I think what he will be most excited about will be these MARVEL Granola Bars.  Each one has a different character with a message.  There are 6 different wrappers: Captain America, Hulk, Spider Man, Iron Man, Black Widow, and Thor.  Plus, these granola bars are not your average size granola bar.  They are 40% bigger.  On the package you can find 4 collector cards – Hulk, Iron Man, Hawk Eye, and Spider Man.  We can cut them out and collect them all!

Don’t forget to cut out a cute little superhero lunch box note!  I secretly like to include these to encourage my little guy to read!  I know if it has a superhero’s message, he will surely want to figure out what it says.

Have fun creating a Superhero Lunch Box for your children, and don’t forget to print your own Lunch Box Notes below.

Be sure to check out how to make your child’s lunch SUPER and visit the MARVEL hub for a TON of great ideas!  I’d also love to know which MARVEL hero would be your child’s number one pick in their lunch box!

Click here to print the Superhero Lunch Box Notes.

The post Superhero Lunch Box with FREE Lunch Box Notes appeared first on Diary of A Recipe Collector.

Hey everyone!  It’s September!!!  The start of all things FALL begins!  I’ll be breaking out the fall decor this weekend!  It’s my most favorite season to decorate my house.  Now my husband…he’s probably cringing right about now thinking about helping me drag tubs of decor out of the attic…

But I LOVE it!  Another thing I love is back to school stuff, as I’ve mentioned a lot lately.  Just the other day, I partnered with Wet Ones Singles and shared this Lunch Calendar Printable with you guys.  Today I’m back to share a great lunch idea with you.  Ham & Cheese Macaroni Muffin Cups are an awesome make-ahead and freezer-friendly lunch idea for your children…and even you too!

The muffin version of mac and cheese makes these so lunch-friendly!  I popped them in the microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds and quickly sealed them up the thermos.  They were still warm and yummy in time for lunch!

To go along with these Ham & Cheese Macaroni Muffins, I made some fruit kabobs with grapes and strawberries.  Because who doesn’t love food on a stick?  I also added some yogurt with sprinkles.  I freeze the yogurt, and it is thawed by lunch time.  I don’t have to worry about it spoiling that way.

Don’t forget how convenient these Wet Ones Singles are for lunch boxes too.  Since who knows how many surfaces your children have touched before heading off to the lunchroom, you can feel better about them having clean hands to eat, and they kill 99.99% of germs.  Unlike a hand sanitizer, they don’t dry out skin since they have aloe in them.  They are also hypoallergenic.  So your children can be ready to chow down on these Ham & Cheese Macaroni Muffin Cups with clean hands!  #WishIHadAWetOnes

These Ham & Cheese Macaroni Muffin Cups are super easy.  And those crispy edges…those are my favorite part!  You can add more ham if you’d like too.  I only added a cup to this recipe, but if you like more meat, go ahead and add some more.  After I let them cool, I placed them in a freezer bag and froze them.  In the morning, just take out and heat how ever many you need.

Go here to print the Lunch Calendar. 

Other Lunch Ideas:

Chicken Enchilada Stromboli

Roasted Red Pepper & Turkey Wrap

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Wet Ones®. The opinions and text are all mine.

The post Ham & Cheese Macaroni Muffin Cups appeared first on Diary of A Recipe Collector.

Today is a big day on here you guys!!  I am doing something on this blog I’ve wanted to do for quite some time now.  Most of you know I am a former teacher.  And once a teacher, always a teacher…ask any former teacher 🙂

It just becomes ingrained in you in everything you do from routines at home to talking to any kid you meet.   I feel very comfortable around a crowd of kids.  I guess that’s a good thing being that I have 4 of my own.  (Although I can’t say being “comfortable” makes it a piece a cake around here).

Anyway, one of the tools of the teaching trade is being able to create a fun worksheet or “printable” as it is called in blog-world.  It really was one of my favorite things to do as a teacher.

So when I recently partnered up with Wet Ones to share their Wet Ones Singles at Target, I knew I wanted to offer you a little freebie!  And of course, show you my mad teacher worksheet-creating skills!

