Weelicious Lunches: Think Outside the Lunch Box with More Than 160 Happier Meals – A Cookbook for Parents: Quick Recipes and Strategies Kids Will Love

by Catherine McCord

The founder of the wildly popular Weelicious blog and author of Weelicious offers dozens of recipes and tips for healthful and flavorful lunches for kids of every age Weelicious, Catherine McCord’s first book based on her wildly popular website, has become a beloved cooking essential for families everywhere. But while moms can control what their kids eat at home, they don’t see what happens once the kids head out the door. Determined to improve what kids eat at school and on-the-go, McCord now offers innovative solutions for quick, delicious, easy-to-make, kid-tested and mom-approved lunchbox meals little ones and their older siblings won’t be tempted to swap,

• Chicken Satay Bites
• PB&J Pancake Sandwiches
• Pumpernickel Tuna Melt
• Chicken Salad Roll Up
• Chopped Veggie Salad
•Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons
• Carrot Hummus
• Cinnamon Pita Chips
• Chocolate Graham Crackers
• Nature Cookies

Filled with beautiful color photographs, lists of lunchbox favorites, ideas for clever lunchbox products, tips for picky eaters, facts on food allergies, and dozens of recipes, Weelicious Lunches makes it easy to get kids eating healthy.
 
 

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food, Parenting, Health, Foodie

320 pages, Hardcover

First published August 20, 2013

Reviews

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always struggle with what to feed my kids for lunch, so I picked this up hopeful it contained some easy meal ideas with a little bit of novelty tied in. And it certainly delivered that. The recipes were incredibly simple, and although they got a bit repetitive, are just the sort of thing most school aged children would want to eat. They are also quick and easy to prepare, a key factor for moms.

I wish that McCord would have done a bit more about assembling a complete lunch. She gives some suggestions, but personally I would have liked her to give more guidance on a weeks worth of meals or something of that sort. I also found the same problem that I encountered in her first book. She tends to get a little superior, and honestly, it can be rather discouraging to your run of the mill mom. Goldfish and Jell-O pudding are not deep fried twinkies and I wish she would have taken more of an "average mom" approach to how she analyzed childrens' meals.

[Marilee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This cookbook is geared towards making kids' lunches healthier and more fun. My boys are old enough that they make their own lunches, but I will be trying out some of these recipes anyway. In particular, there were a lot of snack recipes like granola bars, nutrigrain bars, and different types of crackers that I want to try making because I am so tired of giving my money to huge companies for their over processed snacks, or paying even more money for slightly healthier versions. The reason I'm only giving this book three stars is because though the recipes looked great, the writing was overly cutesie. I think the author was going for "fun," but ended up with "annoying." You can give background stories with the recipes without using words like "sammie" for sandwich and "hubby" for husband and they can still be interesting.

[Penny McGill · Rating 3 out of 5]

As far as cookbooks-intended-to-help-you-feed-your-kids go this one was okay. Many of the recipes were interesting and were not filled with expensive ingredients that would send you to 2 or 3 specialty stores but I didn't love the 'tone' of the book. I never really felt as if Catherine McCord and I were on the same page. A second clue for me was that Alice was never drawn to the book. It is rare that she doesn't find a cookbook compelling and this one didn't fit the bill for either of us. So, if you are just going to flip through and find recipes that suit your family it is a good cookbook but there was very little pleasure in the flipping through.

[Mandie Lowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

There really is something for everyone in this book. Every type of lunch imaginable and then some can be made by following the easy instructions. Most of the lunches are so easy, they don't even need a recipe, but I wouldn't have thought of it myself. I definitely recommend getting this book if you need inspiration for packed lunches.

I took off a star, because I felt there was a lot of unnecessary writing before we got to the recipes and I didn't enjoy the author's voice, which came across as holier-than-thou, particularly when talking about her children's good food choices.

[Patti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great ideas for kid lunches. I sub whole wheat flour for some recipes to make them healthier, but overall not bad.

[Lauren G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up from my local library, and I like it so much that I'll probably buy my own copy! I previously saw this on the shelf but didn't check it out as I thought it would probably take a lot of prep work, since the author is a Food Network chef. I flipped through all the recipes and found so many things I think my 3-year-old daughter will really enjoy. Most of the recipes are super simple to make and don't require any special ingredients. The author has fantastic ideas to jazz up the typical PB&J or lunchmeat sandwiches, along with neat recipes for snacks, veggies, and dips. I get stuck on rotating the same 3 things for my daughter's lunches, so this book will be a huge help to get her eating new and different foods. The recipes don't just have to be used for lunch either, they'll be good for any meal of the day. I can't wait to give all these recipes a try!

