Cookbook review: Beating the Lunch Box Blues by J.M. Hirsch

Tired of the same old peanut butter sandwiches in your lunch box? Want something healthier for your kids than those processed lunch kits? J.M. Hirsch felt the same way and decided to do something about it. He challenged himself to make lunch more interesting for himself and his family. As a result, he began a blog called Lunch Box Blues where he chronicled the school lunches he created for his son. Eventually his idea took off and thus Beating the Lunch Box Blues was born.

Beating the Lunch Box Blues is not so much a cookbook as a place to find inspiration. It's a flip book of sorts. Look through the pictures and discover how you can transform leftovers or find which convenience foods will actually make for a healthy, satisfying lunch (hummus, anyone?).  Every page contains full color photographs of a  new and creative way to map out a delicious lunch every day. 

Now to be clear, Hirsch is not an advocate for the Pinteresting of lunch here. In the very first paragraph he declares, "if you're one of those people who somehow finds the time to craft sandwiches into cutesy animals, or carve cheese into flowers and hearts... Congratulations! And good luck with your therapy. Now go away." Beating the Lunch Box Blues is anything but cutesy. It's practical and takes the drudgery out of packing your family's lunches.

But just in case anyone reading this review is saying to themselves, "But I like my cookbooks to actually have cooking in them," do not fear! Hirsch includes 30 dinner recipes that can easily be transformed into delicious lunches the next day.

Some of my favorite suggestions from the book are:

• Using frozen items such as puff pastry or phyllo cups to create different vessels for leftovers (my personal favorite use of puff pastry was to create pinwheels with ham and cheese)
• A honey brie sandwich: sourdough bread, a schmear of brie, and a crunchy, dripping hunk of honeycomb
• A mac and cheese grilled cheese
• Add pesto to grilled cheese
• Make extra pasta for dinner and use the extra for pasta salad the next day
• Place hunks of feta on pita bread and drizzle with honey
• Since cut apples brown when exposed to air, cut an apple in half, core it, spread peanut butter over the cut side and then dunk in grape nuts or granola. 

An example of a page from Beating the Lunch Box Blues

Beating the Lunch Box Blues is the first book to be published under the new Rachael Ray Books imprint and I'd say it's a slam dunk. I look forward to seeing what more Ray has in store for her readers and fans.


Beating the Lunch Box Blues by J.M. Hirsch
Published: September 3, 2013
Publisher: Rachael Ray Books
Pages: 208
Genre: Cookery
Audience: Adults
Disclosure: Library Copy

Happy November!

Three reasons why I'm excited it's November:

1) My birthday

2) NaNoWriMo

3) NCTE convention in Boston where I'll be presenting for the first time and also working as a staff member. I'm not gonna lie, #3 is the one I'm most excited about. :)

Dystopian Giveaway Hop: Divergent by Veronica Roth

For my portion of the blog hop, I am giving away a copy of:

Divergent by Veronica Roth
Format: paperback (with bonus materials)
Published: April 25, 2011
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Pages: 487
Audience: Young Adult

Goodreads Summary:
In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

Terms and conditions:
Must be 13 or older to enter and have a U.S. mailing address
One winner will be selected
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It's Monday! What are you reading? 10-28-13

Originally hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, Jen over at Teach Mentor Texts along with Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers also host a kidlit version of It's Monday! What are You Reading?

Last week I reviewed:

Red Kite, Blue Kite by Ji-Li Jiang, illustrated by Greg Ruth
Augustus and His Smile by Catherine Rayner


Other picture books I enjoyed last week:

I'm a Frog! by Mo Willems
It's hard to ever go wrong with Elephant and Piggie and I love their newest adventure. It's all about the importance of pretending. 

 
Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne
A perfect book to use when talking about character point of view as this story is told from the perspective of four different characters. In addition, the off-kilter illustrations of using apes instead of humans, along with some other surreal elements makes for one intriguing read aloud.

I Dare You Not to Yawn by Helene Boudreau, illustrated by Serge Bloch
Think yawns aren't contagious? Just read this book in front of a group of kids and watch the yawning ensue. I'm yawning right now as I write this.   

This Monster Needs a Haircut by Bethany Barton
Silly book about a little monster named Stewart in desperate need of a haircut but likes his hair just the way it is. The illustrations are a riot and the story is fun and entertaining. I didn't quite get why Stewart and his dad wrote letters to each other on walls and doors, but it was still fun regardless of my head-scratching on that one.

When I was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Diane Goode
Honestly, Red Riding Hood Was Rotten!: The Story of Little Red Riding Hood as Told by the Wolf by Trisha Speed Shashkan
Both of these would be great mentor texts to use in the classroom, the first one could be a writing prompt, letting students write about "When I was young in..." and the second one could be used to discuss point of view, unreliable narrators, and also adding detail to writing.
 

