Inspiration Post: Mouthwatering Mac & Cheese!!

Hey everyone!! I've missed way more "Inspiration Post," than I'm proud of but I'm going to pretend I didn't and moved onto July 2014's post. The "Inspiration Post," is the reader's chance to check out at what peaks MY artistic interest and motivates me to create such crazy imaginative illustrations!! There are so many things that inspire me it's always difficult to pick just one theme. After much deliberation I decided to choose "Mouthwatering Mac & Cheese!!"

Nothing beats a hot bowl of super cheesy and savory Mac and Cheese. I love Mac and Cheese like nobody's business. If I could I would make and eat it everyday of my life. In fact, I've featured a classic as well as more wacky recipe for mac and cheese on my blog before. Digging further back into my history you will even discover an early illustration I created as an ode to my love for the comforting noodle dish. So grab a piping hot bowl, sit back and let me be your guide through "Mouthwatering Mac & Cheese," heaven!!

Mac Loves Cheese Graphic - Meghan Draws Weird tumblr

Since this is an illustration blog, I decided to start things off with an adorable Mac & Cheese illustration. A little elbow noodle embraces his best pal CHEESE! Talk about comforting comfort food!! The simplistic use of color and shapes make this illustration a winner in my book!! Designed by Meghan Murphy this piece even made it's way to Shirt WOOT! in their comfort foods derby. No lie, I'd rock this apparel design in a heartbeat!

Macaroni & Cheese Soap - SoapsationalFavors Etsy Shop

It's amazing what you can find on Etsy with just one simple keyword. I dug up this super creative handcrafted soap in the SoapsationalFavors etsy shop on my quest for Mac & Cheese goodness! I applaud the creativity that went into even fathoming this comfort-food cleanser. And it looks so realistic I'm half tempted to eat it. Thankfully the artisan labels the final packaging with "glycerine soap" on the back to avoid and incidental digestions! because I would more than likely just dig in. SoapsationalFavors offers all kinds of unique soaps so check them out on Etsy!!

Timeless Treasures Fabric Mac & Cheese Fabric sold at greatfabricfinds Etsy Shop

I love me a good textile print!! Check out this delicious fabric by the "Timeless Treasures" company! The print features different little individual dishes of Mac & Cheese crafted with a variety of noodles. The photographically realistic casseroles stand out on a contrasting black background. Just think of the possibilities you could sew with this beauty!! Although I find it highly unlikely I would ever be able to craft anything with this WITHOUT drooling all over my project.

Robot Flying Saucer Mac N Cheese Abduction Card -  RicksRobots Etsy Shop

I LOVE the creative concept of this print of a young girl balancing a pink tea cup effortlessly a top her head. A task I'm sure I'd never be able to accomplish with the ADDED challenge of a ship sailing carelessly around the tea. The print is created by the husband and wife artist team, "Marisol Spoon." The scalloped edge and gold details of the tea cup and microscopic components of the ship are amazing!! And her extremely long neck and haunting eyes keep this piece unique and memorable. Purchase it on Etsy or see more of Marisol Spoon's pieces at http://marisolspoon.com/

Kraft Macaroni & Cheese "Super Heroes" Shapes - Bat Blog

Holy Macaroni Batman! Last but not least is an ad featuring my favorite caped crusader, Batman! But not just any ad, a Kraft Mac and cheese ad that dates back to the late 90s. This ad combines 2 of my most favorite things; Mac and Cheese AND Batman. I can't say that I taste tested this back in the day but I'm sure it was delicious. The signature Kraft Dinner boxes tower over gotham city like skyscrapers. How clever! I also dig the tagline. "Big Cheese," get it?! Oh puns!

Drooling for more?? Check out my Pinterest board titled "Inspiration" for bonus pieces that didn't quite make my 5 piece limit per post. And who knows, maybe NEXT month's theme might already be in mixed in there! Follow http://www.pinterest.com/nerdycupcakes/inspirations/ and stay inspired every month with lots of goodies to keep you from creative constipation! Have a super week everyone!!

Laura Cooks: Cooking with Pumpkin (w/ illustrations)

Hey everyone just wanted to update my blog with a pumpkin-themed fun cooking adventure I had. And since this is my illustration blog, I also created a cute little pumpkin character to guide us through each dish!

I LOVE all things pumpkin. I'm a pumpkin addict!! And fall just happens to be my favorite season. Unforunately everyone is still focused on summer and it's just a TAD too early for stores to be carrying their "pumpkin spice" seasonal eats. I decided I'm not waiting until fall. Armed with a can of pumpkin and Pinterest recipes I had all day pumpkin feast!

