This is a sponsored post in partnership with DreamWorks Animation Television. All opinions are my own.

My kids are huge fans of Trollhunters, so when they heard that the second chapter of the Tales of Arcadia series was coming to Netflix, they couldn't have been more excited. In fact, the day 3Below was released last week, they started watching it that very morning! So to celebrate the latest series from the team at DreamWorks animation, we had to do a few recipes for it. Read below to see how we made these fun meals, but first watch the trailer to find out why we are so pumped for 3Below!

An Easy Buddy the Elf Christmas Lunch

It's almost Christmas and I'm almost out of lunch ideas. Thankfully this is the last day to make a special lunch before my kids are off for a few weeks, and then I can recharge. I wanted to go out with a simple but super fun bang though. Basically, if you can cut a triangle, you can make this Elf lunch. It is always one of our favorite Christmas movies to watch each year. It's definitely in my top three along with A Christmas Story and Christmas Vacation.

The point is, you can do this. You can make this lunch for your kids. I just made a green spinach wrap tortilla sandwich, placed it above a mop of Buddy the Elf's curly hair (orange corkscrew pasta), and surrounded it with an homage to the way he decorated the store with tons of snowflakes. Throw in a few red and green touches and you are finished! It's really easy. Read below for the rest of the recipe and have a very merry Christmas. Just remember, "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is to sing aloud for all to hear!"

A Christmas Story Fra-Gee-Lay Lunch

"Fra-Gee-Lay! It must be Italian." The old man was so excited have this crate delivered to his door. You know the leg lamp was his major award. A Christmas Story is unequivocally the best Christmas movie of all-time. The list continues with Christmas Vacation second, and Elf coming in third. You can fight me if you want, but you would still be wrong.  Because A Christmas Story is tops, I of course had to make my annual lunch celebrating this cinematic masterpiece.

Since I have made A Christmas Story lunches before, I wanted to try and take a different angle with this one. I featured the wooden crate that the lamp came in, along with the famous Bumpus hounds and the turkey theft that they are known for. I also had to give you a sneak peek at a few of my favorite Christmas decorations. I have most of the collection of A Christmas Story lighted village. It's my pride and joy around this time of year. I ask for new pieces every year. And if you still doubt my family's love for the movie you will want to follow us at @lunchboxfamily. We have a special surprise coming for you!

Until then, read the recipe below and let me know your favorite seen from the movie!

The Nightmare Before Christmas Jack Skellington Lunch

If you've been around my blog for awhile, you are well aware of my family's fondness for the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas. Well, despite the fact that this Disney movie is known as a Halloween and Christmas film, I have somehow never made a Jack Skellington lunch for Christmas. It has only been for Halloween. I know, I know, I'm having a hard time forgiving myself for this one. Hopefully this lunch will get me back on the nice list with my kids and the big guy in the red suit!

The Grinch Christmas Lunch

You're a mean one mister Grinch! But you are also pretty tasty. Especially when you are in a spinach tortilla sandwich with turkey! The Grinch is such a legend n Christmas lore and we are so excited to see the new movie. My family is obviously huge fans of How the Grinch Stole Christmas that I had to make a new lunch to celebrate the new movie coming out.

The Grinch is actually one of the first lunches that I made during my first year of trying this fun lunch making thing out. I actually created the lunch live on a morning television show with my daughter. That time I used a green apple but I wanted to go a different route this time. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and I hope my kids will be as well. Keep reading to find out all of the ingredients and directions!

Three Holiday Dips That You Need for Your Next Party!

This is a sponsored post in partnership with Pyrex. All opinions are my own.

It's the holidays and you know the routine. You get invited to your first of many parties of the season, and right after you dig your ugly Christmas sweater out of the back of the closet, you need to decide on what meal you will bring. Add that to the fact that you need food that both little kids with Santa hats, and grown adults adorned in reindeer themed clothing, will eagerly consume. Don't worry, I have you covered. Here is a dessert dip and two appetizer dips that will easily get you through this season and beyond. The only downsides are that your party hosts will now expect you to make these tasty dips year after year and probably try to steal the Pyrex dishes that you brought the dips in as well!

Scroll down to enter to win my Pyrex giveaway!

