Office food - - IDEAS?

Elena posted an experience in her office yesterday that kind of got me thinking . . .
Why is it that everytime someone in the office wants to recognize someone or celebrate something they do it with food?  And it's never GOOD FOR YOU food, it's always stuff that nobody needs???  And I do it too.  In fact, was thinking about baking brownies to take to the office next week for my staff.  Ugh!!  There has to be other things we can do. How else do YOU celebrate besides food?   Ideas??? 

I think we celebrate with food at work because we can't celebrate with beer during the work day.    It's easy, tastes good, we can munch at our desks, and it feels like a treat during the grind of the day.  I don't have much to contribute as far as alternatives really, I'm just trying to explain the psychology of it as I see it.

There are probably alternatives to celebrate or recognize employees, but what that is that doesn't require you leaving the office or spending a lot of money or taking time away from the day...I don't know.  I'd be curious to know!

Meanwhile, I was planning on baking chocolate chip cookies for my co-workers tomorrow!  I do know the guys I work with (mostly men) would rather have choc chip cookies than a bowl of pretzels or a bag of rice cakes.

I am also the baker at my work.  But what my coworkers don't know is that what I'm baking for them is usually made with Splenda and as many sugar-free and fat-free things as I can use.  I usually make a trifle with angelfood cake, sugar free cool whip, sugar free pudding and mixed frozen fruit.  All healthy things.

I'm not sure of a way around the food at an office for a celebration either, they almost seem to go hand in hand, don't they? And in tradition of breaking bread with eachother, I guess it makes sense in a way.

Have you ever brought in fresh strawberries and a bowl of the ricotta fluff? OMG! YUMM-O!!! And I serve that at almost every event & it always gets rave reviews.

Our office used to take off & go bowling or golfing once in a while, so it was active vs. food related, but not all offices are open for the expense or time away. But it was a really nice perk that everyone looked forward to.

I would rather our supervisor(s) allow us to wear jeans on a non-Friday day of the week.  Sometimes a casual day is more worth it than having a bunch of food sitting around.  Usually when we have "goodie days" I find myself wanting more veggies and fruit WITHOUT the brownies, bars, cookies, doughnuts, etc.

OMG!  I love the extra jeans day idea AND the activity after work.  That would so work for us.  Thanks everyone!

Wow, this is a hard one....if the is a function to bake for....I'm willing to bake.  It might be a little differnt for me since I was a professional baker for over 10 years....I take pride in the fact that I can make people happy by what I've made.  I don't know if I'll ever stop baking because its a huge part of who I am.  As a matter of fact, even though I'll start my liquid diet today, I promised the kids, I would make cookies with them after school today.  I'm pretty lucky because I don't really care for sweets...but find my fresh homemade bread is a weekness, which is why I won't make any for a long time. 
You have a good point about being healthy foods to an office party!  Because I do love to make I think that when there is a party, I'll bring a baked good but also bring something healthy!  I plan on coming to the Christmas party....so, you'll have to see what kind of healthy food I bring!!

Miss you and still wished you were still my boss!!

~Calie

That is the way we were brought up!  Instead of food, though, how about flowers?  I can't think of anything for guys off the top of my head, but really, any kind of recognition should be appreciated.

If food is the ideal, how about fruits and veggies instead of cake?  There are many times when I would much rather have some fruit than cake, although I am not a big cake eater.  Apples with peanut butter/FF cream cheese is awesome, too!