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Vegan Sushi Sandwiches!

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Welcome back!

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For this week’s post, I thought another vegan recipe might be fun to do. I can across this recipe a few weeks ago when I was binge watching CheapLazyVegan on Youtube. I came across this video, and I knew I had to try it. I made it last week, an it has already become one of my favorite new meals. It’s great because it’s easy to make, healthy and filling. It’s one of my new go to school lunches. Without further adieu, here is my recipe for onigirazu (aka “sushi sandwiches”)

*Disclaimer* I don’t normally use measurements when I cook, so any measurements that are present in this recipe serve more as a guideline than an exact rule to follow.

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What you’ll need:

1. Nori
2.1 cup sushi rice
3.1 1/2 cup of water
4.Various veggies (I used cucumber and avocado, but you can really use anything)
5.Rice vinegar (optional)
6.Sugar (optional)
7.Salt (optional)
8.Sriracha
9.Soy Sauce
10.Plastic wrap

The first step is to make the rice. I’m going to suggest that you make the rice according to the package, because that is what I did. However, I will say that you should definitely rinse the rice before cooking it because it will get rid of excess starch. I put my rice in a bowl, filled it with water, stirred the rice around and then drained it. I did this about 3 times until the water was clear.

Once you have finished cooking your rice, place it on a plate and let it cool. I wouldn’t recommend sticking it in the fridge to let it cool, because I have heard that it can cause the rice to no longer be sticky, and it need to be sticky for this recipe. If you want tradition sushi rice, you can add rice vinegar, sugar and salt to the rice before you let it cool. I didn’t do that because I was feeling lazy :D. It tasted just fine without it.

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Now that the rice has cooled, place a sheet of plastic wrap on a cutting board or on your counter. Take a sheet of nori and place it on the plastic wrap with the rough side facing up.

Next you’re going to take about a handful of rice and form it into a diamond shape. Then you can place it on your nori.

Now you can start working on your vegetables. As I said, I used cucumber and avocado, but any veggies would work here. You can used bell pepper, carrots, tofu, spinach, pretty much anything you want. The possibilities are endless! Place your veggies on top of the rice.

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After veggies are placed on the rice, take some more rice and make another diamond shape. Place that on top of your veggies.

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Now comes for the wrapping. Take a corner of the nori and place it so that it lays in the center of the diamond. Repeat on all sides until you have something that looks like this:
Wrap up your sandwich and set it aside before you eat it, that way the nori can settle and stick to the rice better. This will make it easier to cut into later, if you decide to do that.

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That is it! Your sushi sandwich is done! I personally like to mix up some sriracha and soy sauce and use that as a dipping sauce for it, but feel free to use anything you sauce you want.

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I hope you enjoy this recipe and decide to try it out for yourself. Please let me know if you do!

Stay fabulous!

Vegan Sushi Sandwiches!

Stay Gold

giannathemermaid, , , , , , , , , , 3 Comments

Hey Everyone!

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As I’m sure most of you know, graduation season is well underway. Seeing my friend’s and family’s graduation pictures has made me think about my own graduation and how I have grown in the years since. It all started a few weeks ago when my classmates told me about about a conversation they had with one of our teachers. According to them, somewhere in the conversation my teacher said something to the effect of “Gianna is a damn good actress. She should quit her job and start acting in some plays.” It kind of blew my mind to hear that, because it brought me back to my original plans for my life once I graduated high school.

I ended my high school year thinking that I was going to move to LA and start auditioning, learning about acting, and working as an actress as soon as possible. But then life happened and I ended up getting a job as a cashier at Whole Foods after a few months and I have been there ever since. During those years, my passions had to take a backseat. That was okay for a while it turned out, because moving to LA was huge culture shock. Having some sort of stability helped me to gain some confidence again. But now, after three years I feel that my life needs to take a new direction.

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I think there comes a point in everyone’s life where they have to try and decide if their dreams and goals are worth risking it all for. What I have decided for myself is that I would much rather “fail” at the thing I am most passionate about, than to be safe and “successful” at something that I hate doing. Life is too short to not live it to the best of your ability.

At my school, we get many opportunities to speak to actors, directors, agents managers etc, who are very successful in the industry. It’s a great opportunity to hear these people speak, and I always feel lifted and a little smarter once I leave. A common theme that I have noticed in all of these talks is this: The only difference between people who “make it” and people who don’t is the level of commitment. It truly does not matter what you look like, where you come from, what gender you are, how tall you are etc etc. All that matters is how much work you are going to put into it everyday. If you want it more than anything else, it can and will be yours. This isn’t just true for acting, it’s the truth for any and every goal set by everyone.

