I was super excited about this book and was hoping it would kick me off into developing a healthy lifestyle and mindset. I find myself still a work in progress on this, but this book had a lot of great and useful ideas and recipes

"Let's Fix Lunch"

With lunch being the one meal I hate dealing with, I was happy to try out this cookbook.

The recipes had ingredients that were easy enough to find. The photos of the food were gorgeous. I found that a lot of recipes were more "dinner" items for myself.

Of the recipes that I attempted, the family enjoyed them.

I was very interested in the tips about reducing waste. I am sure that lunch is the one meal that involves the most amount of waste.

This book looks amazing and we will consider purchasing for our library. Unfortunately I didn't have time to make too many recipes before my viewing window expired. I looked at it immediately and was very impressed, but I neglected to get back into Adobe Digital Editions and really make use of it. My fault for missing out.

Let’s Fix Lunch! is more than just a cookbook. It’s a manifesto for reducing waste. That makes it a welcome addition to my cookbook shelf. I try to reduce waste as well. The cookbook focuses on lunch which means there are plenty of snacks, salads, soups, and sandwiches.

There is an impressive example of cooking basics that can be used to create additional meals throughout the week. I looked at it in awe and with the absolute acceptance that I will never be so organized. I usually decide what to cook when I start cooking. Still, it was impressive.

Some recipes are thrilling such as the Persian Herb Frittata. I love manakeesh, the delicious form of Lebanese pizza, and this looks like an easy and flavorful alternative. The cheddar onion slice and bake crackers are another winner. The barbecue chickpeas are wonderful. I have roasted chickpeas for snacks so many times, but never before with this much flavor. I love Waldorf salad and I love sandwiches, I have never thought of a Waldorf salad sandwich.



Let’s Fix Lunch! offers delicious and accessible recipes that are easy and use ingredients most people have on hand without a special shopping trip. It is also great at setting people up for a week of meals with some weekend preparation. I acknowledge that part is just pretty to look at for me, but for people with little time for cooking, it could be a life-saver.

I also appreciate the effort to advise people on how to reduce food waste and storage waste. That is why Stasher, a company that makes reusable silicone storage bags to reduce waste. I just rewash my plastic freezer bags over and over and over until they start to leak, but reusable permanent bags are a smart idea in the long run. This is a forward-looking cookbook with easy and delicious recipes.

I received an e-galley of Let’s Fix Lunch! from the publisher through NetGalley

Let’s Fix Lunch! at Chronicle Books

Kat Nouri, Erin Scott, & Stasher

Let’s Fix Lunch is a book I definitely needed in my life! Making lunches in the morning is always a stressful event and actually doing lunch prep beforehand always seemed like an ‘adult’ task that I could never accomplish.

Let’s Fix Lunch focuses on a few different aspects of lunch. It focuses on eliminating one-use plastics, which every single person should get on board with. It focuses on lunch prep and the basics building blocks of successfully prepared lunches and even offers a few meal plans!

The recipes focus on everything from on the go snacks to soups to pasta dishes! All of the recipes were simple and easy to follow and included beautiful pictures! I personally can’t wait to try making the bagel bites and the Italian bread soup because they both looked amazing!

Not as Lunch or Recipe Focused as I’d Hoped

As I feel lunch is a meal that often gets overlooked, I was intrigued when I saw this book at one of my favorite book review sites. Note the little blue circle on the cover. I hadn't realized that this book was going to be so much about reducing the use of plastics rather than just lunch recipes and tips. The part of the book before you get to recipes has a lot to do with using less or no plastics in food preparation or storage. The author also goes into some things to have on hand and make so throwing together simple lunches is more easy, like cooking rice and steaming greens beforehand. She even provides a list of items you can prep on Sunday and the recipes you can use them later in the week.

I wasn't impressed with the recipes. Many seem so common, like spins on white hummus, chicken caesar salad, and a chicken pesto sandwich. None is particularly inspiring. For all the talk about this book being about lunch, there are only 18 lunch recipes here, including six each of soups/salads, sandwiches, and grains/pasta. The other recipes are for grab-and-go snacks like bars and what will be used as ingredients in other recipes, like balsamic caramelized onions. I just don't feel like lunch was really the focus of this book, which is what I was hoping for.

If you already have some Stasher bags, or want to learn more about them, this book is a great resource, for sure, BUT I will say you don’t need them to use some of the recipes and tricks in this book to pack more eco-friendly lunches as well as find some creative ways to make packed lunch less boring for your taste buds.

