2000’s

The Super Hero Squad Show

Posted on by cartooncravings

Episode: Invader From the Dark Dimension!
Corn, Dirt, and Cabbage Spaghetti

“Ready, Squaddies?” Time to Hero-Wait! Too early in the blog. I didn’t even give a supervillain the chance to show up. That shouldn’t’ take too long though since Doctor Doom teamed up with almost every one of them and formed the Lethal Legion. And if the troublemakers in Villainville aren’t enough, there are plenty of other baddies out there with their own plans for wreaking havoc on Super Hero City, the Earth, and the entire Universe. With all of these villains around, we’re going to need a few good heroes. That’s where the Super Hero Squad comes in. It’s the Squad’s mission to prevent Doctor Doom from rebuilding the Infinity Sword by collecting all the Infinity Fractals before he does. Plus there’s all that other superhero business they need to take care of. Lucky for The Super Hero Squad, they have S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents and other heroes to come to their aid. (“You can’t throw a cow in this town without hitting a superhero.”) Unlucky for the Squaddies, they all have to live together in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Helicarrier.

Sure, you might think it’d be funny if Iron Man, Thor, Falcon, Hulk, Wolverine, and Silver Surfer lived under one roof, but actually…no, it is funny, especially when the other Squaddies have to deal with Silver Surfer’s cooking. The Surfer loves cooking, but his food tends to make his friends “bloweth mighty chunks.” When Baron Mordo possesses Iron Man, Thor blames Silver Surfer’s “freaky cosmic food” for Iron Man’s odd behavior and smell. Silver Surfer does admit that his food would be better if he had taste buds, but that doesn’t stop him from cooking. So when the Squad returns to the Helicarrier (Minus Falcon, Redwing, and “Iron Menace.”), Silver Surfer whips up a fresh batch of corn, dirt, and cabbage spaghetti for them. The Surfer calls it comfort food, but he still takes it into battle and throws it on Doctor Doom. It delights Silver Surfer when Doom picks up on the Parmesan because he finally found someone who appreciates gourmet cooking. Gourmet or not, the spaghetti looks a little scary, so this will be quite the battle for me. Hmm. I guess that means it’s “Time to Hero Up!”

Recipe makes about 9 cups.

Ingredients

8 ounces spaghetti

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ cup onions, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons dried mushroom powder (Did you think I was really using dirt?)

1 cup corn

4 cups red cabbage, thinly sliced

8 cups beef broth

Shredded Parmesan cheese

Salt

Pepper

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cabbage and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add beef broth, dried mushroom powder, and corn and bring to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook until the noodles have reached your desired doneness. Season with salt and pepper and add Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Super Hero CDCSSuperHeroSquad CDCS

Looking at the corn, dirt, and cabbage spaghetti makes me feel pukey, but it tastes much better than it looks. And now I know I can use it as a weapon during a fight. It’s a tactic called “Making someone sick with some home cooking.” Silver Surfer uses this when he starts throwing “truly powerful” meat pies at Abomination and Wolverine. Just seeing Surfer’s cooking is now enough to scare off Doctor Doom. Even though Surfer’s cooking is “deadly,” he loves it and that’s all that matters. Iron Man rewards him for assembling the Defenders and allows him to be cook for a day at the Stark Industries Café. This calls for a new name for Silver Surfer. Now he is the Cosmic Chef.

Tune in next week for more Cartoon Cravings!

The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

Posted on by cartooncravings

Episode: My Son, the Hamster
Pecan Pie

Don’t you feel like there should be more pie-related holidays? Sure, there’s National Pie Day, Pi Day, Thanksgiving, and Pule, but what about all those pie-less days in-between? So I’m declaring today a special day to eat pie. And tomorrow. And the day after that and so on. I just want to eat pie every day! I know, I may have a bit of a pie problem, but I feel better about myself when I think of all the other pie lovers out there. The first one that always comes to mind is Hugh Neutron. I know he’s a fictional character, but the two of us are kindred spirits. We like the finer things in life: pie, ducks, toast, cheese. All those sorts of things. I’m also a lot like Carl and Sheen too, so throw those three together and you get all sorts of weird. I’d love to say I’m a lot like Jimmy, but he’s too smart for me. However, I wouldn’t mind getting caught up in all of his scientific hijinks.

