A Candied Walnut Eating Squirrel School Lunch Recipe

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

Over 50 years ago, my wife's grandfather bought land in Northern California and over time built it up to be a working cattle ranch. My wife has enough memories there to fill up her own blog! My kids also grew up going there and one of their favorite memories at the ranch is gathering walnuts with their grandma and eating her famous walnut pie. Well, I might not be up for baking or serving walnut pie for school lunches, but I did the next best thing and created this candied squirrel school lunch with California Walnuts!

The thing that I love about walnuts is that when you are feeling drained in the middle of the day, a few of them in your lunch can really boost your energy (or your kid's energy) to help you finish your afternoon strong. This lunch can help with that. While I made my own candied walnuts as a nod to my mother-in-law's walnut pie, you can also substitute homemade toasted walnuts instead to use less sugar.

This cute squirrel sandwich is one of my favorite parts of the lunch. I love how you can pack broccoli around it for trees and pretzel sticks as tree branches for the squirrel to sit on. For the sandwich itself, I cut two slices of whole wheat bread into the shape of a squirrel. If you have a squirrel shaped cookie cutter, it is even easier.

I also cut a third piece out of the heel in the shape of the tail. This gives it a darker and bushier appearance. You can stuff the sandwich with your child's favorite filling. I also "glued" on a raisin for the eye using a dab of honey. Don't forget to surround the squirrel with toasted or candied California walnuts to make it appear as though it is chomping down on a snack!

Cheese and veggies are always a great choice for a side dish! I used snap peas and then metal cutters to make leaves out of slices of cheese. It's the little details like these that help this lunch come together!

You can make your own trail mix by combining your child's favorite walnuts, dried fruit, and seeds. I used candied walnuts, dried mango, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, and sesame seeds. This mix is sure to give an after-lunch energy boost!

This year don't forget to help your whole family #ChooseLunch and maybe even assemble this squirrel lunch to help your kids feel extra special during their school day. Remember to head to www.walnuts.org for even more lunch ideas that your family will love!

#lbdbento