Friday, April 13, 2012

Ready-to-Eat Meals from "GOPICNIC" by Ann Oliphant, CNC

Good news for we gluten-free Charlotteans this Spring!  Whether we are taking our workout outdoors to one of the local trails or once again finding ourselves wandering around the Charlotte-Douglass airport (or any airport looking for something we can eat...) we now have, courtesy of a new product from "gopicnic"...

*ready-to-eat" meals                                                            

*gluten free

*all-natural (could it get any better?!)

*vegan

*atleast one kosher

*atleast one "free of 7 common allergens" (!)

*perfect sized; re-sealable-lunchbox-style containers

*no transfats, HFCS, no MSG

*requires absolutely no refrigeration

*no sulfites; no casein

Now, as to what is inside?  On average, boxes contain a total of 400-500 calories, 9-12g of fiber and 12-25g protein. Perfection.  The "Sunbutter & Crackers" box contains a balanced meal of sunflower butter, multi-grain crackers (yes! gluten free), seed & fruit trail mix, tropical fruit bites and a double chocolate cookie.  As for the "Hummus & Crackers" meal, this contained a "wild-garden" hummus dip, multi-seed crackers, fruit & nut mix, dry roasted edamame and a dark chocolate square. 

We who have food sensitivities and intolerances know just how great it is to have a product like this.  I was told they were available at most Target stores in addition to many airports.  I did not have any luck locating GoPicnic at one local Target store here in Charlotte; my only complaint is these wonderful, save-the-day (and mood!) mini food boxes are not located everywhere.  Off the top of my head, I would say local gyms would also be a great location but as we can all probably agree, the airport food court trumps all!  If these boxes were only located in airports that would be enough but let's hope these are soon made  readily available everywhere so that kids who require special diets also have a "lunch" box they can call their own or parents, who would just like a healthy alternative to similar although full-of-ickiness conventional meal-in-a-box products. 

These boxes can be taken on long car rides and left in the car for a period of time without fear of spoilage--perfect for driving to the mountains for long weekend hikes this Spring. 

All of the products contained in these boxes are also available individually and may be recognizable to many of us; products by Enjoy Life, SunButter and CrunchMaster to name a few.  Be sure and read the boxes when purchasing; GoPicnic does make a ready to eat meal that is not gluten free. 

If you have trouble locating GoPicnic, you can find them at www.gopicnic.com or you may call 773-328-2490. 

3 comments:

Aaron & Jeannie Parker said...

I love these meals and they are perfect for just having in your bag when you don't know where life might take you. Also, if you sign up for the GoPicnic emails they will at times put these on sale. They had several of these on sale last month and i stocked up for half price.

Anonymous said...

These meals look great. I love that they are all natural and don't require any refrigeration. There's nothing like a meal that requires little work and that is good for you.

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Ann Oliphant, CNC said...

My biggest thing was the airport--it's hard enough

to pack TSA approved, get it all in a carry-on AND
squeeze some food in there. These make it so easy, simple, small and best of all, healthy. The airport food court is just gluten riddled so these are just really one my favorite new products! Thanks for your comments!