Right now we’re going through what every large family experiences when the kids grow up and leave the nest. Twelve months ago, I had four kids still living at home. My oldest was still recovering from an injury sustained years earlier. Today he’s married, working full-time, and putting his wife through school. (Miracle!!) One daughter had finished an internship and was waiting for the next semester of school to begin. She’s at school now. Another daughter was doing college online because she was concerned that school would shut down again mid-semester and didn’t want to go through that again. She’s serving a mission now. And the youngest was and still is in high school.
Going from shopping and cooking for six to three (and soon to be two!) is something I’m still having a hard time wrapping my head around. For the most part, I’m doing pretty well at not wasting food, but every once in a while I open the cabinet and realize that loaf of bread probably only has a day or two before it starts to mold.
One can only eat so much bread pudding before it starts to have a deleterious effect on the waistline.
So what else can be done with bread that’s about to go bad?
Make some croutons!
Facing the problem of bread about to go bad, I went over to Food.com and searched for crouton recipes. I settled on a recipe that would be the most food storage-friendly—not calling for fresh ingredients like freshly grated cheese or fresh garlic, or requiring too many steps. I think it’s important to keep simple as many things as possible.
Garlic Croutons
12-15 slices bread, crusts removed (use them to make bread crumbs), and cubed
½ cup coconut oil (or butter)
1 tablespoon parsley
1 teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon salt
Place the bread cubes in a large plastic bag or Tupperware bowl with lid. Microwave the coconut oil a few seconds until it is melted, and then stir in the parsley, garlic powder, and salt. Drizzle the mixture over the bread crumbs and then close the bag or bowl and shake very well to coat the bread well with the coconut oil and herbs. Place the prepared bread cubes on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 325°F for 40 minutes, stirring about every 12 minutes, and watching closely towards the end to prevent overbrowning.
Plain Croutons
4 cups cubed bread
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon seasoning salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Place the bread in a large plastic bag or Tupperware bowl with lid. Combine the remaining ingredients and then drizzle over the bread cubes. Seal the bag or bowl and shake the bread cubes well to coat with the seasoning. Place the bread cubes on a cookie sheet and bake at 325°F for 25 minutes, or until lightly browned.
All of the crouton recipes are pretty much the same, just varying in the size of the batch and the amount of butter/oil used. The variety of croutons you can make is endless. Use French bread, bagels, sourdough, rye. What about the lone leftover hamburger or hot dog buns? Add a little cheese or some herbs. One time I used a lone slice of pumpernickel-rye sourdough and a plain bagel. For another batch I used bacon grease for half of the oil and added finely grated cheese and onion powder. Make them or large or small. Be creative! And don’t let the bread go to waste!
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28 december 2023
Good post. I hate wasting bread. When I have some close to going I make garlic toast.If theres more than we can eat at a meal I use the garlic toast to make some tiny pizzas lol Works out great.
ReplyDeleteI also once in a while dry it out in the oven, then make bread crumbs. I use them in some broth to make something I ate as a kid. Its a very cheap meal lol
Heat some broth (any kind you have/like)
Add dried bread crumbs as many or as few as you want to make the soup as thick as you want.
I like the pizza idea! I'm a little skeptical about the soup idea, but curious too, so I'll give it a try. THanks so much for mentioning these ideas!
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