Pan Fried Tofu

Most of the time when I cook my tofu I bake it, but I didn't have the time to bake this batch so I tried something new. Turned out great. Pan fried Tofu, comes out in a chicken strip type texture, very good for Chinese food, salad topping, or anything Thai. 

Step One: Cut Tofu and press in cheese cloth:

Step Two: Sprinkle salt on one side (I like sea salt the best.)

Step Three: Pour either olive oil or grade-seed oil in a saucepan, let heat and stand for a minute or two on high heat.

Step Four: Place tofu in oil and let sit on med/high heat for five minutes. (**note** don't mess with it, let it Caramelize!)

Step Five: Flip and cook other side for 3-5 minutes. This can be added now to stir-fry or topping for a salad or soaked in a marinade. It's entirely up to you!

(I made goddess salad for my dinner tonight!)

Maxi B's Vegan Cupcakes.

The Vegan Life: After six months of vegan ism (8 of vegetarian) I feel more energized and happier when I'm committed and strict about the lifestyle. Even with this knowledge I find myself fighting the (sometimes uncontrollable) desire for foods that I KNOW contain egg or cheese products.

I love cheesecake and I love soft pretzels. 

Ginny and I decided that Natty Greens has the best soft pretzels in Greensboro.

I have resigned to the fact that I can't eat cheese anymore, months of living without has almost killed my addiction (although I do sometimes look at Mexican food and think- if only....) I've found that if I avoid Mexican restaurants altogether, I more likely to avoid the trappings of cheese lust. I can go Tex/Mex (i.e. Chipotle) because they have so many vegetarian options. My SAVING GRACE is that I'm obsessed with Guacamole, so give me some warm tortilla chips and a well made guach and I'm a happy camper:)

Jules and I eating Vegan Pizza at Sticks and Stones, realized we dressed the same...

Over Christmas I aptly titled myself a "seasonal vegan." I eat baked good (eggs) on Christmas day, and I eat cheesecake (all KINDS of dairy) on my birthday. (Pretend you didn't read that confession all you die-hard-veganists out there, I am so faithful ALL other days of the year.) My ONLY other slip is...soft pretzels. I will, in fact, eat a Philly-doughy-delicious-twisted-little-piece-of-heaven and NOT feel guilty for the intake of egg....almost no guilt:)

Maxi B's with Jules.

There are, however, two saving graces in Greensboro for the baked goods craving vegan. Spring Garden Bakery and Maxi B's Bakery, (also They have a BLOG.)

1. Spring Garden Bakery: They literally have THE BEST pumpkin chocolate chip vegan muffins. They are so filling too, it serves as a lunch for me (along with a cup of coffee.) Their coffee isn't my favorite, but it's good enough that I'll couple it with a muffin and experience a little piece on heaven on earth (I much prefer the Green Bean's coffee flavor.) 
2. Maxi B's:  I ordered a vanilla cupcake with vanilla icing... OH.MY.GERSH. It was Divine. haha. You laugh, I laugh, because it's true. I thought I died for a second and came back to life. So all you Vegans out there looking for an escape, order up a cupcake to savor in that sweet little inviting bakery on a cloud.

I'm in Charelston right now, but I'm going to try baking THESE VEGAN COOKIES when I get home, check out the link, because they look good. If any g-boro peeps want to join in this endeavor I'm thinking wednesday night.

Peace Out.

Spaghetti Squash

Some people say that the biggest question when approaching the daunting spaghetti squash creature is: cook it cut up or whole? I have been battling this creature for quite some time (especially during my gluten free days) and have finally come up with a method that works...95% of the time without frustration.

Step one: Set Oven to 375.

Step two: Fill a glass bowl with water and place your squash into the bowl, put in microwave and cook for five minutes. (This will make the rind soft enough to cut in half, otherwise GOOD LUCK.) First time I tried to cut that rind without softening it I almost chopped my fingers off...

Step Three: cut squash in half and place face down on a cookie sheet. Bake for 40 mins.

Step Four: Remove the Squash and pull our the seedy layer on top, throw that away.

Step Five: pull out the "spaghetti" and place on a olive oil greased cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes at 400.

Step Six: Make some sauce. I take a can of organic Harris Teeter brand tomato sauce and mix it will basil, oregano, garlic, and thyme.

Step Seven: Add meat. I use soy chicken strips, stuck those suckers onto the George foreman for a couple mins and they were ready to go. You can choose whatever, pour the sauce over the meat and "noodles" and Voila, you have a low-carb spaghetti meal.

A Weekend Getaway

I'm really excited about this blog. Not only is it a little bit of inspiration for us to get out and about in our city, but I think it's a great way to embrace the crazy adventure of a life I already live. One thing that gives me so much life is being a Young Life leader. If you know me, you probably already know all about that, and if you don't, you should ask me about it! I'll talk your ear off.

All that is beside the point for now, though. This past weekend, I, along with a room full of crazy, fun, lovely fellow Young Life leaders took a mini vacation to the lake to get away, get encouraged, and plan a little business. I mean come on, ya gotta do what you gotta do.

The thing that was so great about the weekend was being encouraged as a group. My eyes were really opened to the importance of community, and living in that community. Like really in it! I saw my college girl friends that live all the way on the other side of campus, therefore they are (obviously) like strangers. I miss them! But we had an amazing slumber party in the basement of the sickest lake house ever. Windows everywhere! Check out the sunrise that we caught the morning of! Also, shout out to my girl Laura who rocked my socks by being such a girl filled with the joy of the Lord! She shared her story and I felt so thankful for what God does in so many lives.