 

First came breakfast. Even though it's been about a billiondy degrees outside almost daily I decided to start my morning with the "Clean Eating Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal" recipe from "The Gracious Pantry." The recipe only required simple ingredients I already had at home. The oatmeal serves 4 but I'm only one person so I adjusted it back to 1 serving.

Drizzled with maple syrup and topped with chopped pecans, this was such a filling breakfast!! And yes, it looks as good as it tastes!! Next up came my lunch. What could you possibly make for lunch with canned pumpkin?? Two words: grilled cheese.

Mmmm cheese on carbs!! Not the healthiest thing to be stuffing my face with but the ingredients weren't too terrible for you. For instance, the recipe calls for a laughing cow cheese wedge which are very low in calories (and super yummy). And instead of a deli cheese slice I used some vegan cheese made from rice and it tasted just as good.

Bizarre sounding but totally savory!! The pumpkin "filling" was enough for 2 separate sandwiches but I piled it all on one anyway. YOLO my friends. I ate my sandwich with some wheat thins and some applesauce. Mmmm!! Check out the full recipe by user asally04 on the "KeyIngredient" website. And last but not least dinner.

All I needed was one more pumpkin recipe and my pumpkin feast would be complete!! And I definitely had one up my sleeve. "Pumpkin Mac and Cheese" by "Eat. Drink. Love." I can't say no to Mac and Cheese. It took me two attempts to make this. The first attempt I burned myself on the pot of boiling water and spilled the entire pound of curly noodles all over the floor. Yikes!! It just goes to show you accidents happen. We all need to be careful when we cook!!

I'm glad I picked myself up and tried again because this recipe was a unique filling dish!! It calls for not only cheddar cheese but also Gruyere. If you don't feel like buying Gruyere you can use Swiss but I wanted the full Pumpkin Mac and Cheese experience!! It was a great way to end my day. I hope you enjoyed the illustrations. If you're a true pumpkin addict like me, go try out some of the recipes!!

National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day!

Happy April everyone!! We all know yesterday was April Fool's day but know it or not, today is ANOTHER April Holiday!! Today is the day to celebrate the most iconic pair to hit the USA; it's National Peanut Butter and Jelly day!! I took time out of my week to create this fun typographic graphic to celebrate:

I created the peanut butter bread illustration from a sketch and even took the time to hand letter the jelly looking text in Illustrator. Not something I typically challenge myself with but it was well worth the effort! I also spent an hour making these yummy Buttermilk Peanut Butter and Jelly pancakes:

And yes they tasted as delciious as they look. So pick up a jar or two and celebrate the classic taste combination of Peanut Butter and Jelly today!!

Happy National Ravioli Day!!

Did you know that TODAY is National Ravioli Day?? Mmm carbs! I drew this illustration to celebrate and help spread the word:

Me, personally, I've never made my own pasta. I heard it's a lot of work. A lot of kneading. And involves some sort of "pasta machine" I can't afford. I'll stick to the canned kind. If you haven't had any ravioli today, what are you waiting for?? Treat yourself to the yummy pasta dish to honor this day!!

A Pinterest Perfect Valentine's Day!

Hey everyone just wanted to update the blog with how my Valentine's went. I always tend to embrace Valentine's day regardless of my lack of a significant other. A day whose main theme is not only commercial but revolves around hearts, candy and cakes?? Heck yes I'm going to celebrate it!!

Me and my friends threw a little Valentine's day party before going out to watch the ever-so romantic "Die Hard" sequel in the theater. Let me admit this first, I am total Pinterest addict and I wanted to share with you some of the wonderful tips and tricks I found through Pinterest that I used in my party!

First off I made these cute little Valentine's gift baskets for my friends. It was filled with chocolates, sugar wafers, and cookies I baked in the shape of hearts. I even dipped some of the sugar wafers in some red melting chocolate and covered them in Valentine's themed sprinkles an idea I pinned from Craft-O-Maniac from http://www.craft-o-maniac.com/2013/01/valentine-cookies.html

After showering each other with gifts we did our planned craft which was creating memory jars. This is an idea that I have seen on Pinterest a lot. Find a jar. Decorate it. And fill it with little slips of paper with memories written on them. Fill it up and open it up at the end of the year! Basically an overly simplified, personalized and pretty journal jar!

The jars we bought at dollar tree. Paper and stickers from Joanns and HobbyLobby. The finished products all came out really cute and different from each other. 

This was the one my best friend and fellow blogger KaraKreative made!! So elegant!

We all get together for Christmas and exchange gifts so we'll have to open up our jars and share our favorite memories with each other then! Last came dinner. I picked two great recipes I found on Pinterest a baked rigatoni and heart shaped dinner rolls. The dinner rolls were a huge hit.