[Karley Nawrocki · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this cookbook did give me many good ideas for lunchtime meals, I found it to be a bit repetitive & lacked images. Images are extremely important for me in a cookbook because I often times find it hard to want to make a recipe when I can’t see what the end result will be. Maybe that’s just me, but I would have preferred a picture of every recipe that was included. Also not a huge fan of all the abbreviations like “Sammie” instead of sandwich & “hubby” instead of husband, like it’s just too cheesy for my liking. But I found a fair amount of good recipes & ideas for both snack & lunch time so it at least deserved three stars.

[Pamela Hubbard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Healthy, easy, and fun ideas for school lunches. They are simple enough for kids to help create and the fun factor ups kids' willingness to try new things. This will be a regular reference for me during the school year!

[Whitney Pittsenbarger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not vegan, not gluten free but sugar is low and these are easy enough to leave out allergens. Not all of the recipes have been a hit but some have really appealed to me girls.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got several recipe books for lunch ideas and I liked this one the best. All of the recipes are fairly easy, use good ingredients, and are foods my kids will eat.

[Reba · Rating 1 out of 5]

Repetitive and uninspiring.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just when I think I'm about as granola as it gets (after all, I'm eating a bowl of my homemade tabbouleh while I write this review), I go and read a book like this that completely sets me straight.

I might as well be picking up my kiddos' lunch from the local 7-11 compared to what this mom does. Sheesh! I mean - homemade Nutella. Baked whole-wheat raspberry doughnuts. Eggplant burgers. Whole grain fruit-filled bars. Wow.

Still, as inadequate as this book attempts to make me feel, I refuse to get down on myself for the shortcuts we do take. After all, our girls have been using their Laptop Lunches bento boxes for their school and camp lunches for six years and I always encourage them to pack healthy lunches, filled with fruits, vegetables, and healthy proteins. But I do let our girls pack their own lunches and I know that pb&j (or often pb&n if they use Nutella instead) is a standby favorite.

So, while it took me a long time to peruse the different recipes, I'm not sure how many we'll adopt into our lunch-making routine. I do appreciate that many of the recipes are simple enough to make and appealing to young children.

I used the book more as an inspiration to help us get out of any kind of stagnation, hopefully inspiring our girls to think creatively when making lunch. It's a good book, but it promotes a level of homemade goodness that I will likely never achieve.

[Zibby Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the first book, Weelicious: One Family, One Meal, the author says, “I'm very familiar with the inner mom-ologues. Why can't I make just one meal that satisfies everyone in our family? Why won't my kids eat anything I make them?” This is a resource on how to make kids great eaters from day one.
Kids crave simple foods. But kids need to try a food fifteen times to like it. When you look at "Weelicious," even the most complex recipes are simple and fun and easy. Kids don't want thirty depths of flavor and thirty ingredients.

The author had a lot of good recipes for lunch. She said you want lunch to be engaging visually as well as delicious. If you send the lunch in a bento-style lunch box, they can see their choices. Also, to try and have something crunchy, something smooth, and something more toothsome. Cutting things in different shapes and maybe putting a dip. Lunch should be fast to prepare, but we can still make it more fun and engaging.

To listen to my interview with the author, go to my podcast at:
https://zibbyowens.com/transcript/cat...

[Jeri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book here and received it last week. My 11 yr. old daughter was excited to see a cookbook just for her lunches she takes to school most everyday. She immediately started marking recipes to try and she found an absolute hit for her and her friends at school. It was the Banana Dog Bites. Her friends are now looking in her lunchbox everyday to see what other "goodies" she's bringing to school and might possibly share with them.

This book uses very healthy food, not the typical lunchbox fare that you would usually find in lunchboxes. Some of the foods used my children or I have never heard of or been exposed to so we will all be experimenting in trying something new and hopefully finding new favorites. In my opinion, if a picky 11 yr. old can find something in here to please her and her friends at school so can everyone. Just pick it up and try it!

[Laurla2]

-my usual cookbook complaint: not pictures for every recipe. there are a fair amount of pictures though. but there are also random photos of things like bunches of carrots, trays of tomatoes, herbs, and farmers markets. i'd rather have pictures of more recipes.

-thinks putting only ONE slice of bacon on something makes it a BLT. nope! a BLT is a bacon sandwich with other stuff on it. not an 'other stuff' sandwich with a token piece of bacon on it.

