Sushi again!

We are becoming experts on timing the sushi rice, so it doesn't take us an hour and a half to make four rolls of sushi. :) Tonight, we tried something new. I followed the recipe below, only adding zucchini and carrot to one roll and avocado and cucumber tot he second roll. The rolls were quite tasty. I would have taken a picture, but I was really hungry. :)

Spicy Tempeh Roll

prep time: 30 minutes | cooking time: 10 minutes once rice is prepare | makes 4 rolls

These rolls have a succulent meaty texture thanks to tempeh, which not only tastes awesome but is high in fiber and a complete protein!

Equipment:
Bamboo sushi rolling mat
Really sharp serrated knife
Rice cooker or pot for rice
Large preferabely glass bowl to cool rice down in
Small saute pan
Tongs, if you are going to be roasting the nori

Ingredients
For the rice
1 cup sushi rice made with 1 1/4 cup H20, prepared according to package directions
About 2 Tbs Rice vinegar (do not use regular or any other kind!)
1 tsp sugar

4 sheets nori*

For the filling
1/2 package tempeh (4 oz)
1/4 teaspoon sesame hot chili oil or to taste
1 1/2 Tablespoons vegan mayo
1 green scallion, white part removed, sliced lengthwise into narrow strips
1 Tablespoon black sesame seeds if put inside of roll, or 1/4 cup if used as coating for "inside-out"

Directions
For the rice
Prepare rice according to package instructions. It should be something like 1 1/4 cup H20 to 1 cup rice. Cook till rice is tender but firm, even a little dry.

Empty hot rice into a large glass bowl. Sprinkle with about rice vinegar and 1 tsp. sugar. Fold rice gently with a large spoon or rice paddle. Rice should be moist and have a mild vinegar flavor. Cover with plastic wrap. When rice is slightly warmer than room temperature it's ready to work with.

Meanwhile prepare the filling
Steam and cover tempeh in a small saute pan with enough water to cover it till tender & not bitter (about 10 minutes). Mash with mayo and sesame chili oil
to taste. Layer with scallion, sprinkle with sesame, or make inside out roll if feeling Iron Chef tonight

*If you like, use a pair of tongs to roast the nori sheets over the oven flame for 2-3 seconds.

Carter feeds himself again.

For dinner, Carter had oatmeal. He loves feeding himself, but, as you can see, he has yet to master a clean way of eating. We love it when he reaches into the bowl and grabs the oatmeal with his fingers. :) He's such a sweet baby. Here are the highlights of our oatmeal adventure:

Finished purse

I made a swing bag for Erin for Christmas. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of it. Since it turned out so well, I decided to make one for myself. Here is the picture on the cover of the pattern, so you know what it was supposed to look like. :)



Here's the finished product:



The patterned called for the purse to be reversible, so that's what I did. However, I like the outside pattern so much, I'm not sure if I will ever turn it inside-out. Here is a peak of the pattern inside:

Master Sushi Chef

Richard has become the master sushi chef of the house! My rolls still fall apart! Here is what Richard created tonight (California roll):

Sushi

Table for two? That will be a 90-minute wait.

Richard and I made sushi tonight for the first time. Wow, we are learning so much from cooking these days. Who knew that sushi rice takes so long to cook?!
We made two different kinds of rolls: a California roll and a roll with carrots and zucchini. Both were very yummy and filling. :)

Here is our final presentation of our sushi:

Carter decided to feed himself...

Turning Japanese

I decided that I would kick it up a notch tonight and cook my first vegetarian meal from scratch. Oh my goodness! This meal took me over an hour. It was worth it though. We had "beef" and broccoli stir-fry and fried rice. I chopped a lot of vegetables, including cabbage. :) We are going to be eating fried rice for a long time! And for those of you wondering how Richard is coping with my becoming a vegetarian, he really enjoying this meal!

Here is a picture of the fried rice:



Here is a picture of the "beef" and broccoli stir-fry:



FYI, "beef" = veggie beef strips

bath time

Carter sometimes loves bath time. Usually, he loves getting a bath for about 5 minutes and then he thinks it is funny to try to get out of the bathtub on his own. :)

Richard's new website

Richard now has his own blog, displaying a collection of his artwork. Check it out!
http://richardswayze.blogspot.com/

Richard's Graduation

Richard likes to upload our pictures from the camera onto his computer and then delete them from camera. This causes delays in my posting certain pictures on our blog. Here is a perfect example. Richard graduated from MC with his Master of Fine Arts (and with a 4.0) on December 14th. I had no pictures to show for it, since he has put them on his computer. So here I am on his Mac (and trying to figure out why he likes this thing so much) and posting the "stolen" pictures. :)
We are all so proud of Richard and his accomplishments!