Musings From Wonderland: A blog by Miss Marie

The end of a good thing.... (or, actually, the transfer)

noreply@blogger.com (Miss Marie) — Tue, 19 May 2009 16:01:00 +0000

I've loved having this blog for the last few years. I've loved the creative outlet. I've loved the people I've met because of it. But...I've reached that time in my life and my business where I need to consolidate. So...you may notice that the only posts remaining now are the recipes that I've made and I'm going to keep them up both for others as much as for myself, as an online cookbook of sorts for myself. oh, and my 101 in 1001 list because I really want to commit to finishing it! But... from now on out I'll be blogging full time at my other blog The 222 Blog. If you are currently subscribed to this blog or a follower please go and follow the other one. (It is also a blogger blog so you all that are following via blogger can easily follow that one now.) I really don't want to lose tough with anyone!

Love you all!

Finally!

noreply@blogger.com (Miss Marie) — Fri, 01 May 2009 22:33:00 +0000

Just wanted to drop in with a check in and say....

I lost 5 pounds this week. Booyah!
And I bought

This jacket...

and this dress...

and this for the cruise...

and a few other random pieces that I couldn't find pictures of online. 10 pounds to go. :)

Red Wine Marinara with Blackened Zucchini and Lentil Meatballs

noreply@blogger.com (Miss Marie) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 13:52:00 +0000

I decided yesterday to try making lentil meatballs. I had never even heard of them until I read about them online, completely randomly, on the CSL boards and thought, "That sounds delicious!" Mr. Beagle and I really enjoy pasta dinners. We cook up lots of veggies and doctor up our favorite sauces and then sit down with a bottle of red wine. It's kind of routine. And I love it. So I thought I'd add something new to the mix since Mr. Beagle indulges me by not forcing me to eat separate meatless dinners.

He made a crinkled up face when I first told him what I was making but ended up being a good sport and trying them. Although I don't think he was a fan of the texture, he ate two saying that they had a really great flavor (thank you very much).
For you vegans/vegetarians out there, these are a really filling substitute. And they have an amazing flavor. I couldn't stop eating the lentil mash before I cooked them. You could even make crumbles out of it if you'd rather and cook it in the marinara for a meat sauce. Oh the possibilities...

For Lentil Meatballs
3/4 c. dry lentils
1/2 onion diced
2 tsp old bay blackening seasonings
1 tbs garlic
1 tbs Italian seasonings (basil, parsley, oregano)
1 tsp celery seed
1 piece of wheat bread
2 tbs italian dressing
olive oil for sauteing
dash of liquid smoke
1/2 c. Bread crumbs

1. In a medium pot, boil lentils in water for 40 minutes or until mushy and tender (they will soak up most the water but drain any remaining)
2. Saute onions with olive oil and blackening seasonings in a small pan until clear and tender. Add garlic and saute 1 minute
3. Pour dressing over slice of bread to soak, and set aside
4. Mash the lentils, onion mix, liquid smoke, italian seasonings, blackening seasonings, 1/4 c. bread crumbs, and slice of bread together with a fork in a small bowl. If it is too wet to form and hold balls, add some bread crumbs, if it's too dry add some water or veggie stock.
5. Form the mixture into 2 inch balls and roll each one in breadcrumbs
6. Saute each ball over medium heat in olive oil until browned.

For pasta
2 servings pasta (we chose spinach florentine)
1 lg zucchini
1/2 onion diced
pasta sauce
red wine

1. Salt water and bring to a boil (do not add oil or your sauce won't stick!)
3. Boil pasta for about 7 minutes until al dente, drain
4. Slice zucchini into thin dollars
5. Saute zucchini with onions, garlic, and blackening spices until tender
6. Add a few tablespoons red wine and marinara
7. Turn the heat to low and allow it to simmer for about 5 minutes

Yesterday was day 1 of my Hot for Grand Cayman plan and I did a really great job. I had that pink pom smoothie for brunch, some uncooked oatmeal, cinnamon, pb, soymilk snack (pretty much breakfast balls but I didn't wait for them to chill) in the afternoon and then this meal for dinner. I also ran 2 miles and did a bit of yoga. Thanks for all the support in the comments. I had a few people ask for more details about what I'm going to be doing to get in shape so we can all do it together. So here is what I'm planning. I know it won't work for everyone but for me it's a pretty good plan.

Diet:
Raw before dinner
Unlimited juices and smoothies
Green juice shots (mix green superfood powder in 2 oz. water and drink like a shooter)
Moderate coffee and diet soda
If cooked, it should be some sort of whole grain or soup
Dinners are the big meal and should be well balanced with veggies.
Extremely limited dairy intake
Water

Exercise:
Running at least 1 mile 5 days
Wii fit or yoga on days with less than 2 miles
Crunches, lunges, and pushups after running

PS. I also updated the cookbook with all the most recent recipes so you should be able to find everything there again. xoxo

Mama's "Magic" Hot Cocoa

noreply@blogger.com (Miss Marie) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 15:39:00 +0000

Things have been soooooo crazy! As soon as we booked our tickets to NYC everyone and everything that could have ever been due decided to become due the week before our trip (read: NOW!) so for the last 5 days (and the next 3) I have been sucking down red bulls and coffee, emailing like crazy, editing thousands of images, doing constant laundry (gotta have packing options), cleaning the house, compiling lists of places to visit in NYC, making sure our bank accounts are all balanced and ready, and attempting to keep up with our social life. So... not much time for cooking or for blogging or anything but work. But... one night I decided I needed a warm and cozy adult beverage (read: CHOCOLATE!) so I pulled out my La Dolce Vegan and decided on hot cocoa, but I decided to give it a twist (read: ALCOHOL!) Enjoy...

Mama's "Magic" Hot Cocoa
3 tbs cocoa powder
3 tbs sugar (or your favorite sweetener)
2 1/2 c low fat vanilla soy milk
1 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch salt
non-dairy chocolate chips (for chocolate shavings on top)
marshmallows
1 shot Godiva chocolate liqueur
1 shot Kahlua

In a small saucepan whisk together cocoa, sugar, soy milk, cinnamon and salt. Bring to a low boil, stirring constantly. Immediately remove from heat and stir in the liqueur and Kahlua. Pour into mugs and top with marshmallows and chocolate shavings. Serves 2.

In other news...

.The nice people from POM decided to pick me (thanks POM) as a blogger to sample their amazing juice and share with you how yummy it is. I just received a case of little POM juice bottles and am soooo excited to try them and maybe even come up with some fun recipes with them. ;) That will be coming your way after we get back from New York. And, this morning (along with the pack of POMs) I got a 40% your entire purchase coupon to LUCKY JEANS, and a 2-park pass to Universal and IOA (for free)! It was the best mail morning ever!

.I am so excited to get away. We need it so badly. We both need to just disconnect from work, clients, and Orlando and just be in love, on an adventure, going where the wind takes us. I'm so excited! T-minus 3 days!

How are you doing today?

Pizza Primavera

noreply@blogger.com (Miss Marie) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 02:11:00 +0000

Many of you know (from my twitter series) that I have been reading the book Eat Pray Love and have been luh-ving it. Reading the Italy section got me thinking about pizzas. And by "thinking about" I mean obsession over and craving 24/7. So, tonight, I decided that it was time to take matters into my own hands (and avoid ruining all my hard work at the gym) and create my own healthy masterpiece. I set out to make the most amazing vegetable pizza on the planet. And, ladies and gentlemen, I am happy to say that I succeeded.

I am extremely picky about vegetables (which, I'm sure is amusing since I am a vegetarian). My like/dislike for each vegetable rests solely on the way it is prepared. If veggies are crunchy, they'd better be raw. I hate cooked and cruchy veggies. If they are cooked, I want them either thin and crispy or soft. High maintenance? I prefer the term "attentive to detail". So for me, preparing a pizza that was comprised entirely of veggies was an excerize in planning. I wanted to make sure that my veggies were the perfect texture. And with 3 different types of veggies, I had quite a task at hand. I decided to slice them all into super thin dollars and roast them. I had never roasted eggplant or zucchini before but I knew that I adored roasted tomatoes so I figured that the rest would be just as good. I was right. Roasting made them crispy around the edges and soft in the middle. It brought out the most wonderfully warm and rich flavors. The kind of flavors you can't get from veggies cooked any other way. I also decided to use blackening seasonings on them, just for a bit of kick. No one likes bland veggies. And I decided to make my own pepperoni from the frozen seitan sausage logs I had saved. Sheer brilliance, I tell you! I could have eaten the entire thing. My mouth definitely wanted to. But after 2 pieces, I was stuffed and laying across the sofa in pizza bliss.

