99 of 101 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
fabulous find!, October 23, 2000
This review is from: Brown Bag Success: Making Healthy Lunches Your Kids Won't Trade (Paperback)
This book is part cookbook, part menu guide, part nutritionist, and completely a fabulous find. The book is a great resource for parents who don't think they can make one more peanut butter sandwich. There are great ideas that would please any taste buds, and there are definitely picky ones at my house! There are time saving tips included, as well as a list of items to have on hand to make packing those lunches a little easier. Two of my childrens favorite items are: Flour tortillas with melted cheddar cheese in between, cooled and cut into triangle wedges; and a "sandwich" with cheese and ham rolled and cut into pinwheels! I cannot write enough positive things about this book. It is FAB!
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41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not as healthy as I had hoped, May 31, 2007
This review is from: Brown Bag Success: Making Healthy Lunches Your Kids Won't Trade (Paperback)
"Healthy" is a somewhat relative term. The homemade recipes inside this book are certainly healthier than processed junk food, but I don't consider ingredients like chow mein noodles, american cheese or mini marshmallows to be "healthy". The usual topics found in healthy cooking books like the importance of whole grains, the pitfalls of trans fats or the importance of using organic produce, are pretty much absent from "Brown Bag Success". However, in terms of making lunches kids will like, eat and not trade, the book is filled with ideas. If you have a child who really will not eat their homemade lunch, you are bound to find some ideas in here that will help.
As another reviewer already noted, the recipes are heavy on peanut butter. I would say about one third of the recipes are peanut butter based. So if you have a child who loves PBJ, and you just can't make another one, then this book might just be for you. My daughter really doesn't like PBJ anymore, so they aren't much help to me.
On the other hand, some of the non peanut butter recipes look good enough to eat myself. The "Apple-Cinnamon Sandwich" puts a cream cheese-apple-walnut-celery spread between slices of raisin bread. The "Mini Drumsticks" are chicken wings soaked in an asian marinade and then baked. The chicken tabouleh salad and sweet coleslaw look good as well (But I'm not sure my daughter would so much as touch them. She dislikes most salad.) The baked goods all look good as well.
All in all I just don't feel most of these recipes are healthy enough for my family. My daughter has a bit of a weight problem, so I have to be really careful with what she eats. On the other hand the ideas for making a packed lunch more appealing to children are helpful and some of the recipes look tasty.
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35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simple Ideas and Recipes for Great Lunches, June 30, 2005
This review is from: Brown Bag Success: Making Healthy Lunches Your Kids Won't Trade (Paperback)
I reviewed 6 different books looking for suggestions on lunch preparation for my 3 year old daughter. The presentation tips, menu planning and recipes I found here helped me to be better equipped to provide nutritious and fun lunches for my daughter. Many times I buy lots of books and take bits from each, this is an instance where one book has all of the information you need to get started.
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