10 Tips for Hosting a Safer Pandemic 4th of July Party

After sheltering in place for months and spending holidays chatting through Zoom, many are ready to gather once again and socialize with loved ones. What better excuse to get out and enjoy the day than the 4th of July!

While the idea of family, fun, fireworks, and really great food sounds like a dream, it’s important to gather safely and maintain proper guidelines as recommended by the state and health organizations.

While planning your fun-filled fourth celebration, keep these 10 tips for hosting a safer party in mind:

Tip #1
Opt for a more intimate party with a limited number of invited guests. How many people can your backyard or party space accommodate? Take that number and divide it in half or thirds. That is the ideal number of guests to invite.

Tip #2
When making the guest list, take age, and health concerns into considerations. If anyone in your family is sick, recovering from an illness, or immunocompromised, you may want to avoid the risk of exposure.

Tip #3
Keep an eye on the weather. While it is optimal to have your gathering outside, so that guests may social distance effectively. If it rains your party has to move indoors so have a rainy-day plan as well.

Tip #4
Prior to the party starting, space tables, and chairs to adhere to the social-distancing protocols

Tip #5
Keep drinks, condiments, and food items individually packaged and self serve. Try condiment packets and chilled cans of soda pop in a cooler. Instruct guests to only take what they intend to use.

Tip #6
Keep at least 2 designated areas for hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes nearby.

Tip #7
Provide masks for your guests if they plan to be within 6 feet of each other. You can purchase fun, patriotic-themed masks from sites like Etsy. These masks make cool party favors that your guests can also take home.

Tip #8
Disinfect all high-touch areas with a disinfecting spray and/or wipes before and after the party, and at least once during if possible. Any household disinfectant should do the trick.

Tip #9
Keep the designated party restrooms stocked with hand soap, hand sanitizer, and paper napkins to avoid sharing hand towels.

Tip #10
Avoid sharing food, open containers, and buffets. Instead of your traditional 4th of July foods, opt for pre-packaged, or prepared meals that will meet the needs of your party guests, while keeping food safety guidelines.

Big Box Catering offers individual meal boxes for you and your guests to enjoy all of your 4th favorites in a safe, and delicious way! Order today and choose the fresh, chef-prepared meal that your guests are sure to love. From Smoked BBQ sandwiches to Brisket tacos, there are options for anyone and everyone attending.

Call us today and let’s get your party started!

4 Virtual Father’s Day Gift Ideas to Make Dad’s Day

Father’s Day, as with many holidays and celebrations…

may look a little bit different this year due to the effects of COVID-19. While you might not get to follow through with traditions like a big cookout, a fancy steak dinner, or even catching a ball game, there are still creative ways to celebrate the special dads, grandpas, uncles, and in-laws in your life.

Whether you’re sheltering-in-place together, or social distancing, dad still deserves a day of appreciation and thoughtful celebration. We’re rounding up four virtual gift ideas to make bring a smile to his this Father’s day when you’re miles apart.

Gather Your Family for a Virtual Surprise Party

This may take a couple of days of planning, but the results will no doubt put a smile on dad’s face. Reach out to all of Dad’s close family members (his children, grandchildren, parents, and even a few of his pals). Invite them to join the surprise celebration by sending out an e-vite with a Zoom invitation link. Make sure everyone’s logged on at least 20-30 minutes before Dad joins the call. Shout “Surprise” as he joins and have each participant give a special message and greeting to dear Dad. Make it a true party by asking everyone to have something prepared to eat and drink. Spend time enjoying a family meal with lots of laughs, stories, and chatter.

Snag him a subscription package to his favorite Sports network

The sports season may be on a temporary hiatus, but dad can still revisit his favorite games with a streaming subscription to his favorite networks. From baseball to golf and soccer, there a network dedicated to each sport with a plethora of past games to view. You can even take it a step further and give Dad access to all his favorite teams with a live sports streaming subscription to platforms like ESPN or NBC Sports. With all the best games at his fingertips, dad can strap into his favorite chair for an all-day marathon. Be sure to ship dad a snack box full of his favorite treats that he can enjoy while watching the game. Try a Big Box taco or wrap box that he can enjoy watching his favorite plays.

