this is more lunchbox inspiration (for adults and kids alike) than cookbook, though there are some basic recipes for making dinners. I would've like to see more details given on the "how to turn these leftovers into lunches" ideas--often the captions will tell you simply to "mix x, y, and z and bake" without saying what temperature or how long. A quick internet search will probably yield your answers, but it would have been nice to have just a bit more info. I did appreciate that this book focused on QUICK and EASY rather than painstakingly cute bento concoctions and may need to monitor the author's blog for ongoing inspiration. ( )

Some neat ideas.

good content but visually overwhelming ( )

This is a cool little book that gives you ideas for lunches from leftovers. Ok, that sounds like a no-brainer….you just cook extra food or take what ever is left, right?

That’s an obvious plan and one we practice quite a bit. But this book will assist with some other ideas for combining leftover meats and/or vegetables to make a completely different dish. There is a bit of humor in the book and I like that. The author talks about the packed lunches he made for his children and the questions and comments they had about his taking photos of their lunch. A different perspective.

What we did with a roasted chicken was make two different meals for lunches during the work week. Some of the leftover chicken was chunked and put into a gumbo. Now this is a hearty lunch for cold weather. Tastes good too :-)

Another dish we made. Behold a chicken and rice dish with extra broth to keep it moist. I added a wee bit of BBQ sauce to mine.

We have leftovers 98% of the time. Saves money and it’s a healthier alternative to restaurant food.

https://novelmeals.wordpress.com/2015/03/07/beating-the-lunchbox-blues-by-j-m-hi... ( )

The format of this book is great. As Hirsch says in his own introduction, it's very take-it-or-leave-it, and meant to be inspiration. Although most of the recipes (or non-recipes) weren't my taste, there were a few gems that gave me new ideas for packed lunches. Disclaimer - I don't have kids, so can't really testify to how kid-friendly these ideas are, but I pack lunch for myself and often for my SO, and I'm always looking for new ideas. My favorites - make a grilled cheese, let it cool and cut it up into cubes, and use it for amazing croutons (yup, mind=blown), and leftover beef stew empenadas instead of just plain leftover stew in tupperware (you could probably do this with a lot of things - chili, chicken pot pie filling, really any stew or even thick soup...)

Hirsch supplies not just lunch inspiration, but includes a bunch of dinner recipes that make enough to feed a family of four and have some leftovers. On the opposing page, he gives two creative ways to use those leftovers for lunch the next day, which I thought was a great idea. Even though I wouldn't make, says, the pork tenderloin recipe he gives, I do have my own stand-by and now some ideas to use the leftovers in new and creative ways. The index at the end is also super handy.

Overall, even though I wouldn't use a lot of the suggestions he gives as purely a matter of taste and food preference, I still came away inspired.

*Disclaimer: Received an advanced copy from the publisher as a first-reads giveaway. ( )