Well, if this isn’t the most boring blog post ever, I don’t know what is.
Although, I suppose I could tell you how to fold wash rags. That might be even boringer. I mean – more boring. I was just trying to sound like the seven year old in my household, who is just now finally getting the hang of some of those grammatically correct statements. But I tell you what – he could not be more cuter if he tried. :)
I’m warning you now that the above paragraph was one of the most excitingest in this whole post. Making bread crumbs is seriously a no brainer. I guarantee that finding something else to do besides reading this would be much more funner.
Oh look at me, getting carried away. And you thought you came here for a little bit of grown-up conversation. ;)
Anyway, as I cleaned out my fridge a few days ago, I found several bags with a few straggling pieces of my Honey Whole Wheat Bread. No one was ever going to eat them because they were dried out and stale. What to do? Feed the birds? Sure, maybe. But I find that having bread crumbs on hand for making Meat Loaf or Salmon Patties is very handy.
Therefore, I got out my food processor, obliterated the stale bread, and within 30 seconds I had a jar of bread crumbs in my freezer.
I bet after reading this, you feel so enlightened and encouraged, you’re going to search high and low in your kitchen until you find some stale bread – just so you can try this incredibly exciting and useful tip.
Your day just got a whole lot gooder, didn’t it? :)
Ha! I feel so blonde (and I’m not!). Normally my homemade bread ends just go moldy. I never thought of breadcrumbs. *shaking head…I’m so blonde*
No matter how long I’ve been away from visiting your blog, it always puts a smile on my face. Here’s to hoping you have a smiley day, too!
My stale bread gets made into either breadcrumbs or croutons. My kids love to snack on croutons (anything for that CRUNCH!) and they are healthier than potato chips, right? They actually like the croutons more than they like the bread. Go figure.
Oh my goodness Laura! You found strangling pieces of bread in your fridge!!! Do i really want to know what was strangling them? Or were they doing the strangling? Glad uour fridge isn’t in my house – i’d be afraid to put my hand in it! :D I think perhaps you meant “straggling.” But i want you to know that from now on, the last piece(s) of dried bread will hereinafter and forever be called “strangling pieces.” Love you. And thanks for the great ebook bundle. Blessings!
Edith, I must confess I am a strangling to. I always have lots of left overs. Fortunately I have trained my puppies to eat them. I think there is something red and science like in the fridge now. Wonder if our 6′, 13.5 year old will eat it :-~ They just prefer to pick from the front where the “best” is.
Oh my, thanks for finding the typo – and for pointing it out! Although, strangling bread does sounds a lot more fun… :)
Laura, you have just made yourself the most brilliant, beautiful gal in the universe! I have been DRYING!!! my stale bread and THEN trashing my Kitchen Aid blade by grinding up the dry peaces. You are my hero for always!!!!! Thank you :-)Your new picture that comes through on email, of the two of your is lovely. Thank you for choosing your family first, I don’t feel so alone.
Well, my day just got “gooder” (I miss those days) my dd just turned 12, and knows everything!!! Anyhow, thank you for the tip, I never thought of turning my bread ends into bread crumbs. What a marvelous idea. usually my chickens get the stale bread. Will save me money!! DUH!!!! thank you!!!
Oh man, like two weeks ago I made some bread that went stale too fast so I cubed it and froze it in attempts of making croutons with it another day (another day when I would have more energy), but this is a much better option for right now… But do you know how to make homemade croutons? Because they’re SOOOOO expensive
:(
Emily, are you asking how to make homemade croutons or offering to share your own recipe to our blog hostess? I make my own croutons and it couldn’t be any easier. Throw your bread cubes into a large ziplock, toss with olive oil until lightly coated (shake the bag!), throw in some onion powder and garlic salt (and shake, shake, shake), spread evenly onto a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
Great! I needed a recipe, so thanks so much!
I freeze all my ends of bread then throw them in the blender or food processes when needed. That way I can accumulate a bunch of pieces:)
Well my goodness. Sometimes the simplest things are so confoundedly smart. I’m baking 8 loaves of bread a week here and not keeping up with consumption. We don’t have extra bread in the fridge, on the counter, strangling, or otherwise. But we do have all those annoying crumbs, crumbles, and miscuts that I’ve been {gasp} throwing away. And just last night I was wishing for breadcrumbs to put on the top of our casserole and couldn’t bear the thought of using perfectly good bread to make them.
Thank you Laura, for such an obvious post.
You may think it was a boring post but I really appreciate it. I have been baking all my own bread for several months now and hated throwing away that last oddly shaped piece that no one would eat (we don’t encourage squirrel feeding here or they’ll want to move into the house!) After reading the ingredient list on a container of bread crumbs recently I decided I would never buy them again (it really grossed me out)! This post had all the little obvious pieces of info I need to get me moving ! Thanks
Speaking of stale bread, it made me think of stuffing. Do you know where you are getting your bird for thanksgiving? Any tips on finding/ordering a good bird?
I have a great local source to get one. They are pricey, but I can get several meals from it, so it’s not bad. However, we’ll probably not be the ones cooking the turkey this year so I’m not sure I’m even buying one. :)
What I sometimes do at Thanksgiving is simply buy a regular one from the store – especially when I’m feeding lots of people. I figure we’re only getting a little bit and it’s difficult for me to spend lots of extra money on a turkey for people who could care less where their meat comes from. ;)
I love to make garlic croutons with mine. I melt some butter and saute some pressed garlic in a cast iron skillet. Then stir in the cubed bread. Then I bake or broil them until they are the desired crispiness. The only negative is that I probably eat way too many of them!
That sounds yummy! I’m a little too lazy to want to clean up the saute pan, but will have to try your method when I have the energy. A little grated parm would be good, too, but I don’t know at what point in the process one would add that. I guess toss at the end after they are out of the oven?
Will the stale flavor or the bread make the meatloaf taste stale? I like the idea of saving old bread, but only if it does alter the flavor of whatever I’m adding it to.
?
I’ve never noticed the bread crumbs tasting stale, so I don’t even taste it in the meatloaf and salmon patties!
Goodness, thanks for the reply even though there were multiple typos in my question! I’ll proof-read before I hit submit next time! :)
Right now I am cubing up all the leftover bits and ends for our Thanksgiving stuffing. I will be so glad to have it all cubed and ready in the freezer!
Could you please share your stuffing recipe?
Thank you.
That is a tough one because there really is not a recipe. In general
it is a large bowl (3-4 quarts I think) of bread cubes that I have allowed to dry out for a few
days, a chopped onion and 2-3 ribs of celery chopped. Salt and pepper and
about a tsp of sage. mix in about 4-6 tablespoons of melted butter and than milk
just until it is moistened but not wet. I put my stuffing inside the turkey.
Sorry I cannot give you a better recipe but the stuffing is just something
I learned to make when I was growing up and under my Mother’s watchful eye.
Lana, Thank you very much. I appreciate your reply. This gives me a
what I was looking for.
May you have a Happy Thanksgiving!
What a fun topic! Who knew humble breadcrumbs could produce such an interesting conversation? Thanks for the post, Laura!
bread pudding is another great way to use up that stale bread! Yummy!
I have wads of bread rejects the family won’t touch in the freezer, I need to make room in the freezer. I’ve been procrastinating because I thought you HAD to dry them before pulverizing them… It’s time consuming, so THRILLED to hear I can just pulverize them.
Thanks for all those with the crouton tips!
Lana mentioned cubing them for stuffing, does anyone have a healthy recipe?
Thank you, Laura for your ministry.
I posted my recipe above. Since I make it from homemade whole wheat bread
it is a healthy recipe.