Jimmy couldn’t be a normal kid if he tried. (And he did. It didn’t turn out well. “Hey, have you guys seen my loopy dance?”) But I love him for that. He’s always doing something like unleashing an army of evil pants, starting a second Ice Age, or shrinking everyone in town. Each episode is just so fun that it’s next to impossible for me to settle on one favorite. Just like pie. I could make an alphabetical list of all the types of pie and I wouldn’t be able to pick the one I like the most. Well lucky for me, I don’t have to look too hard to find food and fun in this series. In “My Son, the Hamster”, Jimmy has a mishap with his teleportation pods and his atoms get mixed up with those of Carl’s hamster, Mr. Wuggles. Basically, their bodies switch, so Mr. Wuggles turns into a hamster boy (Furry Jimmy) and Jimmy, according to Sheen, becomes Hamster Lord. Yep, he’s got a cute, fuzzy hamster body with a big belly and little pawsies. I just love him! He’s so adorable/freaky and it’s so funny to watch him move around. And when his hamster sense takes over, he can’t resist the tempting smell of pecans, so he climbs up to his kitchen windowsill and dives right into a freshly baked pecan pie. That sweet smell is too much for me, so of course that would drive Hamster Jimmy nuts.

Recipe makes one 10-inch pecan pie.

Ingredients

Pie Crust Or:

Crust:

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons sugar

½ teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons butter, cold and cut into chunks

3 tablespoons shortening, cold

4-5 tablespoons ice water, plus 1 or 2 more tablespoons if needed

 

Filling:

1 cup light corn syrup

½ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted and cooled slightly

3 large eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 ½ cups pecan halves

 

Directions

Crust:

In a food processor, pulse flour, sugar, and salt until combined. Add butter and shortening and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add 4-5 tablespoons of ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse until dough just comes together when pressed. If the dough is too dry, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse again. Form dough into a disk and cover in plastic wrap. Let dough chill until firm, 30 minutes to an hour.

Filling:

In a large mixing bowl, beat corn syrup, sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Stir in pecans.

Putting It All Together:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Unwrap dough and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll out dough anywhere from 12 to 14 inches across and place in a pie tin. Gently press dough into place. Trim excess dough or fold it back on itself.

Pour filling evenly into pie crust and bake until golden brown and the filling is set, 50-55 minutes. Remove pie from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack or on windowsill if that’s more your style. Serve and enjoy!

jimmy-neutron-piejimmy-neutron-pecan-pie-3

The human part of Jimmy loses control for just a little bit, but it’s still long enough to get him into trouble. At least he gets some sense knocked into him. With a broom. And even then he keeps munching on a pecan. I can’t blame Judy Neutron for freaking out over a vicious little rodent eating her pecan pie, even if it is her son. I’d hate for a beautiful pie like that to get ruined. Still, with all the (robot) dogs, brooms, and hawks out there, the world isn’t safe for hamsters or people with hamster bodies. But Jimmy’s smarts save the day and he and Mr. Wuggles return to normal. I just hope that Sheen doesn’t get his hands on Jimmy’s teleportation pods. The last thing Retroville needs is Lizard Lord and his Tongue of Doom.

 

Tune in next week for more Cartoon Cravings!

 

Skip Beat!

Posted on by cartooncravings

Episode: Together in the Minefield
Hamburger Steak with a Fried Egg

Are you aspiring to break into showbiz to get revenge on the man who wronged you? Are you missing the most important human emotion? Is your name Kyoko Mogami? Then do we have an opportunity for you! Here at LME’s Love Me section (Yes, that’s “Love Me” as in “Please love me!”) you’ll perform a variety of tasks as you work to get others to love you while developing your own ability to respect and think of others. There will even be opportunities to appear on TV! And this journey is based on a points system, so if you put your heart into it and your performance is excellent, a full debut backed by our very own agency is in your future! How can this get any better? A lovely uniform! It’s got the Love Me logo printed on the front left side and back making it both stylish and gorgeous. And don’t worry. This may be a new section, but you won’t be alone for long. There are other love-lacking talents who will be joining you in the future. What do you say?

Sounds pretty crazy right? But that’s Lory Takarada for you. He’s just about as eccentric as they come. No he never presented the Love Me Section to Kyoko as horribly as I just did, but he put a lot of effort into this section and came up with everything from the name to the shocking, pink eyesore of a uniform. Nothing is ever easy when it comes to showbiz, so making it into LME is just the beginning of Kyoko’s quest to defeat/kill Sho Fuwa. Yeah, revenge is an unusual motive to get into the entertainment industry and she does get in trouble for it. Ren Tsuruga quickly becomes her enemy because he holds acting to a high, practically sacred standard and finds her reason for studying acting disgusting. But things change as Kyoko gains more experience and finds that she really loves acting and wants to use it to realize her true self. One of her most memorable Love Me duties is when she takes on the role of Ren’s manager. When Yashiro gets sick, Kyoko is called on to substitute. Basically to make sure Ren eats properly. Ren never makes a big deal about food and thinks that quick snacks from convenience stores are good enough. (“I had some nourishing rice.”) Supervisor Matsushima figured Ren would never let a girl eat by herself, so he’d be forced to eat something real. During their busy day (It’s actually after 7pm and they’re still running.) Kyoko’s stomach starts growling and Ren asks her what she wants to eat. Kyoko says whatever Ren likes is fine, so of course, Ren suggests boiled frogs, forcing her to say what she really wants. (I’ve been in that situation tons of times.) So Kyoko immediately shouts that she wants a hamburger steak with a fried egg it. Not long afterwards, they find themselves at a family restaurant with a hamburger steak in front of each of them. And I find myself running to the kitchen to try and make one.