 

The recipe for the Valentine's Dinner rolls can be found here: http://www.rhodesbread.com/recipes/print_recipe/2051 and the recipe for the Rigatoni I got off SkinnyMom here: http://skinnymom.com/2012/02/05/skinny-rigatoni/?_szp=120432&_szi=3 The pasta was made with ground turkey yum yum!!

 

We had such a fabulous Valentine's day! I honestly have the best friends on the entire planet because no matter what we do we always have a blast doing it! For more of my favorite pins you can always follow me on Pinterest @nerdycupcakes. Hope everyone had a good Valentine's Day and have a safe weekend!

Inspiration Post: PIZZA PIZZA!

Happy Halloween everyone!! Just because it's a Holiday doesn't mean I'm not going to post October's edition of "What Inspires Laura." The time I take out each month to compile a list of group of things that inspire me in hopes to inspire YOU as well! This month's theme is "PIZZA PIZZA."

Mmmmm! Pizza!! The tasty treat that in the states is literally just a phone call away from arriving at your door piping hot and covered in whatever toppings you fancy! Pizza was always a treat at my household and it still remains my brother's favorite food. Try not to get hungry as you scroll down!!

Hello Kitty Mini Pizzas - LoveBones Flickr

Let's start things out with an actual photograph of some pizza; Hello Kitty pizza that is!! I love Hello Kitty so why not? I bet these took a long time to make. And any little girl (or even big girl) would light up if they found these in her lunchbox for lunch! The pepperoni bows are just too cute! I found this photo on Flickr by user LoveBones!

Twinkie Chan - Pepperoni Pizza Scarf on Etsy

Time to move onto something less edible. A pizza-themed scarf?? Yes, by TwinkieChan and if her name (or photo) doesn't seem familliar to you, I highly suggest you check out her Etsy store or her website. She creates all sorts of crazy crochet creations and is solely responsible for this yummy looking scarf for boys or girls! Not only would I totally rock this scarf it's so creative and unconventional it makes my imagination do backflips!

Toys N Bricks - LEGO Pizza Promo Set NYCC 2012

From pizza scarves to building blocks!! I was never good at playing with LEGOs it was more something appealed to my brother's creativity but I am really digging this promo pizza set for New York Comic Con this year!! Bravo to the people at LEGO for thinking up this blocky little slice in it's own matching authentic pizza carry out box!! For more photos and details of this set be sure to check out the Toys N Brick's blog!!

Tiny Pepperoni Pizza Ring - CatrinasToybox on Etsy

Pizza is round so where's a perfect place for it to wind up at? On a ring of course! I have to hand it to Catrina'sToybox on making this very realistic looking ring. It makes me want to go out, buy some polymer clay and get to work on making my own itty bitty pieces of food! You can only buy this ring on Etsy so be sure to check out her shop with lots of other Polymer Clay listings!

Birthday Party Invitations - DwellStudio on TinyPrints

And last but not least a print piece, something more up my alley. I always adore simple designs. This invitation features a simplistic full color pizza with a slice cut out and ready to eat. All your party info is on the right in white text on a bright green background. It definitely inspires me to create my OWN pizza party invites! You can snag these invites from TinyPrints by clicking this link: http://www.tinyprints.com/product/8056/birthday_party_invitations_pizza_slice.html

And that is all I have for this month!! Hope you didn't drool too much over these different approaches of the always appetizing PIZZA! I've showed you pizza on a ring, on a scarf and even made of building blocks! Where will you we see pizza next?? That's up to you!! Hope everyone has a GREAT week and stay tuned for next month's inspiration post!

Laura Cooks: Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes (w/ illustration)

Hey everyone just updated the blog with another recipe I tried. I have to admit though, I am NO amateur to this recipe. In fact, it is from one of my recipe books at home. I pulled it from the Betty Crocker Fix-with-a-Mix Desserts cookbook. And if I said it once, I said it a million times, everything I've ever made from Betty Crocker comes out good!

The recipe I chose to make since it IS fall is the Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes. Since I made them before I knew they were going to come out amazing. Long story short they came out . . . . amazing. 

They turned out SO amazing that I don't even have a photo of the finished product!! Everyone who came in contact with them sampled them and gave rave reviews. Which gave me an excuse to draw another cute little cupcake to illustrate the finished product instead:

Okay, I admit, they didn't have little glasses on them. But I am in love with making little nerdy cupcake drawings!! The only thing I modified on the recipe was I didn't add the nuts. And I sprinkled cinnamon on top of the cream cheese frosting. If you want to try the recipe for yourself and don't own the cookbook (which I highly recommend that you SHOULD) you can check it out online on the Betty Crocker website by click here: http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/spiced-pumpkin-cupcakes/f8438950-6a47-4516-93f7-17c42a9fcf21

Hope everyone in the states is enjoying the start of Autumn so far!! It's my favorite season :) have a great day!!

