Mozzarrella Sticks (Giada DeLaurentis, FoodNetwork.com)

PREP: Easy
TASTE: Very Good
REPEAT: Yes, definitely
NOTES: Tried this recipe for our "Teen Fellowship" night. Easy enough I thought, and I was right. I bought a huge block of mozzarella from Sam's and found that that was too much. I used 1/3 of it and filled 1 and a half baking sheets. The baking sheets are the 2 for packs sold at Sam's Club for around $11. GREAT deal.

Anyway, I had some whole wheat bread crumbs already processed and bagged in the freezer. I just dumped them into a bowl, added Italian Seasoning and some parmesan that I had previously gotten from Sam's and finely grated in my Bosch slicer/shredder. I didn't really measure, I just guessed.

Had some difficulty keeping the sticks well coated, even with the egg mixture. Found that it got worse as I got to parts of the bread mixture that had gotten moist from already touching the egg mixture.

Served with jarred marinara. Maybe I'll try my own soon. Fried in Smart Balance shortening melted in 5 quart cast iron dutch oven.

Be ready to turn over and remove sticks within seconds. Burns quickly. Once bread mixture is mixed up, use only a small amount in the bowl for rolling the sticks at a time. Reserve the rest to pour in as needed so it doesn't get moistened which makes it hard to stick to the cheese.

KEY INGREDIENTS: mozzarella, bread crumbs, eggs, parmesan