Food & Party Planning Ideas

Back-to-School Treats They'll Eat

Most adults have distinct memories of their grade school lunches. The infamous sack lunch commonly included: a sandwich with stale crusts, a warm fruit-on-the bottom yogurt, a juice box that inevitably squirted all over the lunch table and a leaky thermos of soup.

Wilton Enterprises is aiming to change the way today's parents and children think of sack lunches by offering a few extraordinary ideas and recipes to spice up lunchtime. Whether you are a stay-at-home parent or work 12-hour days, Wilton has simple tactics that will guarantee children's lunches won't be traded on the playground!

"Brown bag lunches have the potential to be appetizing and exciting treats for children during the school day," said Nancy Siler, consumer affairs director for Wilton Enterprises, the nation's leading supplier of cake and entertaining supplies. "The problem is that most parents concentrate so much on making the lunch well-rounded and healthy, that they forget to make it fun."

The Main Course

Cut off those dreaded bread crusts and make unforgettable animal-shaped sandwiches. Using Wilton's Metal Cookie Cutters, you can turn an everyday sandwich into a fantastic zoo animal. Make a charming turkey and cheese bear sandwich. A cream cheese sandwich with strawberry preserves, shelled sunflower seeds and dried cranberries or raisins will be an enormous hit when it's shaped like an elephant. Or prepare a tuna salad sandwich in the silhouette of a fish with an olive slice eyeball!

Side Bars

Give one of America's favorite sandwiches a new spin by making Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookie Bars. Just by spreading seedless raspberry jam over a crust, sprinkling extra crumb crust and savory peanut butter chips over the top and baking for 15 to 20 minutes - you've created an appetizing treat. Cut them into shapes, such as a star, with Wilton's new Basic Cutter Set or Stars Nesting Cutter Set.

Or if you aren't in the mood for baking, but want to give your kids a snack with a homemade touch - create your own "Hittin' the Trail" Mix! Get an "A" from your children when you combine pretzel twists, sesame sticks, peanuts, dried fruit, chocolate candy pieces, yogurt or chocolate covered raisins and banana chips. Don't forget to put the trail mix in Wilton's fun Apple or Autumn Leaves Party Bags with some extra to share with the other kids.

Tips for a Wonderful, Wilton Lunch

If you are impressed by well-decorated, visually pleasing food - chances are that your children are too. Don't be afraid of shaping, coloring, stenciling or putting sprinkles on their food with Wilton's 6-assortment sprinkles, mini stencil sets, wide array of food colorings and cutter sets.

Kid's love breakfast cereal, Cracker Jacks and Happy Meals. Why? Because of the TOYS! Go to your local Dollar Store or Toys R Us' dollar bins and purchase a small toy to put in your child's lunch on Fridays. It is a great way to reward your child for his or her accomplishments that week, while turning your lunch into an anticipated event.

Animal-Shaped Sandwiches
Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookie Bars
"Hittin' the Trail" Mix