cheap and cheerful

The kids playroom has had some framed posters in it that were purchased by my hubby back in his bachelor days. They are pictures of Muhammed Ali and while not aggressive, they just didn't suit the mood of the room they are in. But we also don't have the cash to allocate to anything expensive or flashy as a replacement.Clint had made the frames and they were perfect for the decor in the rest of the house and in good nick so really we just need to re fill them with something more suitable. This is what I came up with for under $16 buckeroos!

Technically it was under $12, however I had to purchase an embroidery hoop, but luckily I will use it some time in the future no doubt so it will pay for itself 10 fold. All it is is 2 metres of ikea fabric at $AUD3.95 a meter, and 4 lots of embroidery thread in different colours at $AUD0.99 each. I followed the lettering on the first fabric for each of our birthdays, and on the little house fabric we each picked a house and I copied part of the outline and gave them house numbers - again the numbers of our birthdays. It is not over the top colourful so hopefully it will be acceptable for that room for many years to come.

sushi yum yum

New Tupperware sushi rolling kit.

Some of you may or may not be aware that I am a Tupperware Dealer. This month Tupperware have released and "instant sushi set" so I thought I would give it a try along with a little tutorial:

Nori sheets (whatever brand you prefer)

Fillings sliced into thin strips (you can let your imagination run wild. Ideas for fillings at the end)

Tamari and Ginger (You can use soy, I just prefer the taste of tamari, plus it's great to cut the extra wheat out of our diet) I use my microplane and grate the ginger into the tamari to zing up the dipping sauce. Again that is optional

Rice wine vinegar and caster sugar

Wasabi, a good quality mayo and tahini paste

INSTANT SUSHI SET

First cook your sushi rice as per packet instructions in your Tupperware rice cooker of course. Is there any other way to cook it? Then stir through a splash of rice wine vinegar (about 2 TB) and a tsp of sugar. Pour the whole mix into a thin layer on a plate and set aside to cool.

Once cool dampen the mould with a little bit of water and then fill to the first indent line with the cooled rice.

Next mix together 2TB of mayo, 1 tsp of tahini paste and as little or much wasabi as you can handle. Then smear a line down the middle of the rice. (you could pipe it if you are finickity about those sorts of things)

Arrange you filling down the centre

Then top another layer of rice over the filling

Next place the press lid on top and squeeze closed. Any excess will press out.

Remove the lid to reveal the most adorable cylinder of rice you have ever seen!

Gently squeeze the edges of the press and the roll will plop out onto you nori sheet. Roll as per normal - however because the rice is so perfect you won't need a bamboo mat at all. It's so simple even a child could do it. AS A MATTER OF FACT mine did!

The finished product. Pity the photo is a bit blurry. They had all been eaten before i got a chance to make another. Heck they are so easy I'll make another batch during the week and practice my photography skills!

Filling ideas :

Avocado, carrot, cucumber, capsicum, tuna, smoked salmon, egg omelette, tofu, marinated tempeh, prawns, crayfish, chicken

Also I often prefer to use quinoa instead of rice. And even though my hubby hates to eat quinoa as a side he much prefers nori roll with it in as opposed to the ricey variety. ODD