Recipe makes 3 hamburger steaks.

Ingredients

Hamburger Steaks:

1 pound ground beef and pork (I like using a ½ pound of each.)

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 large egg

1/3 cup panko

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Sauce:

2 tablespoons butter

½ cup red wine

½ cup ketchup

½ cup beef broth

½ cup Worcestershire sauce

Fried Eggs:

2 tablespoons butter

3 large eggs

Salt

Directions

Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft and translucent. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and set aside to cool completely.

In a large bowl, combine the egg, panko, milk, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add the onion and garlic and meat and mix until combined.

Divide the meat into 3 equal portions. Toss each portion from one hand to the other about 10 times. This will help prevent the steaks from breaking while cooking. Shape the portions into large, flat ovals about the size of your hand. Make the centers a little thinner or indent them with your fingers since the centers tend to swell while cooking. Refrigerate the hamburger steaks for at least 30 minutes. Allow them to come to room temperature before cooking.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pan over medium heat. Place a hamburger steak in the pan and cook until well browned, about 4 minutes. Flip the hamburger steak and cook another 4-5 minutes or until the internal temperature reads 155-160 degrees. Remove the hamburger steak and repeat with the others.

Make the sauce by combining red wine, ketchup, beef broth, and Worcestershire sauce in a medium bowl. Melt butter in the same pan used to cook the hamburger steaks. Add the red wine mixture and simmer until the sauce begins to thicken. Skim off the fat. Add the hamburger steaks to the sauce and cook for about two minutes. Remove the hamburger steaks and skim off any leftover fat or chunks from the sauce. Pour into cups for dipping.

Fried Eggs:

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a medium pan over medium-high heat. Once the butter starts bubbling, crack the eggs and add them to the pan, one at a time. Immediately reduce the heat to low and cook until the whites are completely set but the yolk is still soft, 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and season.

Putting It All Together:

Plate your hamburger steaks and cover with fried eggs. Serve with vegetables of your choice and dipping sauce. Enjoy!

Variations:
There are many names for a Japanese hamburger steak and even more ways to make them. Whether it’s called a hamburger, hamburger steak, or hambāgu, it’s delicious. This is my take on a basic one, but you can always use a different meat mixture, shape them differently, or use a Teriyaki or other sauce.

skip-beat-hamburgerskip-beat

I can understand Kyoko’s obsession with hamburgers. You won’t find me picking up rocks that look like hamburgers or speaking to His Majesty, King Hamburger, (Okay, maybe you will.) but for sure you’ll find me requesting hamburger steaks whenever I get the chance. And even though being Ren’s manager doesn’t go the smoothest, at least Kyoko gets to have a yummy hamburger after many months without one. The girl needs it considering her role as manager just gets tougher as she deals with studying for her high school entrance exam and taking care of Ren when he catches a cold. But she makes it through and almost gets herself 100 points. (Ren’s 10 point deduction is too cruel.) You know what else is cruel? Skip Beat! is only 25 episodes long! There are new roles and new faces that just have to be animated. Not to mention food. (Maui Omurice, Okonomiyaki Anpan, Anything Kyoko/Kuon makes for Kuu.) Well, I’ll just keep sitting here hoping and praying for more episodes, but at least I’ve got a hamburger steak with a fried egg on it to keep me company.

Tune in next week for more Cartoon Cravings!

My Life as a Teenage Robot

Posted on by cartooncravings

Episode: Saved by the Shell
Fried Pickle, Anchovy, and Peanut Butter Sandwich

There are times when I’m just minding my own business and all of a sudden My Life as a Teenage Robot’s theme song will pop into my head. This can happen even when it’s been months since I last watched the show. All it takes is for me to start humming a couple of bars and my brain is fried. The song will stay there until I watch an episode. And then I have to watch a second. And a third and a fourth and soon I’ve watched the entire series. How can I resist a show about a superhero robot who’d rather live a normal teenage life than protect the Earth? Just about every day, there’s a different mutant or robot or alien messing around in Tremorton, but XJ-9, or Jenny, is more concerned with her appearance, popularity, and dating. It’s tough enough just being a human teenager, so Jenny’s attempts to fit in only lead to more craziness. Throw her friends into the mix and the craziness is doubled.

Just look at Sheldon. He builds and pilots the Silver Shell just to win Jenny over. The poor guy’s plans all fail, but you can’t blame him for trying. Sheldon tries to tell Jenny that he’s her secret admirer and she ends up thinking that the Sliver Shell set her up with Don Prima. She doesn’t think anything bad of Don yet, but I use lots of unflattering adjectives to describe characters like him and the Crust Cousins. One good thing that does come out of Don and Jenny’s date at Mezmer’s is the appearance of Sheldon’s (And apparently Don’s) favorite sandwich: Fried Pickle, Anchovy, and Peanut Butter. Am I sure it’s really a good thing? No. The sandwich sounds as weird as discovering your neighbor’s a robot, but I really like Jenny, so I might like this sandwich too.

