My family has a New Years Eve tradition, that everyone loves. We’ve done it since I was a little kid. When we are all together for New Years, which does happen less often now that we are all grown and of drinking age, every person at home got to pick his/her favorite appetizer.

Our meal that night consisted of a menagerie of appetizers and nothing else. It was awesome! And when there are 11 people surrounding the table, there were plenty of options to chose from. Dad always requested shrimp. Mom usually made a veggie pizza. The little boys opted for pizza bites and chicken nuggets. Other favorites included taco dip and chips, jalapeno poppers, and bbq chicken wings. I had the tendency to ask for mozzarella sticks. There is something about them that always (even today when I tend to stay away from grains) calls to me.

This year, instead of buying the pre-packaged mozz sticks, I decided it was time to try my hand at making my own. And that was a delicious and simple decision to have made! I gave it a trial run this week so that I would be ready for the big day and know exactly what needed to be done. And honestly the idea came from my little brother who actually tried this recipe first and managed to do a pretty dang good job.

These goodies require a total of 4 ingredients - a few more if you want to get creative. All you need is Progresso Bread Crumbs (grabbed the last time I was at WalMart), cheese sticks (I went with the string cheese variety), a couple eggs and salt to taste. I added some red pepper flakes to give mine a little kick! I like it spicy.

Make-At-Home Mozzarella Sticks:

• Preheat oven to 325*
• Unwrap cheese sticks (you can use any kind if mozzarella isn’t your preference).
• Cut cheese sticks in half, or smaller section to make them finger food.
• In a small container, beat the eggs until they are fluffy.
• Dump Progresso Bread Crumbs into a shallow bowl, sprinkle in some salt. (Here’s where I added the red pepper flakes.)
• Dip the cheese stick in the beat eggs.
• Roll it in the bread crumbs.
• Quickly re-dip in the eggs.
• You can re-roll in the bread crumbs and re-dip it in the eggs if you want a breadier outer layer.
• Lay the coated cheese stick on a baking sheet.
• Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes. Watch to make sure the cheese isn’t melting all over the tray. When the first ones begin to ooze out, they are ready.
• Serve immediately.

See! Simple. Delicious. This homemade mozzarella sticks recipe is perfect for a holiday party, a little weekend appetizer, or an after school snack. Nomnom. And since you can pick up all these ingredients while grabbing all the other life essentials from WalMart, it makes it an even greater win!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Progresso™ The opinions and text are all mine.