Fast and Famous Breadsticks!

I get a lot of requests for this one- just watch out for the kids (husband) breaking into a breadstick sword fight!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

In a small bowl add:

1 Tb. yeast
1/8 tsp. sugar
1 cup very warm water - not too hot or you'll kill the yeast :(
Let this sit and get all nice and foamy...

In a medium bowl whisk together:

2 cups flour
2 Tb. sugar
1 tsp. salt

Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture and stir until JUST combined. It will be kind of goopy looking. Let this sit in bowl covered with a towel for 10 to 20 minutes. I usually do 15 min. but it will work with whatever time you've got! Gotta love that!

Generously flour the area of the counter you'll be working on. Scrape dough onto counter, sprinkle with flour and knead dough until it gets to the right consistency - add more flour if too sticky. You want the dough to be soft and pliable. Roll dough into rectangle about 1/2 inch thick.
With a pizza cutter, cut into 3/4" strips. Twist the strips as you lay them on a greased cookie sheet. Brush each stick with melted butter, and sprinkle with garlic salt (I like Lawry's) -if you want you can also sprinkle with Italian seasoning and Parmesan.
Let them rise until double their size, about 20 minutes. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn on broiler and broil for 2 minutes. Watch them closely or they'll be toast!
Now here's the secret that makes them so yummy...more butter baby!! Brush each stick again with melted butter and get ready to defend yourself!

YUMMY MEATLESS LASAGNA ~ lowfat

As a family we recently decided to try to cut way down on our meat consumption. Actually Bryn has declared herself a vegetarian, Garrett's goes for what ever he thinks will help him gain weight for football, and Dave and I are aiming for once a month. It hasn't been half as hard as I thought it would be- I just never thought I'd be fantasizing about what meat dish to make for the month!

Anyway, this recipe was a meatless hit!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees~

INGREDIENTS

1 pound fat-free ricotta cheese - I used lowfat
3 1/2 cups reduced fat mozzarella cheese, shredded-I used regular
1/2 cup parmesan chees- grated
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves-finely chopped
1 egg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
Optional~fresh spinach leaves -or 1 frozen 1o oz box of chopped spinach thawed and squeeze drained.
2 jars of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 box no-boil lasagna noodles - I like Barilla

FOR THE FILLING:

Mix 2 cups mozzarella cheese, ricotta, parmesan, basil, egg, salt, and pepper together in large bowl until thoroughly combined.

TO BAKE AND ASSEMBLE:

Coat 9-by-13 baking dish with cooking spray. Spread 1 1/2 cups sauce evenly over bottom of dish.
Lay enough noodles to evenly cover sauce. Spread half the filling mixture over noodles. Spread 1 cup sauce evenly over the filling. If using spinach leaves, cover evenly over sauce. Repeat this layering once more.
Lay enough noodles to cover the top. Spread 1 1/2 cups sauce evenly over the noodles. Cover with foil and bake for 40 min. Remove foil and sprinkle 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese over the top. Continue to bake until cheese is melted, about 10 -15 minutes.