Harry Potter Quidditch Lunch

My family has been Harry Potter fans for awhile now. My daughter has read all of the books, including Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them and The Cursed Child, at least once. My oldest son and I just finished reading the illustrated Prisoner of Azkaban. We have watched most of the movies together and even threw my daughter a Harry Potter themed birthday party. This isn't the first time that I've made my kids a Wizarding World lunch, you might have seen my Dumbledore, Hermione Granger, or Hogwarts Express lunches, but I figured it was time for a new one.

Since we were reading The Prisoner of Azkaban, and Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup against Slytherin, I knew what I had to do. If you've read the story you know that Harry wins the big match by reaching out and barely grabbing the Golden Snitch before Malfoy does. After I put my son to bed, I immediately started dreaming up what a lunch based on this part of the story would look like. What you see here in this post is what I came up with.

Spider-Man Sandwich Lunch

If you were to ask your kids who their favorite superheroes are, what would their answer be? For my kids I guarantee Spider-Man would be in the top three! It's been a few years since my daughter received a Spidey lunch and my oldest son has never been given one. I figured it was about time for them to get their friendly neighborhood Spider-Man during lunchtime at school!

This lunch was actually pretty easy to make. It's just a Spider-Man sandwich, some Babybel cheese, and a black olive spider. The most time consuming part was cutting the strawberries to fit together like a puzzle. However, after I did the first one for my daughter, the second one for my son was a snap. I made this lunch in an Easy Lunch Boxes container. Scroll down for the recipe!

Also, if you use my Loot Crate link and coupon code by 11/19/18 you get 10% off your order. Just CLICK HERE and use code: lunchboxdad. This will get you an incredible box filled with Spider-Man, Bioshock, and Westworld themed gear and collectibles!

Juicy Thanksgiving Turkey Marinade Plus a Bonus Post Thanksgiving Turkey Leftovers Idea!

This is a sponsored post in partnership with Juicy Juice. All opinions are my own.

Every year I talk to people who are looking for different ways to prepare their Thanksgiving turkey. There is nothing that wows dinner guests of all ages more than a Thanksgiving turkey that takes them by surprise because it is bursting with flavor. Kids love it. Adults love it. There is nothing like it. When we created this new recipe, our entire family devoured the entire test turkey!

I have prepared turkeys with brine, deep fried, injectable marinade, and covered in rub. This new recipe that we developed to marinade our turkey in for Thanksgiving this year rivals any of those methods. You will definitely want to try it because it features the secret ingredient that you probably wouldn't have thought of...Berry flavored Juicy Juice 100% Juice!

We have tried this Juicy Juice marinade a couple of times now and it is loaded with sweet flavor. We have used it on turkey breast and chicken, but it will actually work for almost any other type of meat that you are preparing for the big day as well. Did I mention it is super easy to whip up? Even your kids can help with it. Keep reading for the whole Thanksgiving turkey marinade recipe!

Scroll down for a bonus post Thanksgiving Turkey Leftovers Idea!

Disney's Christopher Robin Movie Winnie the Pooh Mini Pizza and Tigger Tails

This is a sponsored post in partnership with Walt Disney Studios. All opinions are my own.

I'm not sure that there's a movie that my family has seen recently that we have enjoyed as much as Disney's Christopher Robin. Of course my kids have all grown up on Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and the rest of the gang in The Hundred Acre Wood, but the creativity and fun in this movie is hard to beat.

When the previews for Disney's Christopher Robin first came out, I had a feeling that it was going to be special. However, once we actually saw it, my kids and I were mesmerized the entire time. We laughed at the silliness and enjoyed the special effects.

In fact, I just had the chance to sit down with the cast to ask them some questions about the movie and this fun snack that they helped to inspire. I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did. Make sure to watch it below!

It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown Halloween Lunch

What's your favorite classic family holiday movie? Whenever I think about this question I always tend to forget about It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. I don't know why I forget about it, I've seen it what seems like a thousand times. It's such a great movie, but I whenever I think about Peanuts or Snoopy I always skip ahead to A Charlie Brown Christmas.

This year, I wanted to make sure that I didn't make this mistake so I made a fun Snoopy Halloween lunch in an Easy Lunch Boxes container. It's complete with a Great Pumpkin sandwich! Read below to find out how to make it for your own family.