Plus, I wanted to show you how lunch box friendly these Wet Ones Singles are for lunch boxes.  They are available at Target and you can really save on them with this COUPON.

They are great for school lunch boxes!  And you know it really doesn’t take a huge effort to make most kiddos excited about something new.  My kids love having a wet wipe in their lunches 🙂 #itsthelittlethings

After teaching, I’m pretty much a germ-freak.  Kids touch EVERYTHING…the walls, the door knobs, and they share pencils and colors.  It makes me feel better knowing my kids are using a wipe that kills 99.99% of germs.  Plus they don’t dry out your hands like sanitizer since they are made with an aloe formula.  They are hypoallergenic too.  So I’m excited about them using these.

Speaking of being excited about school lunches, they are also excited about this new Lunch Calendar.  Kids LOVE to have choices.  It gives them that little sense of power that they really want in a world where so much is decided for them.    I’m all about letting my kids have choices in these areas so there is not so much of a fight when things are non-negotiable.  Rather than making these decisions at 6:00 am; however, I thought we could all benefit from a little pre-planning.  So before it is time to go grocery shopping for the upcoming week, my kids will be deciding what they want each day with the help of this Lunch Calendar.

Plus, I’m sure I’m not the only one who suffers from “I can’t think of any new ideas for school lunches” amnesia.  I really think this will help us not get stuck in a rut this year when it comes to lunch time.

You can download your FREE Lunch Calendar HERE.

Also, don’t forget to print your coupon for Wet Ones Singles here!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Wet Ones®. The opinions and text are all mine.

The post Lunch Calendar & Wet Ones Singles appeared first on Diary of A Recipe Collector.

I hope you guys had a Happy Mother’s Day.  We celebrated with my mom and sister on Friday night.  Today my little family celebrated at home, and it was also my husband’s birthday.  We joked that we kind of cancelled each other out.  Neither one of  us really felt like we could take full advantage of it being “our day.”  I still got breakfast in bed and some beautiful plants.  My hubby picked out his favorite supper, but he cooked it.  I’d have to say I guess I got the better deal.  He keeps telling me he will get his day next Sunday.  He has a fishing tournament at his favorite fishing reservoir.

We are really looking forward to summer, and this recipe is one of those great summer lunches to have at home or take to work.  It is super easy to make a batch of these.

Southwest Wraps

No Ratings

Print

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
• 1/2 cup mayo
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 tsp of a Fiesta Ranch Packet (found with the dressings)
• 1/2 of a 10 oz can of Rotel
• 1/2 of a 15 oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 of a 15 o can corn, drained
• 1/4 cup crushed corn chips or tortilla chips
• 1-2 tbsp chopped cilantro (optional)
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup shredded colby jack
• 4 flour tortillas (10 inch)
• 1 avocado (diced)*

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine the mayo, lime juice, and Fiesta Ranch mix.
2. Add and stir all of the remaining ingredients except the avocado. Stir to combine well.
3. Spoon mixture onto each tortilla and top with avocado* (if not serving that day, hold off on adding avocado until ready to serve).
4. Roll up tortilla, wrap in plastic wrap to chill for a little while.
5. Cut in half and serve.

DID YOU TRY THIS RECIPE?

I WANT TO SEE! Follow JAREN_DIARYRECIPECOLLECTOR on Instagram, snap a photo, and tag @jaren_diaryrecipecollector and #diaryofarecipecollector. I would love to know what good stuff you are making!

I’m linking up with:
Time to Sparkle 60
Totally Talented Tuesdays 12
Weekend Retreat 67
Best of the Weekend
Show Stopper Saturday
Saturday Night Fever 34

Looking for another quick and easy lunch:

The post Southwest Wraps appeared first on Diary of A Recipe Collector.

My kids get so excited when I make them too!  I use the same Strawberry Banana Popsicle recipe from Paula Deen except I just put them in small plastic containers instead of Popsicle molds.  By the time they go to lunch. they are the perfect temperature for eating.

I’m linking up with:
Best of the Weekend
Show Stopper Saturday
SNF Link Party 28

The post Smoothie Cups appeared first on Diary of A Recipe Collector.