My new favorite bread is Food for Life‘s Genesis 1:29 Sprouted Grain and Seed Bread. I had been a fan of the Ezekiel 4:9 Whole Grain Flourless Bread (the one that comes in the orange bag) for a long time but I started to get a little sick of it. Eating the same bread for almost 6 months straight gets old. I was sort of scared to try the Genesis bread because I was afraid it would be too seedy. I don’t know about you but I like bread with seeds but there is a point where too many seeds freak me out. I don’t need excessive seeds all up in my grill bread.

This bread is great. I actually like it more than Ezekiel bread. I guess trying new things is a good idea!

Confession: I have eaten this sandwich everyday since Thursday. I just can’t get enough. Is it a bad thing to eat the same lunch for 5 days in a row (my sides dishes have been different – does that help the situation?)?

Looks like a pretty boring sandwich, right? Don’t be fooled. There is all sorts of goodness between those two slices.

The nori sheets I purchased:

The Facts. It is like eating air.

There is a picture on the back of the bag that shows you have to make sushi in 3 steps.  They make in look so freakin’ easy.

According to this simple diagram, I was almost ready to make sushi:

Nori Sheet — check
Vegetables — check
Rice — check
Knife — check
Two hands — check
Bamboo Sushi Mat — NO check

I headed off to Bed Bath & Beyond to find a sushi mat.  I wandered around the store for a million years but couldn’t find a mat (I don’t know why but I refuse to ask for help in stores).  I guess the bamboo mats were in the Beyond Section beause they didn’t have one.  So what is a girl to do when a real store doesn’t have something: Amazon it.  I found this kit at Amazon.com for wait for it …. wait for it … only $2.50!   Less than $3 dollars and I will have a lifetime of sushi making extravaganzas, count me in.

There is no way that I could sit and wait 7 to 10 days for the bamboo mat to be delivered with lonely nori sheets sitting in my cabinets.  I attempted to make sushi sans sushi mat.

First, the nori sheets.

I was surprised to see that it was perforated, I thought that was sneaky.  These sheets are very delicate.  The bag should say “Handle with Care” because, boy oh boy, did I feel like an elephant handling a long stem wine glass when I had to take a sheet out of the package with magician-like precision.  I didn’t have white rice and made brown rice on the stove instead.  For the vegetables, I used thinly cut carrots and spinach.  With soy sauce on the side, of course.

I did my best to make these the way they make them in the restaurant.  On one end of the nori sheet, I spread the brown rice as best as I could and then I added a few leaves of spinach and the carrots.  I rolled the sushi as if I was rolling a sleeping bag at camp.  The bamboo mat is supposed to help you make the sushi rolls tight and compact but I did the best I could without one.

Ta-dah!

Lessons learned:

• Brown rice is definielty not ideal.  It was a little too dry and didn’t mold very well.  In future sushi making attempts, I will try different kinds of rice and different ways of cooking it.
• Salt water is king.  The salt water keeps the nori sheets from breaking and sticking to everything.  I had a bowl of salt water next to me to dip my hands before rolling the sushi.  Also, make sure your knife is dipped in salt water before cutting.  The knife will stick to the nori and everything will fall apart.  Trust me.
• I need to sharpen my knife.  I use one chef’s knife for all of my cooking and it is about time I get it sharpened.  I had trouble slicing through nori sheets.
• The hardest part was making all of the sushi the same size.  They are always so perfect in the restaurant.  Usually they are short and fat, mine where tall and skinny. And varying in height and weight.

And there you have it, my fist attempt at making sushi.  I could have gone to a restaurant or the store and had somebody else make them for me but this was much more fun.  Sure, they are not exactly perfect but it doesn’t matter.  They tasted great and I felt pretty darn accomplished for making these all by myself.

Have you ever made sushi?  Or something that wasn’t perfect but you loved because you made it all by yourself?

I was craving two things for lunch today.

Avocado and Carrots.

Weird and random, right?  I don’t know why but that is what I wanted so I made myself this little bowl while I was home for lunch.  I didn’t even bother with salt and pepper, I didn’t want anything to ruin my avocado and carrots.  I knew this lunch wasn’t going to hold me until dinner so I packed almonds and a banana and headed back to work.  I love that I can go home for lunch.  It is nice to get out of the office and breathe fresh air for a little.  It was cold today (in the 40s!) and I love that.  Bring it, Winter.

I am officially back from my Thanksgiving break/vacation (boo hoo) but I had to post one more pic of Laverne (there will be a Clementine pic tomorrow).  I snapped this picture of Laverne sleeping by the front door.  Laverne always waits for my dad when he leaves the house.  They are BFF.

It is sort of funny that she waits for my dad by the front door because we never use that door, we always use the garage door.  Dogs are silly.

It will be 2010 in 30 days!!  Chew on that

For lunch today I wanted two things.

Rice Pilaf

and Steamed Broccoli.

Random? Yes.  But still good.

The directions tell you to add olive oil or butter to the water.  I skipped that step and the world didn’t collapse — I am guessing it wasn’t that important.

I drank tea.

Laverne slept.

Clementine stared.

Did you know that Clementine’s tail looks like this?

My mom takes her to the ‘salon’ for a haircut every few months.  She is sporting the Lion Cut.  The ‘beautician’ shaves everything expect for her legs, head, and tip of her tail.  Doesn’t that sort of look like a palm tree?

Is anybody else amazed at how many hours dogs and cats can sleep?  Really, I bet Laverne is awake for a total of 4 hours each day — that only 28 hours a week!

This weekend my Aunt told me about Stop and Smell the People. I hope you take part in the Wave of Gratitude tomorrow at noon EST.  Change your facebook status and/or tweet a few words of gratitude for our troops.  I will be on the road tomorrow with my dad and I will not be able to post a reminder but I will be tweeting.

I am off to make a fun treat for tomorrow … stay tunned …