Unlimited Squirrels in I Lost My Tooth book by Mo Willems Lunch

This is a sponsored post in partnership with Disney Book Group. All opinions are my own.

We've all been there. Our young child loses their tooth and it's the most important thing in the world...well for that day anyway. The only problem is that, as the parent, I of course forget to have the Tooth Fairy visit during the night. Well, maybe this new book by Mo Willems can help ease the pain. Unlimited Squirrels in I Lost My Tooth! is a fun and fast paced book about a squirrel who loses his tooth and his friends who try to find it.

It reads pretty quickly and one of our favorite parts are the sections with "A-Corny Jokes!" We loved it so much that I had to make a lunch recipe (and include the acorns). In the book there are also facts about teeth, and of course the story itself. My boys seriously want to read this book every night before bed. I can't wait for the next books in the new series to be written. You can find the first book,- Unlimited Squirrels in I Lost My Tooth! on Amazon HERE, and my lunch recipe down below!

How to Make a Fall Football Lunch PLUS BONUS Halloween Snack Ideas!

This is a sponsored post in partnership with Juicy Juice. All opinions are my own.

It's that time of year again. You know what I'm talking about. Boots and scarfs awake from their summer slumber, school is back in full-force, everything is pumpkin spice, the leaves magically change, apples become the go-to-fruit, and football takes over the weekends. Fall really is a fantastic few months! In order to properly celebrate this season, I had to make this Fall Football Lunch complete with a side of Juicy Juice 100% Juice. If you are going to experience Fall, you need to do it right!

Each one of the elements of this lunch symbolizes something fun for our family. First of all, we love collecting multicolored leaves to create beautiful crafts. Kids can do incredibly creative things with them. Football is also a favorite in our house. I would brag about our team, but let's just say that there's not much to brag about right now. It's still fun to make a no-bake football granola bar though.

Our family also is susceptible to the lure of all the pumpkin spice flavored food as well. That's why we came up with the idea of a yogurt bar where our kids could load this side dish up with the Fall toppings of their choice. Since this time of year is also known for all things apple, no Fall themed lunch would be complete without Juicy Juice 100% Juice, Apple flavor! We feel good about using Juicy Juice because it is 100% real juice with no added sugar or artificial sweeteners. Check out the recipe below for how I made this lunch!

Scroll Down For Bonus Halloween Snack Ideas!

Hotel Transylvania Lunch Ideas

You can't talk about fun family Halloween movies if you don't include Hotel Transylvania on that list. My kids were begging to see the newest movie all summer long. The series is just good natured and hilarious. As far as comedic monster movies go, Hotel Transylvania hits the mark for sure. My favorite character might be Blobby, but my kids love Frank, Winnie, and of course Drac. So I figured that I have been making fun lunches long enough that this lunch was long overdue.

I made this lunch an Easy Lunch Boxes container. One tip is you will want to leave the fondant in a separate container overnight or it will start to "melt" on the tortilla. Do the same thing with the candy googly eyes on Blobby. It will only take a second to assemble it in the morning. It is also always fun to watch one of the movies before you make the lunch for them. You can never go wrong with spending some family time together and then reminding your kids of it the next day with a fun lunch! Keep reading for the entire recipe.

How to Make a LEGO Minifigure Lunch

Ouch! If that's the sound that you have made while walking across the floor at night, you are a parent who's kid loves LEGO. You know what I'm talking about because you have had to surgically remove one of these building blocks from your feet before. Because I love my kids and, despite the pain, because I love LEGO, I made them this LEGO minifigure lunch for my family.

This is actually easier to make than it looks because I used silicone molds, which you can find on Amazon. I used them to make the colored parts of the LEGO brick sandwich and the chocolate minifigs in the LEGO trail mix. The lunchbox that the lunch is in is an Easy Lunch Boxes container. The other building brick lunchbox and utensils were bought online. I think you can find those on Amazon as well. I packed my youngest's lunch in that box. Scroll down to see the whole recipe.

How to Make a Santa Bruce Christmas Lunch

This post is in partnership with Disney Book Group. All opinions are my own.

Let's be honest. Is it ever really too early to start thinking about Christmas? In our house we are unapologetically Christmas obsessed. This is why I was thrilled to get this new Santa Bruce book in the mail! I was so thrilled in fact that I had to make a fun Christmas (and Bruce) themed snack for my youngest. If you haven't checked out the Bruce series of books from author Ryan T. Higgins, you really need to. If you haven't ordered this newest Bruce book, then you absolutely must! Santa Bruce was just released on September 4th. You can get it in my Amazon shop HERE.

