Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Granola Bar - total time 1 hour

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  I've never been one to skip breakfast, I would never make it to lunch without gnawing my arm off.  So to keep my hunger at bay, I start most mornings with a quick parfait.  I loooove this granola I get from Green Bean delivery.  It is so yummy!  And I have tried a lot of different granolas, definitely all of the ones with chocolate in them.  But this one is definitely the best, peanut butter, nuts, seeds, and a little chocolate.  Perfect way to start the day... top it with some berries and yogurt... even better!

We go through this stuff like crazy, like, a couple bags every week.  It's kind of ridiculous.  But we don't always have time in the morning even for a simple parfait (I easily lose track of time before I have had my coffee... even after sometimes... so mornings can go from a leisurely stroll to a mad dash out the door pretty quickly).  So what's a girl going to eat when she's run so fast out the door that she forgot to brush her hair and her phone is still sitting on the kitchen counter?  Granola bars!  A quick grab and go solution.

You could probably just take premade granola and bake it into bars.  But where is the fun in that?  This way you control everything that goes into the bars and can feel good about what you're eating.  No added sugar and tons of protein and fiber... and so yummy... just like McCabe's granola.

It takes a bit of time from start to finish, but it's mostly hands off time.  I walked my dog while everything was cooling, came back, covered them in chocolate, and then went back out with Snoop to finish our walk.  Probably only spent 15 minutes in the kitchen.  Easy peasy!  

Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps - total time 30 minutes

When I was doing my 40 Day Vegetarian Challenge I had some tofu lettuce wraps when we went out to eat for my birthday and Valentine's Day.  I have been meaning to replicate the dish for a while now.  After getting some beautiful green leaf lettuce in my CSA delivery, I decided this week was the week to try!

I don't know what it is about tofu... everyone seems scared of it!  It's just soybeans!  I know I pop soybeans like candy at sushi restaurants as edamame.  And soy is used in so many of our everyday food items as a thickening agent or for added protein.  But even knowing all of this, I was a little nervous about cooking it myself.  I know tofu can be delicious, but I figured it took years of trial and error to be good at cooking tofu.  Turns out, you just need to get it in a pan and it is hard to go wrong!

So I knew for these lettuce wraps, I wanted soy sauce to flavor the tofu, but that would not be enough.  Add some broccoli and cashews and you really got something.  Your carnivores and tofu haters will forget this meal doesn't have meat because they will be gobbling these Asian tacos too quickly to remember!

Bok Choy Stir Fry - total time 30 minutes

One of the great things about joining a CSA is you get to try new vegetables that you would not normally pick up from the grocery store.  Well, you can usually customize your delivery, so you don't actually have to try new things... but you never know if your favorite vegetable or meal is out there somewhere and you just haven't tried it yet!  

Our first year we tried kohlrabi which is kind of a cross between cabbage and a potato.  They were good roasted or in a cole slaw type salad.  Last year we tried beets.  I have had beets before, but they are always already cooked and usually pretty slimy, so I have never been a big fan.  I tried making beet soup last year, it didn't really turn out well (and obviously never made it to the blog) so I am giving them another shot this week.  This year we go bok choy for the first time (also known as chinese cabbage)...

After a little research, most of the recipes I found were Asian influences, which wasn't surprising considering its second name.  With a little customization, I thought this dish was quite tasty!  I love cooking with sesame oil, it gives everything such great flavor.  And cashews... yum!  Love cashews and they give this dish a nice crunch.  The bok choy tastes very similar to cabbage with a slight bitterness and a bit of crunch itself.