I tore through this one pretty quickly, bookmarking a lot of the recipes and rethinking how I can make my own lunches more eco-friendly. I have switched to flannel paper towels (I made them myself) and have invested in reusable silverware just for packed lunches. I am looking at the best options for reusable plates and bowls and have plans to sew my own silverware holder for on the go, but there’s always room to do more. Reusable bags like Stasher are great, but also, reusable wrap (to replace disposable aluminum foil and single-use cling wrap) are small things I didn’t think about before, but I am stocking up on the essentials.

I loved the easy, portable recipes as well. Lunch can get pretty boring, as can most of my meals (working two jobs means eating on the go A LOT), so it’ll be nice to incorporate some of these recipes into my routine.

This book is out now, so definitely give it a go if you’re looking for a recipe book from the angle of reducing waste.

Let's Fix Lunch feels more like a lifestyle guide than a cookbook to me though, in saying that, I did enjoy perusing it. It just wasn't what I was expecting. It was lighter on the recipes than I like, and heavier on the Stasher self-promotion, and advocating for eco-friendly choices, but that's to be expected when the author of the book is also the founder of the company.

I adored all the gorgeous and colorful photos that adorned each page, showcasing the recipes beautifully. The only thing missing was the nutritional facts of each recipe. I am always disappointed when cookbooks do not include such pertinent information.

I am horrible at meal planning, and found the weekly meal prep table to be incredibly helpful. I am also empowered and inspired to become more eco-friendly than I already am. The statistics of food packaging waste that is included in the book is staggering, and opened my eyes to how much of a problem this is not only for our generation, but for future generations. I want to do my part to lessen these statistics. I also love that a portion of every Let's Eat Lunch book sold will go to No Kid Hungry program, which is an amazing perk to purchasing a copy for yourself. Not only are you getting educated, and getting some yummy recipes, but you are helping feed others.

As far as the recipes go, many of them did not really fit the taste of my family, but I did bookmark a few recipes to try later. The Spinach-Feta Frittata Sandwich sounds delicious, as well as the Italian Tomato Bean Soup that I am planning to make once fall really kicks in. I have always wanted to make my own hummus, and am considering the White Bean Hummus recipe to be my first!

Though I was disappointed in the recipes themselves Let's Fix Lunch is a beautiful presented lifestyle book that has little golden nuggets throughout, a few new recipes, and great tips and reminders to help the environment. I enjoyed looking through it and look forward to trying a few of the recipes.

Let's Fix Lunch! has some pictures that could be spread over social media. Gorgeous and colorful! The recipes had nice spices listed in the ingredients, a few that I would like to try (apple streusel, frittata, and those BBQ chickpeas). There was some prep work to be done for some of these recipes which is fine as I do a lot of prepping for weekly meals on Sunday already. Directions seemed to be written well and I like the fact that there was lots of reusable items like cloth bags among them. Definitely earth friendly with hints about recycling.
Almost every recipe there was a stasher bag listed so it made the book feel like a constant advertisement. Maybe that was what the author was going for when writing this cookbook. Unfortunately, those bags are just not in my budget but could other ways to be earth-friendly. Beautiful cover that will surely capture the eye of many. Thank you to the author, Chronicle Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I only had a chance to try one recipe from this book. It was the tuna pesto salad and it was delicious. I think there were some helpful tips for lunch, which is the hardest meal for me to figure out. It feels like it comes out of nowhere and we have to drop everything to figure out what we are going to eat to get us thru the rest of the day. Have a cookbook that focuses on that meal is a fantastic niche to have. And of course in a day and age where so many of us are working from home we need more ideas that keeps us full when our favorite takeout is more limited.

Loved it. All the recipes looked amazing, and I can't wait to try them all. Liked the pictures in the book as well. I really want to get my hands on a physical copy.

Loved this collection of accessible and delicious lunch recipes. As a parent with a child who has severe nut allergies, I loved the nut free pesto recipe included in this collection. The orzo with ham and buttered peas was also something I was able to make during a lunch break, easily and with a very warm reception for the whole family!

I just need to stop looking at cookbooks. I always think I'm going to like them and then I get frustrated when nothing sound appealing or requires ingredients I keep on hand. Photographs were beautiful and things looked tasty...just not for me.

Let’s Fix Lunch by Kat Nouri was full of tasty, yet simple recipes. I love that several of the components were made from scratch. One, it helps reduce waste, and two, items taste better when you make them from scratch.

There are several zero waste ideas for items you can use such as silverware and ideas on packaging your meals. There are also several helpful icons that can help you prep or figure out what is best for you to make at the time. Lastly, I liked the prep table for the week. I am horrible at planning my meals ahead and so a table that lays it all out is extremely helpful.

