Sushi Bowls

Ok, I'm first going to say, this is not gourmet food!  I never said I was a gourmet cook.  I've always said that went out the window when the kids were born.  So please don't email me and gripe that I have dumbed down sushi.  Remember, it has to be quick, easy and kind of healthy at my house!

That said, my family loves sushi.  My kids would eat it every night.  I can make it but it is a time consuming mess that takes up most of my afternoon.  I love to go out and eat sushi and my husband and I do it as often as we can.  I hate to pay for the entire family to go eat sushi because dropping sixty to one hundred dollars for a meal, just kills me.  I'm pretty frugal remember?

I woke up in the night thinking about ways to make eating sushi with the kids easier on mom.  I came up with the idea of a sushi bowl.  I know all the sushi chefs out there are impaling themselves on their sushi knives but large appetites call for desperate measures! 

Here's what I did:
I made my sushi rice and let it cool slightly.  I then mixed nori cut into small strips into the rice so it would be nice and soft.  While the sushi rice was cooling, I cut up crab, smoked salmon and rinsed and drained small salad shrimp.  I also diced carrots, avocados, cream cheese and cucumbers.  I put all of it in small bowls and sat them around the rice and nori mixture. 

We filled our bowls with rice/nori and then topped different areas with what we like in our sushi.  I had a california roll area, and several other ones I just made up!  I mixed my soy sauce and wasabi and just dumped it over all of it.  The rest of the family left theirs on the side and dipped each bite into the sauce. 

Although it was not traditional sushi by any means, it seemed to pass the sushi test from the kids!  They loved it and loved making each persons unique to their own tastes.  Both kids voted to have this recipe again.  My daughter wants it once a week.  Probably not going to happen but it may be a once a month treat!