a peek inside the fishbowl

I was at the grocery store at 11:30 a.m. the other day when I realized I was absolutely starving. My first thought was “I’ll just make a sandwich when I get home” which was immediately followed up by “wait a second, I am not eating bread right now, remember?”

I had to quickly figure out what I was going to eat, and I didn’t want to spend the extra effort to make a soup or something that was going to take a lot of time to prepare.

I remembered what we had for dinner the night before (broiled salmon fillets, a really delicious pasta dish, and stir fried vegetables) and realized there was a small portion of salmon left over. What could I make with it in under three minutes that would taste REALLY GOOD?

That’s when I had a huge a-ha moment. I could make a breadless sandwich out of it, or a riceless sushi roll, or both!

What would you call this thing? I guess it’s kind of a salmon roll. Kind of.

Forgive the photos, I was starving and drooling while I was taking them. It doesn’t look like much, but BOY:

.. was it good. It was however, impossible to roll. Oh well. It was delicious. Next time I will try to fold it this way, in a cone shape.

Nevermind that. Allow me to deconstruct. This roll consists of:

• one piece of nori
• a hunk of cold broiled salmon
• leaf lettuce
• one piece of green onion (it was going crazy on my windowsill)
• a sprinkling of fresh cilantro
• a tiny bit of soy sauce

I must make this again next time we have leftover salmon.

My other bread-less sandwich last week was ham and cheese. I used a large lettuce leaf instead of bread. I added a swipe of dijon and it totally did the trick. Behold:

I followed it up with a stuffed jalapeño pepper (it’s a treat with heat!), some flavoured water, and called it a lunch.

Now I need to put my thinking cap on and figure out what other breadless lunches I make for myself this week. I’m keeping track of them in a Flickr set as I go. The question is, how many can I do before I blow it? ;)

I am a bit of a snob as it pertains to frozen desserts. We make a wicked strawberry ice cream here at Casa Fishbowl that’s made out of sugar, cream, milk, and strawberries. That’s it. Once you’ve tried ice cream like that it is very hard to go back to that other stuff.

My latest piece for SavvyMom is about The Merry Dairy. The Merry Dairy is a frozen custard truck that travels around Ottawa… playing music, enchanting children young and old, and providing lovely treats with a side of Wi-Fi for the grown ups. Merry Dairy does private events too. Isn’t that neat? (Think soccer tournament, beach party, office picnic, and hello… WEDDING.)

If you like your ice cream kind of old skool, I am certain that you will like Merry Dairy’s delicious offerings just as much as we do. Read on!

I am convinced that one of the best things you can do as a parent is let your kids doodle their hearts out. Free-form art is good for the soul, and all you need is some paper, pencils, crayons, and paints.

This week’s column at Canadian Family is about an edible finger paint you can make at home. You don’t have to worry about anyone getting it in their mouths and as an added bonus it will make your kitchen smell like a candy factory (which may not necessarily be a great thing, but I thought I should put that out there).

Read it here!