The first thing my younger son said about the new Ark Foods Korean BBQ Stir Fry Kit his older brother and I had just made for a TikTok was: “Is it food?” To which I said, “No, it’s not food. It’s good, I promise.”
I have to rewind to explain the reference.
A few months ago, I tried to buy one of those quick and easy meal solutions from the freezer case at Costco. It was by Green Giant or Birdseye, was on sale, and seemed relatively nutritious. It was one of those dump-and-go kind of things that you just throw in a pan and heat up. It included pasta, vegetables, chicken, and sauce (allegedly.)
My family—accustomed to me cooking everything from scratch or eating at restaurants—hated it.
My older son said the kindest thing he could think of: “It tastes like…food.” Translation: “This is edible but has no redeeming qualities beyond calories to burn as energy.”
So now any time we eat something that has no pizzazz, we call it “Food.”
Ark Foods reached out to me to see if we’d like to try the new kits, which contain vegetables, rice, and sauce, and our experience was the opposite of “Food.”
I had my 15-year-old make it on his own to see how user-friendly it is, and we added some pre-cooked chicken breast to add a little protein to counter my only issue with the kits. My issue stems purely from our circumstances: said 15-year-old is amid 2-a-day high school football practices and his calorie requirements are way beyond the 140 provided in a serving of this stir fry.
If I was solo, one kit (560 calories) would be a great nutritious dinner option.
So, kudos, Ark Foods, for creating a tasty kit that was not just “Food.”
