THE ULTIMATE SEASONAL LUNCH BOX
Autumn
By: Audrey Schaerrer
Published: September 22, 2022
Publisher: Clink Street Publishing
Cookbook
Finding fun and inventive lunches for your kids to take to school or to their next soccer meet or an all-day tournament can be hard. You are tired of making the same old turkey sandwiches and they are tired of eating them. Audrey Schaerrer has written over fifty healthy recipes that you will enjoy preparing and your kids will love that they are new and different from the usual lunchbox items. There are even recipes your kids can help you prepare to encourage them to take ownership in their meal prep. When your kids help prepare the meal, they have more opportunities to make choices about what goes into their lunchbox and they will naturally start making healthier choices.
Audrey Schaerrer has been a practicing nutritional therapist and food specialist in Europe for over twenty years. She is a mom to an 11-year-old girl and through her cookbook, she hopes to highlight the importance of having your kids in the kitchen with you whenever possible. Audrey wants her recipes to help busy parents make healthy choices while providing fuss-free and delicious meals.
Since the author is in Europe, many of her recipes use the metric system. But using google to convert grams to cups is easy. Some of the ingredients might have different spellings than in America or are in a different format, but overall, you can get an idea of what would make for a comparable substitute. From the recipes I chose to create, I had no trouble making them work in my American kitchen.
I forgot to buy the pita pockets on my recent shopping trip, but I will definitely be making the Greek Pitta Pockets soon. I always forget how much I love Greek food and these pockets would be fun for kids to fill with their own toppings.
A couple of the recipes I did try were the Japanese-Style Autumn Noodles and the Chia Seed Pudding. The Chia Seed Pudding was quick to whip up before I went to bed and was a nice treat to have with my lunch. If you like the texture of tapioca pudding, this is similar. It would also be good with berries or granola added on top.
I really loved the Japanese-Style Autumn Noodles. This was also a surprisingly quick meal to make and would be perfect for making the night before and assembling into lunch boxes in the morning. This may just be my new go-to lunch. You could easily switch up the veggies to pea pods or carrots or even add mushrooms.
Do I think that maybe not all kids will be excited about the meals in this cookbook? Yes, but from what I have learned from having a child with food and texture issues, it is all about starting early. As soon as your kids can eat solid food, offer them what you are eating…fresh fruits and vegetables, varied flavors and textures, and stay away from processed food. Then your child won’t have a taste for that already. Keep trying to introduce new foods and don’t be afraid to send something new along in your child’s lunchbox. They just might give it a try at school.
This cookbook has simple instructions and shares gorgeous photos of the recipes to make them easy to add to your meal plan. For families who are looking for ways to change up their child’s lunch boxes or even their family meals, this cookbook offers a great place to start.
To purchase a copy of THE ULTIMATE SEASONAL LUNCH BOX: AUTUMN, click the photo below:
Other posts you might like:
I will be linking up this post as part of The Intrepid Reader’s Weekend Cooking. Weekend Cooking was started at Beth Fish Reads back in October 2009. For more than 10 years, like-minded bloggers shared their posts each week. It is now hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader. Weekend Cooking is open to anyone that has a food-related post to share including a book review (fiction or non-fiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. Grab the button and link up on Saturdays, but you can post any day of the week.
Thanks to the publisher for sending a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. This review is my honest opinion. If you choose to make a purchase through the above links, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase.
Posted Under Audrey Schaerrer, Book Review, cookbook, non-fiction, Weekend Cooking