Crave Wednesday: Baked Mozzarella Bites

As you may or may not have noticed, my hair has taken on a distinct hue as of late.  As they say in The Wizard of Oz, "Now that's a horse of a different color."

When I started my new job, where I wasn't going to have to appear in court, or even an office most of the time, I realized it gave me some freedom to do something fun with my hair.  Despite the fact I rarely do much with my hair, I'm fairly brave when it comes to hair changes.  I've done long, short, permed, straight, bangs, highlights, and even played with color before the kids were born and I had more time for hair maintenance.   My philosophy is that it will always grow back.

I decided it was time for a fun color, not the typical browns, blondes, and reds of the past.  But knowing that hair color is high maintenance I decided to only do the bottom half of my hair.  So that when I got sick of it, I could just cut it off.

So last month I found myself in the salon looking a little like this.

One of the reasons I've always shied away from fun hair colors is that they don't work on brunettes.  You have to bleach the hell out of your hair first.  Which seemed like more work, and also not a friendly way to treat your hair.  But since the end game is chopping it off anyway...

And after a couple more hours under the dryer, I found myself with a whole new shade of hair.

I have to say.  I love my blue hair.  I've even gone and gotten it touched up once already.  When I glance down and see it, it makes me feel like a super hero. Like Wonder Woman.

And in reality, I am a super hero.  I'm super mom - working, taking care of the home, taking care of my family.  Most of us are super heroes and don't even realize it.   I do remember thinking my mom was some kind of super hero.  When we were kids, she went to school, worked in the hospital, taught at the university, and took care of the family.  That last part was not single-handedly, but all the best super heroes have help in some form.  I admired her, even if I did resent the fact that she wasn't home after school to greet us with cookies like most of my friends' moms.  Because I have less on my plate than she did, and because I'm the one picking the kids up from preschool, I can fill in that void I was missing.  My kids don't get cookies after school, but they do get a snack.  And I try to make it something that has some nutritional value in case they end up not eating dinner - which is also served very near the time they get home.  Cheese is my go-to: cheese sticks, babybels, or even just cutting them chunks of cheddar or gouda.

If dinner is going to take a little longer to get together, then I might even up the ante on that cheese.   These baked mozzarella bites take around 5 minutes to make, and add a fun crunch to their normal after-school snack.  The boys shun the marinara, preferring to just eat the bites as they are.  I like the warm marinara with the melty cheese and crisp panko.  It's just heavy enough to hold you over, and light enough not to fill you up.

 Baked Mozzarella Bites  (From Cooking Light)

1/3 cup panko

3 sticks part-skim mozzarella string cheese

3 Tbsp egg beaters

cooking spray

1/4 cup low-sodium marinara sauce

1. Preheat oven to 425.  Heat a skillet over medium heat.  Add panko to the pan and cook 2 minutes or until toasted, stirring frequently.  Remove from heat and place in a shallow dish.
2. Cut mozzarella sticks into 1 inch pieces.  Working with one piece at a time, dip the cheese in the egg beaters and then dredge in panko.
3. Place the cheese on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.  Bake for 3 minutes.
4. Pour marinara into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute.  Serve with mozzarella pieces.