My Lunch Box: 50 Recipes for Kids to Make and Take to School

Halfway through the school year and I’m starting to tire of my daughter’s lunches returning home, half-eaten. But what to make?

lunchbox Chronicle Books might have the solution. My Lunch Box: 50 Recipes for Kids to Take to School is an actual recipe box containing 50 easy to make, delicious meals for school lunches. I have read that involving children in the cooking process usually leads to less struggles in getting them to eat. My daughter likes to cook so perhaps this will work. Raincoast Books forwarded a copy to us to try out.

Inside My Lunch Box you’ll find 50 recipe cards. They are grouped into one of three categories: mains, sides, treats. The front of each card contains the recipe name and all the ingredients needed, while the back outlines serving sizes and step-by-step instructions

The cards are colourful and have sketches of the food item versus actual photographs but I think this adds to the fun, funky appeal for kids. There are also a number of blank recipe cards included for writing down your own family favourites and two fun sticker sheets for flagging those really popular recipes.

I gave the box to my daughter and asked her to go through and make a list of the recipes that interested her. I was pleasantly surprised she picked equally from all three categories.

lunchbox-cookingimage The first recipe we tried on her list was A Is for Alphabet Soup. I thought with the cold weather, having something hot for lunch would be perfect. After my daughter and I gathered the ingredients listed on the front of the card we set to work. The step-by-step instructions flag any steps that require adult help, like cooking on the stove or cutting with a sharp knife. I tried to let my daughter handle as much of the process as possible, even cooking on the stove, with my supervision of course.

My daughter got right into the whole cooking. She liked to think she was hosting a cooking show and really enjoyed herself. Even her younger brother and sister watched her work. The big test of course was the next day, when my daughter took her alphabet soup to school for lunch. The container came back empty. Even my younger two were eager to eat the soup at lunchtime at home; they were very proud to be eating their big sister’s meal. The card said it made four servings but it seemed to last us a few days and I didn’t hear one complaint.

We tried some other recipes too like Catch of the Day, Pizza Pasta Salad, Bunny Salad and Turn-Me-Over Apple Turnovers. My daughter brought some of her apple turnovers to school and the teacher asked for the recipe. We actually use the filling for this on it’s own and with ice-cream too.

We have a few kids cookbooks but my daughter is drawn more to the recipes found in My Lunch Box: 50 Recipes for Kids to Take to School. I think she really likes that it’s in a recipe box; she feels like she’s cooking from her own collection. And every recipe we’ve made, or rather that she’s made, has never returned home after school.

My Lunch Box
Chronicle Books
Hilary Shevlin Karmilowiz/Rebecca Bradley
$20.95 Cdn

* Product provided for review.

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About the Author

Managing Partner and Editor-in-Chief at one of the best social networking and lifestyle sites for moms, EverythingMom.com. Trying to balance life at home with my 3 kids (all under 8), while building my business, working at EverythingMom.com and developing my writing. Oh and throw a load of laundry in and a dinner that isn't burnt. Wasn't working from home suppose to be easier?

Posted by Carrie Anne in book reviews on January 24, 2010

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My Lunch Box: 50 Recipes for Kids to Make and Take to School