A small book but it is packed full of delicious sounding recipes and some really useful tips. The hacks and tips for making your lunch healthier and full of more nutrients are brilliant, I found them really useful for changing up my diet. I actually found that I used the recipes as bases for creating ones suited to my palate, because occasionally there were parts of recipes that I couldn't eat or disliked so i switched them up for things I could.
I think id check out other books by these ladies because this one has been really useful.

Packed is full of good ideas for getting the most out of your brown bag lunch with the least amount of effort. So many good ideas, I look forward to making better lunches for myself and my family soon!

Packing food is a great task. This book has numerous options for packing food be it salad , museli or soup......

Nowadays bringing your own lunch to work is trendy. It seems everyone is on a special diet, and bringing food from home is the best way to control what you’re eating. Packed: Lunch Hacks to Squeeze More Nutrients Into Your Day is a timely cookbook with dozens of great ideas for not only taking better tasting packed lunches, but also making them healthy packed lunches. Healthy food is also trendy, so this cookbook is a win-win.

There are great ideas for packaging your lunches, jars, flasks, plastics, etc., as well as how to keep lunch fresh until time to eat. The book includes lunches that can be packed in about 5 minutes, and ideas on planning and shopping ahead so that everything is on hand to make lunches for the week ahead.

The book also has ideas to save calories such as using yogurt instead of mayonnaise, pesto instead of butter, and lists ingredients that generally have additives and junk that most of us want to avoid. There are ideas for salads, soups, sandwiches, finger foods, and snacks, all of them much more appetizing that what most of us are used to.

There are great pictures, a great index, and great ideas. For anyone who likes to take lunch rather than buy fast food, this is one of the best books out there. It is highly recommended for those who are trying to eat healthy, and are tired of plain, boring sandwiches.

All told, this is an excellent book for everyone. The recipes and ideas are easy to understand and follow, and there are enough ideas in the book that everyone will find something useful for their personal lunch needs.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

I picked up Packed because I am a busy professional. Yes, that sounds cliché, but I know that I am the most likely to cheat myself on lunch. I pack often, but what I pack isn't always the most balanced. Leftovers are easy, so ta-da! I definitely don't get enough vegetables that way, and I've been in a creative slump for lunchtime meals. After the success I had reviewing some other cookbooks, I thought I'd give this one a go.

Broken into 5 sections, Alexander and Lake do a great job breaking up recipes with informational tidbits about why you should be eating/drinking these foods and how they help balance your day. For example, in an early section about coffee, they warn that you should only consume caffeine-heavy beverages around mid-morning once you've gotten some food in your belly and hydrated some. This is because caffeine, like sugar, will cause a blood sugar roller coaster, which in turn will make you irritable and hungrier. Oops. I need to rethink my morning schedule.

There is also science! Like yogurt included mood-boosting amino acids (trytophan) or oats contain beta-glucan a soluble fiber which helps maintain healthy cholesterol levels. Food science is so cool.

My favorite recipes include:
- Paprika Popcorn
- Creamy Wild Mushroom Soup
- Coconut, Pistachio, Goji Granola Bars
- Apricot Cashew Energy Balls
- Goat Cheese Dip

A great addition to the cookbook collection of an aspiring chef, particularly those new to packing lunches.

Packed did have some interesting information and ideas, but ultimately I didn't find this book very useful. It seemed like most of the recipes used unusual ingredients that I would be buying just for this one recipe (or maybe for a few in the book) and I rarely do that. I did like how they broke down that you need carbs, protein, veggies, and healthy fats in each meal, the overnight oats recipe (can't wait to try that one!), and the section on portable noodles. An interesting book but not something I would buy.

I try to take my lunch to work daily, but honestly, it gets pretty boring. Sandwich or leftovers! Which do I want today. Sigh. And my other option is to spend at least $10 and purchase something nearby (I work on a college campus, so there are a ton of nearby options, but none are particularly cheap). When I saw Packed, I was more interested in seeing some alternatives to my boring routine. While the nutritional information is kinda fascinating, it’s not really my focus - I like to eat healthier, but right now I’d go for not caving and eating a greasy cheeseburger every day (again, college campus).

Overall, Packed definitely offers up some interesting thoughts on lunch options - yes, you have your salads, but why not add chorizo, walnuts and chickpeas to some fresh arugula? Or put various fixings in a mason jar, and then pour in some hot water to make soup? Or, if you really want to keep your sandwiches, make an open faced one with crawfish and avocado. The options are pretty endless, and even though I may not make the actual recipes (for one, I’m allergic to crawfish!), I can definitely see about a million different ways to take the basic recipe and change it out for things that I can eat and will enjoy. Goodbye burgers, hello chicken and broccoli soup in a mason jar!

many great ideas for meals. I think I might use some of these this summer for hikes.