I love that we even received a special edition ornament with the book as well! Ever since we opened the box, my kids have wanted to read this book over and over. It's a fun story where Bruce gets mistaken for Santa Claus and well...let's just say he's pretty grumpy about it!

Harry Potter Birthday Party Ideas on a Budget!

Let's face it. It's hard to escape Harry Potter. Even if you had a magic wand from Ollivanders you couldn't cast a spell to make this phenomenon disappear. So why not embrace it? My kids are all about Harry Potter and their dream is to get to Harry Potter World at Universal Studios one day. My daughter's birthday was not the day to make that happen, but we did put together a ton of ideas to create a magical Harry Potter themed birthday party for her!

I wasn't sure that I would write this up but it turned out to be a fantastic time so I thought, why not? This whole thing began when my daughter wanted a hand in planning the party, so we gave her a small budget to spend however she wanted. She had the freedom to buy party decorations, food, etc. What did she immediately find out? That things are expensive! Even after scouring the internet for days on end she was still over budget. So we helped her find the best deals and supplemented what we couldn't buy with props from around the house.

We also did what you are doing right now, scouring blog posts! We ended up thinking up some of the ideas that you see below, and other themed activities we found on different websites. Where possible, I'll link to the original blog posts below so you can see how to create those activities in detail. I hope you have a party filled with laughs, chocolate frogs, and Bertie Bots Beans!

6 Tips to Make Back-to-School Lunch Packing Easy!

This is a sponsored post in partnership with Staples. All opinions are my own.

Nothing puts the fear of back-to-school in parents like the thought of the every day grind of making lunches. It starts off easy enough. You end the summer on a high note looking to get back into a routine. You convince yourself that this is the year that things will be different. Then it's one month in and you're back to the morning scramble trying to throw something together with three minutes to go before you leave the house. The good news is that it doesn't have to be that way! You have already taken the first step toward school lunch success by visiting my blog because I have tons of fun lunch ideas to help guide you this year!

The next step is also good news because you're reading this blog post. I have been doing this lunch thing for awhile so I have learned quite a bit along the way. As you scroll down you will see some of my favorite tips for making school lunch packing easier. The great thing is that you can pick up most of the supplies at your local Staples. I hope that these tips help your school year go smoothly and that your kids come home with empty lunchboxes!

1. Dips are your new best friend.
Have you ever tried to get your kids to eat more fruits and vegetables? Have you ever failed miserably? Join the club. We have found that including dips in your kid's lunchbox can make a huge difference. All you need are some good dip containers, like these Rubbermaid TakeAlongs, and a few simple ingredients. Greek yogurt and honey, nut free spreads with granola, hazelnut spread, and ranch dressing all make easy and tasty dips. Don't laugh but my youngest even loves dipping his apples in ketchup!

Harry Potter Hermione Granger Lunch

This is actually a birthday lunch in surprise! My daughter is turning twelve today and one of her favorite all-time things is Harry Potter. She even had an entire Harry Potter themed birthday party this weekend. I might eventually have to do a blog post on all the fun parts of the party that we created. However, I have never made her a Hermione Granger lunch, so it was about time!

This is not my normal style lunch but I figured why not try something different? I think this might be the second lunch in which I have ever used rice in as the main dish. I'll even let you in on a little secret. I took the easy route and just went and bought sticky rice at a local sushi place today instead of making my own. It cost all of $2 and was worth every penny. Another hack is to put cold water on your hands as you're shaping the rice and rolling it in nori. This will help the rice not stick to your hands and also make the seaweed easier to seal. I made the lunch in an Easy Lunch Boxes container. So make sure to read the recipe below and share this with all of your Potterhead friends!

5 Ways to Stay Sane When Your Kids Get Home From School

This is a sponsored post in partnership with Carbona. All opinions are my own.

Some parents couldn't be more excited for this time of year, and some parents are crying that the school year is about to start. Regardless of where you fall on this back-to-school debate, there is one thing that this is true for all parents. That whirlwind of a few hours after your kids step in the door has the potential to shake your home to the foundation. Who knew that your house could be destroyed in six minutes by a second grader using nothing more than a granola bar and juice box? However, with a few of the tweaks below you can turn after school frustration into a distant memory.