The sandwich has 2 two pickle chips on it without a coating. That doesn’t sound all that tasty to me so, I made up a little batter for them. I’m not frying up a whole lot of pickles, but ½ cup makes me feel better than two. You’re free to fry up even more if you feel like it.

Recipe makes 1 sandwich.

Ingredients

You can add any amount of stuff to your sandwich, but here’s kind of a guideline:

3 slices Bread-Looks like a light colored wheat to me, but you can use white if you prefer

Peanut Butter

2-3 cans or jars of anchovies/anchovy fillets packed in oil, drained

1 slice Swiss Cheese

2-3 slices Cheddar or American Cheese

2 leaves Lettuce

2 strips Bacon

1 Green Olive

 

Fried Pickles

½ cup dill pickle chips

3 tablespoons flour

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon onion powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

3 tablespoons water

Vegetable Oil or Peanut Oil for Frying

 

Directions

Bacon:

Place room temperature bacon in a cold pan and set heat to low. When bacon begins to curl, flip it to the other side. This can take about 7 minutes. Continue to cook, flipping it over every few minutes, until it’s browned and almost at your desired crispiness. The bacon will continue to cook after it’s removed from the pan. Drain excess grease by setting the bacon on a plate covered with paper towels.

Fried Pickles:

Spread out pickles and pat dry with paper towels.

Preheat oil in a large pot/deep skillet or in a deep fryer to 375 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and water until smooth. Add the pickles to the batter and coat. Remove the pickles using tongs or a slotted spoon, allowing the excess batter to drip off. Place the pickles in the oil one at a time and fry until golden, 1-2 minutes. Drain the pickles on paper towels.

Putting It All Together:

Place down a slice of bread. There is a mysterious brown space here, so you can put whatever you see fit or skip this layer. I placed some anchovies and a big blob of peanut butter here. Add slices of Cheddar or American cheese and top with lettuce, anchovies, and pickle slices. Top with a slice of bread. Add more anchovies, Swiss cheese, bacon, and more lettuce. Spread a heaping amount of peanut butter on a slice of bread and close the sandwich by placing it on top of the lettuce. Spear a green olive with a toothpick and top the sandwich with it. Here’s your order, kids!

mlaatr-sandwichmylifesandwich

Sheldon’s got some strange tastes. (He is in love with a robot after all.) But notice how I typed “strange” and not “bad.” Yep, the sandwich isn’t as scary as it looks. It’s no smooth operator, but it actually kind of works! Plus, it’s fun to make and eat. Jenny may have her work cut out for her looking for someone genuine and sweet, (Until she finally notices Sheldon!) but if she ever needs a sandwich, there’s one right here. Hey, Jenny’s wanted “skin”, the sense of touch, and the ability to dream. It can’t be too long until she’ll want to eat food.

 

Tune in next week for more Cartoon Cravings!

Kim Possible

Posted on by cartooncravings

Episode: Team Impossible (and a whole lot of other episodes)
The Naco

I’m one of those weird people who perk up and frantically scan the room whenever I hear the Kimmunicator’s ringtone somewhere. More often than not, I’m not the only one doing it and I truly believe that anyone who reacts to that “Duh-duh-dun-na” grew up right. I liked Kim Possible when it first aired. I caught an episode here and there and rocked out to the theme song every time Radio Disney played it. But it wasn’t until years after the show’s first run that I realized just what a gem it is. Yeah, it’s a “Girl Saves the World” series, but nothing is taken too seriously. It’s engaging and the characters are all great. I love how whacked out all the villains are. And if I could have an ounce of Kim’s confidence that’d be wonderful because her “I can do anything,” attitude is the best thing in the world. And then there’s the goofy, loveable sidekick, Ron. (Oh, Ron.) I’m pretty sure Ron and I are secretly related because sometimes we have a little too much in common.

One major difference between “The Ron” and me is that I didn’t make millions by creating a smash hit fast food item. Ron practically lives at Bueno Nacho anyway, so it was only a matter of time until he started fiddling with the menu. And with one bold stroke of genius, Ron combined his nachos and taco to create The Naco. It’s so simple, but there are people who were either confused or grossed out by it. (Is there anything gross about Tex-Mex style fast food? Don’t answer that!) I’ve always thought it looked delicious, even if it is a drippy bag of food. Later on, the Naco developed a way to stand on its own, so I thought I’d give that a whirl.

Recipe makes about 6 Nacos, depending on if you Grande Size or not.