Virtual Gift Cards from the heart

Gift cards may seem like the “overdone” gift idea, but gift cards allow Dad to get the things that he truly wants (and deserves). With thousands of retailers offering e-gift cards, it’s as easy as ever to load the amount and send a gift card from your heart, straight to his email inbox. Grab a gift card to his favorite store, or even gift cards that allow him to show off his favorite hobbies. From grilling to fishing to golfing, you can’t go wrong with a virtual gift card.

Have Dad’s Favorite Dinner – Delivered!

As the saying goes, “the quickest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”. Give Dad something you know he’ll want, a delicious dinner spread with some of his favorites! Even if you are miles apart, you can surprise Dad with a meal in his honor, delivered right to his door in time for dinner! Big Box Catering offers a collection of fully prepared meal options that come loaded with all the fresh fixings, so the special guys in your life can enjoy dinner done his way. Our easy to heat and eat meals make it a Father’s Day to remember no matter where you choose to spend it.

So, what’s our ultimate Dad’s Day gift pick? Try dinner and movie! Nothing beats spending quality time with family. Even if you’re not physically together this year, modern technology makes it’s super easy to enjoy special activities together. Order Dad’s favorite big box meal and get it sent right to his door. You can also order a meal for yourself so you can share dinner together with your favorite movie or Netflix feature. In fact, the Netflix Party extension makes it simple to sync up your stream so you and dad can enjoy the show together!

Together or apart, you can shower the men in your life with gifts and heartfelt surprises packed with thoughtfulness and sentiment. If nothing else, the past few months have really shown us how important it is to be there for our loved ones. This Father’s Day, make it your mission to go above to honor the important guys in your life with unique gifts and activities to say ‘I love you’. While you’re showering them with love and affection, let us handle the meal! Check out our full menu and find the dinner box that Dad will love. You make the call, and we’ll handle the rest!

Tips for Managing Stress While Working From Home

As the working environment continues to change, we will see more of an impact on stress in the workplace. While it is common for most people to feel some sort of stress in their day-to-day lives, dealing with high levels of stress can negatively impact a person’s mental, emotional, and physical health. With Covid-19 changing much of our normal daily lives, including how we work, feelings of stress, anxiety, and isolation may become overwhelming for employees new to the remote working lifestyle.

With all the talks about remote work being centered around productivity, a more important issue to discuss is how the pandemic is causing stress and anxiety to be accelerated while working from home and isolated from colleagues, friends, and family. This is especially true for those who are used to going to an office and interacting with people every day.

When working in a traditional office environment, there are often noticeable signs if somebody is stressed or having trouble coping with stress. This can be an increased emotional reaction to situations, a lack of engagement, or loss in motivation and productivity. When working from home, there isn’t anybody to notice these signs, apart from family members or friends.

The workplace as we know it is being redefined, and that’s a hard fact for some to understand. However, putting in the effort to make simple changes to your work – and personal life, can make all the difference for adapting to the “new normal”. To help put things into a better perspective, here are five ways to manage feelings of stress or anxiety while working from home.

Be vocal about stressful workloads

One of the hardest things about working from home, especially if you are new to remote work, is learning to balance and set boundaries. After all, there is no longer a clear line that separates works and home life. Stress is often the result of our personal interpretations of events. So, if you are feeling overwhelmed with projects, deadlines, budgets, or even the restructuring of your finances, the emotional shock begins to manifest in your mental and physical responses. When this happens, make it known to those around you that you are in need of support. Email your colleagues, supervisors, or leaders and be vocal about your abilities and resources to meet expectations.

If you are an employer, make sure the workload is suitable for your employee’s abilities and resources. Make it a point to talk to your team about how they are handling their current tasks. Facilitate team meetings where people feel open to sharing any stressful work situations that can be managed with team support. If you are an employee, check in with your colleagues and work together to complete tasks and meet deadlines. We are truly all in this together and speaking up about your needs can help eliminate an incredible amount of stress.

Add some Zen or meditation tunes to your playlists

You can’t control everything in your work environment, but you can control how you respond to what’s happening around you. With a little help from a good meditation mix playing while you work, you can get better control over how you respond to work stressors. Meditation, whether by music or silence, is meant to quiet your mind, help you center yourself, shift your focus, and allow you to recharge your personal energy. Soothing music can help create tranquility in an otherwise noisy atmosphere. Invest in your peace of mind and purchase comfortable headphones to use music as a zen guide while you complete your tasks.

