Use up odds and ends of any kind of bread by mixing eggs, milk, vanilla, or other flavor (however you like your french toast) and then add all your bits and pieces of bread to the egg mixture. If it all falls apart, that's ok, because you will scoop it up and cook it in your waffle iron that's been heated and sprayed with a no-stick cooking spray. You'll have the easiest and best tasting waffles ever.
Source: I found a huge pack of hamburger buns that were really stale and I didn't want to throw them away. They provided us breakfast, lunch, or dinner for about a week!
By Linda from Adrian, MI
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Hi, I am looking for uses for stale bread. I thought that would make a nice Brainstorm. Anne
The first thing that comes to mind is stuffing...and the second would be Old Fashioned Bread Pudding..or French toast. You can find many recipes on the internet for any of these foods. And then, of course, you can whiz it into crumbs in your blender or food processor or even the old fashioned way..with a rolling pin, and use it to bread pork chops, fish, chicken, fried eggplant, fried green tomatoes.. Well, everyone, are you hungry yet? *grin*
Actually most of FRENCH TOAST recipes call for stale bread vs. fresh bread. Make bread crumbs by putting the stale bread in a food processor or a blender in small amounts @ a time. Also croutons are great to make from stale bread. I use stale bread soaked in a small amount of water & then squeeze the water out & use them in your hamburg mixture to make either Italian meatballs or a nice meatloaf. Hope these tips help. If you don't have time to do any of the suggested things donate the stale bread to the birds in your yard or a park. They will be ever grateful. Good luck.
Croutons are the easiest (and very yummy) way to use up old bread. Throw the ends of bread into a bag in the freezer until you can fill a gallon freezer bag. Take them out, cube them, and toss with a 50/50 mixture of butter and olive oil. I also throw in some Italian spices and crushed garlic to keep them interesting.
Pam
Bread pudding is my favorite, but you can also make great croutons. Any kind of bread will do, french, wheat, even old biscuits. Cut in bite size pieces, dizzle with melted butter, sprinkle with your favorite spice....garlic, parmesan cheese, parsley, etc.
Panzanella Salad
Ingredients:
2 cups of heirloom tomatoes
1 small cucumber, peel and dice or slice
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup of fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
½ cup of extra virgin olive oil (or as needed)
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar or to taste
8 pitted olives
salt and pepper
6 - 8 slices of coarse country bread
Preparations:
In a bowl, combine the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, and torn basil.
Drizzle with ½ cup or 4 oz. oil and 3 tablespoons vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Toss well to coat evenly.
Cut or tear the bread into bite sized pieces. Place half the bread in a wide shallow bowl. Spoon on half of the vegetables. Cover and refrigerate.
Toss the salad, then taste and adjust the seasoning. If there is more bread left add a little more oil or vinegar.
Garnish with a few basil leaves.
Serve immediately.
If you do not care to use any of the other suggestions for your stale bread, throw it to the birds. They have to eat too.
Some of you may have used a cracker or rice in your salt shaker to prevent moisture from balling up your salt in the shaker, I have also used bread to do this, but you have to have a larger opening to get it in there.
if you smother it w/ gravy or hamburger helper you might never notice -
My folks always used up the stale cookies or cake that is drying up by making an instant pudding & spoon it over layers of broken cookies or cake - sometimes if she had strawberry glaze - she swirled some on top --the cookies & cake soaked up the pudding & it was really pretty good stuff !
Don't throw out stale bread or buns. Keep in baggie in freezer and use to make dressing or bread pudding.
By Anne
Sometimes I just give the bread (even if there are one or two tiny spots of mold on it) to one of our two dogs. They love bread. Same with moldy cheese, they love cheese too.
Use bread that is not as fresh anymore for a number of recipes in the kitchen. It can also be used to feed the birds and squirrels outside this winter!
