Roller Coasters and Sushi

Having a child with Tourette's is like riding a never ending roller coaster.  There are ups and downs.  You love it but are terrified at the same time.  Every once in awhile, you even have to let a few screams escape.  We have had a particularly rough time the last four or five days.  One of the hallmarks of Tourette's is rage episodes.  My lil ticcer has been having rage episodes almost daily for the last couple of days.  It takes almost nothing to set it off.  His episodes include screaming, hitting, kicking, punching, pinching, destroying things in my house, throwing things, and the inability to be consoled.  We try to be patient through these episodes, but sometimes it is difficult.  Today it was difficult to be patient, tomorrow I will be better; tomorrow will be a better day for everyone...I hope!  I love my lil ticcer, but sometimes this mama just needs a lil break.

Anyways, tonight we experimented with making our own sushi!  I have gotten papa nothing addicted to sushi (the basic kind) now, so he was game for our experiment.  What do you make sushi with?

Our recipe called for Soba noodles instead of rice, and dare I say that I like it a lot better...  This recipe also had collard greens in it, which I was not a huge fan of.  The kids did not much care for their new dinner, they decided to eat Pirate Booty and Veggie Straws instead.  The only veggies in it were cucumbers and purple cabbage, I think I will throw in some avocado the next time we do this dish.  This recipe had a fantastic apricot ginger dipping sauce!  This sauce is so yummy, I need to find some more uses for it!  The ginger in the sauce gives it a little kick, but I found that a nice cold Blue Moon helps with the spiciness!  Here is the recipe if you are interested!  We got the recipe from the book "Blissful Bites" by Christy Morgan.  Rolling them up is quite a challenge and quite frankly, I really sucked at it!  Papa nothing came home and instantly rolled up a near perfect sushi roll...so, I stepped out of the way and sat down with my cold beer!

Soba Noodle Sushi with Apricot-Ginger Dipping Sauce

2 bundles, from 1 package of soba noodles (we just used a couple of handfuls per nori sheet)

3 collard green leaves, stems removed

3 nori sushi sheets

1 cup purple cabbage, thinly sliced

1 persian cucumber, thinly sliced (I have NO CLUE what a persian cucumber is, so I used an English Cucumber instead, peeled and cut into matchsticks)

6 basil leaves (I don't like leafy things, so we omitted this)

Sauce

1 Tbsp apricot preserves

1 tsp ginger, minced (we used ground ginger from one of our spice jars...I am a busy mom of three, I don't have time to mince fresh ginger!)

2 Tbsp Tamari

1 Tbsp maple syrup

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp fresh mint, minced (again, I don't like leafy things, so we omitted this as well)

So, with all of this, you get this!

 Good eats and enjoy!  Thanks for reading!