Take the practice up a notch by using your dedicated breaks to find a few moments for mindful meditation away from your computer or desk. Mindful meditation is a practice that involves sitting comfortably, focusing on your breathing, and then bringing your mind’s attention to the present without drifting into concerns about the past or future. Taking a few minutes to meditate daily helps relieve stress and increases one’s sense of well-being.

Unplug and get active once the workday ends

The feeling of being busy can often be a trigger of stress. We strive for work-life balance, and just the act of being connected to phones and computers can blur the lines of home and work and make you feel as if you are still obligated to the office. Thoughts about previous tasks or email notifications coming in can intrude into other parts of your day, making you feel exhausted and anxious. Just as your body needs to recuperate after a hard workout, your mind needs time to disconnect from the workday. If you can’t immediately change how much you’re working, you can at least make changes to help you recover from your long days. Being able to control even just some of your time at the end of the day is both liberating and restorative.

Regular physical exercise is also a time-tested way to reduce stress. If you can’t wake up early enough to take a morning run, a 20-minute walk during lunch will help you feel more in control of your mind as well as your body. Memorizing a handful of yoga stretches or participating in family activities are great options for physical activity if you don’t have a lot of time on your hands. Take time to properly recover, both mentally and physically, and you’ll be setting yourself up for more productive days, a better work-life balance, and a happier, healthier life.

Make time to socialize with coworkers

Spending time with your co-workers outside of stressful work situations can help you build trusting relationships with one another, and help foster better teamwork. Getting to know your coworkers can also make it easier for you to share when you encounter feelings of anxiety or stress in your workplace. Being there for one another, and knowing that you have the support of people who understand the job, is one way we can reduce the impacts of stressful work environments.

While bars and restaurants are unavailable for after-work gatherings, virtual happy hours and virtual lunches mean you can extend the time you spend with coworkers discussing workloads, talking through issues, or getting to know each other better for at least 30 minutes to an hour each day. You can also join each other for a virtual dinner. Enjoy your favorite meals while chatting about the day, or even live watching a program on TV together. It’s a time for everyone to unwind and enjoy some sense of normalcy with company.

Eat well, feel well

Nutrition and stress are connected. When our bodies are poorly fed, stress can take an even greater toll on our physical and mental health. We can help manage our stress by watching what we eat and ensuring that we are eating complete meals daily. Try not to skip meals or graze on unhealthy snacks throughout the day. Skipping meals can make stress-related symptoms worse. Instead, use each mealtime to step away from your desk and enjoy what’s your plate while reflecting on your day or plans post-work. Enjoying regular, filling meals will help to maintain high energy levels and increase your mood, while decreasing tiredness and irritability.

In addition, to eating hearty, nutritious meals, supplements, like Omega 3s, have been shown to help with stress, anxiety, and depression, and Vitamin B6 increases serotonin, which helps regulate our moods to calm and heal. Be cautious to not overconsume highly caffeinated beverages like coffee, energy drinks, or alcohol, as these are stimulants that can increase your feelings of stress and anxiety.

How you deal with stress is a choice. Control stress in your personal and professional life by making better lifestyle choices. Speaking up, unplugging, exercising, and enjoying your free time with friends can help you reduce feelings of stress and anxiety in your daily life, and help you adjust to the changes happening all around us. Work well, eat well, and feel well. Start by giving Big Box a call and we’ll deliver all of your favorite meals to enjoy while you relax and unwind from your workday.

Finding A Steady Work-Life Balance While Working From Home

Working from home has both its pros and its cons, however, working from home in the midst of a global pandemic poses completely new challenges that impact nearly everyone. These times are unprecedented. Not only are you dealing with stresses from work, but you also have your entire family home with you all struggling to adjust to new schedules while trying to maintain a sense of normalcy through it all.

It’s a tough time. What poses an even greater challenge is trying to find a balance between your daily work and home life. While the biggest perk of working from home is flexibility, that sense of freedom can also increase pressure. You feel pressured to stay on top of work tasks, so you find yourself working longer hours than usual. You also feel pressured to stay on top of personal responsibilities and eventually find yourself burning the candle at both ends.

When your home is your office, but also a school, a playground, a restaurant, and everything in between, it can be difficult to draw the line of separation, and you quickly find yourself exasperated. Creating a harmonious life can feel nearly impossible these days unless you have some serious boundaries in place.