I also got to spend time with some adults that I adore. I have been so blessed to see pictures of friends living such wonderfully full lives with families. They are some of my closest confidants and I try to soak up all the time I can with them, hearing how they love their husbands and their kids and their Young Life friends and, most importantly, how Christ plays a roll in all of that.

These are some leaders playing a game where they had to dress like hipsters. My boy, Jim, won by saying "I live in Portland." Heyo!

The weekend was also great because the speaker spoke plain and simply about the good news of the Gospel. Although I love Young Life, there is so much discouragement in ministry, which is exactly why we need to be reminded of a God that is so great, and that does all the hard stuff. All we have to do is show up with open hands and a repentant heart. I know I am so thankful that He is guiding my journey and leading me to such exciting opportunities like this past weekend.

Zumba Night

After a full day of dancing at school, auditioning 73 kids for my dance company, I pumped my weary body up for a little zumba-ing at the Club Green Valley.

For those of you living in Greensboro, Ginny and I are going to try different organized social activities and review the experiences on the blog. Hopefully it will inspire you to try some new things in GSO as well. So, if you come across something interesting to do, post it and we will rise to the challenge- slaying apprehension in one fell swoop. (I will always take a dare, unless it's cray stupid..in which case I take a second to think about it before barrelling forward.)

Zumba with Braden Cook is so fun. When I lived in Charlotte I would take Zumba classes at the Siskey YMCA, and they were good, but this was better. Reasons why Braden was better:

1. The music. He doesn't just use Latin or techno-fused-African stuff, he plays main stream and pop music too.
2. The size. It's not so crazy crowded that you can't breathe, like other classes I've attended, everyone person has room to move.
3. Braden himself. He fuses real dance and aerobics together well so it doesn't feel like an 80s workout video but more like a dance class. The dancer in me is appeased and the fat girl in me is challenged, and the teenage-sleepover-let's-jump-on-the-bed-and-sing-into-our-hairbrushes side of me is DEF won over.
4. Body ached the next day. I know that it was beneficail because my butt, legs, and core hurt the next day.
5. I went with three of my dear friends and it was just as much a social activity as a workout

Well Done Zumba, you captured my heart once again.

Soft Pretzel Fiasco

Our word of the week (one of our day calendar words) is Squinny: We should NOT have squinnied at our soft pretzel recipe tonight. One thing that I, Ginny, consistently struggle with is reading a recipe all the way through before I begin. For two chicks that love our pretzels, we should have been more cautious. I still can't even tell you what we did wrong...In short, four hrs and two separate batches later they tasted like pretzel biscuits.

Could be because Abigail is a vegan and doesn't use eggs to bake though....

Tortilla chips

Personally, I was super excited to show off how good we were at making delicious foods for girly nights around the house.

My infamous homemade tortilla chips were a success with some delicious and some times spicy guacamole. If you ever want to impress guests, take corn tortillas and cut them up. Lay them on a cookie sheet, spray with PAM and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes and viola!

Also, the key to quality guacamole is LOTS of cilantro. Mash up your ripe avocado, squeeze a slice of lemon or lime, as much cilantro as you can fit in the bowl, add a pinch of salt and perhaps a spoon full of salsa.

The highlight of the night in the kitchen was probably the impromptu duet of Defying Gravity. Our audience of friends was highly pleased. To quote one of them, "I cannot believe you aren't on Broadway yet!!!!" And that, of course, is a lie; no one really said it. But everyone was thinking it. Abigail's comment post performance, "Now that's how you do the dishes."



Note to self: Always check "Over all time" not just "prep time" when baking...30 mins vs. 3 hrs.

                                                                  

Migraines and...THE Bachelor is Back

Well, I've been laying flat on my back, in a pitch dark room, icing my head, praying for relief...Migraines are the biggest test of perseverance in my life right now. They always bring me to my knees in prayer. The other silver lining of chronic pain is the days when I feel "normal" it's like feeling glitter in my veins. My whole body rejoices and shouts in glee at the opportunity to live out a day without pain:) I'm starting to feel that again right now, just had to "shout it from the roof tops" because three days in bed makes this moment priceless.

I walked into the kitchen last night and said to Ginny, " I wish I was dead. It would feel better than this."  She stopped unloading the dishwasher and looked at me, "Noooo, it will be done in a minute. In a minute the pain will be over and then you'll wish you were alive! That's what always happens!" I laughed. Another reason why we are great roommates.                        

The other thing worth mentioning: The bachelor. Ginseng and I decided it's the very best "trash tv" on tv.

Ginny's review: "Well we only saw the 2nd half but... Girls should never wear a wedding dress on the first date. And I always get so mad at all the girls because they say such stupid things about dating one guy and there's 20 of them... I commend the girl with the one arm but... it's like 'hey let's address the elephant in the room- I have one arm, in case you didn't notice- baby I born this way.' (sings a little gaga) They are all bozos til it's down to the last two. I mean, does that one girl get pushed down the stairs, I don't know, but I'm gonna have watch the whole season just to find out"

Abigail's Review: Drunk girl- this is what I don't get, do these girls just go on for fifteen minutes of fame? I would be so embarrassed to be famous for drunken crass behavior. Call me old fashioned but I blushed for her....And the arm girl, she kept talking about "I can't help but think I'm single because of my arm." Let's be real, you are surrounded by a room full of two armed women and they are all single...conclusion?

We also decided that all the shows AFTER the Bachelor SUCK. We sat on the couch playing on our computers and our phones wishing we could curl up with Ryan Reynolds (sparked by a preview Gangster something??) Ok- I KINDA like Deception...I'll try it a few weeks before I give an official review.

-Abigail.