Marie's Pizza Primavera

Ingredients:
1/2 lg eggplant, sliced into thin dollars
1 zucchinni, sliced into thin dollars
2 roma tomatoes, sliced into dollars
1/2 seitan sausage log, sliced into pepperoni sized pieces (optional)
1 c. pasta sauce (preferably one with onions already cooked in)
1 whole wheat pizza crust (or make your own from scratch)
Sprinkling of either mozzarella cheese or nooch (optional)
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
Old Bay Blackening Seasoning
Salt & Pepper
Basil
Oregano

Prepare the veggies:
1. Preheat oven to 450. Move rack to highest position.
2. Drizzle olive oil all over a cookie sheet. Cover the sheet with the sliced veggies trying to not allow them to cover each other
3. Drizzle olive oil on top of the veggies, sprinkle with salt and pepper and old bay blackening seasonings
4. Roast for 15 minutes.

Prepare the seitan pepperoni:
5. In a small saucepan over medium heat warm olive oil and old bay blackening seasonings
6. Add seitan slices and let them saute for about 1-2 mintues on each side or until slightly crispy
7. Remove from heat, set aside

Prepare the pizza
8. Spread pasta sauce over the pizza crust, being careful to leave about and inch clean all the way around
9. Spread garlic throughout sauce. Sprinkle with basil and oregano (sprinkle with mozzarella cheese here if you'd like or nooch)
10. Place the roasted eggplant slices in consecutive circles covering the entire pizza
11. Layer the roasted zucchinni slices in consecutive circles covering the eggplant
12. Scatter the roasted tomato slices across the top
13. Scatter seitan pepperoni around the outside, tucking them under the veggies at the edges
14. Sprinkle with oregano and basil, salt and pepper. Bake for 10 minutes

We enjoyed this with a bottle of shiraz-cab and it was delicious!!! The rich berry flavor complimented the roasted vegetables perfectly. Enjoy dinner nirvana my friends!

Breakfast Balls

noreply@blogger.com (Miss Marie) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:47:00 +0000

I still get mildly (but only mildly) annoyed when people ask me how I survive without protein. I mean, how can anyone really not know the answer to this? Obviously the answer is that I can't, and obviously I'm alive, so I must be getting it from somewhere. But, I just look at them and sweetly answer that most meat-eating Americans eat 3x more protein than their bodies actually need and that there are many substantial plant-based sources such as beans and legumes. They usually look at me a little cross-eyed, probably imagining me eating a big pile of black-eyed-peas every day and usually make a remark about how they could never survive without steak. Maybe they are surviving, but is their body really living?

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It is also the easiest way for me to try and cut calories. I love to skip breakfast, have a coffee and save those calories to be spent later on. But I know that's not healthy. And I hear that eating breakfast actually helps those trying to loose weight to loose it. However, I doubt that eating milk and sugary cereal or a calorie-ridden bagel really does the trick. Still, there's no denying the desire for something sweet in the morning.

After hearing about "breakfast cookies" from various foodie blogs I follow, I decided to give them a try. They were good. Really good. So I tried them again, tweaking a few things to make them even better (and more portable), and also trying to pack them full of as much protein as possible (Fuller longer? Yes please!). These are so delicious! They contain a whopping 14 grams of plant-based protein in each serving (for referece, 2 large eggs contain 12 grams of protein), are a good source of omegas, calcium, magnesium, folate, and potassium, have only 214 calories, contain NO animal products (vegan), taste very much like balls of cookie dough, and they have chocolate chips. Yes, you may all send me love letters now. ;)

Breakfast Balls

Ingredients:
1/2 c. oats
1/4 c. light vanilla soymilk
1 tbs. light peanut butter
1 tbs. ground flax seed
1 tbs. wheat germ
1/2 scoop vanilla soy protein powder
sprinkle of ground cinnamon
scant palmful of nondairy chocolate chips

Using a spoon, mash all the ingredients together in a bowl. Roll into bite-sized balls (about 1 small spoonful of dough each). Place on wax paper and refrigerate 1 hour.

(makes 6 bite-sized balls)
Serving size= 3 balls
Calories per serving= 214
Protein per serving= 14!

Mounds Bar Balls
Substitute 1 tbs. coconut flakes for wheat germ
Substitue 1 tbs. vegan dark chocolate peanut butter for light peanut butter

**Other fun recipe ideas:
Apple cinnamon breakfast balls (shredded apple, cinnamon, nutmeg)
Tropical snack balls (shredded coconut, 1/2 mashed banana)
Trail mix power balls (chunky peanut butter, dried cranberries, chopped dried apricots, sunflower seeds)
Chocoholic snack balls (chocolate peanut butter, cocoa powder, mashed dates, chocolate protein powder, chocolate chips)

Mounds Bar Oatmeal

noreply@blogger.com (Miss Marie) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 17:26:00 +0000

I'm having a really really really big "Woe is me" day and I know if I stay here in the "Create New Post" window long enough I'll end up writing a really self-indulgent "here's all the things that are making me upset" post and I really don't want to do that so....

Here is a post I had saved for an occasion such as this:

..................................................................................................

Mounds Bar Oatmeal
I'm a big coconut and chocolate fan, so when I found a bag of coconut flakes that hadn't been used up yet I got really excited to try this out. Let me tell you, it was very mounds bar-y! Cooking some of the coconut with the oats really made the difference because those pieces were softened and gave the oatmeal a great flavor!

Ingredients
1/2 c. oats
1/2 c. vanilla soymilk
1/2 c. water
3 tbs. dried, sweetened coconut flakes
1 tbs. wheat germ
1 handful non-dairy chocolate chips
agave nectar to sweeten

1. Combine oats, soymilk, water, 2 tbs. coconut flakes, and wheatgerm in a bowl and microwave 1-2 minutes until desired consistency. Stir in agave until desired sweetness.
2. Top with 1 tbs. coconut flakes and chocolate chips
3. Let the chips soften a bit and then stir them in!

Wooden cheese board from: Crate & Barrel
Oversized mug from: Anthropologie

Pesto Mash Open Faced Sandwich

noreply@blogger.com (Miss Marie) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:53:00 +0000

I am a huge fan of garbanzo beans (chick peas) and everything made from them. Sometimes though, they can be a bit bland so the other day I was digging around in my fridge and came across a delicious garlicy pesto that we had used as a yummy spread on toast with previous dinners. (Seriously, pesto on toast is delicious with pasta!) I decided to try it with the chick peas and see how it turned out. I was too hungry to get the food processor out so I just mashed the pesto into the chickpeas with a fork. It was delicious! I actually enjoyed the thicker than hummus texture.

And, in case you were wondering, here's some facts about chick peas....

Protein in a serving: 12g
Fiber in a serving: 11g
Fat in a serving: 3g
Vitamins in high levels: Folate (71%), B6 (57%), Iron (26%), Thiamin (13%)

Ingredients:
1/4 c. chick peas
1 tbs. pesto
tomato slices
romaine lettuce
rye bread slice
kosher salt & black pepper to taste

1. Mash the pesto into the chick peas with a fork until combined and the chick peas are all broken
2. Layer bread, lettuce, mash, and tomato and then sprinkle with a dash of kosher salt and black pepper
3. Mangia!

.......................................................................................................................

And now we're proud to announce the winner from our 6 words contest....

There were so many really fabulous entires but Rachel Liz really won us over with hers:
"'You'd leave all this?' She nodded."

And "Honorable Mentions" for this one that made me laugh out loud...
"Eating salad but craving a cupcake"

Rachel, please email me at missmariemusings@gmail.com so that I can get your address to send you your gift card!

Thank you to everyone who made it a fun exercise in creativity! Ya'll rock my world!

In 6 words...

noreply@blogger.com (Miss Marie) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:33:00 +0000

I'm not sure if I could be described as someone who talks a lot. I suppose it would depend on who you ask. If you ask my mom she would probably say that I am most definitely a talker, and that I come by it honestly. Some of my newest friends would probably look at you with confused faces if you asked them the same question and respond, "Yeah right, I can never get that girl to pick up the phone!" I think the amount that I talk is directly related to how well I know the people around me. I'm much more shy now than I ever used to be. Or, more accurately, I am exactly as shy as I have always been, I just own up to it now and don't force myself to pretend otherwise. Sometimes I think it makes me seem mysterious. Sometimes it makes me look like a bitch. Sorry. I just don't really like to make small talk with strangers. But if you stick around long enough, I'll open up. And Lord help you once I do. :)

There's something insanely charming about people who don't just talk, but who really speak (or write for that matter). I am instantly attracted to people who can concisely say what they mean and say it with conviction and grace. Those people can get me talking quicker than any others. One of my favorite pieces of literature is a short story by Hemingway. The shortest story he ever wrote. I never even knew he had written it until recently (apparently my literary education was sub-par) but since I first read it, I loved it. It's called "A Story in 6 Words" and it has become insanely famous. You'll see why...

