Good Food to Go Cookbook Review

Good Food to Go (Healthy Lunches Your Kids Will Love and Actually Eat!) by Brenda Bradshaw and Cheryl Mutch, M.D. takes the term ‘brown-bagging’ to another level.  This book provides over 120 recipes to make delicious and nutritious lunches that will appeal to children (and adults too!).

In the first chapter, Getting Started, Brenda and Cheryl offer advice on how to organize your kitchen, the ideal equipment to store lunches (lunch boxes, thermos, reusable containers,) and tips for lean lunches. The Canada Food Guide is also included  as a reference when planning school lunches. It also contains valuable tips on how to involve children in preparing their school lunches.

The Recipes

• fruits and vegetables,
• variety of sandwiches (pinwheels, pita pockets, souvlaki, wraps)
• picnic-style lunches and snacks, soups
• super salads
• leftovers
• baked goods and desserts
• and after-school snacks

Some recipes do need some prep work the night before and others can be frozen and used as needed, both well worth the effort.  Included with each recipe is also ingredient nutrition information. . The recipes also encourage children to acquire a taste for different types of foods (Salad  Niçoise, Carrot Spaghetti Squash Soup).  Baked goods include favourites such as Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, Banana Bread, and Date Squares.

Apart from the delicious recipes and nutrition information, this book has a 4 week sample meal planner, a shopper’s guide to pesticides and resources.

Recipes Tested

Salmon Salad Pinwheels were easy to make and delicious. Some prep work was required the night before (prepare salmon salad) and the pinwheels can be assembled the next morning.  Tuna can be substituted for the salmon. (See recipe below).

Roasted Winter Vegetable Soup is just the perfect soup to warm up with on a chilly day.  I loved the taste of the combination of the roasted vegetables. As suggested in the book, I ate the soup with whole wheat bread and a hunk of cheese which made it a meal in itself.   Prepare the soup ahead and pour in prepared thermos in the morning.

Salmon Salad Pinwheels Recipe

 

Print

Pinwheels are appealing to young children, and almost any sandwich can be turned into a pinwheel. To make one, spread the sandwich filling over a small whole wheat tortilla and roll up tightly. If the pinwheel does not hold together, you can use a little cream cheese to seal it. Spread a ½-inch strip of cream cheese along one end of the tortilla. Roll up the tortilla starting with the opposite end and working toward the cream cheese, and press tightly. Using a sharp knife, slice into one-inch rounds.

Author: Brenda Bradshaw & Cheryl Mutch, M.D., authors of Good Food to Go

Recipe type: lunch

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• ½ can (7½ oz/213 g) salmon, drained and skin removed
• 1 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 8-inch stalk celery, quartered lengthwise
• 1 8-inch whole wheat soft flour tortilla
• ½ tsp light cream cheese

Instructions

1. The night before, in small bowl, combine salmon and mayonnaise.
2. Prepare celery, reserving 1 celery stick for pinwheel.
3. The remaining celery can be cut into sticks and packed with other vegetables for tomorrow’s lunch.
4. Refrigerate salmon mixture and celery overnight.
5. In the morning, evenly spread salmon mixture over tortilla, leaving a 1-inch border around tortilla.
6. Place celery at one end of tortilla. Spread cream cheese on opposite end in ½-inch strip.
7. Starting with end of tortilla with celery, rollup tightly, working toward cream cheese end, and press tightly so that cream cheese “glues” pinwheel together. With sharp knife, slice into 1-inch rounds, discarding ends. Pack in reusable container.

Notes

Pinwheels can also be made with whole wheat bread. To do so, cut the crusts off a slice of bread and flatten it with a rolling pin. Spread the sandwich filling over the bread, roll it up and slice it into pinwheels. Young children may only eat 4 pinwheels and a few apple slices or a couple of grapes for lunch. It’s always preferable for them to experience success with smaller portions than be overwhelmed by a big sandwich.

Substitute canned tuna for the salmon in this recipe, if you like".

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3.2.2708

Good Food to Go
Authors:  Brenda Bradshaw & Cheryl Mutch, M.D.
Publisher:  RandomHouse Canada
Soft cover, 228 pages
U.S. $19.95/CAN $23.95Good Food to Go

Disclosure

A copy of Good Food to Go cookbook was sent to me by Random House Canada.  The opinions expressed in this review are my own.