I read Packed Lunch hacks to squeeze more nutrients into your day by Becky Alexander; Michelle Lake published by Nourish this past Feb 14th while I was waiting for the arrival of a friend also very interested and intrigued about this book because it's indispensable to bring good food from home to work but the question is: what and how much? And let's also add something else: sometimes we lack in fantasy, we are repetitive.

If these problems are also your problems don't worry because the sunny authors of this book will explain you what and how you should eat for breakfast, lunch and the various part of the day, what to avoid because we could fall in sleeping mood in case and what to eat preferably. What it gives good energy and what it gives bad energy. Starting of course from good ingredients.

Fantasy talking of recipes in this cook book great and you feel a yummy! sensation while you will read it.


I love all the breakfast recipes because I am a fruit lovers and also the various soups, salads and chicken recipes.

With this cookbook no more boring lunch at work from home, no more lack of fantasy, but only joy, appreciation and the certainty of a great moment everyday to dedicate at food.

Highly recommended for sure!

I thank NetGalley and Nourish for this book.

A really useful book filled with excellent ideas to lift your packed lunches (and breakfast for that matter) out of the boring and mundane and into the homemade and healthy category. Many of the recipes are simple to prepare while others require a little pre-planning. Many of those requiring more effort actually provide 2 to 4 servings which can be refrigerated or even frozen for later.

I would say the majority of the recipes are vegetarian but there is also a good number of fish and meat variations. Therefore, this is one book that I would love to buy for my vegetarian daughter who loves interesting packed lunches.

Great ideas for workdays and even picnics for sunny days out.

My thanks to NetGalley and the editors for the advanced e-reader copy of this book!

Thanks to NetGalley and the editors for the advanced readers copy of this book!

This is a great book for working people who want to eat healthy at work and don't want to spend a lot of money. The pictures were great and I am excited to try more of the recipes. So far I have done a breakfast smoothie and one of the salads. I am excited to try the morning cookies, some of the dips and the soups!

Some positives about the book include the great pictures, the variety of recipes and the key that lets you know if it's going to be a fast recipe, one that could be made ahead or freeze well. The ingredients are fresh, real and good for you. I love that there are several that will be perfect for garden season when I am over run with zucchini and green beans.

I was disappointed that the nutritional information wasn't included with the recipe. I am diabetic and that makes it so much easier for me to know right away if the recipe will work or not. Some of the recipes also had some strange ingredients. I don't see myself ever eating Sardines, and if I did like them I probably wouldn't eat a stinky fish at work.

Overall, well done and full or things I plan to try!

PACKED by Becky Alexander and Michelle Lake has some beautiful pictures and is certainly filled with information about the value of various ingredients. However, the layout in the pre-pub Kindle version was difficult to follow. In addition, many ingredients (e.g., dessicated coconut oil) are somewhat unusual and perhaps not readily at hand for the average person. I have reservations about the appeal for time-starved cooks.

Hack Your Workday Lunches (5 stars)

After years of being a stay/work-at-home-mom I recently found myself with my first outside job in more than a decade. It's been awesome, except I was way out of practice in the packed lunch department. For kids it's often simple since mine in particular lives off of Goldfish and Go-Gurt. But when it comes to my lunch I need a little bit more to sustain me.

Packed offers some really useful ideas to improve your lunch. If you're trying to eat clean or simply just eat more nourishing meals you'll find recipes, tips and tricks, and ways to make lunchtime something to look forward to.

If you hate to cook and/or don't like vegetables and pulses I think you may find a lot of this won't really be your thing. Yet, for those who genuinely want to try things like meal prep or taking your soups, salads, and sandwiches to the next level it's a book that I think will inspire you in ways that will make meal prep or cooking feel like self-care instead of drudgery.

I am always searching for ways to simplify my life and my routine. Eating healthy and making wise food choices is something that is important to me and I am sure many others out there. While Packed has some wonderful ideas and takes an interesting approach to lunchtime fare, most of the recipes and ideas were not in accordance with my definition of a “lunch hack,” a way to use shortcuts and tricks to simplify my productivity.

Smoothies for breakfast and salads for lunch are not a relatively new concept for healthy eating options. However, there are some interesting combinations and ideas that may shake things up for you, if you are looking for new ideas. Some of the other recipes included in this book are deli plates, soups and even sushi. As you can imagine, the soups will take some effort to prepare and the sushi will require time, equipment, and skill. These techniques are unique and they are definitely a delicious approach to your standard lunch, but you will have to put quite a bit of effort into their creations.

