Taco Salad and Raw Chocolate Cookie Balls

We are big fans of Chipotle.  Steve's favorite thing is to get a burrito bowl and then eat it up with their chips as an edible spoon.  So, I tried to recreate that at home - only a bit healthier!  I made a base of rice, then topped it with black beans, cheese, lettuce, homemade corn/pepper salsa - and Steve added sour cream and salsa to the top of his.

Most of the fixin's laid out

Mine

Steve's

It was a BIG hit!  Steve said at least three times, "THIS IS GOOD!!!" And all I saw was the top of his head as he shoveled it in.  I will DEFINITELY be making this again!  William likes rice and black beans, so I can just serve it to him as separate things.

Then, I made THIS.  And holy monkey, was it GOOOOOOOD.  It will be made again and again and again.  And, the best part is, Steve hates it!  MORE FOR ME (and William who is also a big fan).  

I have William's bento box (thank you, Mimi!) all packed and ready to go tomorrow!  His raw, sugar-free chocolate cookies are made.  Here's how I did it:

Take a heaping 1 cup of cashews (I used walnuts for the Omega-3's and they worked fine!) and throw them in the food processor.  Whir them up until they are are as fine as you can get 'em.  Add half a cup of pitted dates to the food processor and process until they are totally mashed up with the nuts.  Add 2 tablespoons of flax meal and 1 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder and whir again until everything is blended.  From there, you can do whatever you want with them: roll them into balls, form them into bars.  I made William balls for his lunch and me little bars to take to work for a mid-morning snack.