Books I'm currently (still) reading:

The Nine Lives of Alexander Baddenfield by John Bemelmans Marciano
Finding the Heart of Nonfiction by Georgia Heard


Books I'm reading with my ears:

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman

Augustus and His Smile by Catherine Rayner

Augustus the tiger was sad. He couldn't find his smile. So he set out to look for it. He searched high and low: in the mountains, ocean, and desert. He just knew it had to be hiding somewhere.

A simple yet beautiful story about finding something that was there all along. Catherine Rayner's music, cadence, and pacing are simply brilliant. Who knew a gentle tiger could teach us so much about happiness and being present in the moment. A book written for kids but certainly one adults can learn from too. 

I'd love to write more but sometimes the best book reviews are the shortest. I'm hoping this is one of them.


Augustus and His Smile by Catherine Rayner
Published: April 18, 2006
Publisher: Good Books
Pages: 28
Audience: Primary
Disclosure: Library Copy
 

Red Kite, Blue Kite by Ji-Li Jiang, illustrated by Greg Ruth

Tai Shan and his father, Baba, don't fly their kites on the ground. Instead, they go to the roof of their house, "above but still under, neither here nor there." To them, the kites represent freedom and their unbreakable bond as father and son, the red kite being "small and nimble," the blue kite "big and strong."

But then a dark time descends on Chinese history, something called the Cultural Revolution. This is a time when, in order to assure that citizens do not "stray from the Communist path," people are tortured, beaten, and put into prison camps for even the possibility that they might have differing views.

Baba is one of those people who is put into a labor camp, but before he leaves makes a pact with Tai Shan: every day at sunrise, he will fly his red kite so Baba can see it from camp, and in return, every day at sunset, Baba will fly his blue kite so Tai Shan can see it from Granny Wang's farm.

But one day, Baba stops flying his blue kite at sunset and Tai Shan is afraid for him. Where is Baba? Will Tai Shan ever see the blue kite or his Baba again?

Red Kite, Blue Kite is based on a true story: that of the author's family friend who is the little boy of Tai Shan. It is truly a testament to the beauty and resilience of the human spirit, especially when you realize that this really did happen. Greg Ruth's illustrations further add to the emotion of the story, picking up human expression and feeling where words fail. This could be the first step of a reading ladder toward books like Red Scarf Girl also by Ji-Li Liang and Revolution is Not a Dinner Party by Ying Chang Compestine. The author's note at the end of the book gives just enough information to fill in some knowledge gaps for young readers, but is also vague enough that will compel students to read further about this era in world history, which is when a teacher can swoop in and show them books like Red Scarf Girl.

In addition, Red Kite, Blue Kite could also be a mentor text to discuss symbolism with students since the red kite and blue kite clearly represent the relationship between the father and son. 

Overall, this is a beautiful story that can speak to a variety of age groups.


Red Kite, Blue Kite by Ji-Li Jiang, illustrated by Greg Ruth
Published: January 29, 2013
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Pages: 32
Genre: Picture Book
Audience: Primary/Middle Grade/Young Adult
Disclosure: Library Copy

Skillet Tamale Pie

When I first started learning to cook I found recipes all the time in cookbooks that I wanted to try. And often I would also try many recipes and then deem them worthy of putting in my regular repertoire of meals. Not so much anymore. I don't know if I'm just getting bored with cooking or if I feel like I've exhausted all of my culinary options.

So it was refreshing for me to not only pull out one of my cookbooks off the bookshelf this week and attempt a new recipe, but it was also exciting that the recipe was so good that I decided I would definitely be making it again.

The recipe came from Rachael Ray's Just in Time cookbook from 2007 and it is skillet tamale pie. What also excited me about trying this recipe is that I discovered a new use for my rice cooker: making polenta. I'd also like to note that I halved this recipe since I was only making it for my husband and me, and I only used ground pork, no ground beef. In addition, I decided to use mozzarella instead of cheddar or Monterey Jack because, well, I just felt like it that's why. :)





Skillet Tamale Pie

4 cups chicken stock
2 cups whole milk
2 bacon slices, chopped
3/4 lb ground beef
3/4 ground pork
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
3 to 4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspooons ground cumin
pinch of ground cinnamon
salt and pepper
15 oz can tomato sauce
2 cups quick cooking polenta
A handful of fresh cilantro or parsley, finely chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar or Monterery Jack cheese

Preheat broiler to high and place oven rack 1 rung beneath the highest level.

Combine chicken stock and milk in a pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Whisk polenta into the stock/milk mixture for 5 minutes or until it is thick and masses together in the pot. Fold in cilantro or parsley.

While you're waiting for the stock/milk mixture to boil, crisp bacon in a large, oven-proof skillet, then add the ground meats and cook on high until meat is browned, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add onion, bell pepper, jalapeno and garlic, and season with chili powder, cumin, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes or until veggies are soft, then add the tomato sauce and cook 1 minute more.

Spread polenta over meat mixture and top with cheese. Place skillet under the broiler to melt/brown the cheese and set the polenta, about one minute. Serve directly from skillet. (Leave the oven mitt on the skillet handle as a reminder to yourself not to touch it or you WILL burn yourself if you're anything like me!)

I will be making this again. It was delicious!