Earlier this year, Babble (Disney's parenting web site) kicked off an Instagram series called #LunchboxLove. It features fun and creative lunches from fun and creative parents. So of course I was beyond stoked when they asked me to participate - because I'm so fun and creative. 🙂
Our whole family has been looking forward to Captain America: Civil War, so I was immediately inspired to create something inspired by Marvel's hero-on-hero soon-to-be blockbuster. I had initially thought I would try and represent several characters in the lunch, but that was proving to be rather complicated. So then I turned my focus on the two iconic heroes leading teams into battle. But knowing my son was a diehard fan of both Captain America AND Iron Man, how could I make him choose?
I didn't. Avengers assemble... your ingredients!
WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
* Bagels (I used plain, but any kind would work)
* Captain America: cream cheese, strawberry & blueberry fruit spread
* Iron Man: salami, cheddar cheese, mozzarella string cheese, condiments
* Popcorn
* Dried fruit: cranberries, blueberries, cherries, plums
* Red & yellow snacking tomatoes
* Red & yellow bell peppers
* Ranch dressing or other veggie dip
* Cookie cutters (2″ star, 3″ circle, 4″ biscuit cutter)
Captain America Shield Sandwich
Cut a small segment from one half of a bagel and push it into the hole of the other half as shown. This will keep the cream cheese and fruit spread from squeezing through and making a big mess. You can also use bread if you don't have a bagel to waste.
Cover your bagel in a thick layer of cream cheese, then place the star and small round cookie cutters in place as shown below.
Spread strawberry fruit spread outside the round cookie cutter.
Using a teaspoon or baby spoon, fill the space between the star and the circle with the blueberry fruit spread. If your spread is too lumpy, warm it up in the microwave a bit and stir vigorously to smooth it out.
Place in the freezer for an hour or so, then refrigerate just prior to packing lunch. Slowly remove cookie cutters and serve!
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Iron Man Mask Sandwich
Spread mustard or other condiments onto the bagel. Add 1 or 2 slices of salami (bologna would work, too, though it will give Iron Man's mask a fleshy pink look...).
Use the biscuit cutter to trim off the edges of a slice of cheddar or some other yellow cheese, then cut out the top of the mask, and trim off the bottom part, as shown above.
Place the cheese on top of the salami (you may want to add a tiny bit more condiment to hold things in place), and then the lower jaw of the mask, leaving a 1/4″ gap so that the negative space creates the mouth.
Finally, cut a stick of mozzarella string cheese into quarters length-wise, then cut two 1-inch pieces for the eyes.
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For both:
Cut up small strips of red and yellow peppers and mix with red and yellow snacking tomatoes to create an Iron Man veggie mix. Serve with ranch dressing, hummus, or other veggie dip.
Mix popcorn with dried fruit to create a red, white & blue Captain America snack.
Add appropriate lunch note and send your little one off on their next adventure!
Thank you to Babble for featuring me in their #LunchboxLove series. Lunches are shown packed in Panino Bento Boxes from Yumbox.
See all the lunchtime fun firsthand by following SuperLunchNotes on Instagram!
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