Create a Backpack Station
Have you ever had your kids walk in the door and leave a trail through the house of well...pretty much everything they own? Oh it happens everyday? Exactly. That's why if you set up a backpack station near the door they will have a place to hang and store their bag right when they walk in. This also creates a consistent place at night to store everything they will need for school the next day which eliminates the morning mad scramble to find homework, permission slips, binders, and more!

Avengers Infinity Gauntlet Lunch With the Dust of Dead Superheroes

Ever since my kids and I saw Avengers Infinity War this summer they have pretty much been obsessed. My son can't get enough of Thanos and his Infinity Gauntlet. Granted Thanos might not be the best role model for him, but hey he's in third grade. Of course I had to also throw in some of the other superheroes. What? You can't see Spider-Man, Black Panther, Dr. Strange, and the Guardians of the Galaxy? They are in the upper right corner! Well, what's left of them is.

If you want your kids to rule the lunch room, try out the Infinity Gauntlet lunch. The video tutorial and ingredients are below!

5 Back to School Supplies That We Wish We Had Growing Up

This is a sponsored post in partnership with Staples. All opinions are my own.

Growing up in the 80's and 90's I was always excited for the first day of school. Although we didn't have a ton, I always had the necessary school supplies and a new t-shirt to wear when summer was coming to a close.  I used to love throwing on that No Fear shirt (I never was able to get a Hypercolor one) and opening up that new binder and fresh pack of #2 pencils. Well today my kids don't know how good they have it with everything that's available at their local Staples during this time of year. Here are just a few of the school supplies that I wish I had growing up!

Jansport Digital Burrito

This digital burrito (play the video above to understand why it is a burrito) is everything you would want going back to school. It helps keep all of your cords, earbuds, chargers, stylus, and more organized...and it rolls up to become one of the greatest foods in history! When I was growing up in the 80's do you know what we had to use to organize our stuff? Yellow paper folders with generic high school sports stars on the front. Who remembers those? 

Office Space Lunch

This one is for me. 99% of the lunches I make are for my kids so this Office Space lunch falls into that 1%. I don't even care that they have no idea what it is. They haven't started school yet so I need a lunch. If you have never watched Office Space, stop right now and go watch it. There are so many iconic scenes that there is no way I could fit them all into one lunch. Starting with the TPS report and ending with the fire and red Swingline stapler (which doesn't bind up like the Boston stapler) this movie is a classic in my book.

Of course I had to add Lumbergh's mug and his obnoxious dress shirt. I couldn't really figure out the actual pieces of flair on Jennifer Aniston's Chotchkie's uniform (which is represented by the green and white stripes), and I couldn't fit the minimum 17 pieces of flair in the lunch. However, I did include the "We Aren't in Kansas Anymore" one at the top right. Of course I had to have the red stapler, and my actual red Swingline, with some fire in the background. I wish I had room for a jump to conclusions mat, but I guess that will have to go in the next one.

Paw Patrol Honey Kix Granola Bars

This is a sponsored post in partnership with General Mills Cereal. All opinions are my own.

Are you even a parent of a young child if you can't name at least two members of Paw Patrol? Chances are good that you can name more than that! Who's your kid's favorite character? Is it Marshall? Maybe it's Sky? My youngest loves Chase! He also loves Kix cereal. So when we found out that Kix was partnering with Paw Patrol, I knew we had to make a fun treat out of it!

My kids will eat cereal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner so I decided to make some no bake granola bars for them. This way they can have some Kix Paw Patrol snacks as a midmorning snack, after school, or even at their siblings sporting events! These only take a few minutes to make and zero minutes to bake so you can just mix them together, use a cookie cutter to shape them, and then chill them in the refrigerator. So easy! Here is how you do it:

Back-to-School Monster Lunch with ALDI!

This is a sponsored post in partnership with ALDI. All opinions are my own.

If you are like my family, you are scrambling to get your kids ready for back-to-school! Between shopping, meet the teacher times, and signing our kids up for all the things, this a crazy time of year. This is exactly why I wanted to share this fun and easy Monster Lunch with you. Hopefully this idea can help you cross one thing off your list as you are running around trying to finish everything else. Thankfully ALDI is also here to make back to school easier. You can find these lunch ingredients, lunchboxes, and backpacks, at your local ALDI store.