His story read:
"For sale: baby shoes, never used."

What is rushing into your imagination right now? Is it an entire novel? Is your mind filling in all the characters, the anticipation, the tragic event, and then conclusion? Are you feeling a twinge of pain at the defeated tone of the sentence? Are you gripped with grief because you know of a real life version of this story? 6 words having such a big impact-Hemingway was a master.

A photographer friend of mine held a contest for her readers to write their own 6 word stories. I had so much fun reading all the entries that I wanted to host a contest myself. And since bloggers are writers, I figure that we'll get some great stuff out of this. (If nothing else, it will challenge your creative muscles!)

The rules:
Write your own original story in 6 words and leave it in a comment. Use the photo above as inspiration. One entry per person. The contest will remain open until my next post goes live at which time no additional entries will be included in the judging. Mr. Beagle and I will read through all of the stories and pick our favorite. The winning writer will receive a $10 iTunes gift card and bragging rights!

Ready....set....go!

101 in 1001

noreply@blogger.com (Miss Marie) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 01:52:00 +0000

I'm a big list maker. I like to plan. I always like to set goals and timelines. I feel grounded when I'm up in the clouds dreaming up plans for tomorrow. I know that sounds backwards. I don't work so well with bunches of rules though, which is why I never complete any resolutions. So this year, in leu of New Year's Resolutions, I've decided to join in on the 101 in 1001 fad and make my own list of things to do in the next 1001 (plus 1, I'm a tad early) days. The list-making was actually much harder than I anticipated. I got to about 78 and then ran completely dry. It took a few more days to finish out the list but now I'm really happy about it. I didn't add anything that I didn't actually want to accomplish and I refused to add "filler" goals because I want to be excited about each and every one on there. I even calculated the date that the imaginary hour glass will run out so that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and feel a fire under my rear to get stuff done. (How's that for a bunch of cliched verbiage in one sentence?) I know it's not quite New Year's yet, but who knows what I'll be doing tomorrow night and a lot of these goals begin on the 1st! I gotta get these babies out there, documented and thus make myself accountable to them. What's on your list for 2009?

101 in 1001
January 1, 2009 - September 29, 20011

The Key:
Not Started
In Progress
~~Accomplished (with the date)~~

Love and Life
1. Move into a house
2. Adopt a dog from a shelter
3. ~~(Secret Goal)~~
4. (Super Secret Goal)
5. Tour Europe, take the cameras
6. Start dancing again
7. Visit 5 more state parks (2/5)
8. ~~(Secret Goal) (10/31)~~
9. Spend a weekend morning with Mr. Beagle at garage sales
10. Stay in St. Pete Beach or Lido Key for a mini-vacay
11. (Secret Goal)
12. Spend a night in a B&B
13. Eat a candlelight dinner
14. Slow dance in public to music coming from the car
15. Have the Secret Letters Book bound and continue to keep adding to it

Social Stretching
16. Host a successful murder mystery dinner party
17. Treat each nephew to a special event specific to each of them with Mr. Beagle (0/3)
18. Go on a road trip
19. Sing on stage again (at least once)
20. Visit my dad's side of the family 3 times (non-holiday related) in a year (0/3)
21. ~~Say "yes" to a social outing I want to say "no" to for the sake of being extroverted~~
22. ~~Pay for the person in the drive through at Starbucks behind me~~
23. Volunteer to take all the images for a pet shelter's adoption site
24. ~~Try a new restaurant that I've been skipping over in favor of the familiar~~
25. Go out to dinner at Chilis with a big group of friends (one of my old favorite things to do)
26. ~~Host a LOST viewing party~~
27. Sneak into a movie
28. Get someone I don't know to buy me a drink at a bar

Body and Soul
29. Weigh 115 consistently
30. Go an entire day without saying anything negative
31. Eat 95% raw for one week and record observations
32. Eliminate dairy from my diet for one week and see if affects the frequency of my migraines
33. Get rid of 20 things that I could keep but don't really need to.
34.~~Let go of three toxic/pseudo friendships (5/3)~~ (I decided to let go of a few more)
35. ~~Get a professional massage~~
36. Do wii fit every day in May (0/20)
37. Go to the eye doctor for a check up
38. Start detoxing with teas regularly
39. Go to yoga at least once a week
40. Go for a dental check up and perhaps invisilign quote
41. ~~Try tempeh~~
42. Run 100 miles (4/100)
43. Exfoliate regularly for maximum glow
44. Get rid of clothes/shoes/accessories that don't match who I am right now
45. ~~Take a nap in the middle of the day (without being sick)~~
46. Say what I mean and ask for what I want, diplomatically
47. Make delectable Seitan meatballs
48. Hike up something
49. Make a loaf of bread from scratch (must include yeast, rising, and kneeding)
50. Have visible abs
51. Unplug for 24 hours. (Phone off, no TV, no internet)

Money Matters
52. Sell my old car and get a new one (at least new to me)
53. Have an organized system for finances both business and personal
54. Maintain two savings accounts for business and personal needs
55. Sell prints/books in a small shop.
56. ~~Have my credit limit increased by being a responsible spender~~
57. Start the process of buying a home
58. Sell the items I've been procrastinating about
59. Learn how to work the economy in my favor (investments, stocks, money markets, etc)

Busy-ness
60. Have an office/studio
61. ~~Secret Goal for 2009 (20/20)~~
62. Secret Goal for 2010
63. ~~Have a wedding featured on a prominent wedding blog~~
64. ~~Have a wedding image featured in print~~
65. Write and have published an article for a photography peridical
66. Outline a non-profit that is photography based (start it, if possible)
67. Purchase 3 more L lenses (2/3)
68. Book a destination wedding
69. Hire an assistant
70. Learn more about lighting
71. ~~Utilize ShootQ as soon as possible~~
72. Go to a workshop/convention
73. Buy the super cute anthropologie sofa I love for the office
74. Finish designing new marketing materials
75. Send LookBooks to 3 vendors (0/3)

Just Because
76. Brush up on ASL (by enrolling in a class, tutor, or self teaching)
77. Organize all my personal pictures and back them up. Then make albums
78. Get another tattoo
79. Send a postcard to Post Secret
80. Add all my old CD's to my iTunes, organize, and backup
81. Read 5 novels (0/5)
82. Ride in a limo (not while shooting weddings)
83. Play in the snow
84. Purchase a baked good from the downtown bakery my birthday cake was ordered from
85. Purchase or make a headboard
86. Find/Make my dream dining table (to be completed after moving into a house)
87. Make iphone cupcakes for Mr. Beagle to take to the store.
88. Shoot a macro series
89. Have an organized and coordinated underwear drawer
90. ~~Purchase the mac eyeliner I've been wanting~~
91. Organize my coin collection, somehow.
92. ~~Buy 5 inch pumps~~
93. Obtain the Sex and the City pink boxed collection
94. ~~Add tall black boots to my shoe collection~~
95. Make home made ice cream
96. ~~Go on a cruise of some sort~~
97. Get a french manicure
98. ~~Order something that I love from Etsy~~
99. Make fried cheesecake
100. Try a bloody mary before noon
101. Ride the Superman Ride in the tourist district

Gingerbread Men

noreply@blogger.com (Miss Marie) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 20:52:00 +0000

The smell of pine. Twinkling lights. Delicately wrapped gifts. Hot cocoa. Cinnamon. Cranberries. Stockings. Apple Cider. Gingerbread.

Recipe #2 of my Christmas goodies of '08 is for those of you out there that love old-time Christmas charm. So for you Christmas traditionalists out there, please enjoy!

These chewy, spicy little cookies are so delicious that they will be a sure (animal free) crowd-pleaser this Christmas. Add to that the nostalgia of simple gingerbread men and you have got a hit. I had never made gingerbread before. I had also never made molasses cookies before. So when I saw this recipe for gingerbread molasses cookies I knew I had to made them! This recipe took about 5 minutes to whip up. Even rolling and cutting the little men out was quick. I think I rolled, cut, and baked all the cookies in 20 minutes. If you are baking these for a party, you will want to double or triple the recipe. It yielded 16 gingerbread men for me and I used a 6in. cookie cutter.

This recipe is originally from PPK. The only reason it's adapted is because I didn't have any regular sugar left after making my Christmas Candy the other day so I substituted brown sugar. And I upped the cinnamon a tad. You know how I am. :)

Gingerbread Men

Ingredients

1/3 c. canola oil
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. molasses
1/4 c. soymilk (I used Silk vanilla)
2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1. Whisk together oil and brown sugar for about 3 minutes until well combined
2. Add in molasses and soymilk and continue to whisk until mixed
3. In another bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients
4. Add dry to wet slowly, stirring continually until the dough becomes fairly stiff
5. Form a disk out of the dough. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
6. Preheat oven to 350.
7. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough until it is 1/4 in. thick
8. Cut out your gingerbread people. Gently transfer them to a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake for 8 minutes.
9. Allow to completely cool before icing.

