Food baby?

Coconut-Mango + Mahi Mahi + Cucumber + Cream Cheese + Avocado Habanero Paste

This was only one of the 15 sushi rolls I made tonight. We had bundles of friends over for a nerd-night (the boys played Dungeons and Dragons...yes, the game is still around!...and the girls watched movies). It was a fun night, but ridiculously busy. Most of my friends don't really know how to cook (and those that do rarely venture outside the realm of ramen, pasta and tacos - not in combination, of course). That said, when we have get-togethers, our rule is - "If you want food, pitch in or bring something to the party. Otherwise, Sarah will be quite furious with you for making her cook for your lame a**!" Fair enough, right? We certainly think so...otherwise feeding all these peeps would make us broke!

Anywho...I thoroughly love making sushi (and pretty much any other foodie-member)! I stopped by Whole Foods and picked up a pound each of Ginger Soy Tuna and Mango-Coconut Mahi Mahi. The sashimi was delicious [though, I have yet to go wrong with any choice from Whole Foods]! These were about $9 a piece and fed 7 people, several times over, along with smoked salmon and lump crab meat (to round out our meat options). I love me som variety. The best part? I healthed-up these rolls (the rest of the ingredients were purchased from Tom Thumb, another one of our favorite grocery stores). 

With all the rice, one sushi roll is plenty filling! But, in a group of mostly burly, 20-something young men....well, it's like trying to satisfy trash compactors, hence the many sushi rolls. They can just keep taking it in! Their capacity for food always surprises me, but I digress.

Inside-out Roll: Mango-Coconut Mahi Mahi + Cucumbers + Smoked Salmon + Mango-Citrus Puree

My mom taught me how to make sushi several years ago (sometime in the early highschool years) and I've gotten more creative with my choice of rolls. 

I used the Tom Thumb "Waterfront Bistro" line of sauces as a base for three different dipping/paste choices...but I added my own flair. We lean toward all things spicy in this household, so I add generous portions of peppers and hot oil to all of my sushi creations - in this case we used jalapenos, habaneros and santa fe red peppers. What our guests (and even my boys) didn't know was that I opted for organic veggies (which actually do taste different from those with added pesticides), reduced-fat cream cheese and I didn't use any salt or pepper! This was such a success, we will definitely be trying these novel creations again soon. It was such a delicious night! 

The First Batch of Several Sushi Rolls

I almost forgot to tell you! We tried the Green Monster smoothie today!  I added my own spin to it though, because it just didn't have enough oomph for me. To the basic recipe of Spinach, Milk, Honey, Banana and Ice....I added 1 tablespoon of Sunbutter, 1- 8oz can of  pineapple chunks (with the pineapple juice....NOT syrup!) and a few shakes of cinnamon. It was fantastic and a total hit with my non health-nut visitors. I will definitely be making this again. Thanks @lsandoe for suggesting it! BTW - I know that you can use any blender to make your smoothie goodness, but let me just say [and no, I'm not getting anything for this] that I am so very impressed with our NINJA! The boyfriend's mom gave us ours and we have used the heck out of it! It blends everything completely and crushes ice like it ain't no thing! If you're in the market for an awesome new kitchen gadget, we highly recommend this one!

Organic Spinach

The extra "oomph" I needed

Sunflower Seed Butter (From Trader Joe's) and 1% (because my boys don't really like skim) milk

 Our Saturday was eventful! A regular whirlwind. One more piece of advice on some nummy, nummy food:

T.G.I.Friday's is having an awesome deal right now! They have healthy options to choose from and we enjoyed a visit to their restaurant today. The service here is great and the food was fantastic. I had the Parmesan Crusted Flounder + Tomato, Mozzarella Salad and Steamed Broccoli. Throw in my three glasses of iced water and my meal was brilliant! Check them out. Their 2-for-$10 deal is pretty hard to beat and so fiendishly kind to our college-kid budget. 

:]

What did you all eat? Did you venture out of your comfort zones? I sincerely hope so!