Crunchy Baked Mozzarella Sticks!

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Mae

Since graduating college I have spent every New Years Eve with Rand McNally. Okay, all but the one he spent working for Uncle Sam in a Desert. His family tradition for this night is a instead of a meal, they have lots of appetizers. So we have adopted this tradition in our house as well.

As I have mentioned several times I am slightly addicted to ‘pinning’ new things to try on Pinterest. I thought I found the perfect recipe while pinning one night for Mozzarella sticks, until I read the word ‘fried’. I don’t own a fryer and too many fried foods make us sick! So I continued the hunt for a baked recipe.

I came across a couple but wasn’t sold. I did use them for inspiration but changed it up… why not! The verdict.. they ROCKED!!!

Crunchy Baked Mozzarella Sticks

Ingredients

12 egg roll wrappers cut in half
12 string cheese sticks cut in half
water
1 cup Italian Bread crumbs
1 cup Panko Bread crumbs
2 eggs beaten
2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil (or olive Oil spray)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat type baking mat.

2. Cut the egg roll wrappers in half (My kitchen shears were perfect for this! ). Cut all the Mozzarella sticks in half. You can choose to skip this step but I will say they are pretty big even cut in half!

3. Place an egg roll wrapper where it looks like a horizontal rectangle when you look at it. Place the Mozzarella stick in the middle. Fold in the ends and then roll to completely cover the stick. Use a little water to ‘seal’ the wrapper. Repeat for all the sticks.

4. Use a pastry brush or dunk the wrapped mozzarella stick in the egg wash. Then roll (use a spoon for better coverage) in the bread crumbs. Place on your prepared baking sheet. Repeat this step for all of the sticks.

5. Lightly brush the tops of the sticks with the olive oil. I used my Pampered Chef sprayer and this worked well!

6. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Then place under broiler to finish. Don’t walk away from the oven!!! Sticks are finished when the edges turn brown. Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving, unless you want to scold your guests and family .

Serve with a marinara, ranch, or Alfredo dipping sauce.

Christmas Bark!

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Mae

So I have been so busy with Holiday stuff I have been neglecting the blog some… so I am so sorry! I am going to do my best to post a few over the next couple days. Most of them will be holiday ideas.

This recipe I found on …. you guessed it… PINTEREST! Seriously, I might go broke or save money with all my pins!

Anyway, I made this great Halloween Bark back in October and thought, why not try a Christmas one. It is so simple and even the Non-baker types can make this with NO issues!

Christmas Bark

adapted from Cooking with K

32 Oz. Almond Bark Vanilla (2 Packages)
1 Box of Kellogg’s Crispix Cereal
4 cups Christmas shaped pretzels (or really any small ones will do!)
2 16oz. Bags of M&M’S (any variety will work-Peanut Butter Chocolate Candies, or Peanut Chocolate Candies, or Plain Chocolate Candies- I used Peanut Butter and Pretzel) in Christmas Colors

Holiday Sprinkles **Optional

In a medium microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate in the microwave for 2-4 minutes at 30 second intervals until chocolate is melted. While it is melting you can mi In a large bowl, mix the cereal, pretzels, and M&Ms (you should steal an M&M or two to make sure they are good enough to serve!)

Pour melted chocolate over the cereal mixture. Using a large spatula to fold all together. Try not to mash the cereal too much while doing this.

Once all the mixture is coated completely with the chocolate, pour out onto a table lined with waxed paper (I used baking trays lined with wax paper and set it outside because it cooled REALLY fast!).

Shake some holiday sprinkles on them for extra color!

Once cooled, break up into pieces and store in an air tight container-Ziplocks work well!

Christmas Bark!

Mae’s Got This is not responsible for any diets this recipe might ruin. ENJOY!!!

Vegetable Tortellini Soup

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Mae

This soup is amazing. Seriously, jam packed with veggies and easy to make! I am blessed with kids that love to eat their veggies. In fact, Munchkin would prefer vegetables over meat and even over candy! Peanut is still in the phase where she will eat ANYTHING you put in front of her. (I now know that this will mean NOTHING when she is 18 months-3 years old.)

Now the girls are great veggie eaters, Rand McNally… Not so much! Usually, when I ask him to chop up something for a soup it is soo tiny you can barely recognize what it is. Even HE liked this soup!

It was another Pinterest inspired recipe. Sorry Google, I am finding more things there and searching often!

If you are anything like me, you are probably still enjoying plates full of mashed potatoes and stuffing. However, in a few days when you are completely over those leftovers this is a quick and perfect meal for a family on these soon to be cold nights!

Vegetable Tortellini Soup

Adapted from Family Fun

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion chopped
1 clove chopped garlic
1 small zucchini diced (think the size of an inch)
1 medium carrot peeled and diced
1 cup of chopped spinach
4 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon dried basil (more if fresh)
1 bay leaf
1 28 oz canned crushed tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt

8 to 9 ounces fresh or frozen tortellini (cheese or meat)
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (as desired)
Black pepper, to taste

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a medium soup pot or the one I usually boil pasta in. Add the garlic, onion, zucchini, and carrots. Saute over moderate heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until the onion is soft and translucent.

Add the stock, basil, bay leaf, spinach and tomatoes. Increase the heat and bring the mixture to a low boil, reduce and simmer for about 15 minutes. If you like super mushy veggies cook it for longer.

Add the tortellini and bring the soup back to a low boil. Cook it for 2 minutes, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for another 5 minutes longer. (Tortellini will float when they are cooked!)

This would be VERY tasty with some garlic bread. Like I said, we all enjoyed this!

What have you ‘Pinned’ lately?

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Mae

I love Pinterest.com! Have you seen this site? It is amazing! You have to be invited to join, but leave me a comment with your email address if you want an invite!) Once signed up you can ‘pin’ or save things all across the web to different boards you create on the site. Think of this as a filing system for the things you find on the internet.

I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a little overwhelming at first, but within an hour or so of playing around it became easy to navigate. One of the coolest features to the site is that you can link with all your friends from your email contact list and your Facebook friends. Then once you have friends you are following you can see what things they are ‘pinning’.

You can search on the site and find items that have been pinned by other users. The key to success on this site is coming up with your boards. That way you can find the items you pinned easily.

I currently have:

Good Eating-all things food and yummy
Clever Ideas- These are mostly tips and tricks that are brilliant!
Kid Stuff -I am going divide this soon into Kid Crafts, Kid Recipes, maybe another one too!
Craft Room Ideas – I am in the process of reworking my craft area in our guess room
Dress Up Area Ideas- This is going to be part of the girls’ Christmas gift
Holiday Ideas- Crafts, recipes, homemade gifts
Peanut’s First Birthday- She is going to have an Owl themed party
Dream Home Ideas- A girl can dream can’t she?
More to come- You can just keep making them!!!

You can seriously pin ANYTHING! I have been enjoying all the recipes, craft ideas, and home organization tips! What are you waiting for get invited and get ‘pinning’!

**Disclaimer Mae’s Got This does not assume responsibility for lost hours in your day, lack of productivity at work, and any accidents that may occur in your home while pinning!**