Christmas Candy

noreply@blogger.com (Miss Marie) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:22:00 +0000

For all you creative kitchen divas out there, I bring you a challenge worthy of your prowess. You cupcake masters who can mold anything out of fondant, you cake decorators, you mom's of children who have honed your sculpting skills with hours of play-doh games, this one is for you!

Yesterday was Christmas baking day. But instead of the annual cookie-baking fest, I took a turn toward Candy Land with peppermint bark and these little beauties! Alexis, from Paper Wings, joined me and we spent the evening crafting these fun little candies in various Christmas shapes. The possibilities are endless and I'm sure someone out there will be a much better sculptor than I and will come up with something amazing. I, myself, was very proud of these little creations as I am a much better photographer than sculptor. HaHa!

The recipe is the same as last year's candy corn recipe and the fun thing about the recipe is that you can really use it for any holiday depending on the shapes you create. We made trees, wreaths, gifts, holly bunches, stars of david, multiple colored candy canes, and then candy corns in Christmas colors and little rectangle tape strips. You can make whatever shapes you can dream up! We joked about making a life size menorah but I didn't have 7 candles in the house so that didn't work out. ;)

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
2/3 cup corn syrup (preferably organic, avoid high fructose corn syrup)
5 tablespoons Earth Balance
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup powdered soy milk
a pinch of kosher salt
Food colorings of your choice

1. In a large saucepan, bring the sugar, corn syrup, Earth Balance, & vanilla to a boil over high heat.
2. Reduce the heat to medium-high & boil the mixture for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. After 5 minutes, remove from heat.
4. Sift the powdered sugar, powdered soy milk (I used flour since I couldn't find the powdered milk), & salt into medium bowl.
5. Add the powdered sugar mixture to pan & stir to combine.
6. Let the mixture stand until slightly warm to touch, about 20 minutes.
7. Divide the dough into sections
8. Consider putting on rubber gloves, so you don't stain your hands. Add several drops of yellow food coloring to one piece of dough & knead food coloring into the dough until smooth and color is even. (Leave some dough plain for white)

For trees and corn:
1. Using green colored dough, separate three equal-sized chunks.
2. Roll each piece into ropes of equal length (don't roll too thin or the dough will break), flatten each roll a bit so it's not perfectly round, and push the three ropes together to form a long rectangle. Overlapping each rope a bit over the one before.
3. Using a sharp knife, cut triangles out of each strip by alternating vertical cuts.
4. Using a small bit of yellow dough, roll tiny circles as tree toppers and place on the top of each tree

For candy canes:
1. Use one chunk of red and one chuck of plain (white) dough.
2. Roll a small chunk of red into a long, thin rope. (As long and thin as you can get it without breaking.) Repeat with white.
3. Twist the two ropes around each other and push ends together to seal.
4. Cut small strips and then curve one side down to form the cane.

For wreaths:
1. Roll yellow dough into two thing ropes.
2. Twist the two ropes around each other.
3. Cut small sections and curl them into circles, sealing the ends
4. Using small bits of red and green dough, form little triangle leaves and little red berries and press onto wreaths.

For gifts:
1. Form little cubes out of the dough using the table to make sure each side of the cube is even and flat
2. Roll very, very thin ropes out of another color dough.
3. Using the thin rope, "wrap" the gift leaving the tops loose like a bow.

For rectangle tape candies:
1. Use as many colors as you'd like
2. Roll each color into a long rope
3. Push the ropes up against each other and flatten a bit so they are not completely round and will hold together.
4. Cut evenly into little rectangles

In this photo you can see the various colored "corns" I made as well as the rectangle pieces. Make the majority of your candy in these shapes as it gets very tedious to craft intricate shapes out of all this dough. It makes a lot!

Say it with me: "Say-tahn"

noreply@blogger.com (Miss Marie) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 21:53:00 +0000

Herb stuffed Seitan Loaf with Mushroom Chickpea Gravy

Pet Peeve #1: Being asked if I'm anemic
Recently I was asked (again) is I was anemic because I was a vegetarian. Really people? Anemia is from a lack of iron, not a lack of meat. Soybeans, spinach, oats, and beans are just a few of a long list of non-animal items loaded with iron and my diet contains tons of each of those so no, I am not anemic.

Pet Peeve #2: Being asked if I get enough protein
A few people have expressed their grave concern for my apparent lack of protein recently. Again...really? How can people still be so naive? And everyone wonders why they are all sick. I digress... Meat is not the only thing that contains protein my loves. I can't even stand to begin this lecture again so here is a super quick list of foods that have significant amounts of protein that are not from animals: chick peas, soybeans, lentils, kidney beans, barley, brown rice, oatmeal, wheat, wild rice, broccoli, eggplant, cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, almonds, sunflower seeds, walnuts....the list goes on and on.

Pet Peeve #3: People being shocked that I know the list of items I just quoted
This bothers me only because it assumes that I'm an idiot. And I am not. I have been extremely interested in nutrition for the past 6 years and in the past 2 years, as I learned the benefits of the lifestyle I now subscribe to, I have dived head first into learning. So, I don't really care that your doctor told you to eat read meat because you are anemic. That's not the best advice. Most of the people I share recipes and health advice with know more about nutrition than your doctor. I'm not trying to be a bitch, but it's true.

I will stop before I climb to the top level of my soapbox and I'll save the lecture for another day. On to something much more fun. Seitan. I did it! I made my own Seitan loaf this Thanksgiving and holy heck it was AMAZING. I've been a fan of veggie-meat for a while but it's so effing expensive and I just prefer to make things from scratch anyway. (Cheaper and better for you.) I followed Vegan Dad's recipe almost exactly with a few small changes. I wanted to use regular bread stuffing instead and I served vegan gravy with it (recipe for that later). Here is how the Seitan recipe ended up:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. vital wheat gluten
1/4 c. nutritional yeast (aka "nooch")
1/2 tsp. garlic juice (as in from the minced garlic jar)
1 tsp. salt
3/4 c. water
1/2 c. soy milk
2 tbs. canola oil
1/4 tsp. white vinegar
Prepared herb stuffing (about 2 cups)

1. Bring water to a boil in a steamer
2. Whisk together dry ingredients in a small bowl
3. In a larger bowl, whisk together wet ingredients. Add dry mix to wet slowly mixing with a wooden spoon until combined.
If the dough is too wet add a little extra wheat gluten. It should feel kind of like pizza dough: soft and pliable but holding together in a big lump
4. Spread a little wheat gluten or flour on a board and transfer dough to it. Using your fingers, spread it into a rectange about 1/2 inch thick. Make sure the width will fit in your steamer!
5. Put the stuffing in a line down the center of the rectangle. Compress the stuffing with your hands so that it will form a solid center. Roll the seitan around the stuffing being careful not to create any holes. Don't roll it like a jelly roll, fold the sides up over the stuffing and then seal the seitan. Make sure it is sealed well along the seam and the ends.
6. Transfer the roll to a sheet of aluminum foil and roll the seitan in it wrapping it like a tootsie roll.
7. Place in the steamer for 40 minutes, turning after 20. (His recipe calls for 30 minutes, turning after 15 but I accidentally forgot and it still turned out really well. I'm sure his timing works well too but I want to tell you how I did it.) Preheat the oven to 350 while the seitan is steaming.
8. Transfer to the oven and bake at 350 for 25 minutes.
9. Let cool for 15 minutes before slicing with a very sharp chef's knife.
Serve with your favorite gravy

For the gravy, I really liked how Vegan Yum Yum's Mushroom Gravy looked but I wanted something really thick so I stole the idea of adding chickpeas from PPK's Vegan with a Vengeance. This recipe ended up being a complete on the spur of the moment deal and it turned out so delicious that I cannot wait to make it again. Enjoy:

Ingredients

1 can organic chick peas, pureed in a food processor
1 c. Cremini mushrooms, chopped
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp kosher salt
2 fresh sage leaves, chopped
1 stem fresh thyme, leaves only
3 tbs. Earth Balance Vegan Butter
3 tbs. flour
1 c. vegetable broth
soymilk, for thinning
black pepper, to taste
cayenne pepper, to taste

1. Heat oil in skillet. Add garlic, onion, and mushrooms, and herbs. Cook until onions turn clear.
2. Transfer mix to food processor and mix until smooth and creamy
3. Using the same pan, with the heat on low, add earth balance and flour to create a roux (paste). Slowly add the vegetable broth whisking the entire time until the mixture is smooth. Turn the heat up to medium and slowly whisk in spoonfuls of the chickpea puree and mushroom puree. Go slowly until you reach the desired thickness you prefer. I used about 3/4 of each. You can use bits of soymilk to thin the gravy if you make it too thick. Season with salt, pepper, and a dash of cayenne to taste.

