Customer Reviews

The Brown Bag Cookbook: Nutritious Portable Lunches for Kids and Grown-Ups

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The information and ideas presented in this book are basically flawless and oh so helpful. However, the big disappointment is in the recipes which are easy, yes, but unappetizing. I'm all for having an adventurous palate, but unless you're a pregnant woman with unusual cravings, most of the recipes will not appeal to the average adult, much less the average schoolchild. Still, if all you're looking for are ideas on lunch packing and presentation, it would be simple enough to substitute your and your family's favorite dishes.

I went to the library looking to preview a couple of brown bag cookbooks so I could broaden the lunch selection at my house. "P B & J or Bologna and cheese?" Those are the current two options and I thought it might be nice to pack something different every once and a while. So not wanting to buy before I tried, I found this little baby in our online library catalog and tried it out.

It is, by far, the best laugh I have had all year. After fifty pages of nutritional dribble, the author finally starts the recpies. I mean, instruction is all well and good, but I don't need that much information on *lunch*. I just want to put something remotely nutritional into my kids bag that they will actually *eat*.

That leaves me to the hysterical bit. Here's the first recipe, I KID YOU NOT.

Peanut Butter Sproutwich

1/4 cup shredded lettuce mixed with alfalfa sprouts
1 tlb lemon juice
1 tlb toasted sesame seeds
1 tlb craberry sauce or relish
4 tlb peanut butter
2 slices date bread (and next comes the tasty part)
2 slices BACON, cooked crisp and drained

I know, I know!!! I couldn't stop laughing either! I pulled myself together just to lose it again on the next selection:

Peanut Butter and Tofu Sandwich

I'll spare you the ingredients. Next comes the best one of all, recipe number three, my personal favorite from the Peanut Butter selection:

Peanut Butter and Egg sandwich

2-4 tlb peanut butter
1-2 tsp pickle relish, well-drained (oh, I like mine runny, ya know)
1 hard-boiled egg (soft wouldn't do???)
salad greens (cause apparently you can't have peanut butter without greens)
2 slices wheat berry bread

All I can say is: LOL. LOLROF. LOLROFLMAO. No, that doesn't quite do it. LOLROFLSMTKCRTSIYHAS. (Laugh Out Loud Roll On Flor So Much That The Kids Come Running To See If You've Had A Stroke.) I mean, we live near Graceland and all and are required by law to know the ins and outs of a friend peanut butter and banana sandwich, but doggone it, even The King (gracious Southern boy that he is) wouldn't have said "Thankya, thankyaverymuch." with this in his bag.

So if you are in for a really, really good laugh (one of the best I've had all year) snap this baby up. The Seawich tacos (with raw cabbage, cocktail sauce, AND mayo) are not to be missed. Five stars for comedy. None for stuff kids will actually EAT.

This book is an essential volume in our house. I agree with the previous reviewer that a lot of the suggested recipes taste pretty terrible, which is why I didn't give it 5 stars. But still, there are so many creative combinations, plenty of them taste good--the carob fudge is DELICIOUS, for example, and the peanut butter cups totally rock too--and the advice on things like how to wrap sandwiches for the freezer and how to make healthy ingredient substitutions are worth the price of the book. It's great; I use it several times a week and I almost always bring my lunch to work with me.

I can't find my old copy....Yes, it is certainly a VERY "Earthy - Crunchy" offering. But there is a recipe for tofu spread that ROCKS in this book...I am buying the whole book - just for that recipe. It is amazing!!!! I can't remember using much else from this book. But - the TOFU spread is worth the price of admission!