Ingredients

6 10-inch flour tortillas

1 15-ounce can refried beans

1 15-ounce can nacho cheese

1 tomato, sliced

1-2 lettuce leaves, in pieces or shreds

Corn tortilla chips

 

Naco Meat

1 pound ground beef

½ cup beef broth

¼ cup onion, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon cumin

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

 

Directions

Naco Shell:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Microwave each tortilla for 30 seconds to make them pliable. Place the tortillas in a jumbo muffin tin in a Naco shape. For additional shape and support, make small rolls of aluminum foil and place around the tortillas in the cups to keep the tortillas in place. I used one for the front and two in the back to make a triangular bag shape. Coat the tortillas with nonstick cooking spray and bake for 5-10 minutes until browned and strong enough to keep their shapes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Naco Meat:

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until softened and lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add the ground beef and salt and cook until browned. Stir occasionally while browning to break up the meat. Add the beef broth, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne pepper, and cornstarch. Continue cooking for 2-3 minutes and remove from heat.

Separately heat refried beans and nacho cheese in the microwave or on the stove. You can either spoon each ingredient into the Naco separately or you can combine them and add them all in one go. Take a shell and add meat, refried beans, tortilla chips, cheese, tomato, and lettuce. Congratulations, it’s a Naco!

kim-possible-nacokp-naco

I can’t blame Ron for eating at Bueno Nacho all the time. I’d do it if I could. The Naco really is nature’s perfect food. I no longer have to choose between eating a taco or nachos. Hey, I don’t even have to choose between eating a Naco and anything else. With this recipe at my fingertips, every night can be Naco Night.

 

Tune in next week for more Cartoon Cravings!

Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends

Posted on by cartooncravings

Episode: Goodbye to Bloo
“Sugar-Free” Foster’s Famous Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies

Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends is one of the most brilliant concepts for a cartoon. It’s fun to see imaginary friends as visible, living, breathing beings coexisting with humans. And when their children have to give them up, instead of just going “poof,” the imaginary friends can go to a safe place like Foster’s until they meet a new family. I’d be more than happy to adopt someone. (I’d snag up Wilt in a second.) But if I had the chance, I’d love to be in Mac’s shoes. He gets to play with all the friends he wants every single day. I know that he has to show up every day if he wants to keep Bloo, but spending most of my free time at Foster’s doesn’t sound too shabby. The whole reason for Foster’s existence is to get friends adopted, so it’s tough to have to let go, but having great friends for a little while is better than never making any at all. (And if the family isn’t the right fit, the friends find their way back to Foster’s sooner or later.)

When the tables have turned and those at Foster’s hear about Mac moving, they try to do something special for him to show how much they care. The sweetest gesture that I’ve seen in this show (And a whole lot of other shows for that matter.) is when Madame Foster bakes a special sugar-free batch of her Famous Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies just for Mac. He was surrounded by those cookies when Bloo decided to start selling them, but he was never able to try one because he can’t have sugar. So when Madame Foster presents Mac with a plate of cookies and he gets all excited, it’s really touching. There are some very important people in my life who have to watch out for refined sugar, (No, not because it makes them crazy.) so I’m always on the lookout for sugar-free desserts that actually taste like something. After a little experimenting, I finally made a batch of cookies that are really good.

The sizes seem to vary with these cookies, but I prefer the ¼ cup sized ones. Bloo mentions in “Cookie Dough” that the original Foster’s Famous Cookies bake at 250 degrees and the slow-bake method does indeed work. I’m just not patient enough for it, (My cookies were in the oven for 40 minutes!) so 350 degrees it is for me.

Recipe makes about ten cookies.

Ingredients

¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) butter, room temperature

½ cup sugar free imitation honey

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 2/3 cups, plus 2 tablespoons sifted flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1 ½ -1 ¾ cups sugar-free chocolate chips
(You may want to use less if your stomach’s not too familiar with sugar-free chocolate. Too much of a good thing can be bad for you if you get my drift.)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

In a stand mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and imitation honey until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and mix well. Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop dough by ¼ cupfuls, 2 inches apart, onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Flatten the cookies slightly.

Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are golden and set, 18-20 minutes.

Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and allow the cookies to cool slightly before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely. Now you can eat!

Variations: If granulated artificial sweeteners are more your style, replace the imitation honey with 2/3 cup of your preferred sweetener and reduce the amount of flour by 2 tablespoons. You can help the cookies brown by spraying them with cooking spray, but they won’t get that dark.

fosters-chocolate-chips-2fosters-cookies

Madame Foster typically only bakes her cookies once a year to keep them special, but there’s no way I could handle that. I’d turn into a raging cookie addict like Frankie did before or I’d at least down an entire plate in one go like Bloo. (Although he ate the cookies just to speed Mac along.) But now that I’ve started to work on cracking the sugar substitute code, I won’t feel as bad if I make these cookies a little more often than Madame Foster. (I’ve still got a long way to go because they’re not healthy.) I’ll try not to get too out of control and slip into a cookie coma. I just need to take my time and chew slowly enough to savor each and every bite.

