Use Stale Bread for a Meal

[amyschiff]

I happened upon this recipe for spring panzanella (a "bread salad" of sorts). It's a great way to use stale (not moldy :P) bread.

The recipe says to cut off the crusts but I think some of the photos show crust on, so if you want to be ultra-frugal, just don't cut them off!

[khorrell]

Also, don't forget to make homemade breadcrumbs. I keep a large bag in the freezer and any extra/stale/random bread bits go in. When the bag is full, I put them in the food processor with seasonings and then store the seasoned breadcrumbs back in the freezer.

My big kick lately is dipping my protein (chicken, pork, fish) in flour, then egg, then bread crumbs, briefly sauteeing in a bit of oil & butter, then baking til done. Everything is so moist and divine!

[lucille]

Croutons or bread crumbs. You can also make a savory bread pudding. It is sort of a cross between stuffing and what you would think of as bread pudding.

[SrKen]

It's good if you can buy bread that goes stale, some of the stuff in supermarkets will stay fresh forever!!

[Xin Lu]

My hubby and I went to the Culinary Institute of America in Napa for a cooking demo and they did a bread pudding with Mozarella cheese and fruits. It was really easy to make and the instructor was pretty funny. My hubby was taking notes on the recipe and then the instructor was like..be creative, throw away the recipe! It was a Mexican bread pudding called Capirotada, which is a lot easier than the French style with eggs.

[Milehimama]

Or French toast is always good!

My kids don't like the crust so I cut them off before I make the sandwich and make bread crumbs. Grate them on a cheese grater and keep them in a jar in the freezer.

[amyschiff]

mmm everything sounds delicious!

[Mary Webber]

Oh, there are sooooo many good ways to use leftover bread! That CIA bread pudding with fruit sounds good. I make a very simple rhubarb pudding with stale bread it always gets rave reviews! (Feel free to email me if you want this recipe.) Then there are the savory bread puddings made with bread, sharp cheddar, onions, seasonings, eggs, and if you want, crumbled bacon or suasage. Perfect for a brunch or Sunday night supper. And this is just the beginning!

[Julie Rains]

French toast (someone mentioned this earlier): I had a chef friend tell me to cut up unused french bread and freeze it, then when you're ready to use it, thaw it out for french toast. The freezing process dries out the bread some, which actually makes it easier to coat with an egg, "toast" in the frying pan, (in other attempts at french toast, the bread soaked up the egg and the bread fell apart) and serve with syrup or something sweet.

[purplefdu]

Definitely bread crumbs and the like (if Shaws hadn't given me tons for free) I adore a nice bread pudding although I never get around to making any since we use up bread pretty quick and don't tend to buy French bread much.