Papa Murphy’s Heartbaker Pizza: A Cheesy Symbol of Love

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Papa Murphy's Heartbaker Pizza: A Cheesy Symbol of Love | Duluth Moms Blog

I’ll be the first to admit it: my family and I have relied on the Northland’s fastest and most affordable weeknight meal option times too numerous to count. Papa Murphy’s pizza is no stranger to our preheated oven. I used to feel a bit guilty for not being able to always get a home-prepared meal on the table every night, but you know what? Forget that!

We’re a household of two working parents and two active children; occasionally picking up a take ’n’ bake pizza piled high with fresh ingredients isn’t a failure. It’s a great way to still get the whole family around the dinner table and eating something hot, filling, and delicious. There are nights when a Papa Murphy’s pizza checks off all the good decision boxes: my kids eat without a battle, we can walk in the door from Karate class and be digging in 15-20 minutes later, and dishes are practically non-existent.

A Romantic, Pizza-Filled Valentine’s Day

Always on the lookout for a good deal, I noticed a flyer for Papa Murphy’s heart-shaped Heartbaker pizza about six years ago. My husband was surprised when I told him he should pick one up for our Valentine’s Day “dinner date.” My oldest was then a newborn–just six weeks old–and there was no way that I was going to a) shimmy into anything sexy for dinner out of the house or b) move more than three feet away from my new baby at any given time. Nope, we wouldn’t be indulging in the most romantic Valentine’s Day we’ve ever had. We’d be eating a heart-shaped pizza and washing it down with a bottle of moderately-priced champagne. Cheers!

Those early days are such a blur now, but I remember that February 14th: the baby dozed in her swing while my husband and I laughed together quietly as we stood at our kitchen island inhaling gooey slices of pizza and washing it down with flute glasses full of bubbly. Our eyes were lined with dark circles and our rumpled clothes smelled like baby spit up, but our bellies and our hearts were full.

Love is a Happy Family

It became a sort of tradition. Neither of us have family in the Duluth area and paying a sitter to watch our daughters is a big deal. We indulge ourselves with a date night here and there, but to be honest, my favorite Valentine’s Day evenings are spent gobbling up more Heartbaker pizza with my husband and my girls. They chitter-chatter about school or play group in-between cheesy bites of pizza and I get to relax; rarely does eight dollars stretch so far as to feed and please the whole household.

Lately I’ve been feeling overwhelmed with things to do (and the pressure to do them all perfectly). But maybe a Valentine’s Day Heartbaker pizza will bring me a little perspective: My dining room table is surrounded by loved ones, laughter is ever-present, and we’ve stuffed ourselves silly.

Want to take home a Heartbaker Pizza on Valentine’s Day, too? Papa Murphy’s is selling them until February 14th for $8. Make it a Sweetheart Deal and get both the Heartbaker Pizza and one pound of cookie dough for $12.

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Heather Jackson
Heather Jackson is a copyeditor who spent eleven years living in Duluth on the shores of Lake Superior before moving back to her home state of New York with her husband and their two young daughters. Now she lives on the shores of Lake Erie (but admits that Lake Superior is called such for a reason). Her favorite pastimes include adding a splash of coffee to her creamer, reading articles about etymology and current grammar trends, and starting big projects but never finishing them. She's an Aries, an INFJ, and Enneagram 4, and enjoys taking personality quizzes on the internet.