Last weekend I made a lot of bread. I knew it was more than I could eat without gaining a bunch of weight back or feeling gross, but what is a girl to do? It's hard cooking for one person.
Well here are a couple of ways to use up old, stale, or just too much leftover bread. Yes, you can eat old, stale bread. It will not kill you and it actually tastes good if you know what to do with it. Lucky for you I do!
Croutons
I usually make croutons out of bread that I baked in a loaf pan. It doesn't really matter what shape the croutons end up being, but I find it works better if they are squares. Bread made in a loaf pan (see pic below) is easy to cut into uniform pieces. (If you buy one with a lid, the bread comes out in a loaf perfect for sliced bread!)
Bread Crumbs
Same thing. Cut the bread into small chunks and toast in 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes. They should be toasty all the way through (if not keep in for an extra few minutes). Take crispy croutons and put in Cuisinart or blender. Add in whatever spices you like (sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, onion powder are all great). And blend! That's it...just store them in a canister in the refrigerator up to a few weeks.
Fresh and dried thyme, onion powder, sea salt, pepper, ground sage and marjoram |
Aside from the usual uses (breaded fish, chicken, eggplant) I also like to use these on top of homemade mac-and-cheese. I will have to get that recipe from my mom and convert it to "healthier" ingredients before I can write about it. I see a cold weather comfort food post coming soon in lieu of the change of seasons.
Bread Pudding
- 6 cups cubed bread
- 1 cups agave nectar
- 5 large farm eggs, beaten
- 2 cups organic milk
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 ripe banana
- cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger, ground cloves
- raisins, blueberries, cranberries, or figs (if desired)
Directions: If bread is frozen, let defrost completely. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together pudding ingredients. Pour over cubed bread and let sit for 20 minutes. Pour bread mixture into baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes, or until set.
Toppings: If you want an extra sweet factor or if you are making this for a party or special occasion, there are a couple ways you could go about the topping. The first would be to mix and together brown sugar, soft organic butter, and crushed pecans to make a tasty cruble. Put topping on half way through baking time. The second could be just a scoop of organic ice cream (Stonyfield Organic Ice Creams). I actually prefer to not put any topping on because I am not a big sweets person, but to each his own.
-------
No comments:
Post a Comment