We couldn't imagine our lives without ALDI. Our family has been avid shoppers at our local ALDI for a long time. Just this past year we have saved so much money by buying our groceries there. I encourage you to make ALDI your first stop for back-to-school lunch supplies, you might be surprised at the great items you find there!

For this lunch I used the new lunch containers, Adventuridge insulated lunch bags, and Adventuridge backpacks that ALDI has available at your local store. My kids loved the design of these but I loved how sturdy and well-made they were! You can check them out by clicking HERE. After you take a look at them on the ALDI website, scroll down to see how easy this Monster Lunch recipe will be for you to make for your kids!

That Time We Somehow Removed Old Vomit and New Dirt from the Same Spot on the Carpet

This is a sponsored post in partnership with Carbona. All opinions are my own.

If you've ever had kids, or more specifically carpet in a kids' room, you will get where I'm coming from. For the last year, and up until recently, we had a carpet stain on display for all to see in our boys' room. That is until we found this magical cleaning elixir called Carbona 2-in-1 Carpet Cleaner. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start at the beginning.

It was about twelve months ago and it was one of those nights where according to the clock it was coming to an end, but you had a feeling that it was only the beginning. You see my oldest son said he had an upset stomach. At first we thought we has just trying to get out of eating his vegetables at dinner. However, after a good deal of complaining we got him ready for bed along with our other kids. But as any parent knows, just because you get your kids ready for bed, it doesn't mean that sleep is coming.

Well it wasn't long after we put our boys into their bunkbeds that we hear the oldest, laying on the top bunk, telling us he "doesn't feel so good." About 1.34 seconds after that he lost his dinner. Through the bars of his bunk bed. Onto the carpet. Well my wife and I divided and conquered. She cleaned the bed while I cleaned the carpet. Or at least I tried to clean the carpet. Then I tried again the next day. Then my wife tried after that. Let's just say that long after my son had won the battle against his upset stomach, the vomit had won the war against our carpet. Fast forward a year and we had pretty much given up on removing the stain, resigning ourselves to the fact that it had become a grim reminder of that fateful night where we tried in vain to get my son to finish his vegetables.

But that isn't the end of the story. A few weeks ago, my youngest (the one with the mud smeared feet in the photo above) decided to go from the backyard directly to his room, sloshing through the old stain and creating a new one. While on one hand we were grateful to cover up the old stain, mud wasn't exactly the most ideal way to conceal it. However, after many failed attempts we decided to try a cleaner that we had only recently discovered. It is called Carbona 2-1 Oxy-Powered Carpet Cleaner. We figured we might as well try it since nothing else had worked.

Ant-Man and The Wasp Lunch

I've been wanting to make this lunch for awhile. Ever since the first Ant-Man came out, he has been one of my son's favorite superheroes. That movie was pretty hilarious and I can't wait to see the Ant-Man and The Wasp, it looks just as good. So even though it's summertime I thought it would be fun to make this lunch.

This Ant-Man lunch includes some fruit, a treat (his mask), a sandwich with a Wasp on top, and a big ant. Read below for how I made it, but one other thing that I'm excited about is that Loot Crate is featuring Ant-Man and The Wasp in their subscription box this month. Not only that but the superheroes are teaming up with The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Bill and Ted. I have been a fan of Loot Crate for awhile and can't wait to see this box especially because it includes two collectible t-shirts. If you know me, you know I love my graphic tees. So you can head to their website and subscribe by July 19th to get our own box! Click on the link here. You can even get 10% off by using code LUNCHBOXDAD.

Parent Hack: Removing Those Summer Road Trip Shirt Stains

This is a sponsored post in partnership with Carbona. All opinions are my own.

We've all had those crazy thoughts, right? You know the ones. The thoughts where we think, "Let's just pile everyone into the car and drive!" It happens to the best of us. We load the entire family up and take off for the day. This usually happens in the summertime and we go to the amusement park, the fair, or the city two hours away that has the best aquarium in the state. It's a great way to bond, find out how much patience we have, listen to that annoying kids' music soundtrack 5,000 more times, and taste some fun roadside food.

