Disclosure: I’m thrilled to tell you guys about EatPakd– a brilliant way to solve Chicagoland lunchtime dilemmas- and even though I’m being compensated, all thoughts, opinions, and apple dips are entirely my own.
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Lunch is hard. Lunch is very, very hard.
Oh, it doesn’t seem like it should be, and on paper (or in backpack) you’d think the math problem would be simple. A (food items you’re pretty sure your kids still like) + B (an entire school year’s worth of backpack placement) = C (happy, well-fed children). Right? Totally. Except that there are variables. Like D (expected pickiness), E (kids in the lunchroom with better stuff than your kid), and F (those last-minute guilt buys that contain not a whole heck of a lot of “food-like” nutrients and pretty much set your feelings of lunchtime ineffectiveness into crazy, needless, downward spirals, and you wonder when you became THIS person, and why THIS person has suspiciously orange cheese fingers).
I don’t know what that adds up to.
At this point in the blog I’m wondering why I started out with a math equation.
It’s not my strong suit.
I do, however, have an ace in the ol’ lunch money pouch. It’s called EatPakd, and it’s a great Chicago company who knows you want healthy, tasty, affordable lunches for your family- and you want it easy as ABC.
You can choose from their standard Paks for Chicagoland (up to 50 miles from downtown!) delivery on your terms (and days of the week), or even customize your own! They’ve got great stuff, too. Maybe you like the Mediterranean Orzo Pak, with its pasta salad with feta cheese, served with red and green grapes, sugar snap peas with roasted red pepper hummus, and yogurt pretzels? The Classic Pak, with a turkey, tomato, mozzarella and spinach sandwich on whole wheat bread, served with cucumbers and grape tomatoes, a blackberry and raspberry mix, and chocolate cacao cookies? Or maybe you’re a gluten-free gourmand, and would totally dig the Gluten-Free Wafflewich Pak: A SunButter and Jelly sandwich on a whole grain waffle, served with a grape tomato and cucumber mix, mango slices, and chocolate-filled raspberries. Sounds ridiculously good, right?
There are so many options and combos (including a Veggie Club Pak), and P.J. and I had fun designing our own lunches. He chose gluten-free baked chicken, fresh mango slices, a grape tomato and cucumber mix, and sliced apples with a yogurt crunch dip. The “Keel’s Combo,” (‘cause yeah, you get to name ‘em and literally no one makes me lunch so this is terribly exciting and needs to be labeled with my name in as many places as humanly possible) consisted of a roasted chicken Caprese salad, fresh mango slices (I cannot turn down offered mangoes, ever), sugar snap peas with roasted red pepper hummus, and the sliced apples/yogurt crunch dip awesomeness.
The verdict: Delicious.
The fruit and veggies were crisp, fresh, and perfectly ripe (no slices drenched in syrup, here)! The chicken- for both dishes- was tasty, although P.J. agreed his nugget-like options would have been even more awesome heated up. (And I could have happily eaten my Caprese salad every day. Which works out well, since I saved it as one of my weekly options.) And that yogurt crunch dip dessert? Once we finished our apple slices, I later discovered that we both devoured the rest of the dip solo. (P.J. apparently slurped his while I opted for a spoon. I am a lady.)
Pak’d is currently offering an amazing opportunity to try their service at no cost! For the back to school season, your first week of an EatPakd subscription is free! Even the delivery fee! It’s super easy to try out a 4 Pak ($26/ week), 8 Pak ($50/ week), or 12 Pak ($72/ week)! Do it now, peeps, because this offer won’t last long (and neither will your lunches if you leave ’em on the counter- trust me on this one).
Bottom line: Pak’d is an incredibly marvelous way to ensure healthy, happy bellies– especially if you let your kiddos in on the weekly, online meal-planning. Or, in the case of the two lunch-happy grownups in my household, opt for a specialized lunch for yourself.
It’ll guarantee that you’ll eat superbly well at least once a day.
You know, like before you had kids?
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