Laura Cooks: Chicken Parmesan (w/ Illustration)

Hey everyone! Man I have to say, I am getting pretty good at this cooking business!! This week I made SkinnyTaste's "Baked Chicken Parmesan" Yes, another SkinnyTaste recipe! Why?? Because so far they are really easy to follow and really low in calories!!

I had to improvise a lot on this one but it still came out really tasty. First of all, I accidentally grabbed the 1/3 cup instead of the 1/4 cup for the parmesan. I just grabbed the smallest cup I saw and assumed it was the 1/4 cup. But who can have TOO much cheese? Did not hurt the recipe at all. 

I ALSO didn't have any tomato sauce or mozzarella cheese around but I had the chicken, bread crumbs, and all the other ingredients. I skipped all that stuff. I was more focused on the chicken and I think it came out soooo good! I was really surprised it was like I was eating breaded chicken for the FIRST time. 

My illustration for the recipe started out as a chicken cutlet. That's not fun and cute though!! I focused on the main ingredients instead and doodles up a cute little chicken holding some italian bread and parmesan cheese. I like to think she went grocery shopping and is on her way to make dinner for her family as well :)

If you would like to try the recipe for yourself be sure to check it out on the "SkinnyTaste" blog at http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/04/baked-chicken-parmesan.html

Spinach Lasagna Rolls (w/ Illustration)

Hey everyone! Just wanted to update the blog with another one of my adventures in cooking. This Friday I made SkinnyTaste's "Spinach Lasagna Rolls" This is only second pasta dish and my FIRST time having to strain spinach so I was pretty intimidated.

Some people's complaints I read online about making lasagna rolls is that they are hard to roll without tearing. I have never made lasagna noodles in my life but cooked them according to Alton Brown's method on Macaraoni and Cheese episode and had NO problems with them every ripping.

All in all the recipe came out delicious and I would definitely make it again. And I didn't get lazy this time for this blog entry. I actually made an illustration to accompany my noodle adventure. A cute little lasagna roll taking a nap.

Because when you roll them and set them in the pan they all look like they are tucked in for a good night's sleep. To try the recipe for yourself check out the SkinnyTaste blog or just click the link here: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/02/spinach-lasagna-rolls.html

Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend!!

Laura Cooks: Once a Month Mom BBQ Chicken Bites

I know this is an illustration blog but I can't help myself but to post ANOTHER cooking entry. I am trying my hardest to learn this whole "cooking" thing and tend to get REALLY excited when I complete a dish.

Since I eat like a little kid (and look like a little kid anyway) what better recipe to try than some homemade chicken nuggets!! The recipe I tried was "BBQ Chicken Bites," from Once A Month Mom.

The recipe was definitely easy enough for me to complete. One of the ingredients was Hellman's mayonnaise and I HATEEEE mayo. So I substituted the mayo for some plain, nonfat Oiko's Greek Yogurt. And instead of bread crumbs I used the leftover Whole Wheat Panko I used in Alton Brown's Baked Mac and Cheese.

The chicken came out tasting like shake and bake (which I had no problem with) with a hint of BBQ sauce. I dipped mine in the giant container of ranch dressing always in my fridge along with some baby carrots. Mmmmmm!!

To view the full recipe head over to Once a Month Mom or just click on this link: http://onceamonthmom.com/hellmanns-bbq-chicken-bites/ Try it sometime and I hope you all have a good weekend!

Laura Doodles Cooks: Alton Brown's Baked Mac and Cheese

Hey everyone! I have many baking adventures checking out new recipes in my dessert related cookbooks and finding recipes online but I don't usually cook MEALS much. I don't really know how to cook. I usually eat the same thing everyday and it's never anything complicated or that even INVOLVES an oven.

Image via Abrams Books.com

Recently I was watching re-runs of a show called, "Good Eats," hosted by Alton Brown, an extreme food nerd who makes cooking entertaining yet scientific and the episode was about Mac and Cheese. I LOVEEE Mac and Cheese and instantly inspired his seemingly easy Baked Mac and Cheese Recipe.

The ingredients were also super simple (the only thing I didn't already have on hand was sharp cheddar cheese and panko bread crumbs) and on the recipe page the full clip of Alton and his Nephew Elton concocting the delicious dish is available to watch. Great for people who are visual learners!

All in all, the recipe was very tasty! If I could change anything I would have probably added MORE cheese (and gained 5lbs doing it). I would definitely make it again sometime but my heart still belongs to the good old boxed Kraft kind, sorry Alton!

To try the recipe out for yourself, head over to the FoodNetwork website or just click on this link: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/baked-macaroni-and-cheese-recipe/index.html