This meal turned out so delicious and extremely filling! I'm still eating it 2 days later and it's keeping really well in the fridge. I cannot wait to make it again and to try other variations. Mr. Beagle thinks we should try to make a "ground" seitan to use for nachos and spaghetti. He also thinks that mixing in a little Italian dressing to the dough would give it a good, marinated, flavor. I cannot wait to experiment.

Get your facts straight: Seitan 101

1. Seitan is derived from the protein portion of wheat.
2. If you've ever eaten "mock" chicken, pork, or duck at a Chinese restaurant, you've eaten Seitan
3. A 100 g. serving contains 18% protein, less than 1% saturated fat, and 118 calories (half the calories of 100 g. of beef.)
4. It was developed by a vegetarian Buddhist monk as a meat substitute. It is as extremely versatile in recipes.
5. Some vegans/vegetarians don't like it because the texture is so similar to real meat. But that makes it a wondeful stand in for those making the transition or who enjoy the thicker texture but not the cruelty/heath detriments of real meat.

Homemade Dark Hot Chocolate

noreply@blogger.com (Miss Marie) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 03:52:00 +0000

At 9:35pm tonight...

Me: Are you hungry?
Mr. Beagle: No, I just ate Taco Bell. But if you wait a bit I will probably get hungry again. Why? Do you want me to cook you something? (Ladies, let's take a second to appreciate the string of questions he asked. Le swoon.)
Me: No, it's okay.
Mr. Beagle: What do you want?
Me: I was thinking of trying to make fried rice. We have cans of peas and carrots in the pantry.
Mr. Beagle: I don't know how to make fried rice.
Me: Me neither. I could look up a recipe. Or we could just use yellow rice, which would be pretty good too.
-Silence for a few minutes-
Me: Nevermind, I'm not really hungry.
Mr. Beagle: Yes you are.
Mr: Yeah, but only Fatty Fat Faces eat at 9:40pm. It's too late for dinner. ("Fatty Fat Face" is the pet name for my binge-eating alter ego. FYI.)
Mr. Beagle: You're right. You're gigantic. Can you move over please, you're crushing my ribs...
Mr. Beagle: Ugh, if you're hungry just go make something!
Me: No, it's too late. I'm not giving in.
Mr. Beagle: What about if I go take a shower and you go to the store and get us some hot cocoa mix?
Me: Hm...or I could just make hot cocoa from scratch!
Mr. Beagle: I don't know, I don't think we have any milk left babe.
Me: That's okay, I'll make it vegan!

So he went to shower and I started looking up the basics of vegan hot cocoa. I figured I had the ingredients: cocoa, soy milk, water, sugar... seems easy enough.

After scouring google's top hits I decided to just start experimenting based on the most commonly used measurements. After taste-testing I decided that it wasn't chocolate-y enough or spicy enough and started my tweaking by adding some spices and extra cocoa. I also decided that I wanted it super thick. Like, Starbucks chocolate shot thick. None of that watered down, from a paper package crap for us! Here is what I came up with, which, in my opinion, is the best non-dairy hot chocolate that you will ever taste.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. hot water
5 tbs. cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
5 tbs. organic sugar
dash nutmeg
dash salt
1 1/4 c. vanilla soymilk

In a small pot combine all ingredients except vanilla soy milk. Stirring continually, bring the mixture to a low simmer until all parts are combined. Stir in the vanilla soymilk. Continue stirring until combined and hot but do not allow it to boil.

*I used Silk Nonfat Vanilla, if you use plain soy milk you will want to add extra sweetener and a bit of vanilla extract

I would love to figure out how to make this using powdered soy milk. Then I could give it away as a gift. Anyone experimented with that before? I'd love to know how it turned out for you! I also think this recipe would be amazing with a bit of peppermint extract or a bit of espresso powder. Again, it's a very simple recipe that you can get super creative with. Let me know what you dream up!

....Soapbox rant ahead:
Repeat after me... "dairy is for big fat cows" ;) Couldn't resist. But seriously, are you a baby cow? No? Then it wasn't made for you. Dairy makes you fat just like a cow, are you seeing the connection? Good, we're making progress. Moving on...

Nom Rating:

Mr. Beagle: A
He said he would have given it an A+ if I'd added little marshmallows.

Me: A+
I'm a picky hot cocoa drinker and I've always hated the in-a-package-mix-with-water-and-microwave kinds. I'm more of a thick, rich, and creamy kind of hot cocoa girl and this was perfect. It was actually so decadent that I couldn't finish my cup. It's sure to please those who have an aversion to soymilk. Mr. Beagle won't drink soy milk but really liked this.

In-A-Snap Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Miss Marie) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 19:46:00 +0000

vanilla cupcakes with chocolate peanut butter centers and swirl icicng

For the hottie totties in a hurry, I present to you a super simple, super yummy, super nothing cupcake recipe. I say 'nothing' because these little babies are free of all kinds of allergens such as dairy, peanuts and tree nuts. (They would be free of peanuts but I added peanut butter. So if you want peanut free, add something else instead.) I whipped these up in the spare minutes I had before heading out to a friend's birthday party.

Before I get hate mail let me explain: yes I used a cake mix. The point of this recipe is to be quick and simple but still meet the needs of a wide variety of lifestyles. Proving that delicious, healthy, vegan, baked goods don't need to take hours.

The great thing about these are that you could really do whatever filling/flavor you want. The cake mix is vanilla flavored so it's basically a blank canvas for you to create on. I chose dark chocolate peanut butter just because I wanted to try it. (I've been seeing all these delicious specialty peanut butters on everyone's blogs and I decided it was time for me to join the masses.)

So, this recipe is really just for inspiration. I want you to see that it is so easy to make something really delicious and a little fancy but still vegan and gluten-free. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 box Gluten Free Dreams vanilla cake mix
1 package Gluten Free Dreams vanilla icing (which ended up being more like a glaze)
Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter (the brand I bought was dairy free)
Earth Balance Butter Replacement
Cupcake cups

1. Preheat the oven and line a cupcake pan with cups
2. Prepare the cake mix according to instructions
3. Fill the cupcake cups 3/4 full (this will make them rise to the perfect height for icing)
4. Drop a small dollop of peanut butter in the center of each cup and swirl it around using a toothpick
5. Bake according to instructions
6. Remove from pan and allow to fully cool
7. Using a butter knife, spread a few lines of peanut butter on the inside of an icing bag
8. Fill the rest of the bag with the vanilla icing
9. Pipe icing onto cupcakes (I used the big star tip. Since this icing is more like glaze, it will not stay standing tall. You may want to just warm it up and drizzle it over. Be creative!)

Variations:
Stawberries and Cream: Replace peanut butter with strawberry preserves and garnish with sliced berries
Hazelnut Dreams: Replace peanut butter with Nutella and sprinkle crushed hazelnuts on top to garnish
Polkadops: Drop chocolate chips into the batter before cooking and garnish the top with them
Raspberry Bites: Replace peanut butter with raspberry preserves and top each iced cupcake with a sugar dipped raspberry
...the possibilities are endless

Taste Test: Gluten Free Dreams

noreply@blogger.com (Miss Marie) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 22:16:00 +0000

Today I picked up a box of Gluten Free Dreams Sugar Cookie Mix by Cherrybrook Kitchen.

I walked into a brand new Whole Foods Market here in Orlando and felt like I walked into a dream. Not only did a shimmering juice bar greet me but the store was HUGE with many more products and offerings than the store I previously frequented. (I say frequentED because this new store just kicked the old store's ass.) The cute graphics on this cookie box caught my eye (apparently I am the target market) and I decided to try them out and then give them an official Miss Marie Blog Review.

I have never tried anything Wheat & Gluten Free. I know that a lot of people have allergies to gluten and there are so many talented bakers out there in the blogosphere who are blogging about wonderful gluten-free recipes. (Veggie Girl is a current favorite.) I have never been diagnosed with a gluten allergy but I am always looking for something new, healthy, and delicious and these seemed to be all of those things.

The Outside

First of all, the box is really cute. I know it's something simple but graphic design and how the outside looks really makes a difference in my opinion of a product's quality. This box is super cute.

The box advertises that the sugar cookie mix is Peanut Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free, Nut Free, Wheat Free, and Gluten Free. So what's in it? That's what I thought too. The ingredients are rice flour, evaporated can juice, potato starch, tapioca flour, non-alluminated baking powder, xanthan gum, and sea salt. Seems pretty straightforward. And pretty clean. I like it.

The box boasts that 1 cookie is only 70 calories. That's wonderful! I'm already liking this product. But it makes sense since there's no milk, eggs, or butter in these. The company also allows you collect the box flaps and trade them in for free mixes, water bottles, and other things. They also make note of the fact that the machines they use to make this mix do not process andy dairy, egg, peanut or tree nut products so consumers don't have to worry the slightest about cross contamination if they or their loved ones are highly allergic. Bravo.

