Cooking with Kids: Breadstick Dunks

I have one child that is the fussiest eater ever. Well, I won’t hide it from you..it is Kyrie. At age 4 1/2 she is pushing 32 pounds. Whatever. All of my kids are lean. They play hard, work hard, and generally eat enormous amounts. Except Kyrie.
But. If you can put something on the table, especially something she helped make, and then add something to dunk it in….aha!…getting her to eat is no problem. Here is a recipe for breadsticks. They are easy to make, and you can let the kids help without much stress or mess. Serve them with the dip that follows or any number of others. Kyrie likes them with hot artichoke spinach dip.

Oh. she doesn’t have makeup on in the picture..It was my first attempt at playing with the photoshop program.

They are sticky so prepare to have doughy hands.  I like to let the kids do the shaping of the bread sticks.  They can create traditional sticks or make hearts, circles, and other shapes.  In fact, if your child is learning letters and/or numbers let them shape the sticks into different letters before baking!

Easy Breadsticks

1 pkg. yeast
1 1/3 c. warm water
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
Coarse Sea salt
3 to 4 c. flour ( I use a mix of whole wheat, rye, and white)
1 Tbs. honey
1 egg white, slightly beaten

Dissolve yeast in water in a large bowl. Stir in 1 cup of the flour, the oil, honey and 1 teaspoon salt. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Cover and let rise in warm place until double, about 45 minutes.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Stir down dough by beating about 25 strokes. Turn dough onto generously floured surface. Divide into 24 equal parts.

Roll and shape each part dough into a rope, about 9 inches long, sprinkling with flour if dough is sticky.

Place on greased cookie sheet.

Brush with egg white; sprinkle with salt.
Bake until crust is deep golden brown and crisp, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and immediate take from cookie sheet. Makes about 18

Pizza Dip
1 8 oz.package cream cheese
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
2 Tbs chopped fresh basil if available
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 c pizza sauce, homemade or canned.
2 tablespoons chopped green pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion

optional
1 Tbs chopped black olives
2 Tbs chopped pepperoni
2 Tbs chopped mushrooms
1/4 c cooked italian sausage

In a mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese and Italian seasoning.
Spread in an ungreased 9-in. microwave-safe pie plate or flat casserole.
Combine mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses and sprinkle half over the cream cheese.
Pour the pizza sauce on top, and add the rest of the cheese, green pepper. onion and any of the optional ingredients you want.
Microwave, uncovered, on high for 2-3 minutes or until cheese is melted
Let stand for 1-2 minutes