It’s important to make little savings in these times of relative financial instability. Moreover, we can’t get to the shops as often as we like during the national lockdown… So we’ve come up with a few nifty tricks to help you repurpose your ageing bread. This useful ingredient is supremely versatile and really cost-effective. From sweet treats to salad-toppers, we’ve got you covered. There’s no need to throw bread away – it’s ready for repurposing.
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These tips and tricks assume your bread is a little stale. There’s no point in wasting bread – instead, we’re showing you how to save your stale bread from the clutches of your bin.
Make croutons
This is especially great if your family aren’t huge fans of bread crusts. Simply cube your crusts and drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper, and some oregano. Then, you can either bake the cubes in the oven at 180° for 10-15 minutes until golden and crispy, or you can toast them in a hot, dry pan over a medium heat for 10 minutes.
Croutons are a simple way to reinvent your leftover bread. They’re quick and easy and they take any salad to the next level. Sprinkling a few golden-brown toast cubes over your greens is a surefire way to get everyone in the family to eat them.
Whip up a bread pudding
As we slowly transition into Autumn, there is nothing quite as comforting as a warm bread pudding. Bread pudding works well with stale bread, which makes it a super yummy way to save on waste. A basic bread pudding’s ingredients are also relatively inexpensive (eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, butter, raisins, milk, vanilla extract).
You can find our fantastic bread and butter pudding recipe here. It’s the perfect dessert to let this useful ingredient shine. Dish up, curl up, and enjoy.
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Toast crumbs for schnitzels
Schnitzels with a creamy cheese sauce is always a winning dinner idea. And let’s be honest, homemade schnitzels are always tastier than their store-bought equivalent. If you have some extra time on your hands, consider making your schnitzels from scratch: all you’ll need is egg, flour, seasoning, chicken breasts, and breadcrumbs.
To crumb your bread, you can either chuck it in a food processor to blitz for a minute or two. Or you can do it the old school way – break your bread up by hand and rub it between your hands to make small flakes. Admittedly, this could take a while, but it’s so worth it.
Bake crackers
This is a helpful bread up-cycle if you have a baguette or whole loaf (as opposed to sliced bread). Slice the bread in thin slices and toast in the oven at 180° for five minutes or until crisp. Then you can go ahead and load the crackers with cheese, preserves, spreads, or cold meat.
This is easiest with stale bread because it is generally easier to cut – it’s a bit stiffer and has lost its bounce. It’s a great snacking option, and post-lockdown, potentially a good entertaining one too.
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Season some stuffing
Who says stuffing is only for Christmas time? Take your roast chicken to the next level year-round by using your leftover bread as the base for a tasty stuffing. Stuffing helps keep the chicken moist while also adding to the mix of flavours of both the stuffing and the chicken it’s stuffed in.
By Features Writer Ashton Kirsten
