Raw Vegan Sushi Night

Its been awhile since I've sat down with my computer on my lap like this. It seems to be a lot more relaxing when it doesn't happen quite as often.

Something that takes up a lot of time in our lives right now, is food. I mean, obviously food is something thats a huge part of everyones lives, no matter who you are, or what you're doing, but- as we transition into this new lifestyle (raw vegan eating), we're learning. Learning about our bodies, learning about the foods that we eat, learning about our will power and sometimes lack thereof.

To make things a little bit more fun, and to help us feel a little more "normal", we like to have a high fat night. Usually we eat low fat raw vegan foods, but because the babies need more fat than the Mama's and Papa's, and because sometimes we're just bored with the simple things that have been placed upon our palates throughout the week, we just need to shake it up.

So on Saturdays or Sundays, a night when Christopher is home to help wrangle up the kids and keep them from latching onto my legs and trying to climb me like a tree, I like to make a big luscious meal to fill our bellies up with a hearty dose of uncooked lovin'.

Something that we've had twice now, but probably won't have again for another decade or more, is sushi.



That right there, is a teeny tiny mini little sushi roll, the perfect size for a hungry little 2 year old mouth. Kinda cute, right?

More like, a pain in the ass.

I'm no expert on sushi rolling, I've made it maybe 4 times in my life. I don't have sharp knives, I don't have one of those novelty sushi mats (although I totally want one), I have no idea what I'm doing. But- I do know that normal rolls are too big for my kids mouths, and cutting them in half is messier than its worth.



So I cut the nori (seaweed papers) sheets in half, and tried my best to make something that would be considered edible.

Success!

Although, Charlie didn't quite understand my efforts, and started taking the rolls apart- which I quickly put a stop to, then handing them to his sister and making him a "sushi bowl" instead.

Seriously kid, if you had any idea how hard I worked on those bite sized pieces of perfection-



His digging into it faster than I could spoon it into his bowl was thanks enough. I could see that he loved it, which made all of the chopping and grating and blending more than worth it.

Besides, I did this for fun. Not because I had to. Not because anybody was requesting it. But just because I wanted to feel like a normal lady, "cooking" something fancy in her kitchen. It was relaxing, even.



Well, it was relaxing until the very end of my adventure at least, when Miss Picky Pants Eleanore refused to eat any sushi bite that wasn't perfectly rolled, swearing that the messy ones tasted worse than the pretty ones. Ummm...

Ok, sweet dreams and goodnight to you then! More for me!



It was, so good. A nice thick layer of our "seafood pate" (almonds, scallions, lemon juice, dulce, seaweed, and carrots), topped with cauliflower "rice" (steamed just so), grated zuchinii, and grated carrot. All dipped into a shallow bowl of sweet coconut aminos- ah, heaven!

A more perfect sushi roll has never existed.

Okay maybe one with sprouts and avocado, but- we aim for proper food combining, and avocado and nuts together bring bad tummy juju. And sprouts from the store hold too big a risk of harboring yucky bacteria (yes, I'm one of those paranoid freaks).

If you feel like you need to slave away in the kitchen for 3 hours on a Saturday night making the ultimate fake seafood and veggie feast for your family or friends- you might want to try this recipe (thats where we got our pate recipe).

But hey, maybe make sure your kid understands the concept of "bites" though, before bending over backwards to make them their toddler friendly and super cool mini rolls?

And it sure was nice to sit down with my family at the table, to eat an overflowing plate of my ocean scented hard work.