--recipes i thought looked interesting:
-beet carrot salad
-apple cinnamon charoset
-shredded chinese chicken salad
-fruity cottage cheese salad
-minestrone pasta soup
-cheesy waffles
-easy croque monsieur
-grilled cheese and pickle panini
-radish salad
-caramelized onion dip
-cucumber yogurt dip
-peach fruit leather
-ham and cheese muffins
-toasted pepitas and sunflower seeds
-fruity delight

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I have no children, I still found this really helpful. I have post it notes for all the recipes I want to try! I was getting discouraged at first while looking through it because as usual I can't find too many recipes in 'normal' cookbooks since I am dairy, soy and egg intolerant, but then the post it notes had to come out! Since she's trying to be healthy for her kids, some of the recipes I'm able to have just because she doesn't load up her kids' meals with things they don't need. I've already made the granola bars and have eaten at least 5 of them! I love that I didn't have to tweak the recipe for me like usual, and they are delicious!

[Nona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you for the first reads giveaway. I always love reviewing a good book. This is a lovely cook book. It is well organized and easy to use plus the photos of the food makes it appear very tasty!

Some of the recipes have ingredients I don't typically keep on hand but are not going to break the bank to purchase them either. Some do seem a little redundant though. Some have exactly the same ingredients only you use a waffle iron instead of baking them... just little twists like that. Good ideas though.

Thank you again for this and I'll be sure to pass it around!

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great ideas. Got this out of the library, may put it on a Christmas list at some point. My one concern: the way she talks about food is pretty elitist. I mean, is artificial food coloring really the enemy? Should parents feel bad if they feed their kids goldfish? I don't think so, but that is the world that the author comes from. Still, the book is absolutely worth perusing for healthy kid friendly meal ideas if you take her blurbs with a grain of salt. I loved the whole wheat blueberry lemon muffins - surprisingly tender for being made with all whole wheat flour.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of good ideas for lunches in this book. I tried the chicken and rice soup, though I used chicken breasts rather than a whole chicken. It was very tasty, the whole family enjoyed it. I tried the tuna pasta salad as well, it was good, though I'll make a few modifications the next time to fit my flavor preferences better.

The recipes are easy and the book is well laid out. They can be adapted easily to adjust for your family's tastes.

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Goodreads for this First Reads win!

I was excited to get this recipe book. It is a beautifully made book. The directions on the recipes are clear and easy to follow.

After first flipping through the book, I was a little disappointed to see that some of the recipes seem unrealistic for children, however, I am open to trying them for myself.

I still have many of these recipes to try and will update this as I try more!

[Alissa Nolan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another beautiful Weelicious cookbook. I recieved a complimentary copy of this book from Goodreads. This second Weelicious cookbook was amazing. There are tons of great lunch suggestions, even my picky eaters will enjoy. I have not tried any recipes yet, but ran out of bookmarks, marking the recipes that we want to try. At the top of the list are the veggie burgers and the apple ring pb&j. There are lots of great pictures, to give you presentation and packing ideas too.

[Alisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this author. I appreciate that she wants to use real foods and getting kids to like real foods. I have made several of the recipes in this book and my kids loved them, as well as the adults. Most what I love is that she thinks outside the box in what you can serve children. Will be taking a look at it again.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cookbook that has recipes that are easy to make with few ingredients and that I will actually try. I like that she includes a variety of foods so that there are some new types of foods that I could introduce to my kids but again they seem pretty easy to make and not expensive. I got this book from the library, but would like to get a copy for myself to keep.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know most of these things are for lunches but they do have some stuff that I really want to try :) There is the grilled cheese and pickle panini, pizza balls, stuffed pizza rolls & the pumpkin muffins with cream cheese icing(yummy!!).


**goodreads giveaway**

[Amber]

I preordered this one and was thrilled to see it on my kindle this morning. Am looking forward to yummy, non processed fabulous ideas for lunches this year (as I have been informed mine are rather dull)

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bright, colorful cookbook, usable lunch ideas, lots of good-looking recipes. I've tried several and liked them. Her instructions are clear, and I like that so many of the recipes have photos. I already like and use her website. I also love that she includes an allergy chart and tips!

[Heydi Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am on a low-sodium regiment and found many recipes in this book that I will be trying. I'm so excited about all the different hummus options and several of the homemade granola bars. I have about twenty recipes to try. I can't wait!

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great cookbook for wonderful lunch ideas for kids. They look so yummy adults will eat them to!

[Kelly Koorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy, accessible lunch ideas. Great inspiration for my toddler's preschool lunch and snacks for the whole family too.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little book with some good ideas. My only wish is that every recipe had a picture. We shall see how many things in here my boy will actually eat.