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GIVEAWAY: $250 Whole Foods Gift Card

Remember when Harlow and I made the blueberry galette? Well, July is officially National Blueberry Month and to celebrate, I asked you guys to pick our next summer activity from the Blueberry Board‘s list of Bite Size Summer Moments. An overwhelming majority picked “Blueberry Sushi.”

Blueberry sushi??? Yep.

I told Harlow about our latest challenge.

“Blech.”

“It’s just fruit and rice! Maybe it will be good!”

“Can we make another blueberry galette instead?”

“Well, we’ve made about five galettes since the last galette so maybe it’s time to switch it up.”

“NO! I WANT TO MAKE A BLUEBERRY GALETTE!”

“I tell you what. Why don’t we make a blueberry galette and while it’s baking, we’ll make the blueberry sushi?”

“Okay.”

Problem solved.

31 steps to making blueberry sushi with a 3yo:

1) Make a blueberry galette.

2) Gather ingredients for sushi:

1/2 cup blueberries
1 peach
1/2 avocado
3/4 short grain rice
1 1/4 cup water
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch salt

3) Gather ingredients for dipping sauce

1 cup frozen blueberries
1/3 cup vanilla yogurt
1 tablespoon honey

4) Combine rice, water, sugar and salt in a medium-sized pot.

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5) Watch your 3yo stir it forever before finally convincing her to give you the pot so you can put it on the stove.

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6) Explain to her for the 400th time why she cannot put it on the stove herself.

7) Cook about 15 minutes until rice has absorbed the water but is still firm.

8) Let your 3yo hold your arm while you pour the coconut milk and vanilla in the rice, but only if she promises NOT TO TOUCH THE STOVE AND THE POT.

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9) Let rice mixture cool. (Mixture should be thick.)

10) “Harlow, what’s wrong? I thought you were my sous chef!” “I’m hungry.”

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11) After twenty minutes of naming various snack items, finally compromise on a bagel.

12) Wait for your 3yo to finish bagel.

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13) On a piece of parchment paper, pat the rice into a long rectangle. Get your hands wet first so that the rice doesn’t stick.

14) Cut avocado in long slices.

15) Cut peach in slices (in retrospect cutting into cubes probably would have been better).

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16) Get into a fight with your 3yo over whether she is old enough to use a knife to cut the peaches. Agree to give her a plastic knife, but then watch her get frustrated when it can’t even break the skin.

17) Reach compromise that lets her hold your arm while you cut the peaches, as long as she promises NOT TO PUT HER FINGERS ANYWHERE THE KNIFE OR THE FRUIT.

18) Lay the avocado down the middle of the rice rectangle, put peaches on top and line with blueberries on one side.

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19) Tell your older daughter who suddenly wanders into the kitchen to WASH HER HANDS if she wants to touch the sushi.

20) Roll up in the parchment to enclose the fruit and form a long tight roll or log.

21) Unroll the parchment and say, “Is this what this is supposed to look like? Maybe brown rice was a bad call.” 

22) Snapchat that your sushi roll looks like a dead eel.

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23) Realize the roll feels a little soft and has no chance of staying together if you attempt to slice it. Stick it in the fridge to see if that will help the roll solidify.

24) Combine frozen blueberries, yogurt and honey in a blender.

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25) Take a moment to appreciate how magical a blender is to a three-year-old.

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26) Take the rice roll out of the fridge, unroll parchment and cut crosswise into 1 inch pieces to make “sushi rolls”

27) Examine finished product and to try to determine if there is any way to photograph it nicely.

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28) Salvage six semi-acceptable pieces and offer to your kid. “Do you want to taste it?”

29) “NO.”

30) Make her stand next to it anyway for the picture.

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31) Try it for yourself. It’s surprisingly yummy!

Honestly, this activity was a fun activity for Harlow (who is hesitant about sushi in general) so I’m glad it broadened her cooking adventures even though she wouldn’t actually try it. I’d love to see how your sushi turns out (maybe it will be a little more photogenic than mine?) but I think when it comes to blueberries (which is one of my family’s favorite fruits), we’ll probably stick to more traditional recipes.

Besides being amazing in galettes, blueberries are also excellent in smoothies, popsicles, pancakes, muffins and yogurt parfaits. I even hear they make a mean grilled cheese.

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Or you know, just plain in a bowl! That’s how we eat them most often.

Besides recipes, the 100 Bite-Size Summer Moments list has tons of fun ideas like blueberry picking, having a blindfolded taste test with fruits and veggies, selling blueberry lemonade, freezing blueberries in ice cubes, etc. There are also tons of great ideas that don’t involve blueberries on the list too.

GIVEAWAY: $250 Whole Foods Gift Card

Check out the list and tell me which activity you would pick to do with your family for another chance to win a $250 gift card from Whole Foods!

You must be a Mommy Shorts subscriber to enter. Then leave a comment below. Winner will be selected on August 5th. Good luck and Happy National Blueberry Month!

winner update:

Congrats to Susan Christy! Please contact annie@mommyshorts.com to claim your prize.