I may be a bit behind, but, it's really not too hard to make sushi--especially with veggies and fake crab meat. If you use up the rice vinegar, but decide to make sushi later, I believe you can mix sugar with white vinegar as a suitable substitution. (find recipes online)
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Posted 8 months ago #
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another sushi idea....and slightly barbaric, but just as tasty....is to make up the sushi rice and slice up the vegies, pickles, fish, and cut the nori sheets into four squares.
put everything out in little bowls and let people simply assemble their own sushi "sandwiches".
this is great if you have no confidence in rolling the sushi or if you find yourself without a bamboo mat.
(i have rolled sushi for decades and my number one sushi tip is to use latex gloves....it cuts down drastically on the amount of rice sticking to you and makes everything easier to handle).Posted 8 months ago # -
re: excess cleaners, I hear you on the ridiculousness of owning a special cleaner for everything under your roof. I used to have far too many as well, then got real about how little difference there is between most of them. Now I have:
1. laundry detergent. Only one kind. None of this "one regular, one with bleach, one for darks, one for delicates, one for swimwear" stuff. One gentle detergent, and no fabric softener.
2. dish washing liquid. For dishes, counters, appliances, cleaning up kitchen messes etc.
3. all-purpose bathroom cleaner. For toilet, sink, bathtub, shower walls, floors.
4. glass cleaner. For windows, mirrors, faucets, doorknobs etc.
5. wood cleaner/polish. For anything varnished or lacquered.That, a bunch of washcloths, a vacuum cleaner, and regular maintenance is keeping my house plenty clean.
Posted 8 months ago # -
Mimi, I am a kindred spirit. Campari with orange or grapefruit juice on a hot day - bliss after a big day at work. That is one liquid i can't do without.
As far as cleaners are concerned. We have dishwashing liquid, dishwasher powder, and a mineral laundry powder. We use Enjo cloths for everything else. They were a significant investment at the time, but we have only had to replace one cloth after about 6 years.
Posted 8 months ago # -
The roll-your-own sushi is actually popular with Japanese hostesses. Put out the fillings and squares of nori, and let people roll their own.
http://japanesefood.about.com/od/sushiroll/ss/howtosushiparty.htm
Posted 8 months ago # -
I washed the car today with clothes washing detergent... I did buy some car washing product when I was in kmart later though!
Posted 8 months ago # -
JTT: those Enjo cloths are ridiculously expensive but they do work...I try not to need super cleaning cloths nowadays though, just microfibre cloths are fine if you don't let too much dirt build up I find. When you do though, those Enjo ones are the business! We have really really really hard water, so a bit of vinegar and the odd lemon is also necessary, even with regular cleaning.
Posted 8 months ago # -
Camellia tree, I agree, the ReUse center is genius - it started as a neighborhood project, they had crews that would go into condemned or about-to-be-renovated houses and remove the fancy woodwork, doors, fixtures, etc, for reuse/resale. I have an old house, so I've bought a lot of stuff there, from fancy wooden moldings, to doorknobs for 100 year old doors, to enough paint for a small room.
Unfortunately they expanded past their organizational capacity, and when they contracted they kept their newer suburban store and closed the neighborhood one, so I don't get there often enough to do routine dropoffs anymore.
Posted 8 months ago # -
Zora --Thanks for the sushi party suggestion! Thanks to everyone for the other sushi suggestions.
Anita, I like your list. The products I am currently actually using are: vinegar, baking soda, borax, Fels Naphtha, dish soap, and dishwasher powder...
Posted 8 months ago # -
JtT & Mimi, based on your raves, and because I'm in a fancy hotel on vacation, I tried Campari & Orange as well as a Negroni (gin & Campari). Not my favorite, but very interesting! I think i'll go back to a nice red wine or gin & tonic, but it was great to try something new!
Posted 8 months ago # -
ahhhh just got back from a holiday in Campania and Tuscany and I would love a campari orange today!
