I have a frugal tip for you! It use to be an annoying waste to have a piece of bread, bun or such left over in the bag and no one uses it. Then I find them molded. :( NO MORE! One, I hate giving my chickens molded bread even though I know they will pick the good stuff out and leave the mold but I do have a buck (goat) in the pen with them and he thinks it's ok to grab it from the hens and gobble it down, mold and all. Not good.
I've smartened up! There are a few ways to deal with these pieces and you can choose what works for you. The thing is to bag them up in the freezer til the bag is full or you need them. Then stick them in the oven on a sheet type pan and let them dry. When they are dry, stick them in your food processor and chop them up into bread crumbs. IF you want, you dribble a bit of olive oil in as you are doing the final chopping and then toss in some dry garlic and seasonings to taste and you'll have bread crumbs for your meat or fish. They're also good for frying slices of zucchini, green tomatoes, etc. For the veggies you'll want them grated finer. Also the finer chopping means less chance of blackened edges when frying chicken/turkey cutlets or fish.
Another method to solve the dilemma of waste is to toss those bread heels or buns in your food dehydrator or oven and then crumble them into a container for bread crumbs. When you use them you can put them in a baggie for shaking your meat/fish/veggies in and dribble some olive oil and your seasonings in and giving them a shake before adding the meat. I store my baggie with the unused bit in the freezer for the next meal I want them for. You can also add a bit of flour to this mixture if you prefer that type of coating. Do what suits your tastes!
The oil and seasonings added to your crumbs before they go on your meat/fish/veggies is they are more evenly dispersed and you have less chance of a glob of seasoning in spots and not enough in others.
Either way you want to store the excess bread pieces is fine. Do what works for you. FYI, I find in the summer that I can get some mold in the container if I'm not careful so you'll not want to use to large of a container for shelf storage.
I like the mix of different breads and buns in my crumbs like this as we have wheat and white bread leavings, and multiple types of seasoned and plain buns/rolls and loaves. I buy discounted fancy type rolls and breads at times and this mixture makes a nice breading mix. Enjoy!
I've smartened up! There are a few ways to deal with these pieces and you can choose what works for you. The thing is to bag them up in the freezer til the bag is full or you need them. Then stick them in the oven on a sheet type pan and let them dry. When they are dry, stick them in your food processor and chop them up into bread crumbs. IF you want, you dribble a bit of olive oil in as you are doing the final chopping and then toss in some dry garlic and seasonings to taste and you'll have bread crumbs for your meat or fish. They're also good for frying slices of zucchini, green tomatoes, etc. For the veggies you'll want them grated finer. Also the finer chopping means less chance of blackened edges when frying chicken/turkey cutlets or fish.
Another method to solve the dilemma of waste is to toss those bread heels or buns in your food dehydrator or oven and then crumble them into a container for bread crumbs. When you use them you can put them in a baggie for shaking your meat/fish/veggies in and dribble some olive oil and your seasonings in and giving them a shake before adding the meat. I store my baggie with the unused bit in the freezer for the next meal I want them for. You can also add a bit of flour to this mixture if you prefer that type of coating. Do what suits your tastes!
The oil and seasonings added to your crumbs before they go on your meat/fish/veggies is they are more evenly dispersed and you have less chance of a glob of seasoning in spots and not enough in others.
Either way you want to store the excess bread pieces is fine. Do what works for you. FYI, I find in the summer that I can get some mold in the container if I'm not careful so you'll not want to use to large of a container for shelf storage.
I like the mix of different breads and buns in my crumbs like this as we have wheat and white bread leavings, and multiple types of seasoned and plain buns/rolls and loaves. I buy discounted fancy type rolls and breads at times and this mixture makes a nice breading mix. Enjoy!
Great ideas! I also like to take bread and cut it into squares, season to taste, bake until dry and have homemade croutons for my salad! Much better than any you buy in the store!
ReplyDeleteI do that also! ;) Yes, far far better than store bought.
ReplyDeleteThose homemade croutons are also great if one is short on the needed bread crumbs too!