Homemade Sushi

 Sushi is a food I have come to love. It's a light, flavorful meal that is something Matt and I really enjoy treating ourselves to. I decided to try my hand at some homemade sushi rolls. My favorite rolls always have some form of cream cheese in them. I love the different consistencies in the textures and flavors and cream cheese always brings out the best to me. I made a Philadelphia Roll and our own Mango Roll creation.

I used fresh mangoes, avocados, cream cheese and smoked salmon. We purchased the sushi seaweed wraps from the grocery store. We had jasmine rice at home already and that made for the perfect, sticky sushi rice.

You start out by laying out your seaweed on a plastic wrap sheet. There is a special bamboo mat for wrapping sushi, but I couldn't find one so I made do without. Since then I found one at Publix for $2.99 and now it's  got a special place in my kitchen.

Spread your rice out on top of your seaweed piece. I went a little thick on the rice since it was my first time, but the rice should be stick and stick together on top of your seaweed.

Then flip the rice/seaweed over so that the rice is facing down. I lined my fillings up along one side of the square piece. This roll was our mango roll. Pieces of fresh mango, avocado and smoked salmon.

Once your fillings are in place, start rolling up the seaweed/rice square. The plastic wrap helps you tuck in the rice so it stays in place without it sticking to your hands.

Keep rolling....

Once it's rolled, you have the option of sprinkling on a few sesame seeds. I toasted mine for extra flavor. Now find your SHARPEST knife. (I had to sharpen one, I found out the hard way that sushi doesn't cut easily.) Start cutting the sushi into slices.

The rolls are huge! But so so delicious.

Serve with chopsticks and a side of soy sauce. 

Such a fun project. It was really easy and we were lucky to get the rice perfect on the first try. It's better to buy specific sushi rice because other rices won't stick together as well. From the research I did before I started cooking, it seemed like getting the rice to the right consistency was the biggest challenge. You've got so many ways to experiment with this recipe as well. You can do rolls with fried shrimp and fried fish. I'll probably steer clear of actual RAW sea foods when I prepare them myself. You could include all sorts of fruits and veggies to make some tasty veggie sushi. We'll probably be trying these again this weekend. Happy sushi eating!

My 30th Birthday

I celebrated my 30th birthday this March. It wasn't too bad. I think I had a worse time of feeling old when I turned 26 than when I turned 30. Matt planned the weekend out for me using my suggestions. He did wonderfully. It was very relaxing and fun. I had been home the weekend before to celebrate with family so it was nice to have some fun birthday dates with my sweetie.

On Friday night, we made homemade pizza on the grill. It was very tasty. We're going to try it again using woodchips to add flavor.

We had a bonfire in the yard and made S'mores.

Stevie thought the marshmallows were delicious.

Pizza and S'mores makes for a pretty awesome Friday night. It was like having a spend the night party in elementary school.

On Saturday we went to Cape Canaveral to tour the Space museum and launch pads.

This is in the Appollo mission area.

You could go inside the space shuttles.

Looking up into the reflective materials inside the space shuttle.

Rockets on display.

There was a unmanned rocket launch that afternoon so we watched from the parking lot.

It was really cool to actually see a launch. It was loud and you could see the rocket in the sky for a long time.

Matt and I are space nerds so it was really cool to see in person all the equipment and facilities we had read about or seen on TV. The visitors center at Cape Canaveral also has 2 wonderful 3d IMAX movies: Space Station and Hubble. Probably one of my more favorite things to see was the movies.

On Sunday we headed to Orlando for some outlet mall shopping and to the Flower and Garden Festival at EPCOT. HGTV is one of the main sponsors of the Flower and Garden show and their TV hosts are leading design classes throughout the festival. The first weekend was the best (to me), Genevieve Gorder, from Dear Genevieve and Trading Spaces spoke on creating vignettes for your space. She was really informative and smart and funny to hear speak. I was really excited to see her in person.

We had a delicious dinner in Mexico.

Thanks for making my birthday so great sweetie!

Part of the fun of the Flower and Garden festival is seeing the topiary creations they make out of the Disney characters. I really loved this Pooh Bear.

It was really a wonderful birthday. I got to shop, go to Disney World, eat tasty food, spend time with Matt and just enjoy the weekend. I couldn't have asked for a more blessed day. Happy Birthday to me! 

Prayer request

I've been praying for the family of Kirill in the hopes that they are able to bring him home to Alabama soon (if you haven't read this story it's pretty heartbreaking, but I am trusting that God will do great works through this boy.) This adoption issue hits me close to home as Matt and I have been praying for a family of our own and exploring options. Which leads me to this prayer request: 


We're facing some upcoming medical decisions and other fertility related issues in the next few months and I want to ask for your prayer help as we move ahead. I'm still feeling a little private about all the details, but I would appreciate you remembering us. God knows the specifics. 


I am inspired and given hope by the stories of Hannah and Rachel in the bible. (Hannah - 1 Samuel 1:19-20 and Rachel - Genesis 30:22). God remembered them and blessed them each with children. Please ask God to remember me and Matt. 


Thank you so much for your support and love.

Love from the two blondes.

Rental house in Tampa

I wanted to get photos posted of our new place in Tampa for friends and family to see. We moved in January and have been working pretty steadily to get the place decorated and arranged the way we want it.  It's so nice to be in a house again. We have a yard and more room for our belongings. We have space for guests and space for our hobbies. We have a laundry room that is attached to our living space and doesn't require a stack of quarters! I can wash things whenever I want! Matt has his office/man room back. We have a nice bonus room for storage and a place for the dogs to stay. The house is in a great location with a park down the street that we go to daily to run or ride bikes. There's even a super nice dog park for Steve and Wil. We were extremely blessed to find this house. It's really making Tampa feel more and more like home.

Living room before

Living room After

Living Room Before

Living Room After.
 (We've since added Matt's Gramma's hutch along the back wall next to the palm tree art. It really fills in the space nicely. I just don't have a photo from this angle since we brought in the extra furniture.)

More Living Room

Living Room

Living Room.

Kitchen Before

Kitchen After

Kitchen Before

Kitchen After 

We moved our kitchen table into this corner. Love the pegboard for storage. Saw it in Julia Child's kitchen at the Smithsonian. If it's good enough for her, it's good enough for me.

Master Bedroom Before

Master bedroom after.

I made the blue and white pillow. The yellow one came from Target and the duvet cover was my birthday present from Matt's parents. The curtains that line the walls are from Ikea.

Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom

Matt's Office Before

Matt's office after.

Matt's office before

Matt's office after.

Matt's Office

Guest Room before

Guest room after. 

Guest Room After

Bathroom

Front Door

House and Front yard.

We're so glad to have this space to live in. It's an old house with some old house challenge, but they are worth it for the space and location we're enjoying so much.

Happy Friday everyone!