French Peasant Bread

• 1 pkg. dry yeast
• 2 cups warm water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups flour
• Oil
• Corn Meal
• Melted Butter

Place yeast, water, sugar and salt in warm bowl and stir until dissolved. Add flour and stir until doubled in size (about an hour). Flour hands, remove dough from the bowl and place in 2 rounds on a lightly oiled cookie sheet sprinkled with corn meal. Let rise an additional hour. Brush the top with melted butter and bake at 425 for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 and cook an additional 15 minutes. Remove from oven and brush again with butter. Serve warm!

Quick and easy breadsticks

I was drawn to these breadsticks I found over at Mel's Kitchen Cafe because she said that:

1)they are fast (no long rising times!),

2)they are versatile (use what spices you have on hand!) and

3)they are really hard to mess up.

Can't go wrong there! Here's my adaptation for my little family.

*Makes about 10 breadsticks*

3/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 Tablespoons butter, melted (for the baking sheet)

Mix all ingredients (except melted butter) in a large bowl or electric mixer and knead for three minutes. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spread melted butter onto an 11X17-inch baking sheet. Roll out the breadstick dough about 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick and cut into strips with a pizza cutter. Twist slightly if desired and place about 1/2-inch apart on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with garlic salt, herbs of choice and parmesan cheese. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes. Bake 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees until golden brown.

Lemon Carrots

This is another winner from Momma Winegar's Recipes. I was assigned the vegetable for this weeks Sunday dinner (main course, Swiss Chicken....mmmmmm :) )and remembered this gem. Even the babies liked them!

Cook a 3 lb bag of carrots, steamed or boiled in about an inch of water for 20 minutes or until tender.

In a sauce pan, melt:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (i just used the zest of 1 whole lemon)

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Add glaze to the cooked carrots. Cook on low heat, turning until carrots are glazed.

Baked Potatoes, the fast method

I have had a lot of bad luck with baking potatoes. I know, how hard can it be? Stick them in the oven for an hour and you're done. But mine always came out hard as rocks in the middle, no matter what the size or how many times I poked them. SO frustrating after you've been waiting an hour+ for them. So I did a little homework and put together a couple of tips from random people on allrecipes.com and came up with this method. Cuts baking time in half and every time I've done it this way, they have turned out great! This is also handy if your main dish requires some time in the oven, too. Then your entree and potatoes cook together for the last 20 minutes of entree cooking time.

*I have only tried this with 3-8 potatoes at a time. Cooking times may be different if you need to make more

• Wash and scrub potatoes
• Poke with a fork several times, turn on oven to 375 degrees.
• Microwave potatoes for 10 minutes, turning potatoes after 5 minutes
• Remove, sprinkle with your favorite seasoning or kosher salt, cover with foil
• Bake in oven for an additional 20 minutes