Favorite Food Spotlight - GoPicnic

I've been on a journey the last few months to exercise every day and to be more mindful and healthy about what, when and how I eat. At the same time, I think I've pretty well established that I'm a food enthusiast, so I guess I'm learning that moderation is a virtue worthwhile embracing.

That's all background to explain the dilemma I faced in the Lambert St. Louis Airport yesterday during a layover and how my new focus on moderation led me to a wonderful new product: GoPicnic Ready-to-Eat Meals.

 At that moment in the airport, I was not entirely hungry, but I also knew it would be a while before I could eat so I looked around at my options - the usual variety of fast-food restaurants and a few other "airport" restaurants. They're all geared toward convenience and taste and offer few (if any) options that are truly healthy, so I thought a package of nuts could tide me over. So I looked for one of those newsstands that also sell packaged snacks and tchotchkes and found a "Paradies Shop," all happy with my packet of almonds and a diet coke. (Moderation is still an effort for me - so go with me on this)

Then I glanced around at the souvenirs and I stumbled on a display of "GoPicnic" options and was floored when I found one of my favorite new healthy snacks - hummus with whole-grain crackers. I saw the variety of the contents and then saw that it was selling for $5.99 (about what a fast-food meal would cost). To me, it was a no-brainer. I put the almonds back, then paidfor my GoPicnic and diet coke and went back to my gate.  As expected, about 30 minutes later on the flight I got hungry, so I opened my GoPicnic. 

Wow! There are many nice things about what they have in the package, like the Hummus being sealed in a package that opens with a little tear at the top, so you can squeeze the hummus onto the crackers. That's very important considering how little space you have in a plane seat.

Each of the other packages were easy to open and enjoy by pouring into your mouth - an advantage again because of the space constraints in a plane seat, but also because there's little need to directly touch the food so you don't need to worry about washing your hands before or after your meal. The dry-roasted edamame were crunchy and flavorful, the fruit & nut mix had a nice sweet-savory balance to it, and the dark chocolate square was 72% cacao - high enough to be healthy, low enough to taste good.

The clincher for me was the nutritional profile of this great new product - the whole thing has 400 calories, 18g of fat, 350mg of sodium, 39g of carbs, 25g of protein and 12g of fiber.  Low enough on the "bad" stuff - calories, fat, sodium and carbs; high enough on the "good" stuff - protein and fiber (with iron and calcium to boot!). Whether those numbers fit within your target criteria, one thing's for sure - it's a far healthier option than any fast food meal. I found it both tasty and filling, so I will not look for GoPicnic whenever I fly and hope some of the airlines start carrying it.

The whole package is light, portable and low-maintenance because it's slightly larger than a paper-back book (about 1.5 inches thick, 5 inches wide and 7 inches long) and requires no heating nor refrigeration.

 

Another nice surprise is the sudoku puzzle on the inside, and their fun nudge inside the flap to "Go ahead - eat the chocolate first!" I'd already eaten the chocolate by time I saw that little suggestion, so I was probably destined to become a fan of this new product. They also appealed to reach out to them via email at feedback@gopicnic.com, so I plan to send them a link to this post.  I am traveling back in a few days, so I will be looking for GoPicnic again and hope to try one of the other options.

 

I encourage you to look for GoPicnic and try it - I think you'll like it.