I received an eARC from Chronicle Books through NetGalley. All opinions are 100% my own.

This book is full of not only recipes, but also truly yummy photos and tips for how to reduce waste. Overall, the recipes seem simple and I always appreciate recipe books that have such a vast amount of vegetarian friendly options. The eco-friendly tips are helpful, without being overly preachy. Fair warning that this there are product plugs for the author's company, but it seems always good to say Stasher Bags or an alternative.

I think with recent trends towards being more environmentally conscious that this is a good addition to most public libraries. While some of the eco-tips might not be practical for those living in very rural areas, others are still manageable.

There weren't a lot of recipes that fit my palate and this book wasn't quite what I was expecting although a few recipes sounded great (tuna pesto pasta salad and chicken pesto sandwiches to name a couple.)

This book relies on many make ahead ingredients so when you add up the food prep time plus the recipe, many of these are not simple enough for lunch in my opinion.

In addition this was an eco family cookbook which seemed like a long advertisement for Stasher, the author's company.

Thank you Chronicle Books and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Good ideas, pretty pictures and all. I’m still not sure I will meal prep lunches, but it is nice to pretend I could be as organized as this. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sharing Let’s Fix Lunch with me. I have bookmarked quite a few recipes.

This was a nice, quick read. It appeals to adults needing to make lunches for themselves and their children, but I'm sure teens would enjoy looking at these ideas. I especially liked the example meal plan included. I was looking for lunch ideas for this school year. With the pandemic, we do not have access to a microwave, so I am trying to find creative, tasty options. this book did provide several ideas, and I love that reusable containers and waterbottles were encouraged. There was quite the variety, and I appreciated the list of options for different carbs (grains mostly) at the beginning of the book. You can certainly build many meals on these ideas.

Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for providing a copy of this eARC for review.

Lunch is a meal that definitely needed fixing at my house. While my husband and I both work from home (including pre-pandemic) and aren’t guilty of creating the waste from grab-and-go meals and takeout containers that Nouri describes, this title appealed to me from both a recipes and solutions standpoint. Our struggle is actually taking a break and preparing and eating a healthful mid-day meal, so I was delighted to come across a lunch-specific book – and bonus (!) it benefits No Kid Hungry.

We are already fairly environmentally conscious household, yet I appreciated the inclusion of litter-free tips for those can benefit from the nudge and new tips. Additionally, the full-color photos are beautiful and make the recipes even more enticing. In full disclosure, I’m a pescetarian with a nut allergy, so there are quite a few recipes in Let’s Fix Lunch that wouldn’t find their way onto my plate. I will also note that I expected a “planet-friendly” cookbook to be 100% vegetarian focused, or at least stick to sustainably sourced fish vs. including several chicken and beef recipes. I chose three test recipes – one each from the Condiments, Sandwiches, and Pasta sections. The results were delicious.
1. White Bean Hummus – This is the first hummus recipe I’ve ever made from scratch, and it was creamy and flavorful. With Nouri’s added suggestions for mix-ins, I’ll never go back to store-bought. A keeper!
2. Spinach-Feta Frittata Sandwich – I modified this recipe quite a bit, substituting my own pesto recipe, which uses sunflower seeds vs. pepitas, using a square baking dish to make the frittata vs. a Stasher bag, forgoing the mayo, and toasting the focaccia. The end result was a yummy sammie suitable for brekkie, brunch, or lunch.
3. Tuna Pesto Pasta Salad – Again, I substituted my own pesto recipe, and also used edamame in place of green beans due to personal preference. I had never had pesto pasta with tuna before, which upped the lunchy factor for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed the flavor combo.

For me, the biggest success of this book, was that it inspired me to actually take a break and prepare and enjoy a delicious and delightful mid-day meal. Ultimately, I would have given this book 3.5 stars, my biggest issues being the limited content, inclusion of meat-based recipes in a “planet-friendly” cookbook, and constant salesy-ness of the Stasher brand mentions in so many of the recipes – and several preparation instructions that require them. That said, in a three-or-four-stars-only landscape, I’ll round up because we can always make modifications, and the environmental tips and hunger charity tie-in are an uplifting touch – like purchasing carbon offsets for a private jet flight that included meat dishes and too much self-promotion.

This book has everything I like in a cookbook- beautiful pictures, easy recipes, and no nonsense tips and advice! With many home working/long distance learning, this is a perfect time to try new lunch ideas. Loved the crispy barbecue chickpeas! One thing I would like to have seen , though, would be nutritional information with each recipe.