Tune in next week for more Cartoon Cravings!

Justice League Unlimited

Posted on by cartooncravings

Episode: The Balance
Pasta Shells with Peas

The number one reason I’m such a superhero nut, is because I stumbled into the DC Animated Universe at a very young age. (I didn’t get to really know Marvel until later.) I watched every episode of every show I could and I still wanted more superheroes. Lucky for me, I didn’t have to wait long before Justice League Unlimited was born. I already loved Justice League, but adding all of the extra superheroes just made everything more fun. The core seven will always be my favorites, but I got to fall in love with so many new people and I felt like I was becoming quite the hero expert. The greatest thing about JLU, is getting to go beyond the masks and capes and seeing the superheroes as “regular people” living and working together, fighting and playing, and even dating. (I wasn’t the only one falling in love.) Every interaction is so cute.

Just seeing the heroes eating together at the commissary in the Watchtower is enough to make me giggle. That still applies even when they’re being huffy with each other, like Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl. The Flash was trying to be sweet and have them eat dinner together, but they just couldn’t get along. (Their food wasn’t even a safe topic.) Judging from their trays and the trays of most of the other heroes, I’m figuring that pasta shells with peas is that day’s special. I don’t know who cooks up there, but they are feeding superheroes so I’d have to assume the food’s pretty good.

Recipe makes seven 1-cup servings.

Ingredients

1/2 pound large pasta shells

4 cups frozen peas, thawed

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion

3 cloves garlic

1 cup chicken broth

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon parsley

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Salt

Pepper

 

Directions

Sauce with Peas:

Add the oil to a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft and translucent. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the chicken broth, heavy cream, peas, parsley, salt, and pepper. Simmer until the sauce has thickened, 5-6 minutes.

Pasta Shells:

Bring a large pot full of water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook, stirring occasionally, until the noodles have cooked through, 10-12 minutes. Drain.

Putting It All Together:

Lightly toss the hot noodles in the sauce. Add the Parmesan cheese and dish out!

JLU PastaJLU Pasta Peas (3)

This dinner is pretty humble compared to Flash’s overloaded tray, but I don’t burn through calories as quickly as he does. I have to say though, the pasta shells with peas taste better than most ( Okay, all.) of the cafeteria food I’ve had. I don’t know if it’s the pasta or the sauce or the two of them coming together to do some good. Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl may be like oil and vinegar, but everything in this dish mixes perfectly.

 

Tune in next week for more Cartoon Cravings!

Rugrats

Posted on by cartooncravings

Episode: Angelica Breaks a Leg
Chocolate Pudding

Wow! If anything is going to make me feel old, it’s the fact that Nickelodeon Animation is celebrating their 25th. I’ve been there from the get-go and have loved my fair share of Nicktoons. Although it’s much harder to play favorites now, when I was little, Rugrats was at the top of my list. I don’t know what it was about those babies, but I just couldn’t get enough of them. I’ve got the toy collection to prove it. While looking through all my stuff, I realized that most of it is Angelica-related. She’s a bully and a brat, so she’s not the best role model for youngsters, but that girl’s got guts. The stuff she’s pulled to get what she wants is amazing. She’s impersonated her mom to get sweets, “kidnapped” her own doll to get a new one, and feigned a broken leg to get people to wait on her hand and foot. Sure, nothing really ends well for Angelica, but I wish I could’ve given one of her schemes a go.

When Angelica fakes her brake, she even asks for the same stuff I would: a big TV and some chocolate pudding. I could never push someone to the point of a 3 AM pudding run or beyond, but it is fun to watch. I always laughed while Stu’s life spiraled out of control, but it’s scary how much I empathize with him now. I’ve had many of those moments, but never any involving pudding. If I’m making chocolate pudding at four o’clock in the morning, I hope it’s because I can and not because I have to.

Recipe makes 4 cups of mix and Pudding Recipe makes 1-2 servings.

Ingredients

Pudding Mix:

1 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder (Use darker cocoa powder for a darker color)

1 cup instant non-fat dry milk powder

1 ½ cups sugar

½ cup cornstarch

1 teaspoon salt

 

Chocolate Pudding:

1 cup Pudding Mix

2 cups milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Directions

Pudding Mix:

In a large mixing bowl, combine cocoa powder, milk powder, sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Move mixture to an airtight container and store until ready to use.

Chocolate Pudding:

Combine Pudding Mix and milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking constantly. Cook, still whisking, until the pudding has thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove the pudding from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Pour the pudding into a bowl or divide into servings. Serve warm or cover with plastic wrap and chill before serving. Enjoy!

Rugrats Choc PuddingRugrats Pudding

Whether I’m in control of my life or not, it’s nice knowing just how easy it is to make chocolate pudding. (I never know when someone’s going to break a leg.) Anyway, the more I look at it, the easier it is for me to see why I never tried to emulate Angelica. (She didn’t even eat the pudding!) But her crazy, villainous antics are just one of the things that keep me coming back to the show after all these years. Sure, Rugrats (and I) have gotten older, but that doesn’t mean we have to act our age.

