Bread in all its forms and fashions is a staple in many households, but even if you're a bread lover, eating every loaf you own while it's still soft and fresh is just not possible. Trashing stale bread only contributes to the food waste problem though.
What to do?
Well, there's a ton of great ideas for using bread on the internet, but we like to keep it simple. Try keeping your stale bread sliced or cubed either in the original wrappers or in food storage containers in the freezer so you'll always have it handy for these easy to make recipes that can reduce food waste and save you time and money.
Never buy bread crumbs again! Stale bread is perfect for making a custom bread crumb recipe for just about anything, such as a meatloaf, a casserole topping or as a breading for vegetables, chicken or fish. Just use a food processor to pulse enough bread for your recipe, and personalize your bread crumb mix by adding in some spices, dried herbs, freshly grated cheese or leftover rye or corn bread.
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Who says French toast can only be made with French bread? Try making it with any stale sandwich bread, baguette or other loaf bread. You can also cut bread slices into strips to make French toast sticks. Start by whisking an egg in a bowl. Dip the bread in the egg until both sides are covered and immediately place the bread in a heated skillet with a small amount of butter or margarine. Cook until browned and crisp on both sides, turning frequently. Serve with syrup or fresh berries. For variation try adding either some cinnamon to the egg or dusting the toast with homemade vanilla sugar before serving.
Mashed potatoes and toasted leftover bread make turkey hot shot a classic comfort food for cold nights. Keep roast turkey and drippings from large meals to make a simple gravy with flour. If you don't have this, prepared turkey and gravy be substituted. Dice cooked turkey meat into small pieces. Make or warm the gravy, heat the mashed potatoes and toast the bread. Place the bread on a plate, top with some mashed potatoes, turkey meat and then some gravy. To add flavor to the potatoes, trying making them with a small amount of sour cream or cream cheese.
Have some ideas you'd like to share? We'd love to hear from you!