Before you find yourself suffering from burn out, try these tips for a steady work-life balance that saves your sanity and allows you to enjoy your personal interests during shelter-in-place.

Establish a schedule that replicates your work and school schedule.

If you’re working remotely, try setting a schedule and sticking to it. It’s easy to lose track of time when there are no scheduled stops in your day. Creating a schedule ensures that you stay productive without tasks taking consuming your time and taking over your day. Setting hours is especially beneficial for working parents who also have to manage virtual school and other responsibilities.

Just as you are used to a work schedule, your kids have set schedules at school and they’re also trying to adapt to a new way of life. The setting of a schedule sets boundaries so that your entire family is getting work done during the appropriate times, while still having time for personal tasks later. Your schedule should include every waking moment of your day that was affected by the pandemic. Include the times you wake up and go to bed, get dressed, take showers, and work a manageable number of hours.

When you work from home, you don’t have to rush around in the morning the same way you do when you go to work in the office. So dedicate the time you would normally spend commuting to eating breakfast together, or meditating and spending some quiet time alone. That way, you’ll wake yourself up and mentally prepare for being productive throughout the day.

Announce your availability (and when you won’t be available)

One of the biggest obstacles of working from home is communicating with your colleagues and boss. Because you aren’t physically visible, you may feel “guilty” and like you need to overcompensate by being accessible at all times online. You do not. You don’t need to be available to everyone at all times. Doing so can set false expectations for your employees or coworkers that you are available to them whenever they need it. This can cause you to get off task by having to answer every chat or email, or even cause you to fall behind in your work due to feeling overwhelmed by over communication.

Tell those you work with what your specific working hours are, and do not deviate from your schedule. Once you’ve determined a daily schedule that makes sense for you and your team, use different tools, like slack, to publicize that schedule so your team members are mindful and respectful of that time. Knowing your availability and bandwidth are especially helpful if others rely on your decisions or approvals to move forward with projects and tasks. Relying on a strict schedule not only helps you maintain boundaries with co-workers but with your family as well, as it lets them know when they have access to you while still being mindful of using your personal time to recharge.

Make breaks mandatory

When you feel like you’re losing control of your work and personal life it can negatively impact your health and your happiness. Working for long hours with no time for self or to refocus can make you feel lonely and isolated. It can also result in causing stress that flows into other areas of your life. To overcome that, keep your breaks planned and take them as scheduled. That includes coffee breaks, lunch breaks, and even breaks between meetings. That way, you won’t feel monotonous while working for long hours. When you take your breaks, be sure to take them away from your work station.

Getting up from your desk and take a walk, around your house or outside, even if it’s just for five minutes. You can stand up, get mobile, and get a quick dose of Vitamin D. Walk your dog, check your mail, drink a cup of tea, play a game of hide and seek with the kids, or even break out the yoga mat and do some stretching. Physical activity will help release endorphins that give you a boost of energy so you can finish strong and relaxed throughout the day when you return to your desk.

Take a day off

You’re still allowed to take a sick or personal day, even if you’re working from home. Even if you have nowhere to go. Taking care of your mental health is especially important these days. If you are able to do so, taking a step back from the daily hustle ― whether it’s a day or a week ― can be a necessary reset for how you approach your job. Busyness is not a badge of honor you need to wear. By taking time to step away from work, and even typically home responsibilities allow you to refocus, and recharge your mental and physical capacity. Taking a day off or fitting in a vacation can help you become a better worker by giving you some distance—and some much-needed objectivity—about your job and your career. You may find after a few days that there’s a much more efficient way to maximize your workflow that up until now you haven’t taken advantage of. It’s important to remember that you’re working from home for a reason and that working from home is not a workplace perk. Whether you’re in an office or working at home, you only owe your employer the very best that you can offer. By taking some time off for yourself, you’re ensuring just that.

Make plans after-work and stick to them

In a traditional office, when the day is done you know to pack up and leave work behind. However, when working from home, you don’t really have a hard stopping point which can make it difficult to truly step away from work at the end of the day, even if you’ve closed your laptop and signed off. Forming digital habits like checking emails or returning voicemails or checking work-related apps is an easy trap to fall into when work hours are over. It’s important to be firm and completely step out of work mode at normal hours. Making plans after work is a good way to get you in the habit of putting down your work life and picking up your personal life.