 

Tune in next week for more Cartoon Cravings!

Codename: Kids Next Door 2

Posted on by cartooncravings

Episode: Operation: C.A.K.E.D.
The Delightful Children’s Birthday Cake

Oh my good golly gosh! My baby blog, Cartoon Cravings, is a year old! Thank you so much for all the love and attention! It’s because of you that we’ve made it this far. It’s truly been a labor of love and quite the learning experience. I know I’ve made mistakes and this whole blogging thing isn’t perfect, but I can only see Cartoon Cravings getting bigger and better in the future.

In honor of Cartoon Cravings 1st Birthday, I’m going back to where it all started: Codename: Kids Next Door. You all remember Nurse Claiborne’s Apple Crumble, right? Well things are about to get scarier because I’m taking on the Delightful Children From Down the Lane and their birthday cake. Every year, the Kids Next Door tries to foil the Delightful Children’s birthday party of horror by stealing their cake. This year, it’s my turn. “Kids Next Door, Battle Stations!”

Recipe makes one double-layered, 3-tiered cake so you need to make at least 2 batches of everything

Ingredients

Coconut Cake:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature, separated

3 cups cake flour, sifted

3 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup coconut milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon coconut extract

 

Seven-Minute Frosting

1 ½ cups sugar

1/3 cup water

2 egg whites

2 teaspoons light corn syrup

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon coconut extract

 

1-2 cups shredded coconut (Optional)

 

Buttercream Icing

½ cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature

½ cup shortening

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon coconut extract

4 cups (1 pound) powdered sugar, sifted

2 tablespoons coconut milk

Blue food coloring

Green food coloring

Red and yellow food coloring
OR
Red and yellow candy melts

 

Directions

Coconut Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease and flour a 6-inch, an 8-inch, and a 10-inch cake pan.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add vanilla and coconut extracts and beat in egg yolks. Add flour mixture and coconut milk alternatingly, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Stir until just combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter until just combined.

Divide cake batter amongst pans. Gently tap or drop pans on the counter to remove air pockets. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when the cake is tested. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and wrap completely in plastic wrap. This will help keep your cakes moist. Cool completely on baking racks.

Repeat.

Seven-Minute Frosting:

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan or bottom of a double boiler. Combine sugar, water, egg whites, corn syrup, and salt in a medium-size mixing bowl or top of the double boiler. Place the bowl over the boiling water. Be careful not to let the bowl touch the water or else the frosting may become grainy. Begin beating the mixture with an electric hand mixer on low speed for a minute. Increase the speed to high and beat until stiff and glossy, 5-7 minutes. Remove the frosting from the heat and add the vanilla and coconut extracts. Beat again for 1 minute. 

Repeat.

Buttercream Icing:

In a stand mixer, beat butter and shortening until fluffy. Add vanilla and coconut extracts. Beat powdered sugar in, a little at a time. Scrape down sides of the bowl and add coconut milk. If the icing is too thick, add more coconut milk, ½ teaspoon at a time.

Repeat.

Putting It All Together:

Unwrap cooled cakes. Trim excess cake from the layers so they are all level. Place one of the 10-inch cakes on a strong board or tray. Top the cake with a layer of the seven-minute frosting. Sprinkle some shredded coconut on top of the frosting or mix some in before spreading. Place the second layer on top and ice the entire cake with the seven-minute frosting. Chill until the icing sets. Place one of the 8-inch cakes on a cardboard cake circle. Repeat the filling, layering, and icing process and chill. Do the same thing for the 6-inch cakes.

The cake isn’t too big but it’s heavy, so I used a few dowels to keep everything in place. You don’t necessarily have to do it if it’s not going anywhere or it will be eaten quickly, but it’s better to be safe than saggy. Use a cardboard circle to measure where the middle tier will sit on the bottom one. Lightly trace the circle. Place a dowel (Fat drinking straws work well too.) In the measured area. Mark the height of the cake, remove the dowel, and cut 4-5 dowels to that size. Shove them into the cake along the circle pattern with one in the middle. Repeat the doweling process with the middle tier using 2-3 dowels. Place the middle tier on the bottom one, making sure it’s centered. Stack the top tier on the middle one and chill again. The seven-minute icing needs to be very set before you can decorate it.

Divide the buttercream and color. Scoop the blue icing into a piping bag with a star or other appropriate tip and dot along the top and bottom edges of each tier. Scoop some green icing in a piping bag with a petal or other appropriate tip and pipe small banner decorations along each tier. Each banner has yellow or red decorations, so I cut colored candy melts and pressed them into the banners. Piping small dots using yellow and red icing is fine too. Chill the cake one last time. Light some candles and serve! (Captive party guests are optional.)

