Helping Hands in the Kitchen: Lunch Box Treats

September 13, 2022

With school in session, I wanted to share some ideas for some LUNCH BOX TREATS!

Example of Chex Mix

PARTY MIX

I will share recipes with certain ingredients, but you can customize the flavors based on your preference and what you have.

SELECT MIX

Quantities are up to you.

Ingredients

  • Pretzels, your choice
  • Nuts, your choice
  • Crackers (Goldfish, mini rye toasts, etc.)
  • M & M’s or other small candies

CHEX MIX

Ingredients

  • 3-4 kinds of Chex cereal, 2 cups of each
  • Pretzels
  • Nuts
  • Crackers
  • ½ cup butter
  • 2 teaspoons celery salt
  • ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon garlic salt

Instructions

  1. For the sauce, combine ½ cup butter, 2 t. celery salt, ¼ c. Worcestershire sauce and 1 t. garlic salt. Heat until melted.
  2. Put all the dry ingredients in a large oven pan, add the sauce, and stir.
  3. Bake at 250 deg F. for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes to keep the sauce moving over and around the dry ingredients.
  4. Let cool.
  5. Put everything on paper towels when finished to remove some of the butter.
  6. Keep in air tight container for storage.
Example of celery and cheese

CELERY AND CHEESE

A great snack! Cut celery into sticks and cheese either in small cubes or thin cheese sticks. You could put the cheese on top of the celery to eat it!

CARAMEL POPCORN

This recipe is my mother’s.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups brown sugar
  • 2 sticks margarine
  • 1 cup white Karo syrup
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 6 quarts of popcorn
  • Nuts, optional

Instructions

  1. Bring brown sugar, margarine, and Karo syrup to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring often.
  2. Then add ½ t. baking soda and 1 t. vanilla.
  3. It will bubble up – stir, be careful, it’s HOT!
  4. Pour over 6 quarts of popped corn.
  5. Add nuts if preferred. Stir well.
  6. Put on a baking sheet and bake in oven at 250 deg. F. for 1 hour stirring every 15 minutes.
  7. Let it cool down on the pan.
  8. Put it on paper towels after cooled, to drain any extra oil.
  9. Store in airtight containers to seal to keep it crispy.
Example of Rice Krispie Craisin Treats

RICE KRISPIE CRAISIN TREATS

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup margarine
  • 40 large marshmallows
  • 5 cups Rice Krispie cereal or crisped rice cereal
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup craisins

Instructions

  1. Melt margarine and marshmallows over low heat in a saucepan, stirring constantly.
  2. When melted, add 5 cups Rice Krispie cereal or crisped rice cereal and 1 t. vanilla.
  3. Stir until coated well.
  4. Add 1 cup craisins and make sure well distributed.
  5. Press in a 9”x9”x2” pan coated with butter or margarine.
  6. Let cool and cut in squares.
Example of whoopie pies

WHOOPIE PIES

Ingredients

  • ½ cup shortening
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 5 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

FILLING:

Mix ¾ cup shortening, 2 cups powdered sugar, 2 egg whites, 1 teaspoon vanilla and a pinch of salt until smooth consistency.

Instructions

  1. Cream ½ cup shortening, 1 cup granulated sugar and 2 egg yolks.
  2. Stir together and add to the creamed mixture: 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 t. baking soda, 5 T. unsweetened cocoa, 1 t. baking powder, and 1 t. salt.
  3. Add 1 cup milk and 1 t. vanilla.
  4. Mix all ingredients well. Batter may be lumpy and thick.
  5. Drop by tablespoon on greased cookie sheet. Try to make all cookies the same size because you’ll use 2 for each Whoopie Pie. May need to spread a little by hand. Bake for 12 minutes at 375 deg F.
  6. Invert one of the chocolate cookies, spread with filling, and place a second cookie of the same size on top of the filling to make your sandwich cookie.

I hope this gives you some great ideas to make lunch boxes simple and creative!

Bon Appétit
With Love,

Granni K