Whether the plans include a family dinner, movie night, virtual happy hour drinks friends, or working out, if you have somewhere to be at the end of your workday, you’ll be more likely to actually sign off and stop working. This is essential for your mental health and lets your family know they have your undivided attention.

Eat proper meals

With your fridge in such close proximity, you can feel tempted to spend the whole day grazing on snacks and missing out on enjoying full meals. This can hurt your productivity and also affect your energy levels while trying to maintain stressful workloads or personal schedules.

In a traditional office setting, you might feel more compelled to take a proper 30 minutes to an hour lunch break, and even plan your dinner menu for your family in the evening. While working from home, make your lunch breaks a time where you remove yourself from your work station and sit at your table for a proper, nutritious meal. The same goes for dinner. Whether your dinner plans include a party of one or your entire family, set a schedule to “leave” work, and enjoy a proper meal with at the table.

Because you’re exhausted, you may feel like you’re not productive enough or falling behind. The most important thing to remember is to be kind and patient with yourself. Learning to adapt to this new way of life takes time. The first step is to take an active approach to find your own work-life balance that works for your life and your personal and professional needs.

While you work on your time management skills, Big Box Catering can take one big thing off your plate, and that’s your meal. We make it even easier to get your favorite meals on your table for lunch AND for dinner. We’ve got a full menu of light or hearty options for you and your family to enjoy and the best part, you can get it delivered right to your door. From sandwich wraps to stir fry, to BBQ with all the fixin’s, our meals add a delicious balance to your work and home life. Order now to plan your next lunch and dinner and get 20% off your meals.

Tips to Stay Productive (And Sane) While Working Remotely

With the impact of recent global events…

Many are finding themselves working from home in an effort to keep workplaces and communities safer. While working from the comfort of your own home seems like a dream, finding ways to stay productive can be a nightmare. In a traditional office, the most common interruptions are co-workers or surprise meetings. At home, your distractions and interruptions come in many forms.

You can quickly find yourself doing a load laundry or binging another season of “The Office” instead of sorting your inbox or meeting deadlines. Distractions can also manifest in human forms of children, spouses or other family members in the home. All this can make working from home more difficult as you look for ways to be more focused and efficient. Time and task management becomes an essential skillset when you are working remotely.

We’ve rounded up the best tips to help you stay productive and to keep you from going a little stir crazy during self-isolation.

Have a routine

When you’re in the office, you have structure. There is a set routine you have that gets you through each workday. When you’re not in the office or working from home, it can be easy for the lines to blur between your home and work life. When working from home, your day will lack the normal structure and routine that you are used to, so you will need to set a schedule for yourself and stick to it. Before the workweek or workday begins, sit down and plan your schedule, starting with breakfast and getting your kids or family settled with their activities. Treat each task and event on your list just as you would at the office.

When setting your schedule, make them realistic. You’ll be working from home for several weeks and you want to be sure to have a routine in place that makes sense for your job and home life balance.

Stay connected to the team

When you’re in the comfort of your own home, it’s easy to put on your favorite playlist and blast your way through your work with little to no interaction from others throughout the day. Even if it feels like you’re being more productive, in the long run, you will start to feel lonely and isolated. The best part of working in a traditional office setting is the sense of belonging and personal connections you forge with your team members and co-workers. To fill the communication void while working from home, look for virtual ways to stay plugged. With channels like Slack, Zoom and screen-sharing platforms like JoinMe, or go GoToMeeting, you have a plethora of options to chat or brainstorm with colleagues.

You can share screens and ideas, or even host meetings to make sure your projects stay on track while you are working from various locations.

Make a dedicated workspace

Even if the arrangement is just temporary, find a dedicated and comfortable place in your home to work from. This way, when you are on or off the clock, you can separate the space between work and home. You are also more productive outside of the comfy zones of your house, like your couch or bed. Your dedicated workspace should preferably have a door you can close for privacy, or be away from high traffic and noise areas in the home. You’re also encouraged to get a comfortable chair, a spacious desk, and a position near a window for sunlight and fresh air.

Move around

All work and no break impact your focus and your productivity. Everyone needs time to step away. Social distancing means limiting your time around others outdoor, but you have plenty of space to move around, stretch your legs, and get fresh air to refuel and refocus. Remember to take your designated lunch break as well as a few breaks through the workday so that your brain has a chance to relax and your body has a chance to re-energize. Working at home means there is no one there to stop you once you get in the zone, and if you’re only thinking of meeting deadlines and checking off tasks, the day can zip by in an instant. Make your scheduled breaks a priority. Step away from your work station and if possible, don’t check work emails or texts until you’ve returned.

