Freezing Foods Made From Bread Surplus
I know, right!? Look at all that bread!
I took bags and bags to share with my neighbors & they were so glad to get loaded up on this beautiful bread! I decided I’d make the most out of the rest, knowing that if I just froze it, even if I wrapped it carefully, it would only last so long. Sooooo, here’s what I did!
First order of business for any salad lover is CROUTONS of course! And I enjoy making foods that are forgiving in the recipe – ya know, the kind you don’t have to measure precisely and they come out fantastic. I tossed my bread (cut into crouton size bits) in an oil/butter blend. About 3 parts oil to 1 part butter, melted and drizzled over the cubes.
Then I tossed those beautiful little cubes in salt, garlic powder, crushed red pepper, and dried parsley. I am a big fresh herb lover, but I didn’t have any on hand and I had dried the parsley last fall from the garden and it still has amazing flavor.
Doesn’t that make you just want a salad?!
I baked them on a cookie sheet at 350 for anywhere between 25-35 min. Watching their coloring is more important than assigning an exact time they’ll be done. You don’t want them to turn too brown – just golden!
My crouton haul ended up being enough to top a large salad to feed my whole family 13 times this summer! (I had taken the picture above before I had decided to make MORE!) They are the best croutons I’ve ever crunched!
Next up – bread pudding. I used the recipe from Paula Deen except I replaced a lot of the milk in her recipe with a surplus of homemade kefir I also had on hand and it was fantastic! I’m so glad I made that choice – the kefir gave the bread pudding a wonderful flavor.
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- French Toast Casserole and Bread Pudding
I also made french toast casserole. (Using both croissants and french bread.) Again, I used Paula Deen‘s recipe as a guide, but made it my own in terms of the amounts of spices and sugar. I tend to estimate when I do this kind of cooking because, well, because I can! Not all endeavors in the kitchen are this forgiving, so I enjoy it when I can.
I will admit, by the end of this bread frenzy, the mixture for the bread pudding kind of looked a lot like the mixture for the french toast casserole with cinnamon and nutmeg added in. (Shhh… I cheat. Don’t tell. )
Final count for my day well spent?
- 13 bags of croutons
- 4 bread pudding casseroles
- 4 french toast casseroles
What types of surplus foods have you been blessed with and how did you preserve them for use?
Let us know! Please let us know you stopped by; we’d love to hear your story!
We would love if you Pinned us. Laura’s Little House Tips @Pinterest
I never really freeze food because it never seems to taste the same as fresh when I reheat it.
Robin – I agree! some foods just aren’t good candidates for freezing. Nothing worse than pulling something out you worked hard to preserve and have it not taste good. But these pudding and casserole do extremely well and they will probably be gone within the next month. The croutons will last nicely into the summer because they are toasted up so crisp. ~Jayne
Wow, what great ideas! I usually use the bread up right away because we are bread lovers, but we never get this much! I am going to pin this for ideas! Thanks!
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Allyson, thank you! I was determined to put it all to use. I have never been a great freeze ahead domestic goddess – something I’m working on! Thanks so much for stopping by – I’m really glad you enjoyed the post! ~Jayne
wow you are amazing! So frugal and prepared! I so need to do this instead of scrambling!
Mamato5blessings, it felt a lot like scrambling, but thank you! My husband often will come home with armloads of stuff: ‘can you use this’? And it’s become a bit of a challenge:) Everything worked out though and we are enjoying all of the items made very much! ~Jayne
What great ideas – I don’t freeze a whole lot (other than strawberries and such from the garden that we have too much of). I’ve never put bread in the freezer!
Dee, thanks so much! I think the reason the idea even dawned on me is that I hate the prices of store bought croutons! ugh! ~Jayne
I have never tried freezing homemade croutons, but that is a great idea.
Pam, I am so bad – I can hardly enjoy a salad at all without croutons! 🙂 Thanks so much for stopping by! ~Jayne
Looks like you came up with some great ways to save this. Wonderful
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Debbie,Thanks for dropping a line! I tried my best to rise to the challenge hahaha ~ Jayne
Can you freeze the croutons? Or do they just keep? Great ideas. I make a lot of quiches when we have extra eggs!
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Milena, I bet they would keep for a while – like bread crumbs. I just know anything with oil, the oil can turn and quite honestly, I love croutons so much on my salad that I didn’t want to take the chance! Lol! Do you keep chickens? I just made an egg casserole last night and I could make another tonight with all the eggs we have! It’s that time of year:) good to hear from you – thanks so much for stopping by! ~Jayne
Bread pudding – good idea! I don’t think I’ve EVER had it! We’d have a lot of croutons in this house with all the heels of bread and stale bits! Great ideas!
Annie, I had never had it tip recently either! I was always hesitant… it just didn’t sound right to me. But it’s a keeper for sure! I’m so glad you enjoyed these ideas! ~Jayne
Oh Laura, I get you didn’t know I was a crouton addict. I can’t make them cause I’ll set them all!!
Amy, (fellow crouton lovers unite!) lol! I am so bad with croutons. ~Jayne
Wow. I am always trying to use up bread when I have extra. I need to take some of your tips.
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Debi, I am so happy these ideas can be useful to someone. They’ve really blessed our household… we are certainly BREAD LOVERS!!!! Thank you for dropping a line! ~Jayne
I love eating home made croutons. I actually made some with left over pizza… they were so super-yummy.
oh my – that’s a good use of leftover pizza Shauna! love it!!! ~Jayne
I can’t believe I’ve never thought to do the crouton thing. What’s my problem? I’ve thrown out way too much bread that would have been perfect for it.
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Liz, it really has made me look differently at things I throw away – to see if there’s another way I can use them. I hope you have fun if you try it! – I know you’ll love them. 🙂 ~Jayne
That bread looks too good to have any leftovers! I would definitely want to try that bread pudding!
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Lois, come on over! I can pull some out of the freezer! lol! ~Jayne
We dont eat muhc bread and when I bake there is always left overs everywhere I never actually tho about freezing croutons I love the idea thanks!!
Maria, I hope it works well for you! Thank you for stopping by! 🙂 ~Jayne
Oh wow! My cousin does this a lot and I have no idea how she does it. Such a great way to recycle your food.
Lexie – thanks! I am trying to be a bit more available to the challenge these days! And it’s really stretching our grocery dollars:) ~Jayne
I love it! Food waste will kill your budget if you’re not careful. The croutons look fantastic!
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Stacie – agreed! (Great minds!) Please – if you have any tips throw them our way!!! I know I need all the help I can get! ~Jayne
What a great idea and your crouton look amazing! I really want to try making them myself! I actually think my daughter and hubby would love that french toast casserole, yum!
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Trisha – that casserole is such a treat! I hope you enjoy if you try it!!! ~Jayne
Well done you! Now that I am no longer working so much on the weekends, I have more time to try out food preparation and freezing ideas. It’s great 🙂
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Danielle – It’s so hard with a heavy work schedule! Just on our homestead the farm chores sometimes compete with my time spent doing stuff like this – I understand. Please let us know if you have any freezing meal prep ideas you’d like to submit!!! ~Jayne