I love..........

Stale Bread!

No, I'm not running a fever or losing my mind. I love stale bread! Just when you think oh gross, I'm thinking oh yeah, croutons! In the back of my fridge you will see a mason jar that I keep my homemade croutons in. Well, it's among the other mason jars, but it's there.

We don't go through a lot of bread in our house. In fact a loaf might last us three weeks....if it was to last that long. After about a week and a ziplock bag containing the heals of the bread, I treat us to a new loaf of bread and myself to croutons for my salad! Week to week my recipe for our bread changes sometimes I make honey wheat and sometimes I make a 8 grain bread that is a little more savory. The weeks when my bread doesn't turn out and is very heavy and dense we automatically call it crouton bread. So, it would be fair to say week to week my crouton recipe changes too. Last week I tried a new recipe for a multi-grain bread and the left overs made fabulous garlic-Parmesan croutons, here is the recipe:

3 cloves minced garlic or 2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 cups cubed “old” bread
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. coarse ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a medium bowl toss together olive oil, bread and garlic. Sprinkle Parmesan, thyme, salt, and pepper over bread, cover, and toss to coat. Spread croutons evenly on a baking sheet. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until crisp and golden.

You can also make breadcrumbs and french toast casserole with old bread. If all you have left are heals and you don't want to fuss with making only a small batch or don't have the time this week, throw the bread is the freezer and start a stock pile until you have enough.

Check out other frugal ideas and ways to save money check out Frugal Friday, here.