Working from home has its perks and also it’s drawbacks, however, losing focus and decreased productivity doesn’t have to be one of them. Find what works best for you and your job and settle into a routine that gets better results from your busy day.

When making your plans don’t forget about lunch and dinner. Big Box has six delicious Heat & Eat meals so that you can focus on work without hassling over dinner plans. Choose your meal and order now.

How to Budget for Office Catering

Ordering and organizing meals for the office becomes the job of the office manager or team leader who already has a plate full of action items. Estimating expenses, tracking costs, and negotiating with catering options is enough to overwhelm anyone. The good news is, with a clear catering budget in place, organizing your next team meal doesn’t have to be a daunting task.

If you find yourself with the job of finding a suitable meal option for your next team or client lunch, remember these tips to make creating and sticking to your catering budget hassle-free!

Plan in advance

What’s the trick to pulling off a successful office lunch? Planning it in advance. If you know that there are events, team or client meetings on the calendar for the week or month, make a list of possible menu items, and the projected number of people. Then make a list of the most appropriate food options for that occasion. Once you have a better understanding of what you plan to have and how many you plan to serve, you can get make a list of local corporate caterers or delivery companies and compare quotes based on your needs and budget.

Review Past Expenses

If your office has hosted catered meetings or events in the past, take a look through past receipts or budgets and review the data. Make a list of what you feel worked best for the occasion and size of the previous order. Depending on what your current meeting is about, you can scale up or down from what you’ve spent in the past. When reviewing past data, think about past vendors or caterers. Were there vendors that gave you a great deal or that you would like to work with again? Do you need the same amount of food? How many people were you able to feed with the previous budget? Having this information on file can help you easily assess and justify your budget for your next meeting or event.

Get a headcount

Getting an accurate count of people you need to feed is essential to setting a budget for your meeting or event. With this count, you can determine how many meal options you need to provide, if there are dietary restrictions you need to take into account, and what menu items make the most financial sense, like sandwiches vs plated entrees. Getting an accurate headcount will allow you to easily determine the costs for your meal and what needs will attribute to the quotes you request. These counts are necessary for ensuring the quality of food that you have for the occasion.

Consider the occasion

Are you planning for a workshop, a special meeting, or just a casual team lunch? How healthy should your options be? Is this a casual lunch or will you need tableware and special settings? Always consider the occasion and how messy, clean, fun or your menu should be. The length of time is also a factor when determining how much to order. A 30-minute meeting probably requires fewer items than a lengthy lunch event. Longer meetings could mean larger catering portion sizes of each dish to satisfy attendees.

Having a solid catering budget helps you make the most financially responsible decisions for your office. Start developing your catering budget as soon as you begin to plan your meeting or event, and you’ll be far more likely to achieve delicious success. The Big Box Catering team has meal options for every team lunch, client meeting and corporate event in Dallas and the surrounding areas. From corporate events for large groups to small, office parties, we can cover all of your meal planning needs. Visit our website at bigboxcatering.com to see our full menu or to place an order. To request a quote, contact us at (469) 623-1127.

Big Box Buddy: The Old State

Have we told you we love being the fast, easy, and delicious catering option for all the businesses in the Dallas area?  Well, we do.  We love meeting all of our super cool Dallas businesses in so many industries that we name our closest business friends Big Box Buddies!

Big Box Buddy: The Old State

Our latest Big Box Buddy is The Old State. The Old State is a super savvy firm focused on web design, development, marketing and branding.  They are based in Dallas for which we are grateful – not just because they love our food, but they are also a big part of how we got started!

They have a great list of clients with no shortage of work, yet they believed enough in Big Box Catering and our affiliated company Liteful Foods to help our food company become digitally savvy and fulfill our dreams of providing our customers with access to delicious food easily over the internet. The Old State went the extra mile to hold our hand throughout this process, enduring the pains of our start up journey, and didn’t have to do that.

The Old State team developed our websites, helped us with branding and established our social media process. The passion and creativity they put into all of their efforts was a great experience. They do first class work!