The Inside

I was a little skeptical when I tasted the dry mix because it wasn't all that sweet. But after mixing in the required vanilla, soymilk and melted butter substitute, it came together nicely and tasted just like any other sugar cookie dough although it was a bit stickier. (aka no rolling out on a baking sheet without letting it chill for a few hours)

I decided that I wanted to turn these into Snickerdoodles so I added 1 tsp. cream of tartar to the dough and then rolled the dough in a cinnamon/organic sugar mixture before baking.

Final Judgement

Delicious! I'd like to try a blind taste test between these and my old non-vegan recipe because I'm not sure I'd be able to tell. If I were to guess, I'd say these are less heavy which is probably a very good thing. I was extremely surprised by how "normal" they tasted, looked, and felt. All together an amazing cookie mix. I highly recomment it.

Nom Rating:

Mr. Beagle: A+
He really liked them. I'm always surprised at how accepting he is of all my "healthy alternative" baking.

Me: A+
These were great. If I had a food allergy I would be so excited by these! I'd love to try to make these from scratch one day but after looking at the ingredients at whole foods I decided buying the mix is way cheaper. LOL.

In other news...

Andrea surprised me the other day by honoring me with another award. She wrote such a sweet little paragraph about my blog and I feel so flattered. (And now a little guilty that I didn't write such nice things for the people I gave my last award to.) I'm even more flattered that I was included in such wonderful list of awardees that she chose!

Thank you so much Andrea and to everyone else who has visited, commented, and sent me sweet notes of encouragement. I love this creative community!

This award came with no rules so I'll hand it out to two foodie blogs, and two non-foodie blogs that are regular commenters (gotta give love to get love people) and that I absolutely love:

Foodies:
A Place For Us: Earlier this year she transitioned herself and her family into a more healthful vegetarian lifestyle and is blogging through the journey. She includes lots of photos from their day-to-day life. And if her down-to-earth tone doesn't draw you instantly in, the photos of the view from their garden will!

Dishing Up Delights: Esi always has creative recipes gracing the pages of her blog. They are all beautiful and look delicious! She really got me hooked when she did an entire series of recipes incorporating pomegranate seeds a week or two ago. You'll be amazed!

Non-foodies:
Larissa Monologues: Larissa and I have been following each other's blogs for a while now and I'm excited to share that she just recently found out that she and her husband are EXPECTING! Her posts are heart-warming and up-lifiting and I always look forward to what she will share next.

Life According to Mrs. LC: Mrs. LC is a newly blogging newlywed that just recently began her degree in Nutrition. Her blog is loaded with fun posts of recipes, stories, and amazing little freebies that she finds and shares with the blogosphere.

Thanks everyone! Keep passing the love around! (Wow that sounds very 70's doesn't it? LOL)

Figgy Fig Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Miss Marie) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 01:03:00 +0000

(Alternate title: They aren't cookies, they're fruit and cake!)

Well, this post is a few days late. It was meant for Friday but Mr. Beagle is finally home from training in sunny San Francisco and I've been spending all my free time relaxing with him before our super busy November kicks into high gear.

On Friday though, before Mr. Beagle came home, my mom drove up and spent the day with me. It was really nice to just spend a whole day with her, even if our trip to Plato's Closet was completely unsuccessful. On the positive side, she did help me clean my entire kitchen and then we messed it up again by baking a huge batch of these amazing little cookies (fruit and cakes).

My mom has always loved Fig Newtons so when I saw a vegan version in my Vegan with a Vengeance Cookbook, I thought it would be a fun mother-daughter-in-the-kitchen-bonding time. We baked a batch pretty much exactly as the recipe stated (save for a few tweaks) and then thought we'd try another batch using the scone batter also in the book. After an official taste test we decided that the cookie batter in the original recipe tastes more like the cake-y texture of real Fig Newtons. We also decided that we liked the fig filling pureed first because it was exactly like the filling in the real Fig Newtons and we didn't have to bite into any big fig chunks. So, without furter adieu, our lightly tweaked recipe for Fig Not-Ins aka Figgy Fig Cookies:

Ingredients

For the dough:
1/4 c. non-hydrogenated butter substitute (softened)
1/4 c. Nonhydrogenated shortening
3/4 c. sugar
2 tbs. cornstarch (or tapioca starch or arrowroot)
1/4 c. soymilk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

For the filling:
1 lb. dried mission figs, chopped
1/2 c. water (we ended up using 1 c. water because the figs were still too dry after 1/2 c.)
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. lemon zest
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. cinnamon

For the dough:
In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter, shortening and sugar. Add cornstarch and mix. Beat in soymilk and vanilla. Add teh flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and combine. Divide the dough into two portions, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about an hour to make the dough firm enough to roll.

For the filling:
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes, stirring continually. (We needed to add extra water before the figs started to really get saucy. We also mashed them a little bit with the wooden spoon as we stirred.) Process in a food processor until the consistency of thick jam. (The original recipe did not cal for this but we think this step makes them much easier to eat-no fig chunks- and much more like the original Fig Newtons.) Allow to cool before assembling the cookies.

Assembly:
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a cookie sheet. On a floured surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle roughly 9x15. Divide the dough into three strips lengthwise. Place the three strips on the baking sheet a few inches apart. Divide the filling among the strips creating a 1/4 inch think layer along the center with about 1/2 space of dough remaining on each side. Roll out the second batch of dough to the same dimensions as the first and cut into three strips lengthwise. Lay the dough over the filling and pinch the edges of the dough to seal it (like a ravioli). Cut each strip into 1 inch sections but do not separate them. Bake for 18 minutes until edges start to turn golden brown. Let cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes and then cut each cookie to separate and allow to cook on a rack.

Nom Rating:

Mom: A
They aren't the super-processed Fig Newtons we've all grown up on, but they taste great and the filling is an almost exactly duplicate of the kind in the real cookies.

Me: A
I was surprised by how alike our filling was to the real cookies. The dough though was more like a cookie than the cake texture of the store-bought ones. Still, these are a great little treat. I'd like to try them with various fillings like raspberry or even some sort of chocolate hazelnut.

Also.....

Today I got a sweet little note from Amy at Coffee Talk letting me know that she had graciously given me this sweet award. I'm always so flattered that there are even people out there reading about my life and culinary adventures. So...THANK YOU AMY! You made my night even sweeter! Apparently though, this award comes with rules and here they are:

(1) Put the logo on your blog.
(2) Add a link to the person who awarded you.
(3) Nominate at least seven other blogs.
(4) Add links to those blogs on your blog.
(5) Leave a message for your nominee on their blogs.

So as a responsible award recipient, here are my lovely awardees (in no particular order):

1. Lauren at Vegan Girl
2. Veggie Girl
3. Shellyfish at Musings from the Fishbowl
4. Clara at I Heart Cuppycakes
5. Happy Meals and Happy Hour
6. Joanne at The Laid Back Buddhist
7. Jess at Cupcake Punk

All of you have enriched my life with your blogs full of hilarious life stories, witty observations, amazing recipes, beautiful creations, and sharing about your everyday life! I'd love to write each of you a super sweet paragraph about why I love reading your blogs but I just got back from an Engagement Shoot and I'm dead tired. So a simple and sweet "much love" to you all will have to do for now! :)

Harvest Black Bean Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Miss Marie) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 01:52:00 +0000

I get to cross another recipe off my Top 5 list today. (I've been replacing them as I go, in case you were confused.) This may be my favorite blogosphere recipe yet! I found this little jewel at Vegan Deliciousness even though the original recipe is listed at 28 Cooksand have been so excited to try it ever since.

I would have never thought to combine pumpkin and black beans, and in this amazing soup the pumpkin is really very delicate. I added more spices than the recipe called for but that's just what I always do. It was delicious! I am making more tonight and sticking it in the freezer because this may just be my new favorite soup.

If you've been following my blog and thinking, "I really want to try one of those recipes!" I highly suggest you start with this one. It's so delicious! I made a few small tweaks to the original recipe and here's what I ended up with...

Ingredients

1 tbs. nonhydrogenated butter substitute
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbs. curry
1 tbs. cumin
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 tbsp. flour
1 1/2 c. soymilk
1 c. vegetable broth
1 can pumpkin
1/2 can black beans, drained
1 tsp. cayenne
pinch of nutmeg

Melt butter in a pot, add garlic and saute for 1 minute.
Add curry, cumin, salt, soymilk, and broth and saute for 1 minute.
Whisk in flour and other ingredients
Bring to a boil, stirring continually
Reduce heat to a simmer and simmer 5 minutes
Process in batches in a blender until smooth
Garnish with raw pumpkin seeds

Nom Rating:

Mr. Beagle: n/a
He's {still} not here :(

Me: A++++++
This is my favorite thing that I've made in the last few months. This recipe was warm and very autumnal. The pumpkin is light and does not overpour the soup but still gives it a creamy warmth. The black beans help to fill out the soup's texture, which I like since I like thicker soups. The original recipe calls for less cumin, curry, and cayenne than I listed but I think the Holy C-nity deserves more so I upped all their measurements.

