Bread
Did you know that sliced bread freezes nicely? Buy more than you need when it’s on sale, and put the extra away in the freezer. Frozen slices can be thawed in the microwave, or put directly into the toaster.
Frozen bread doesn’t work well for instant sandwiches unless you like your sandwich bread toasted. However, if packing a lunch, you can make a sandwich in the morning using frozen bread, and by the time lunch rolls around, the bread will be thawed and ready to eat.
Stale bread also has many uses. Stale bread can be made into stuffing, bread crumbs, French toast, and bread pudding.
How to make a Lot of Toast
You can make a lot of toast at once by broiling the bread in your oven. This technique can also be used to toast frozen slices of bread.
Put the oven rack as high in the oven as it will go. Then put your slices of bread either on a cookie sheet, or directly on the oven rack. Turn the oven on broil and push the wrack in, but do not shut the oven door entirely.
Caution: You will need to stand and watch the bread, because when it starts to brown, it will quickly start to smoke and then burn. Make sure that small children are out of the room, because you must cook on high heat with the oven door partly open. Always pull out the oven wrack to get to the bread. Do not reach under the hot oven element.
Flip the slices over as they reach the desired level of done-ness.
Toast topped with Southern Breakfast Gravy makes a wonderful hot meal.
Cinnamon Toast
This is a great treat for children. First, lightly toast your bread. Then put the bread on a cookie sheet, and top with butter, sugar (white or brown) and a sprinkle of cinnamon (or other pumpkin pie spices). Broil until the butter and sugar bubble. Remove from heat and let cool before serving.
Caution: You will need to stand and watch the bread, because when it starts to brown, it will quickly start to smoke and then burn. Make sure that small children are out of the room, because you must cook on high heat with the oven door partly open. Always pull out the oven wrack to get to the bread. Do not reach under the hot oven element.
Cheese Bread
This is a great fast recipe for children, and it goes particularly well with soup.
First, lightly toast your bread. Then put the bread on a cookie sheet, and top with slices of cheese. Broil in the oven until the cheese is melted.
Caution: You will need to stand and watch the bread, because when it starts to brown, it will quickly start to smoke and then burn. Make sure that small children are out of the room, because you must cook on high heat with the oven door partly open. Always pull out the oven wrack to get to the bread. Do not reach under the hot oven element.
Remove from the oven, let it cool, and serve. Small children may prefer to have the crusts cut off.
Sausage Stuffing
Stuffing is a great way to use up stale bread and other odds-and-ends. There is no need to measure stuffing ingredients precisely, and no need to stick with exactly what ingredients are listed here - just throw in what you’ve got. If you hate carrots but love apple, for example, omit the carrots and add more apples.
This particular stuffing recipe is a complete meal on its own, but also goes nicely with turkey, chicken, or pork.
½ loaf of stale bread
2 Italian sausages, or ???? breakfast sausages
2 sticks celery
1 cup chopped kale or parsley
2 carrots
1 apple
Sage, thyme, rosemary (optional)
Salt (optional)
Pepper
2 or 3 cups chicken broth, beef broth, or turkey broth. OR use water, and ½ a stick of melted butter.
1 or 2 eggs (optional - use only if baking)
Chop the stale bread into small pieces and set aside.
Pull apart the sausage into small bits, and brown in a big pot. If the sausage makes a lot of grease, spoon the grease into another pan and use it to make gravy. Chop up the onion into small bits and toss it in with the sausage.
Chop the remaining veggies into small pieces. When the sausage is cooked, add all of the veggies except for the greens. Cook until the carrots start to get soft. Then add the bread and the greens. Drizzle the broth or water over the mixture until the stuffing is at the desired level of moisture, and continue to stir over medium heat until the stuffing is uniformly steaming hot.
Then either serve immediately, OR add the egg, beaten, and bake in a pan at 350 degrees until the stuffing has reached an internal temperature of 160 degrees. Serve by itself, or with gravy, or as a side-dish.
Bread Pudding
This dessert recipe is great for using up stale bread. If your bread isn’t stale, toast it first.
5 or 6 cups of stale bread, torn into pieces
2 cups milk
4 eggs
3 tbsp butter
2/3 cup brown sugar (or white sugar, or ½ cup maple syrup)
1 tsp cinnamon (or other pumpkin pie spices)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 dash of salt
½ cup chopped pecans or other nuts (optional)
½ cup raisins or other dried fruit (optional)
Put the torn bread into a large casserole dish. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, combine cinnamon and sugar, beating together with a fork or whisk. Then add the milk a little at a time, continuing to stir. (The cinnamon needs to be persuaded not to form lumps.) Add the eggs, and beat them in. Melt the butter before adding. Add the vanilla and salt.
Pour the wet mixture over the bread. Use your fingers to dunk any bread that remains dry.
Bake until firm, which may take an hour or longer, or until the center of the pudding reaches 165 degrees.
If you wish to make this dessert even sweeter, reduce the above sugar by half, and top with the following sauce:
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1/3 cup white sugar (or brown sugar)
1 tsp vanilla
Dash of salt
Melt the butter in a small pan, and whisk in the flour. Give the flour a couple of minutes to cook, and then add the milk. Boil this for a few minutes, stirring constantly. Then allow to cool a bit, and add the salt and vanilla. Pour over the warm bread pudding, and serve.
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