Delicious Catering for a Dallas Web Design Firm

We have shown our appreciation to The Old State by feeding them well throughout our relationship! We’ve shared several conference room smorgasborg meals including a variety of our Big Box and Liteful Foods menu items along with some test items that we regularly try out for future offerings. We’ve also dined together many times at our Company Café restaurant. Perhaps it was our great food that got us some extra special treatment?!?!

Thank you to our Big Box Buddy The Old State for all that they have done for us!

VIDEO: Dallas Catering Made Easy

We are so incredibly excited about the video we just produced.  I hope you will take a look, get a few laughs, and share it broadly.  Dallas Catering for BBQ, fajitas, steak, chicken and more is fast, easy, and delicious with our Big Box catered boxes!

Dallas Catering for Office and Home

Filming our new video was an action-packed day of food, fun, and cameras.  What an experience!  It was so much fun working with our Big Box Buddy, Charlie Uniform Tango, to design, plan, film, and produce it.  Over the course of the next few months, we can not wait to show you all that was created with them.

Behind the Scenes: Making the Big Box Catering Videos

We started early that morning and worked hard into the night pulling together our vision of showing how Big Box Catering can make any meeting, home gathering, or party a huge success.  We had no idea, what went into the production of a commercial.  It was a once in a lifetime experience.  We ended up filming at two different locations, using both professional actors, plus our friends and family.  Everyone had a blast!

We catered tacos to a pool party, supplied barbecue at an afternoon business lunch, and served steak and chicken to a home gathering.  There were so many moving parts to the video production, we cannot thank the team at Charlie Uniform Tango enough for helping us pull it all together. We had such an exciting time making the video, we hope that you will enjoy watching it as much as we do.

Feed a Texas HS Football Team with Big Box Dallas Catering

Here’s the problem:  75 high school football players and cheerleaders.  They’re hungry and they’re at your house for a kick-off to their season.  You need to feed them a nutritious dinner, but don’t have all day to cook.

Here’s a solution: Order Big Box Catering! (Of course)

Dallas Catering for Everyone

The Greenhill High School football team and cheerleading squad got together to celebrate the end of two-a-day practices and get into the spirit while kicking off the football season. When asked by the cheerleaders what food sounded good, the answer was loud and clear: Mexican food. Not a problem!  Our big boxes can deliver practically anything your group may be craving.

Fajitas Catering

The Greenhill Hornets ordered the fajita boxes for 75.  They came with Mexican rice and black beans along with various veggie and salad options that were selected as the sides through the easy, custom order on our website. With just a few clicks, a delicious dinner for the whole gang showed up a few hours later and right on time for dinner. Also included on the order were a variety of desserts prepared by Big Box Catering’s affiliated company Liteful Foods (assorted Southern sweets, rice crispy treats and fresh baked cookies).

Here’s the Best Part

Not only was the order and delivery simple, the clean-up was easy too! All Big Box Catering orders are provided in big, disposable containers. Everything was thrown into the same Big Box boxes in which it arrived and tossed into the trash. Done!

Big Box Buddy: Charlie Uniform Tango

When we started Big Box Catering, all we could think about was making and delivering incredible tasting food.  What we didn’t expect was making long lasting relationships with our customers.

We have come to know so many great people and offices in the Dallas area as regulars, we even gave them a nickname: Big Box Buddies (BBBs).

From time to time, we will pay tribute to our favorite customers here on the blog to tell you a bit more about them, how Big Boxes work best for them, and some fun facts!  Without further delay, here is our very first Big Box Buddy Blog Post (BBB-BP):

Charlie Uniform Tango (CUT)

Charlie Uniform Tango (CUT) is a great company and one of our favorite customers. It is a hip, video production and editing company based in downtown Dallas that has become one of the most respected editorial and post production companies in the country.

CUT (based on the film production editing term) has an amazing culture that is very communal and laid back. And they know how to build a buffet box! They don’t just go with one of our standard boxes.

They go ALL OUT, A LA CARTE!

One order had chicken tenders, creamy pepper gravy, chips & salsa, paleo hash and mixed veggies. Another order had penne alfredo, vegan hash, steak & chicken and guacamole. They love the smoked turkey and salads – they get them with every order. Here is a picture of our friend David from CUT when we showed our appreciation to them by giving them a Chocolate Cheesecake Cake (two layers of chocolate cake with a cheesecake hidden inside – plus the best chocolate buttercream icing you have ever had!) that we made in our Liteful Foods kitchen.