Rainbow Spring Rolls and Soy Paper Sushi Rolls ~ Vegan

The husband and I lovelovelove sushi. But, unfortunately, it's a bit of an expensive habit :s We usually order it twice a month, and sometimes eat out - which can add anywhere from $100-$200 to our monthly budget (eesh!). So! We decided to whip up some unique sushi rolls with soy paper, accompanied by delish spring rolls!

Recipe Deets

Sushi
Soy paper (5 sheets)
Romaine (approximately 5-6 leaves)
1/2 avocado
1 Cucumber sliced thin
Butternut squash (approximately 8 baked finger length pieces)
1/2 Red Pepper (sliced thin)
1/4 cup diced strawberries
1 jalapeno pepper (sliced thin)
Wasabi sauce

- First lay your soy paper out on a clean surface
- Chose 3 pieces of paper and add: a drizzle of wasabi sauce width wise, cucumber, red peppers, avocado, and romaine
- Roll them and cut width wise, then top with diced strawberries
- Take the final 2 sheets of soy paper and lay them on a clean surface
- Add: wasabi sauce, cucumber, avocado, butternut squash, jalapeno, and romaine
- Roll width wise, cut, and top with extra jalapeno peps!

Yum. YUM.

Spring Rolls
4 pieces of rice paper
1/2 avocado
Red cabbage
1/2 Red Pepper
1 Carrot (sliced into small sticks)
Sweet chili sauce for dippinsssss!

- Follow this tutorial on how to use and assemble spring rolls with rice paper - because it's a tedious process and one that takes a bit of practice, but once you get it down, you will never pay for over-priced rolls again!
- Assemble your rolls using the ingredients above - slice in half
- Dip the heck outta them rolls and insert in your mouth!

Now sit down, pick out a fine ass movie, and relax!

Banana Split Nice-Cream ~ Raw/Vegan

mmm. MMM.

I have been craving banana "ice cream" allllll winter! There's a small, local place that is only open April through October and it serves this amazing ice cream alternative made exclusively of bananas! Due to this obsession of mine, a few years ago my husband bought me the exact machine the restaurant uses, and needless to say it has served our household well ~ birthdays, dessert-for-dinner, breakfasts, and et cetera !

So! Right around the beginning of May (yes, that's when I began this post and then life and *ahem* Game of Thrones, Mad Men, Veep, oh and a full-time job got in the way) the fam visited our favorite little restaurant where we ordered beautifully constructed banana ice cream concoctions made up of varying fruits and *healthy* alternative toppings (e.g., coconut, granola, non-dairy chocolate chips, sunflower seeds) - it was heaven in the mouth, but I wanted more...MORE >:D

Thus, the very next day I created this:

Recipe Deets (You will need a food processor or homogenizer ~ if you don't have these a blender will work but you will need to add milk, approximately 1/2 cup per banana)

5 frozen bananas (peeled)
1/2 cup frozen cherries
1/2 tbsp raw cacao powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tbsp unsweetened coconut (optional)
1/2 tbsp raw cacao nibs (optional)
2 bowls
1 large mug

- in the first bowl process or homogenize 1 1/2 bananas, transfer to a blender and add cacao powder and vanilla ~ blend well and place in freezer
- in the second bowl process or homogenize 1 1/2 bananas then transfer to a blender. Add cherries and blend until it turns a pretty pink (there will be chunks of cherry...this is cool...very cool), place in freezer
- using the mug (which will be your BASE banana portion, see photo above) process or homogenize 2 bananas
- remove cherry and chocolate portions ~ add the chocolate portion to your mug (with the plain banana base already in place), then add the cherry portion on top
- sprinkle with coconut and cacao nibs

Smash in face, dribble some down your chin, wipe your mouth on your sleeve - all without guilt!

Do it.