Posted by
Sara on
Friday, September 5th, 2014 with
4 Comments
Back away from the pop-tarts and donuts. Starting the work day off with a healthy office breakfast available to your staff can do many things – it can add to the health and well-being of your employees and let them know that they are appreciated. But providing a nutritious breakfast every day or even just during morning meetings can also help de-stress a busy morning, with breakfast being one less thing that staffers need to worry about before heading into work. A nutritious start to the day can help increase metabolism and assist with keeping employees in a good mood throughout the morning. It’s easy to get crabby when you’re is hungry, but if staff have had a tasty and filling breakfast, they’re more inclined to stay bright and optimistic throughout the day. If you provide your employees with a good start with complex carbohydrates, fiber, and lean proteins, your star team will feel great and productive all morning long!
Swapping donuts for oatmeal is only one way to serve a healthier office breakfast.
Image source: Flickr user galant
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Sara on
Thursday, September 4th, 2014 with
Comments Off on Invite a Fun-gi to the Company Catering Table: September is National Mushroom Month Comments
Oyster. Crimini. Chanterelle. With so many varieties of mushrooms, you could spend a good chunk of September – National Mushroom Month – eating a new mushroom dish for lunch every few days! From the ubiquitous white button mushroom of pizza lovers everywhere to the more exotic enoki, a main ingredient in some Asian soup stocks, these edible fungi are not only delicious – they can lend to healthier meal choices for the company catering table.
Mushrooms are a low-calorie ingredient that can be an easy substitute for meat, and they are packed with nutrients, too. A serving of mushrooms is loaded with selenium, potassium, niacin, and vitamin D. But more importantly, when you add mushrooms to your company catering plan, your employees can benefit from a vegetarian-friendly spread for Meatless Monday, or even just a change of pace from the regular catered choices.
Mushrooms can be found in all kinds of company catering fare, from Japanese to pizza.
Image source: Flickr user benchun
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Posted by
Sara on
Wednesday, September 3rd, 2014 with
Comments Off on Office Party Idea: Today is the Perfect Occasion to Host an Afternoon Tea Comments
Need a celebration during the work day? A professional milestone, a birthday, or how about just an ordinary Thursday afternoon at the office? A staff tea party is a fun way to show appreciation to your employees, unwind after the completion of an important project, or just provide an occasion for co-workers to get to know each other a little better, in an HR-friendly alternative to a monthly office happy hour.
An afternoon tea is an unconventional, HR-friendly choice for an office party! Image source: flickr user oh_darling
Today, September 3rd, is the birthday of Anna Marie Russell, the Duchess of Bedford and, more importantly, the inventor of the classic afternoon tea. Read the full article…
Posted by
Sara on
Tuesday, September 2nd, 2014 with
2 Comments
Sure, chicken is pretty ubiquitous when it comes to our meals in this country. In fact, it’s recently surpassed even beef in popularity among meat-eaters, with Americans on average consuming about 60 pounds per year. But that doesn’t mean that chicken has to be boring or served every single day.
September is National Chicken Month, and there’s no better time to expand your chicken horizons than during this tasty celebration of all things poultry. Use this month to discover new mouth-watering chicken dishes or reacquaint yourself with old favorites, whether you’re planning lunches for work meetings, catering training sessions, or providing food delivery meals for your staff during late-night, busy office projects. You can liven up the work place by choosing exotic and special chicken dishes, or go comfort food style with time-tested, all-American classics!
Fried chicken is a classic way to celebrate National Chicken Month.
Image source: Flickr user goodiesfirst
In addition, chicken doesn’t just taste great – it has a lot of wonderful health benefits to add to the mix. It’s lean and high in protein, a good source of the mineral selenium, and it’s packed with important B vitamins. Offering your employees healthy and delicious chicken food delivery options for lunch can help boost energy, productivity, and liven up the workplace. Read the full article…
Posted by
Sara on
Monday, September 1st, 2014 with
4 Comments
When you’re considering office lunches this fall, don’t forget to keep an eye towards eating seasonally! This food trend is one that finally just makes sense (unlike the cronut, perhaps): fruits and vegetables taste best during the time of year that they’re naturally at their peak of flavor. And autumn, waiting just around the corner, is all about hearty vegetables, robust flavors, and healthy, bountiful choices.
While summer foods suggest bright and flavorful stone fruits and light, bright tastes, the brisk autumn months translate into beta-carotene-packed slow-cooked vegetables, leafy greens, and warm, exotic spice blends featuring ginger, turmeric, fennel seeds, and spicy chile peppers. September through the beginning of December, the list of seasonal foods and fall flavors is almost as long as the warmer months’ offerings. And with many restaurants offering choices that feature nutrient-packed autumn superfoods that taste just as amazing as they look, you’ll have no problem livening up your office lunches!