By Robin
I put stale bread in a double ziplock bag and put in freezer and add to it as i get more stale bread. Then when I want breadcrumbs, I take out the frozen bread and grate it up. If I want cubes for dressing, I take out what I need and cube it up. You can toast them crumbs or cubes in a low tempature oven if you want.
I have found that stale bread usually can be toasted and you would never know it was stale before it popped up! Either serve as plain old toast, with jelly, cream cheese or what-have-you, or use for sandwiches. I LOVE peanut butter sandwiches on toast, because the pb gets all gooey! Tuna on toast is very good, too.
I use mine for French Toast mostly. For those that don't know how to make it, crack two or three eggs in a shallow dish (pie pans work great for this) and add a little (1/4 cup) milk. (You can also use cream, half and half, yogurt, soy milk, or even water. A dash of vanilla or a little cinnamon can go in, too.) Take a fork and mix it all up so all the yokes are broken and it looks fairly mixed up.
Put a little oil or a pat of butter in a fry pan and turn the heat on to medium. When the oil or butter is heated, take a piece of bread on a fork and dip it into the egg mixture, and put in the pan immediately. Usually you can fit more than one slice in the pan but make sure they are flat and not overlapping. When it is cooked on one side, turn over.
Easy and a good way to use up the leftovers from any bread.
Susan from ThriftyFun
I saw this idea from someone else. Bread dumplings is the perfect solution for what to do with stale bread. I keep a gallon-size, zip-type bag in the freezer where I accumulate discarded bits of bread and buns except raisin or dessert types. When it's full I make dumplings: Warm 1/2 stick butter or margarine and 1 cup milk in microwave. Crumble 1 to 2 loaves day-old French bread or 1 bag of bread ends or similar into a large bowl. Pour the butter/milk mixture over the bread (if bread is very moist use less, or more if it's dry). Let stand for one hour. Add 2 large or 3 medium eggs, kneading into bread mixture. Form into small, firm balls about the size of golf balls or slightly larger. Place in boiling water for 20 minutes. Serve with your favorite cut of meat and gravy.
You can make Garlic soup, Picadillo soup, I am think stale Italian or French type.
Authenic Gazpachos all use stale bread
Also you can make a breakfast called "migas" with garlic and Chorizo. I find that the Spanish Kitchen "from Spain" Makes extensive use of Stale bread.
Hoped that helped
Michael
Toast, & crush them and they are bread crumbs.
French Toast in France is "pain perdu," which translates as "lost bread," since it saves bread which would otherwise be thrown out or "lost."
We have used day old hot dog buns topped with ingredients to make pizza bread. We have also used day old bread topped with butter and toasted as a side to Pasta's. Toasted cheese sandwich's are ok using day old bread.
Garlic bread, Michael: lol
Use loaf of STALE French bread cut into slices about an inch thick. You should get about 24 after sliced. Lay out on foil and on a cookie sheet a 9 x 13in shallow pan sheet standard should fit all or most of the 24 pieces then butter or margarine or "I cant believe it's not butter" them and generously add garlic powder, a pinch of tony's seasoning, or seasoning .Sprinkle with parsley flakes for flavor and color then lightly sprinkle Worcestershire sauce on each piece. Not too much just a few drops evenly if you can.
Broil in oven just until butter melts probably about 8- 10 min, and don't overdo. Immediately and generously dust with Parmesan cheese and serve immediately with steak dinner. I try to time the bread at the end of cooking process so that it comes out of the oven when I'm plating up the steaks. Makes a great snack too!
Let me know what y'all think on myspace too. www.myspace.com/demoniisignsmike. This is my artist profile. I am a singer/ songwriter so add me! I want feedback on this recipe! lol
I am after some ideas of what to do with stale bread! I have heard the many traditional ones, bread crumbs, bread pudding, and toasties, but I am sure there are some fun/interesting ideas I haven't heard before. Can you help?
Many thanks.
By Anne-Marie
I make croutons out of mine