I have a love/hate relationship to cleaners: I prefer vinegar for most things that need daily cleaning to keep down the lime scale, but periodically I need to get out the big guns for deeper cleaning.
We use bleach for sterilizing the cat box weekly, and I finally bought a wood protector/polisher for the solid furniture.
Then dish and laundry soap, one kind of each.
And as there are no exhaust fans in our place and we don't have enough closed storage, sticky yellow grimy dust is on everything and dishsoap doesn't budge it; we use what probably translates as a multi-fat cleaner. Smells like oven cleaner and it is potent but it works in an instant on the kitchen tiles. I am afraid no amount of vinegar and elbow grease cuts this dust.
I have to confess I love the smell of PineSol! I wish I could get it here. I always used it well diluted and never had a problem with the odour. It represents fresh and clean to me.
Posted 8 months ago # -
djk you might want to try simple green or one of those orange oil degreaser sprays if you can find them... smell much better/less fumes and still cuts through heavy sticky dusty grease...
Posted 8 months ago # -
I love Campari! But for some reason I have an unopened bottle in my cupboard. Must do something about that.
As for the "roll-your-own-sushi" thing, that's actually how a Japanese friend of mine does. I was invited to her home for a delicious sushi dinner, and she told me that this was how they normally do it at home in their family - a sort of taco-style sushi, with everyone doing their own. I found it to be an excellent idea.
Posted 8 months ago # -
I was having the same problem getting rid of half-used cleaners so I decided to ask my co-workers if any of them used the stuff I didn't want. I managed to get rid of a few that way, and even some toiletries. It was nice knowing that someone could use them!
Posted 8 months ago # -
thanks, luxcat--I will keep my eyes open for the ones you suggested. That dust makes me crazy.
Posted 8 months ago # -
I have that never-ending bottle of Simple Green as well as 2 Costco gigantic never-ending bottles of dishwashing liquid soap. When the dish soap is used up, we'll switch to liquid castille soap. Otherwise all we use is a powder dishwasher detergent we buy in bulk, vinegar, baking soda, washing soda and borax with Dr Bronners soap bar for laundry soap (along with some bulk purchased detergent), cat odor spray, carpet stain spray, oxyclean, hydrogen peroxide, clorox wipes, grapefruit seed extract, tea tree oil, and lavender oil. For stains on clothes I spray the stain with water and rub a dry bar of soap in it.
We have a few bottles of carpet cleaner liquid to use up. We are down to the basics and are able to keep everything clean with that.
My downfall is miracle in a bottle shampoos, conditioners, and face wash for my finicky hair, scalp, and skin. I have found that olive oil at night and raw honey in the morning keeps the acne at bay. My hair is currently liking shampoo bars and scalp Trader Joes Refresh alterating with Burts Bees Grapefruit and Sugar Beet shampoo. We use Kiss my Face olive oil soap for the shower and coconut oil for body lotion.
Simple basic products keeps shelves and cupboards so tidy! I love the extra space.
Posted 8 months ago # -
heehee, a campari movement started :) i should add a bottle of orange juice to my shopping list for the next weekend! s, if you dont like the bitter taste in general you will not like campari at all, but let me tell you, it is a question of ratio between orange juice (sour but also sweet) and the bitter campari. it is worth a test series with different amounts of every liquid. but be prepared not to be able to drive after such an experiment :)
concerning the sushi, one of the most useful tipps i got is that you can put the bamboo mat in freezer bag. not very beautiful, but way easier to clean. we have three-liter bags that we call the sushibags because the size seems to be made for the bamboo mat. i cook the rice in the morning sothat it cooles down during the day and so there is just the fish and some few vegetables that need to be cut before dinner. thats as easy and quick as every other meal.Posted 8 months ago # -
aha, and for the campari-fans, try to make icecream (only for adults) from only frozen raspberries and joghurt, sugar or liquid sweetener and a big sip of campari. just put everything in a mixer / blender and enjoy!
Posted 8 months ago #
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