I read an online forum post today where someone was saying that she loves making bread in the bread machine but seems to end up throwing away leftover bread that goes stale before they can finish eating it. I could think of a lot of ways to avoid this problem, so I wrote up a list.
Ideas for your extra bread machine bread:
- Slice and freeze half the loaf right away. Then you always have homemade bread and are not worrying about it going stale or moldy. Bread is very easy to thaw - I like to toast frozen bread to thaw it. The toastyness avoids you having to worrying about any change in texture from the freezing process.
- Bread crumbs. Toast slices, food processor it. Freeze these also to always have on hand.
- Croutons. Cut into cubed, let dry out, then toast up with olive oil or butter, garlic, and italian spices. Or add Parmesan or Romano cheese. Also freeze these. One large crouton can be used in delicious French onion soup.
Things to make with cubes of stale bread - cheese egg strata, stuffing, bread pudding