What now, Cupcake?

noreply@blogger.com (Miss Marie) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 00:44:00 +0000

By now, it's pretty evident that cupcakes are the new pink. They've come back with a bang and with a makeover. Once iced lazily with a butter knife, they are now hand decorated using tools once reserved for wedding cakes. When we all first saw these new and improved little delights, they blew our minds.

And now... I'm about to blow yours. (Are you excited yet?)

I'm addicted to I Heart Cuppycakes' Blog. She has amazing ideas and is a master at presentation. Inspired by the gorgeous cupcakes I see all over the blogosphere, I decided to take muffins one step further. That's right, I said it, "MUFFINS". No longer will muffins be the ugly stepsisters to cupcakes. No longer will they remain un-iced. No longer with they be (gasp) bald! ;)

Yesterday I made sweet potato tartlets and had a good amount of filling leftover. I put it in the fridge last night and decided I'd try to make good use of it (since I'm on a "use up everything in the pantry before shopping" kick). And today I decided that muffins were the perfect creations for using up the rest of the filling. I added some flour, baking powder and salt to the sweet potato filling and baked them for about 15 minutes in a mini-muffin tin. The result? Good, but not sweet enough. The answer? Icing! But not real icing, no. This is a muffin, let's not get crazy people.

I got out my butter (read: vegan non-hydrogenated butter substitute) and whipped it up with brown sugar until it was nice and fluffy. Then I piped it on top and sprinkled the top with cinnamon. New result? Delectable! Voi-la!

What now, Cupcake?

Don't call me "Sweety" Potato Tartlets

noreply@blogger.com (Miss Marie) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 21:53:00 +0000

I'm a Floridian and I know that everyone just kind of smiles politely and nods along when we gush over the "crisp" weather and how much we love "Autumn". But give us a break, we gotta work with what we've got, and come March when you're all freezing your cider-drinking asses off you're going to be jealous that I'm in the backyard with a margarita and a bikini. ;)

When I woke up today it was a crisp (There's that word!) and beautiful temperate outside. The kind of temperature that whispers softly to me, "It's okay, wear the super cute scarf from Urban Outfitters. Fall is here and winter is just around the corner! But, uh...no Hun...not the boots. Yeah, go ahead and take those off. You just look silly, and it's gonna be 85 by noon."

I wore the scarf (passed on the boots with a twinge of jealousy for my boot-wearing sisters in NYC) and decided that I wanted to make something new today. I wanted to be creative. I headed to my kitchen to see what was available...{oats; sugar; flour; cans of pumpkin, butternut, and sweet potato; molasses; spices....Hmmm} I decided to work with the sweet potato. I'm just loving all of the rich autumnal flavors and sweet potato is definitely one of them.

First I thought I'd make some sort of muffins but I couldn't find anything that really excited me. Next I moved to cookies, but everything looked too familiar. Then I thought, "don't they make pies out of this stuff?" It turns out that they do in fact and the pies look great. But, I'm in a condo by myself for a week. I don't need to make a whole pie. How could I make them smaller? I remembered a set of tartlet tins my mom had given me a few years ago- PERFECT!

Again a conundrum: What kind of crust? A regular pie crust would suit but that's not very original now is it? Maybe some sort of cookie crust? Nope, I have no cookies in the pantry. Gotta work with what I've got. I got it! Oatmeal! I've been oatmeal crazy these last few weeks so why not just go one day further? :)

So now for your viewing (and hopefully later tasting) enjoyment...

Sweet Potato Tartlets

Get it? Sweet because of the heart and because of the potatoes? I'm here all week people...

For the crust:
1/2 c. light brown sugar
1 c. oats
1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. non-hydrogenated butter substitute ( I love this one)
1 tsp. cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 325 and lightly butter 6 tartlet tins
2. Stir together sugar, oats, flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon
3. Add butter and and mix until mixture is crumbly but forming a big ball of dough
4. Press dough into each tin making sure to keep the crust even
5. Chill 15 minutes
6. Bake 20 minutes

For the filling
1 can organic sweet potato puree
3/4 c. sugar
2 tbs. molasses
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. powdered ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 banana (mashed)
2 tbs. non-hydrogenated butter substitute (melted)
3/4 c. soy milk
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 300
2. Combine sweet potato and sugar in a large bowl. Beat in molasses and banana.
3. Add spices and stir in soy milk and butter until well combined.
4. Pour into shells (1/3 cup fills them perfectly)
5. Bake for 20 minutes until edges of the filling are firm but the center quivers a little.

Nom Rating:

Mr. Beagle: n/a
He's not here :(

Me: A
I was really proud of myself with this one. This one was really a creation from start to finish for me. I loved the sweet potato filling. It was the perfect amount in each bite and the mix of savory spices and sugar really gave it a lot of depth. The oatmeal crust was wonderful and different. But you'll definitely need a big glass of soymilk and a partner to help you finish one of these. They are so filling!

Savory Butternut Squash Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Miss Marie) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 01:57:00 +0000

This photo is not without a commentary. I needed comfort food. I'm feeling very lonely. Mr. Beagle is currently 38000 feet in the air on his way to Cupertino and I am at sitting here at sea level in an empty condo missing him. He'll be gone for a week enjoying gorgeous California on Apple's tab while I'm here tending to our business and working like crazy. So, while I wallow in melodramatic loneliness, I decided to make myself something soothing and savory. Going along with my "try to use things already in the panty" mantra, I reorganized our kitchen and discovered that I could whip up a batch of butternut squash soup. (Thanks to Target for having a bogo sale on pumpkin and butternut squash last week! Glorious! Expect something pumpkin soon.)

I have had butternut squash soup before and I love it but I had never tried my hand at making it myself. After looking up a bunch of different versions all with different styles (harvest, pure, spicy, savory, sweet, fruity, etc) I decided to just mix and match until I came up with something I liked. This recipe is very simple, a little sweet, a little warm, and a lot "savory".

Ingredients

1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
1 can organic pureed butternut squash
1 c. vegetable broth
1/2 c. soymilk
1/2 c. coconut milk
1 tsp. ginger
1 tbs. curry
2 tsp. kosher salt (or just "to taste")
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tbsp. agave nectar to sweeten
Fresh grated black pepper

Heat a pot on medium heat
Add oil and garlic and saute until tender
Add squash, broth, soymilk and spices
Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes
Stir in coconut milk and agave
Add fresh grated black pepper
Garnish with pumpernickel croutons

This soup is best described as "savory". The curry and ginger add depth and a little warmth while the cinnamon, nutmeg, and agave add that harvest sweetness that we all love so much about this time of year. I also like my soup thick and creamy which is why I substituted the 2 milks for some broth. But I didn't just want creaminess, I wanted flavor so I used not only soymilk, but coconut milk. If you prefer your soups less creamy, just omit the 2 milks and increase the vegetable broth by 1 cup.

Nom Rating:

Mr. Beagle: n/a
He's not here :(

Me: A+
I really love it, it's sweet with a bit of heat. It's thick and creamy and filling. Perfectly comforting. I will definitely be making this again. Maybe next time I'll add apples. Hm...

Dinner in a Bowl

noreply@blogger.com (Miss Marie) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:07:00 +0000

Alternate title: How to make a kick ass, satisfying vegan dinner for a vegetarian and a meat eater on a budget. :)

After reading an amazing post about eating healthy during the recession I decided that I was going to stop buying the frivolous items that I usually get (like sorbets, veggie chips, pre-made soups, etc). Instead, I want to start buying staple foods like grains in bulk and produce in season, fresh weekly from the farmers market. And, I've been trying to cook using only what I already have in my pantry. I tried my new plan today at the store and my normal grocery tab of about $75 dropped to $30. Bravo!

That being said, tonight I went a little kitchen crazy and decided to try my hand at this dinner in a bowl as a sweet, hearty dinner for Mr. Beagle and myself. I wasn't planning on posting about it since the only recipe I really created myself was for the zucchini, but I thought this would be a perfect way to show how simple it can be to cook dinner for a vegetarian and a meat eater.

The recipes I used for this meal were:
Panko Baked Tofu (Mahi for him) and Snappy Sauce
Sour Creamy Potatoes
Sweet Julienned Zucchini

The nice thing about this is that both Mahi and the tofu filets need to cook at 400 degrees for 20 minutes so it's a perfect way to prepare one main dish that suits both of our preferences. I prepared the mahi the same way I did the tofu by first coating it in honey dijon mustard and then breading it with the Panko mixture.