Variations: My bottom tier is on the stubby side. I didn’t notice it until it was too late. It doesn’t help that I put it on a deep tray. That was stupid of me. Don’t do it. You’ve got options to increase the height on that bottom tier. You can bake up more cake and add an extra layer. You can even try to steal a little batter from the other layers. 
If you want different sized rounds or edges, just adjust the sizes of the cake pans to fit your needs.

KND CakeKND Bday Cake

Too bad the Kids Next Door didn’t get to taste their victory. But it beats being the Delightful Children. Laura (The Big Badolescent) isn’t afraid to let them know she hates coconut. They get to feel the agony of defeat twice as hard. As for me, I’d say my mission was a success. (No, my cake decorating skills still aren’t there yet, but I’ll get better eventually.) So pull up a chair and grab a slice of cake. We’re playing party games next!

 

Tune in next week for more Cartoon Cravings!

Baby Looney Tunes

Posted on by cartooncravings

Episode: Save Our Cinnamon
Cinnamon Rolls

I’ve always been a sucker for baby/kid versions of cartoon characters. I don’t know if it’s because I found them easier to relate to when I was a kid, or if it’s just that the little versions are too cute. Yeah, cute. I’m definitely going with cute. Baby Looney Tunes is no exception. They don’t act much like their adult selves that I know and love, but I like the idea of seeing the characters growing up together in a more modern environment and getting along (for the most part). And I loved watching and waiting to see which characters got the “babyfication” treatment. I mean, of course Bugs, Daffy, and Sylvester are adorable, but have you seen Baby Gossamer? (He’s so cute!) Every time I went to Six Flags, I begged my parents for all the Baby Looney Tunes plushies I could get my hands on because I couldn’t go any longer without that cuteness in my life. Cuddliness aside, Baby Looney Tunes is a sweet, little show, filled with lessons about using your imagination, and trying your best, and doing the right thing, and growing up. (You know, all of those cartoon standards.)

But you know what else is sweet? Cinnamon rolls. Baby Looney Tunes is full of cookies and cakes, but the king of sweets in this show is the cinnamon roll. Granny’s sister, Auntie, owns a bakery called Cakery Bakery Doc which has the most addicting cinnamon rolls. I’m pretty sure the Babies were more excited about eating cinnamon rolls than seeing Auntie. (Daffy was not a happy camper when she brought in a cake for them.) But when the bakery is on the verge of shutting down, the Babies have no problems getting their hands dirty making a giant cinnamon roll worthy of the Skinni’s Book of World Records. As much as I’d love to make a record-breaking, giant cinnamon roll of death, I’m going to play it safe and just bake up a bunch of yummy, regular-sized ones.

Recipe makes 16 cinnamon rolls.

Ingredients

Dough:

1 cup warm milk (105-115 degrees F)

2 ¼ teaspoons yeast

¼ cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled slightly

2 eggs, room temperature, beaten

2 egg yolks, room temperature, beaten

4 cups flour

 

Filling:

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons cinnamon

Pinch of Salt

2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly

 

Icing:

4 ounces (½ cup) cream cheese, room temperature

½ cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Directions

Dough:

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 2 tablespoons of sugar in the warm milk. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes, or until foamy. In a large bowl, combine the rest of the sugar, salt, butter, eggs, egg yolks, and 2 cups of flour. Add the yeast mixture. Mix in the rest of the flour until the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes. Form the dough into a ball again and place in a large, clean bowl. Lightly coat dough with oil and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm place for 2 hours or until it has doubled in size.

In a small bowl, make the filling by combining the brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Mix well and set aside.

Punch down the dough and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into an 18 X 12-inch rectangle. Evenly brush the melted butter on the dough. Sprinkle the filling over the dough and spread to cover evenly. Pat down on the filling just a bit to encourage it to stick. Beginning with the long edge closet to you, use your fingers to tightly roll the dough into a cylinder. Use a serrated knife to cut the cylinder into 16 rolls. Place the rolls on a couple of greased baking sheets and allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake the rolls, rotating the pans halfway through, for 30 minutes, or until the rolls are browned and cooked through.

Icing:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the cream cheese and butter. Add the vanilla extract. Slowly mix in the powdered sugar and beat until the icing is smooth.

Putting It All Together:

Allow the rolls to cool slightly and generously spread icing on top. Now you can enjoy!

babylooneytunesBaby LT Cinn Roll

I love cinnamon rolls as much as the Baby Looney Tunes do, so I know these won’t last long. If it were possible, that sweet smell would have me floating all over the place like the Babies. But what I truly love about this episode (besides the excuse to make cinnamon rolls) is that a little bakery education is thrown in there. The Babies are truly making a cinnamon roll from kneading the dough, to spreading the filling, to rolling it, and baking it up. It takes some work, but cinnamon rolls (and saving bakeries) are definitely worth it.

 

Tune in next week for more Cartoon Cravings!