Butternut squash soup is one example of a fall favorite!
Image source: Flickr user valkyrieh116
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Posted by
Sara on
Friday, August 29th, 2014 with
Comments Off on From Healthy Office Snacks to Jumping Jacks: 5 Easy Ways to Boost Creativity in the Workplace Comments
Would you believe that simple tactics like having healthy office snacks or doing some brief exercises at your desk can help provide a jump-start to creativity in the workplace?
It’s true — creativity isn’t a static personality trait. Rather, it’s simply a way of thinking – coming up with novel solutions to old problems, or being able to spot connections between seemingly unrelated concepts. And as any artist can tell you, creativity ebbs and flows over time.
Feeling stuck in the “ebb” part of the equation? You may be in luck. In recent years, social scientists have undertaken research that has uncovered many easy “tricks” that can help promote the kind of unconventional thinking that’s crucial to creative work.
A sense of play can help promote creativity in the workplace.
Image source: Flickr user DAXKO
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Posted by
Sara on
Thursday, August 28th, 2014 with
2 Comments
When it comes to company catering, it’s easy to get stuck in a rut: pastas, chicken breast, the occasional hand-carved hunk of roasted meat. But if you would like to really make an impression and deliver a delicious and healthy meal, it might be time to get fishy.
Seafood may not be the most common catering choice, but it certainly is a smart one! Fish is healthy, feels a little more special than chicken or beef, and is full of nutrients that help promote cognition and focus — the perfect recipe for a mid-day break in a long day of meetings, training sessions, or other work-related events.
Seared ahi tuna is a delicious (and healthy) alternative to the same-old pastas and chicken breasts on the company catering table.
Image source: Flickr user philliecasablanca
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Posted by
Sara on
Wednesday, August 27th, 2014 with
6 Comments
Workplace wellness isn’t just a buzzword, or a six billion dollar industry: for companies with the most effective wellness programs, it’s a way of life at the workplace. And while there are many complex factors that go into making a wellness program successful, most experts agree that the keys include awareness, engagement, and accessibility. Employees need to know about the program, feel personally invested, and be able to easily participate.
One very easy, very hands-on way to make wellness more visible and accessible in your office? Lunch and learns. Bringing coworkers together, providing a healthy meal, and delivering engaging content about employee wellness can really drive home the message of making health a priority. Lunch and learns accomplish exactly what their name suggests: they combine food and knowledge, and when done in a wellness-themed way, can have a powerful impact. After all, a lesson about how whole grains are a better choice than refined flour will be much more likely to stick if you can make an immediate association with the delicious quinoa salad on your plate.
A wellness-themed lunch and learn is an opportunity for hands-on participation!
Image source: Flickr user blucier
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Posted by
Sara on
Tuesday, August 26th, 2014 with
1 Comments
In America, Southern food is rich food — hearty and slow-cooked, unafraid of bacon drippings or copious amounts of red meat. In Thailand, Southern food is intense food: it can be very spicy, very sour, and sometimes very fermented. It’s the regional cuisine of Thailand to seek out if you want to really spice up your office meals, and enjoy a flavorful, fragrant lunch in the middle of an otherwise dreary work day!
Southern Thailand is the home of rich, creamy sauces, Indian-esque curries, and a certain vegetable known colloquially as the “stink bean.” It’s also more representative of the kinds of dishes you find in American Thai restaurants (usually), although they can be considerably toned down for Western palates. While Northern Thai food is influenced by its neighboring countries (Burma and Laos), Southern Thai dishes have been slowly altered by the migration of Muslims from the Indian subcontinent. And since a large chunk of Southern Thailand is surrounded by the sea, fish play a big part in authentic Southern Thai dishes.
Vibrant khao yam is a fragrant rice salad from Southern Thailand.
Image source: Flickr user saucesupreme
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Posted by
Sara on
Monday, August 25th, 2014 with
8 Comments
Thai cuisine is one of the most popular food delivery staples across the country. And if you’re like most Americans, plates of pad thai, bowls of curry, and spring rolls dipped in peanut sauce tend to be your go-to orders… but while all of those are delicious dishes, that’s really only scraping the surface of what Thai food is all about. There are two major types of Thai cuisine: the southern style, which is heavier on curries and influences from India, and the northern kind, which is much less commonly served in Stateside restaurants. Northern Thai food tends to be a little funkier, a little spicier, and a lot less familiar to our American palates.
Khao soi is a delicious introduction to the world of Northern Thai food delivery.
Image source: Flickr user ryansnyder
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