Thursday, July 28, 2011

Veggie Fun


This Week's Bento Lunch

Veggie Fun

Want to have some fun with your veggies? Try rolling them up into a sushi roll! We paired our sushi roll with some fresh fruits and veggies from our farmers' market along with a PB&J to create a well-rounded, healthy, and fun bento lunch.

Friday, July 22, 2011

100-Mile Diet Recap

We're going bananas here!

Well, I wouldn't take it that far but now that we've just about completed this month's 100-Mile Diet Challenge, we are looking forward to adding some of our favorite non-local foods back into our diet... and bananas are on top of just about everyone's list.

Going into this challenge, we were all very nervous and everyone seems to agree that it was the most difficult challenge we've done so far, but it also may have been the most educational and rewarding. We've missed our apples and bananas but we are happy to have discovered some amazing local finds such as sweet corn from Salinas, squash blossoms, and delicious berries and have discovered tastes that we may not have explored if not under these circumstances.

This challenge also led us many of us to make new friends from within the foodie community and taught us about an amazing local food delivery service in Santa Cruz: http://santacruzlocalfoods.com/. Santa Cruz Local Foods provides an online marketplace filled with products from within 100 Miles of Santa Cruz. You shop online and either pick up your bounty at one of their pick up locations set up throughout the week or they will deliver them to you on bicycle. Their service is amazing and the vast array of local foods they offer is incredible. They took a lot of the legwork out of this challenge for us and made it possible for even more of us to be successful throughout the week and for that, our bellies are thankful!

Moving beyond this challenge, we will all put a lot more thought into our food choices and will try to support our local farm community as much as possible. Eating locally does come with a price tag but having the chance to be further involved in our local community and economy and filling our bodies with fresh, local foods is a pretty great return!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Santa Cruz Bento Lunch


This Week's Bento Lunch

Santa Cruz Bento Lunch

This week our office has been trying to stick to a 100-mile diet as part of our monthly challenge series. This challenge has led us to get creative with local products and has given us an even greater appreciation for the fresh tastes of our town. We hope you'll either enjoy this Santa Cruz lunch or get creative with some of your local favorites.

Friday, July 15, 2011

100-Mile Diet Challenge


This weekend, the Laptop Lunches staff members are likely to be found at one of the several Farmers' Markets around town. As part of this month's weekly challenge, we will be on the hunt for foods that were grown within 100 miles of Santa Cruz. Yes, that's right, we've chosen to follow the 100 mile diet for 1 week... and we are nervous!

Of course, we all choose to support our local economy as much as possible and we are lucky to live in a community abundant with locally produced goods but, after some thought, we've realized that many of the staples in our diet cannot be found locally. We will definitely be missing our coffee, tea and bananas but we are also excited to learn more about local products and to discover new flavors and possibly even a local can't-live-without product or two.

To learn more about the 100-mile diet, visit the following link: http://100milediet.org/faqs.

Strength is in numbers, so please let us know if you're in!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Potluck Bento


This Week's Bento Lunch

Potluck Bento

Summertime means potluck time for us; and we love potlucks! To help bring some of the fun spirit of summer with us to the office, we decided to put together a couple of our favorite potluck dishes for this week’s bento lunch. Here’s to great summer memories every day of the week!

Friday, July 8, 2011

Sweet Bento


This Week's Bento Lunch

Sweet Bento

It’s important to indulge a little bit every once in a while, so this week we chose a bento box that is sure to satisfy just about anyone’s sweet tooth. Although this bento is full of treats, we chose to use wholesome goodies, so we hope you’ll enjoy the indulgence!