Directive Blogs

It's World Pasta Day today, so we couldn't NOT eat pasta for today's Crock-Pot Thursday lunch. We settled on a little twist on traditional Italian pasta dish - spaghetti, and baked it in the oven with a combination of ingredients that you might not expect to work so well together. This may be your new favorite!

Don’t worry - we’re not sad! Actually, quite the opposite.

When Directive team members entered the kitchen today while today’s Crock-Pot Thursday meal was cooking, it was hard to not let a few tears fall. To make enough of the French Onion Chicken recipe for everyone in the office, we had to slice and cook NINE POUNDS of onions. As you can imagine, entering that room was a bit overwhelming.

Did you know that today, October 4th, is National Taco Day? We didn’t either when the day first started. But, the taco-gods smiled down upon us at Directive and made sure that tacos were on the menu for today’s Crock-pot Thursday and we sure appreciated their generosity!

Pizza is one of those foods that is good hot, cold, from the freezer, or freshly made. But, when you taste real pizza that’s made by someone truly passionate about the art of pizza making, you’ll never want to go back to that $5 frozen store-bought pizza ever again.

The days starting to get shorter, the leaves falling and changing color, apple picking. These are all things that are usually associated with Fall (or, Autumn - if you prefer). And, what better way to get in the spirit than with a pumpkin-themed dessert?

Since the kids are all going back to school this week, we decided to have a lesson of our own, a phishing lesson.

Phish·ing noun

1. the fraudulent practice of sending emails purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.

Looking for a way to incorporate a bit more fruit into your daily life, but struggle to maintain a balanced diet? Then this recipe is for you! These Hawaiian Pineapple Coconut Lush bars incorporate coconut and pineapple (TWO fruits!) so you can eat it and tell yourself that you’re eating healthier. You can even top them off with cherries and incorporate a THIRD fruit in!

There was a bit of a miscommunication today in regards to our Crock-Pot Thursday meal. While the rest of the Directive team was sitting at their desks dying to try the Barbequed Beef and Bow Tie meal they could smell cooking in the kitchen, Sean was putting on his formal attire in preparation for what he thought was a “Bow Tie Event.”

After getting over the initial embarrassment, Sean was able to laugh at the situation. At the end of the day, he is just thankful he managed not to get any of today’s lunch on his nice clothes!

You can get the recipe - and, witness this embarrassing moment - below:

If you work at a desk all day, you have DEFINITELY thought about running away to the nearest beach and seeing how long it would take for those around you to notice. At Directive we had a member do just that… sort of. Apparently, you don't have to go too far away from the office on Crock-Pot Thursday, especially when the menu features Crack Chicken Sandwiches.

Watch the video below to see how our writer (almost) got away with a vacation, and get the recipe that lured him back!

For the love of Meatloaf that is! However, when the team requested Grilled Meatloaf for Crock-Pot Thursday, I had my doubts. Nonetheless we prevailed, cranked the 80’s tracks, and went to work on Meatloaf (on the grill). This recipe took the words right out of my mouth, as the entire Directive team never felt so good, never felt so right.

This recipe is worth giving a try, as it truly was paradise by the pilot light.

With all of the debate going on as to whether the left or right TWIX is superior in the media today, we decided to settle this for ourselves. The conclusion is that the Twix Cookie dessert recipe we had today is in fact the top Twix! Don’t get us wrong, the real-deal candybar is great... BUT when you don’t have to choose a side, start a debate, lose friends AND you get the entire gooey cookie to yourself; is there really a comparison?

Find out for yourself with the recipe below and let us know what part of the cookie was your favorite!

Our Friday the 13th took some strange turns when two team members learned the hard way about the repercussions of sneaking dessert early at JoomConnect. You could say they had an “out of body experience” while enjoying the double-berry white chocolate crumble bars.

Get this tempting recipe and take a look at our “Freaky Friday” Crock Pot video below.

"You see us as you want to see us—in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain...and an athlete...and a basket case...a princess...and a criminal. Does that answer your question?"

Probably not.

A little spice never hurt anyone, right? That’s what we believe. Despite its inclusion of chili powder, this chicken-based recipe wasn’t too hot to handle for any of our spice-phobic team members. Yes, we know, a lot of recipes are chicken-based, however, that doesn’t make them any less delicious! Serve it with some salad and buttery salt potatoes (like we did) for the complete package.

This particular recipe is not only easy to make (It shouldn’t take you more than 30 minutes!), but it’s packed with flavor while still being good for you. MAYBE it’s a little less healthy if you drown it in barbeque sauce like some of the Directive team did, but we won’t judge.

This week’s meal was a bit different from our usual Crock-pot Thursdays. To celebrate the upcoming holiday (thank you to our troops!), the team gathered to enjoy a feast of American staples like cheeseburgers, hot dogs, baked beans, macaroni salad, and more, with strawberry shortcakes for dessert. Thankfully, we lucked out and were able to sit outside while enjoying the beautiful weather. The plethora of food quickly dwindled as plates were piled high. But, we still managed to have leftovers the next day!

Watch the video below to see the delicious food and hear what the Directive team is doing to celebrate this holiday/long weekend.

After the Directive team learned how to pronounce today’s crock-pot recipe, tahini marinated chicken thighs with cucumber/tomato salad, everyone went back for seconds! The first time of the year I was able to grill our meal on the deck was a success, and gave us a real taste of summer. What is more “summer” than grilled chicken?? The cucumber/tomato salad was also a hit and the fresh mint that was included had the entire office smelling fresh. Although some team-members had their doubts about today’s meal while seeing it prepped, no one had any complaints when it was served!

What is your favorite summer recipe? Check out this recipe and our video and let us know what you think!

Working in the information technology industry we get a lot of strange questions regarding the ins and outs of modern technology. The best questions often come from those closest to us….our moms. In honor of the upcoming Mother’s Day, today’s Crock-Pot Thursday video reveals the all too true technical questions we have had to answer from those that raised us. Enjoy the video and try to remember, that although mom’s questions about “the google” are hilarious, she once taught you how to use a fork!

The recipe today is also below, Baked Orange Chicken. This was a tasty meal that we are sure your mom would love to have cooked for her on Sunday!

Sometimes the office can have its distractions. On Tuesdays we usually have someone’s dog making their rounds, visiting and patrolling for crumbs. Crock-Pot Thursdays are torturous to have the flavors escaping from the kitchen all morning. Today, was a whole other level! No one could stay on task due to the aroma of sizzling, hot…... BACON. You may have learned about our company’s obsession with bacon from our previous videos, so it should come as no surprise the disarray that ensued within our building.

Watch the video to find out how we got the staff back under control and get the bacon brown sugar garlic chicken recipe for yourself.

Yeah, we laughed at that thought too! Although, today’s crock-pot recipe, pulled chicken tacos with pineapple salsa, was stunning, no one on our team hesitated to clean their plate! The slow-cooking chicken had our team drooling all morning, and we were certainly not disappointed by how it turned out! The picturesque tacos were definitely a (easy to cook) hit with the Directive team and will surely be making an encore appearance. Check the recipe out for yourself and see if you find it too pretty!

This Crock-Pot meal was unlike any other. We’ve had our share of attempted tricks at getting to the front of the food line, but the team has become fierce! This week, Pat decided to outsource his duty of defending the treats that lay within the kitchen boundaries to the “Big Dogs.” Watch the video below to see if Pat’s sly-dog plan was a success!

This recipe for Cheesy Taco Bake will have you begging for more! Try it for yourself… we double-dog-dare you!!