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As you move forward into the next stage of your life, whether you just graduated from high school, college or you’re still in school, remember to stay true to your passion and dreams. Be the person who goes after their goals regardless of how bumpy the road looks ahead. You matter, and your dreams are important no matter how big or small they are.

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If you leave this blog post learning only one thing, let it be this: Graduation is a time of celebration and new beginnings. It may seem confusing and scary at first, but know that everything you want can be yours if you work hard enough and you believe. It will take a lot of dedication and hard work, but everything that is worth having is worth working for. You owe it to yourself to be courageous and to keep pushing your own personal envelope because you never know what treasures are waiting just beyond your comfort zone. This is how I am choosing to live my life from now on, and I hope to inspire you all to do the same.

Stay Fabulous.

-Gianna

Stay Gold

Living Radically: Graduating Early

MartaWritesIt, , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Hey readers,

This past weekend, I graduated college! Well, almost. It’s story time.

Three years ago, I graduated high school with every intention to either, A) Travel the world on my own, or B) Move across the country and attend college on the west coast. Instead, I ended up going to college fifteen minutes down the road from my house.

My father is a professor, which means an opportunity for a debt-free education. He works at a business school, which while great, was never a path I wanted to go down. What’s more, I wanted to adventure!!! But with no money saved up and no other prospects, I went to the last place I wanted to be on earth–school with my parents and living at home.

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I have always been the type of person to make the best of any situation, and that is exactly what I did. Freshman year, I joined clubs and found my place learning Mandarin Chinese with an awesome group of people. Sophomore year, I got a job as resident assistant, which allowed me to fulfill my dream of living on campus. That really changed everything, because up until that point, I was trying extremely hard to make friends on campus. The good friends I made in freshman year had graduated or left altogether and like many college students, I had to find some more. While being a resident assistant put me on campus full-time, I can honestly say it is the reason I made my next move: graduate college one year early.

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They say that your vibes attract your tribe, and in my case, I was trapped in a bubble were there were either zero vibes or I wasn’t vibing right. Either way, I didn’t make anymore strong connections at school, and I decided to make the most of my college opportunity in a new way: use my free tuition to take a ton of extra classes and be done with school forever. And so, I did it. I found my class of 2018 gear and changed it all to 2017. I made school about classes and not about making strong connections on campus, and I spent more time on projects like Feminine Boutique (which is way more fun than school).

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Finally, this semester came around. It was the hardest yet, probably because I was so close to the end, and also because I was amidst lining up a job for after I graduated. I kept my head down, worked hard, and managed to make the honor roll for every semester since the beginning of this ride. I chugged through the busy work, the work that actually mattered, and then some. And now, with two summer classes left, I can already say I have crossed the stage and truly took advantage of every opportunity given to me. And, in about two months, I get to finally pursue that dream of traveling the world by serving in the Peace Corps with my partner in crime.

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Moral of the story? No matter the cards you are dealt, keep playing the game. Keep trying, and keep hacking at whatever wall stands in your way, because most walls are worth knocking down. Remember, you are in charge of your destiny.

Living radically,

Marta

Living Radically: Graduating Early

Ask Mighty: School/Life Balance

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How can I balance what school asks of me and what I want out of school? I want to pursue something outside of my classroom and campus resources, and I feel like school gets in the way of my life plans.

I find myself more in my head than in real life. How do I motivate myself to be present instead of in my head?

-M

Dear M,

I work 2 jobs, 3 classes, write a blog, go the gym every day, curate a weekly newsletter, do the regular apartment chores, and find time to do homework every day. I am not complaining, not even close. I signed up for all of that. But I also, I am not comparing me to you. Just jotting down things that I do – some for myself, and some that I have to do. There is no way out of the things that you need to do.

You made an explicit choice to do all that you do, right now. And that’s the truth.

I think that life after school, the “real life,” is a myth. Real life is right now. School is as real as the job you’re going to get after college. If you die right at this moment, will anyone say that you didn’t really live a real life? I am not saying that you have to live in fear and do as much as you can, just because you’re going to die soon. What I am saying is, that you have to continuously remind yourself that what you’re learning in school, doing in internships, absorbing in a college campus, is absolutely precious and worth it. I know people keep saying that classroom knowledge does not amount to much. But it is still a warm up to get to situated in life. It’s a glimpse into things that you could possibly see yourself doing.

Learn how to appreciate everything and everyone in your life. Get out of that zone of self-pity, and accept where you are right at this moment. What you’re doing is important and if you try to keep that in sight, you’ll find your motivation. I promise. That one small thing will only lead to a need to do so much more.

Remind yourself, “I am exactly where I am supposed to be. I am blessed.”

I hope this isn’t too harsh, but I hope that you understand that this is necessary.

Love,

Mighty

Send your questions to info@feminineboutique.com. You’ll remain anonymous!

 

Ask Mighty: School/Life Balance