If we're honest these road trips probably sound a lot better when we're planning them than when we grasp the reality of the cleanup situation when we arrive home. The car pretty much needs to be hosed out on the inside, there's a mystery substance stuck in your hair, and you're almost positive that your kids have more food on their clothes than in their stomachs. The truth of the matter is that these occasional day trips are part of parenting and they create memories that your kids will talk about forever.

Since the memories are worth the work, I want to give you one parent hack that we recently discovered to help with the road trip stain apocalypse. One of the hardest things to clean is the mashed in food on your kids' clothes. I know, I know, sometimes you wonder if you should just throw out the clothes instead of scrubbing them. Don't do it. You can rescue them! What has helped us is a product called Carbona Stain Devils. The crazy thing is that Carbona makes Stain Devils specially formulated for each stain. I learned that the cleaner that can get out ice cream is not the same as the one that can remove grease. This is why multipurpose stain removers aren't that effective. Let me show you how we used them to clean up our kids recently.

4th of July Fruit Kabobs and Yogurt Dip

I have loved the 4th of July ever since I was a kid. It was great having a day of celebration but my favorite part of Independence Day was always the food...well and the fireworks. I'll be honest, now that I'm older, and we live in an area where awesome fireworks are legal, they are what I look forward to the most. However a close second is still the food! I thought I would make a recipe that is not only festive, but is great for parties. Check out my recipe video below for 4th of July Fruit Kabobs and Yogurt Dip to find out how to make this edible American flag for your next neighborhood get together!

Monster's Inc. Sully and Mike Smoothie Bowls!

Since it's summertime, and school's out, I thought it would be the perfect season to try to make some fun smoothie bowls. I've seen smoothie bowls all over Instagram but I have never made one. Of course we've made healthy smoothies before but they are pretty standard. I figured it was about time to up my game. Mike Wazowski and Sully from Monster's Inc. have been on my mind lately so I decided to make them my test subjects.

These definitely weren't as easy as I thought they would be but they also weren't super difficult either. The hard part is making the faces quickly before the smoothie melts. So I recommend making the two smoothies first and then putting them in the freezer to stay thick and icy. Still interested? Here is how you make them.

Ingredients: Yogurt, banana, ice, green matcha, blue matcha (thanks to match.blue for sending me some to try out), apples, chia seeds, dried cherries, cream cheese.

Directions:
1. Blend ice, yogurt, peeled apple (or any other white fruit), and banana. The amount you put in really depends on how thick you want your smoothie so I would start out with a conservative amount and go from there. After it's blended, drop in some matcha. You will want to start with a little and then add more to get the desired color.

2. For Sully's eyebrows and nose, and Mike's eye, you will want to separate a small amount of smoothie and add more blue matcha to create a deeper color blue. Then, put some small globs on parchment paper on a cookie sheet, and stick in the freezer. This will help you create the facial features. Once the globs are frozen, proceed to the next step.

3. Pour smoothies into each bowl. Cut out Sully's frozen features and place them on his face. Sprinkle chia seeds on top for his mouth and horns. His teeth and white's of his eyes are apple. Finish Sully by placing a dried cherry on for each eye. Cut a few tiny cherry pieces out for his nostrils and put them in place.

4. To finish Mike, sprinkle chia seeds on top for his mouth and chin. The white of his eye and horns are made from apple. Place the frozen blue smoothie circle that you made earlier on top of the apple and then top with a dried cherry after that. Finish with a little drop of cream cheese on top of the cherry.

Pin this Smoothie!

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5 Quick Tips to Clean Your Car for the Next Family Road Trip

This is a sponsored post in partnership with Swiffer. All opinions are my own.

As parents, we know that our car can quickly become a science experiment. Whether it's carpooling to and from school, the fun drive on a holiday weekend, or the week long summer road trip, our family cars can get disgusting. If you are like me, I don't even want to look at what the backseat looks like, much less clean it up.

This is where these cleaning tips come in. They don't take long to do and and your kids can even help out. As you can see from the video below, even my four-year-old loves using the Swiffer Duster! Speaking of which, you won't need many supplies or complicated steps to accomplish these. Just a few minutes and probably tools that you have laying around the house anyway. So watch our short video below and let me know what your favorite tips are!