Potato, Spinach and Artichoke Soup & Breadsticks

Yayyy for almost Friday! After work today I taught Body Step and then came home and did some work around the house. I also made bread sticks! I was super excited to try this recipe. The outcome was amazing! The dough is very sticky, so I recommend that you use a lot of flour on your hands and the board when you shape the dough into bread sticks. The original link for the recipe is here.

Bread sticks:

Ingredients-

1 pkg.	Regular or quick-acting dry yeast
1 1/3 c.	Warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
3 tbsp.	Vegetable oil
1 tsp.	Salt
	Coarse salt or sesame seeds (or melt butter and butter and garlic powder & brush on baked breadsticks
3 to 3 1/2 c.	All-purpose flour
1 tbsp.	Honey
1	Egg white, slightly beaten

Directions-

Dissolve yeast in warm water in 2 1/2 quart bowl. Stir in 1 cup of the flour, the oil, honey and 1 teaspoon salt. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour, scraping dough from side of bowl, until soft dough forms. 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; roll around lightly to coat with flour. Divide into 24 equal parts. Roll and shape each part dough into a rope, about 9 inches long, sprinkling with flour if dough is too sticky. Place on greased cookie sheet. Brush with egg white; sprinkle with salt or wait until baked and brush with melted garlic butter. When baking bake until crust is deep golden brown and crisp, about 15 minutes. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Store loosely covered. Should make about 2 dozen bread sticks. 70 calories per bread stick.


I also made a Rachel Ray recipe for Potato, Spinach and Artichoke soup. It turned out really well and was super easy to make! The original recipe can be found here.

Ingredients-

5 large baking potatoes (I used four and it was more than enough), peeled and quartered
One 9-ounce box frozen artichoke hearts thawed (I used 15 ounce canned)
Two 10-ounce boxes chopped frozen spinach, thawed
2 tablespoons butter (I used a butter substitute)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup milk (I used 1% milk)
Thyme (desired amount)
One 32-ounce container (4 cups) chicken broth (I used low sodium)
1 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano

Directions-
1. Place the potatoes in a large pot of cold water and bring to a boil. Salt the water, lower the heat and simmer until fork-tender (about 15 minutes). Drain and return to pot to dry.
2. Place the vegetables in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze dry.
3. In a medium pot, melt the butter in the EVOO over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 10 minutes. Add the boiled potatoes and milk and mash together (I used an emulsion blender). Season with thyme then stir in chicken broth. Stir in vegetables and heat through, about 2 minutes (I cooked it longer than that). Add cheese. Thin soup if desired.