WIAW #57

I have something extra-fun to share with you guys this Wednesday! If you're a returning reader (thank you!) you know that I now officially have my first long-term apartment. I have a real-life grown-up lease, real-life grown-up bills (meh), and a real-life grown-up kitchen!No more meal plan for me, YAAAAAY! Last week we celebrated with a Chobani giveaway, but let's keep the celebration going with my first international giveaway of some tasty raw vegan treats!And I love fruits and veggies, so I was thrilled when Boston Organics sent over a sample box of their organic produce to try. This WIAW is going to be produce-heavy as I share some fun fresh foods that I've tried using the produce!For those of you who live in the Boston area, Boston Organics is a subscription service where you can order organic fruits and vegetables (either all fruits, all vegetables, 1/2 veggies and 1/2 fruits, or 2/3 veggies and 1/3 fruits, depending on your preference) to be delivered to your home (or office) either weekly or every other week. It's as practical as ordering a magazine, but much more customizable and you can cancel whenever you like without a fee!I was sent the 2/3 veggie 1/3 fruit box for $29 to try.

A large green bin is delivered to your steps (you return it each week and get a new one, because they're a green business - woot, woot!), but what's inside varies week-to-week, depending on what's in season.

Here's what I got:

Sorry, the Delicata Squash (totally new to me!!!) is hiding under the lettuce - as are some of the kohlrabi!

Remember kohlrabi from my adventures abroad in Germany? They're the little purple knobby things above - but I've never had them in the US and I've never had (or seen) purple ones before! The ones I had in Germany where always green outside.

But these taste exactly the same and are every bit as delicious. You can cook kohlrabi, but I much prefer it raw. Just peel and dice, then sprinkle with a little pepper:

Delicious. It's what results if a cucumber and a stalk of celery had a love child (they're actually in the cabbage family, shhhh) and are juicy, crisp, mild, and a delightful appetizer salad before your meal!

Here's another side I made. I started with a base of olive oil and sauteed the last of the spinach I had in my fridge with some onions (chopped from the freezer) and a Boston Organics tomato and some of the fresh basil they sent. Just a few spices, some nooch, and...

...deliciousness results! I've never bought fresh basil before, but it's DELICIOUS. It just made this side taste so Italian!

Another side dish (this one in its own bowl, as there was a little purple sauce from my cabbage and I'm a little odd - I don't like that purple sauce getting all over my nice white potato or in my syrupy baked beans):

Some red cabbage sauteed with the chopped up green bell pepper and a tomato chopped in a minute before I turned off the heat. This was really good, so I made a bunch and stuck the rest in the freezer. Instant side dish for days when I'm busy!

With some of their crispy romaine mixed in...and nooch

But no matter how delicious the organic veggies are, you mustn't forget the fruit.I swear, this was the sweetest kiwi I can remember having ever had. It was so perfectly ripe and delicious and amazing - nature's candy, no joke!Which was actually a trend with everything. There wasn't a bruised piece of fruit or an over-/under-ripe anything in the whole lot! They did a much better job of selecting produce for me than I ever do for myself! I was very pleasantly surprised by that, as I hadn't really expected them to put such effort into delivering the best in their boxes. Frankly, I would have still been satisfied with a slightly less amazing bunch of fruits and veggies, but they weren't. That's awesome!If you're in the Boston area, I seriously recommend Boston Organics. Even if you're a household of one and don't think you can go through all that produce in a week by yourself - after all, (wo)man can't live on fruits and vegetables alone - I recommend the once-every-other-week delivery. I bet you'll love it. Anyway, here are some of my non-Boston Organics eats from this past week (not all of them, mind you - just a few when I happened to have my camera ready. You'd need to add a whole bunch of PB&J sandwiches, bowls of cereal, and cookies if you wanted an honest picture).I love kabocha, I love chocolate-covered fruits, I love candied nuts (and it's a hidden Mickey)!I'm well on my way to becoming a chocolate connoisseur, if this past week was anything to go by. A lot of chocolate was consumed - no regrets!Chocolate is as much a part of a daily healthy diet as fruits and vegetables, guys.

I still love lentils, cacao nibs, caramel, nut butters, and - old lady alert - prunes.

Yum, yum, to noochy kale-and-avocado stir fries with quinoa (which doesn't seem to have quite made it into the shot)!

Yogurt/soyogurt, granola, dried fruits, and almond butter need to make an occurrence at least once a day in my eats, or I'm just sad.

Yogurt parfaits are definitely on my favorite foods list.

And there is, of course, plenty of cereal that is consumed at night, while cranking out those papers. 

How are papers already due this week? I feel like the semester just started and I'm not in my groove yet!

Do you live near Boston?

What's your favorite city to live in?

What's something you eat every day? I have my yogurt-granola-nut butter-dried fruit messes daily, as well as chocolate and bread. They're staples! Oh, and apples :) I love apples.