Thursday, January 14, 2010

What's for Lunch?

I spent some 15+ years as a desk jockey. Most days were packed full of code and report writing, meeting and managing, pointless PowerPointing, and plenty of office politicking. Some people thrive on that stuff, finding it meaningful and thrilling; to me, it was an energy drain.

So with this jaded outlook, you'd think that lunchtime would be the best part of my workday, right? Well, yes and no. Yes for the days I got to ride my bike. Oh glorious lunch rides! But definitely "No" for the days when I joined ranks with the other thousand automatons making the daily drive to restaurant row. Don't get me wrong, I liked my coworkers and their company. It was the food that was the problem. Chili's, Chevy's, Wendy's, Jack in the Box.... there's really no difference. And more and more, what you get at those establishments can hardly be called food. GMO corn with bacteria genes inserted into its DNA? Freaky!

Some people microwaved frozen lunches instead. Have you seen the ingredient lists on those things?? Should you really need a PhD in Chemistry to understand what you're eating? Some days I'd bring a brown-bag lunch my sweetie made me that morning. PB&J ...again. I'd eagerly anticipate... would it be strawberry or marmalade today? Sigh.

Fast-forward to 2010. I don't work in an office anymore, and I don't eat at those kinds of "restaurants" either. But lunch is still a dilemma sometimes. Strawberry or marmalade? Now it's up to me to decide.

So today I finally tried Organic Living Santa Barbara. I've been hearing the buzz for months... wonderful variety of lunch entrees, made fresh daily from locally-sourced organic ingredients, delivered right to your home or office. They'll even accommodate your vegan, vegetarian, or meat-eater preferences.

Here's what I got today (click the picture to read the label, and you don't need a PhD in Chemistry):


It was delicious! I actually ordered two meals, which was enough for dinner also. Such a tasty and sensible way to solve the lunchtime dilemma. And way more healthful and environmentally responsible than eating at those chain restaurants.

As an aside, today I rode my fastest time up Old San Marcos in at least nine months. Coincidence?? I don't think so.

3 comments:

Kimberly (aka. DrKim) said...

Awesome! I second that! The lunches don't seem to make me ride uphill faster, but they do give me the energy to ride uphill a lot more than I used to, which is definitely a good thing! I've been getting 2 a week since they started, and I LOVE it!!! My whole office loves it...they drool over my lunch every day until I come pick it up.

Great service, and Kim Lyons is one expert cook!

Kk said...

That looks so awesome (forgive the comment redundancy but, hey). Too bad I'm in Los Osos now! Definitely going there when I get back.

Marco Fanelli said...

Hey, maybe OLSB will deliver to Los Osos! Or someday have a kitchen up there.