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How to Make Croutons

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In my quest to produce healthy, homemade food for my family AND to save money by not wasting anything, I've begun making croutons from scratch.




I started saving the heels from my homemade bread. I just pop them in a gallon-size baggie in the freezer until they pile up. Once I get a couple of bags full, here's what I do:




Chop the bread into cubes. I had about 6-7 cups of cubed bread.






Mix together about 1 cup of olive oil and then add your choice of seasonings.



I used a mix of salt, pepper, and garlic powder.







Spread the cubed bread onto a cookie sheet (mine made two batches) and drizzle the olive oil mix over it. Toss to coat all the bread.






Bake at 300 degrees for about 20-30 minutes or until they are crispy.




When mine were done, I just let them cool completely and then stored them in a gallon-sized ziploc bag. That is, I stored what was left after the kids snacked and snacked on them.

Genius! I just made a snack out of stuff that most people throw away!

But they're also good on salad.

Not on my salads, since I'm not eating carbs, but everyone else's salads.

Where was I?

Oh, croutons.

They smelled so good in the oven that the kids kept asking me what I was making and when would it be ready?

I just like knowing that these have no preservatives, because even the bread I used was homemade. And someday I'll eat some on my own salad. : )













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