As for the recipes included in the Snacks and Bites chapter, these are quite a bit easier to prepare. However, I still found that the number of dishes, time, and ingredients to make something as simple as popcorn was a little excessive. I made the Paprika Popcorn, which was quite tasty. The method uses coconut oil to pop the corn in a pan on the stove and a small amount of butter and paprika. I am not sure if I would go to all of this trouble before leaving in the morning, but I will concede that it is a healthy and filling snack.

Another recipe that I enjoyed from Packed was the Pick-and-Mix Granola. I really enjoy granola and it is so versatile, as you can snack on it and use it as a topping for so many other foods. This recipe calls for oil, sweetener, grains, spice, nuts, seeds, and dried fruit. What is great about this approach is you can choose from a variety of items and make it all your own. I used coconut oil, oatmeal, cinnamon, vanilla, walnuts, sunflower seeds, and dried cranberries. The recipe is simple enough, yet will require an hour to bake in the oven.

If you are looking for some different lunch ideas that have health benefits, then you may want to take a look at Packed. Many of these recipes will require time and some skill, so if a “hack” is what you are after for your lunchtime routine, this book may not provide you with those solutions. There are quite a few recipes in this book that I will definitely attempt on weekends, but most of these ideas don’t work for my busy lifestyle.

I am always looking for new ideas for lunch for my kids because I don't want them eating sandwiches every day and I get tired of sending them the same old things. I also always want to find something that I can send with my husband to his job in the ER where he works overnight. Packed is a great book full of interesting meals, that are healthy and give you many whole food options for a nutritious and tasty lunch. I like how varied the different lunches are.It's nice to get out of the soup/sandwich/salad/typical lunch foods rut. Some of the recipes I found of particular interest are the lemony lamb koftas with mint and yogurt dip, beef brisket chili, and step by step guide to rolling sushi. If you are a sandwich fan there is always a section devoted to the lunch staple, that takes sandwiches to a new level and is not your every day turkey and cheese with mayo. I think packed is a great book. These meals will probably appeal more to adults looking to save money on their lunches at work, but many of these meals are also pretty kid friendly.

This is a fabulous book for anyone taking a packed lunch or just wanting a different and healthier choice.
We get a quick run down on ingredients like which carbohydrates are good to use, healthy fats etc.
In fact it's chock full of good advice and tips
It starts with some alternatives to the morning coffee including:
Hot Morning Zinger which is lemon, ginger, mint and cayenne pepper.
Cucumber and Mint Infusion

1. GET UP a n d GO
There's breakfast layer pots, hot and cold oats, muesli made easy, muffins, frittata and so many others, my favourites are:
Good for you granola
Coconut, pistachio-goji berry granola bars.

2. SALADS a n d SLAWS
Here we get a huge selection of salads and dressings including:
Nutty noodle salad
Roasted cauliflower, chickpea, feta-pomegranate salad.
Also pick n mix salads:
Dressing layer
Energy layer
Endurance layer
Deli layer
Immune boosting layer
Leafy goodness layer
You build you salad in the above order starting with the dressing, there's so many options you could have a different salad everyday.

3. FILLING FLASkS
A good selection of soups including:
Spicy cauliflower and almond
Immune boosting soup
Creamy wild mushroom soup
Spicy chickpea and red lentil,

4. FORk-FREE mEALS
Sandwiches, dips, flatbreads, deli plates including:
Warm roast vegetable and halloumi salad
Cauliflower, green lentil and spinach curry
Goats cheese dip,

5. SNACkS a n d bITES
Crisps, popcorn, cookies including:
Raw brazil nut date —cherry slice
Apricot, cashew energy balls.

I have to mention while I'm vegetarian this book isn't there's plenty of meat options if that's what you're looking for. It's well presented and while there's plenty of pictures there isn't one for each recipe which I normally look for in any recipe book I read but this book is so good I let that slide.

I voluntarily read a review copy kindly provided by NetGalley and Nourish.

This is a wonderful book! It had lots of recipes that are quick to prepare, simple in ingredients, and portable for those of us on the go! All the recipes are healthy and rich in superfoods. The photography was stunning and made me want to run to the kitchen and start making some of the dishes! I can see everyone enjoying this book - busy parents, single people, and anyone trying to feel healthier or lose weight.
Thank you for the copy, Nourish! I will definitely recommend this book to my patients.

This is an absolutely brilliant book, and offered so much more than I was expecting. As well as great ideas for healthy lunches, there are also great breakfast ideas, salad dressings and much more. I loved this, and have already jotted down several recipes to make next week! Beautiful photos too.