Sour Creamy Potatoes

3 large potatoes washed, peeled, and cut into large pieces
3/4 c. Tofutti Sour Cream
1/4 c. Soymilk
salt and pepper to taste

Place the potatoes in a pot and fill with water until the potatoes are all submerged.
Bring them to a boil and then cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until fork tender.
Drain the potatoes and then put them in a bowl with the milk, sour cream, and salt and pepper.
Use beaters to whip whip them until they are creamy. I sprinkled them with parsley for garnish.

Sweet Julienned Zucchini

1 large organic zucchini
Curry spices
2 tbs. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

For the zucchini I decided to try something a little different. I wanted them to be bright and tender but also a little sweet and savory so I sauteed the zucchini (cut into 1/8 in strips, aka "julienned") with olive oil, garlic, black pepper, and curry spices. The curry added just the right amount of "savory" to the veggies and complimented the mahi/tofu really well.

I then made these delectable Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies from Vegan Girl's blog. I cut the recipe down so that I could make just a few cookies for Mr. Beagle and I to enjoy tonight. (Lord knows I don't need dozens of cookies floating around my house all week.) They are AMAZING! I wanted to take a picture but I had already put all my camera gear away so you'll just have to go look at them on her blog. :)

So, to wrap up. My dinner was vegan. Mr. Beagle's was just healthy. The only non-vegan aspect of his meal was his fish. I'm telling you ladies and gentlemen, it so easy to bridge the gap if you just get a little creative. :)

Nom Rating:

Mr. Beagle: A++
Ask and you shall receive. Last time I made my breaded tofu he suggested I use the same technique on chicken or fish for him. He loved it all, especially the potatoes. I was showered with flattery all throughout the meal. He's a big fan of snappy sauce and peanut butter cookies.

Me: A++
So good! I was surprised how tasty the Tofutti non-dairy sour cream was. Between that and soymilk, the potatoes were super creamy with a little zing. The cookies taste delicious but were a little cakey. I think that's just because I'm bad at math and tried to make only 1/3 of the recipe. HaHa.

Peanut Butter Cup Oatmeal

noreply@blogger.com (Miss Marie) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:19:00 +0000

I think I've gone a little oatmeal crazy. I know this is only my second post about it, but I've pretty much eaten it every morning now. Yesterday I made peanut butter oatmeal for Mr. Beagle and liked it so much that I decided to elaborate on it today. I'm not a huge peanut butter fan but this is the perfect amount! And the cocoa powder adds that little bit of chocolate flavor that makes this taste more like it should be a dessert than a healthy breakfast. I added cinnamon because I think it makes everything taste better. These oatmeal recipes are so easy I feel silly even posting them but I know some people would look at the oatmeal container and feel completely lost without a "step-by-step" so for you who like lists, I present "Peanut Butter Cup Oatmeal".

Ingredients

1/2 c. oats
1 tbs. wheat germ
1 c. water
1 tbs peanut butter (I used chunky)
1 tsp cocoa powder
2 tbs agave
dash cinnamon
soymilk to thin the oatmeal if it get's too thick
nondairy chocolate chips to garnish

Combine oats, wheat germ and water. Microwave for 2 minutes, stirring halfway through. Mix in remaining ingredients and serve. So easy! And it's vegan so it's super easy for your body to digest and turn into energy!

Nom Rating:

Mr. Beagle: n/a
He was already gone to work when I made this but yesterday he loved the all-peanut butter version I made him. He said it made him so full that he couldn't finish his coffee.

Me: A+
This was sooooo good. I even like it better than the pumpkin pie oatmeal which is huge for me since I love pumpkin. This oatmeal was the perfect mix of flavors and of sweetness. This one may be my new favorite. And with the mix of fiber, whole grains, and protein, it's a perfect breakfast.

Monday Musings

noreply@blogger.com (Miss Marie) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 02:47:00 +0000

*images from their respective websites

Wow, life is getting busy. This weekend I didn't get to bake as much as I'd have liked. I have a laundry list of fun recipes I want to try but we were busy with meetings and shoots all weekend. {Wanna see what we did? Click {here} but I did spend a little bit of time relaxing while looking through some of my favorite design blogs. I fell in love with some of the elements and decided to put together a little inspiration board for myself. I hope you find it inspiring as well...

Clockwise from top: {How fun is that red arrow above the flatscreen?} {Candles in a chiminea= genious!} {I have no idea where I'd hang these but they are so whimsical!} {Caroline Swift's Bone China Bowls would look so beautiful with homemade oatmeal in them.} {I want a long wooden table. It's so cozy and inviting.}

Tomorrow {Tuesday} everyone needs to set their DVR's to record Oprah because her show is all about "How We Treat the Animals We Eat" which is something everyone, vegetarian or not, should be educated on. You can watch the promo for it on her website on the right side. I'm very interested to see what they discuss and what they show.

Brit-Brit released her new video for "Womanizer" and you can now see it on You Tube. My first remark was "holy crap, who is her trainer?" Seriously she looks amazing. I read somewhere that she was getting injections that melt the fat in your thighs away. Can someone please buy me those for Christmas because apparently they work like a charm! What do you think of this addictive-like-crack single?

I know I picked those top 5 recipes over there that I want to try but I've been going a little food-blog crazy and now I have about 15 that I really want to try. Most of them are not vegan and I'm planning to try to convert them. Some are a little plain and I want to spice them up. Upcoming culinary concoctions will include, but are not limited to: monkey bread, chocolate pumpkin cupcakes, some sort of upside down cake, tartlets, and finally trying tempeh.

Mr. Beagle and I saw Eagle Eye today. It was amazing! Who has seen it? I don't want to spoil it for you but basically its about the insane technological abilities of modern government surveillance. The most interesting part to me was the aspect of trust that the characters were forced to have in the voice on the phone. There is one car chase that is amazing because every step is planned to the second by the voice on the phone and they have to just trust that things will happen as they go. For example, she tells them to speed up towards a red light and at the last possible second it turns green. Things like that happen throughout the chase and eventually they are the only surviving car. It got me thinking what it would be like to have that much faith in someone to blindly be following every word and watching, literally watching, things move out of your way. I don't think I have it, and even when I do have it, I don't see things tangibly the same way they get to in the movie, but it would be a pretty cool experience I'm sure.

Happy Monday friends!

Panko Baked Tofu & Snappy Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Miss Marie) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:55:00 +0000

Tonight I get to cross off another of my Top 5 Recipes I want to try (over there -->). I chose to try my hand at the Dinner in a Bowl posted by Cupcake Punk who is quickly becoming one of my favorite food blogs to stalk. Since I am me, I didn't have the necessary ingredients {shocking!} but that's okay because I was in the mood for something a little more savory anyway. So, I got creative and this is what I came up with: Panko Baked Tofu & Snappy Sauce. Yes, "snappy" because it's got a little bit of a zing and because it takes all of 2 minutes to whip up. Thank you very much, I'll be here all week.

I couldn't get Mr. Beagle to try to tofu (even though he tried the sauce) but my culinary talents did elicit a "what are you cooking?" and one very empassioned "that smells reaaaalllly good!"

Ingredients:

1 8oz package pre-marinated tofu (or you can marinate it yourself in soy sauce)
1 c. panko breakcrumbs
1 tbs. curry spices
dash kosher salt
fresh grated black pepper to taste
3 tbs. honey dijon mustard

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Line a baking pan with parchment paper or oil it slightly to keep the tofu from sticking during baking
3. On a small plate mix together breadcrumbs, curry spices, salt and pepper.
4. Slice the tofu into 1/2 inch thick strips and coat each side with mustard.
4. Coat each piece of tofu with the breadcrumb mixture
5. Bake for 20 minutes or until breadcrumbs turn golden brown

For Snappy Sauce

Combine equal parts honey dijon mustard and bar-b-que sauce in a small container. Add white wine vinegar until sauce is the consistency of soy sauce. Stir in a pinch of chili powder. Add a bit of agave nectar to sweeten.

I made this as I went so I can't tell you the exact amounts but the fun of this is that you make it to taste. You can make it spicier by adding more chili powder, sweeter by adding more mustard and agave, and more savory by adding more bar-b-que sauce.

Nom Rating:

Mr. Beagle: n/a
He has a strong aversion to tofu so he wouldn't try it. But he did love the snappy sauce and kept saying how good everything was smelling and that he wanted to try this recipe on fish or chicken later.

Me: A+
This was sooooo good. I ate it in less than 5 minutes. Like Mr. Beagle suggested, this would be a great recipe for fish or chicken as well. It's a little sweet, a little sour, and a little spicy. And the sauce...it's going to become one of my kitchen go-to sauces, I can feel it.