Six uses for stale bread products

Famous for its "dry heat," Tucson is ideal for outdoor enthusiasts and asthmatics, but can be a real nightmare for bakers and bread lovers.  The arid climate in southern Arizona makes it nearly impossible to keep bread, doughnuts, cakes and other baked goods for more than a few days without them drying out and hardening.  Aside from keeping all bread products in the refrigerator in tightly sealed containers (which doesn't really work anyway as refrigerating bread actually speeds up the staling process), there are few options for keeping baked goods fresh and soft.  Sometimes the best solution is simply:  don't fight the inevitable.  Instead of lamenting the loss of yet another loaf of bread or bag of cookies, extend the life of these products by finding another use for them once they have gone stale.

1.  Bread Salad

The Italians have known about this one for centuries.  Produce is expensive to buy; bread is cheap to make.  Add substance, volume and texture variation to salads by tossing in some one-inch chunks of stale bread.  This works best with bread that is tough but hasn't completely dried out yet. 

2.  Croutons

Why spend several dollars on a bag of croutons at the grocery store when you likely already have everything you need to make your own?  Croutons are simple to make--just cut stale bread slices into one-inch squares, lay them out on a baking sheet and drizzle with any type of vegetable oil (if anyone saves used cooking oil, this is a great use for it).  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake at 200 degrees farenheit until croutons are golden brown and very crunchy (approximately 10 minutes).  If you want fancier croutons consider sprinkling them with garlic salt and powdered parmesan cheese prior to baking. 

3.  Breadcrumbs

Actually, breadcrumbs can be any baked-goods crumbs.  Smash up super dry bread or crackers to use as casserole topping or as a crust for fish, chicken or pork.  Crushed stale cookies can be mixed with melted butter and pressed into tins for a delicious pie or tart crust.  Hardened doughnuts can be crumbled to top cobblers. 

4.  Cereal Bars

Who doesn't love rice crispy treats?  Well, almost any stale cereal works for making similar gooey, chewy desserts.  Simply melt 1/4 cup of butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, add 1/2 bag of marshmallows (any size) and stir until melted.  Mix in 1/2 to 1 box of any stale cereal and then spoon into a greased 9" x 13" baking pan.  Let cool and then cut into squares.  Alex Grey's favorite:  Raisin Bran Marshmallow Treats. 

5.  Bread Pudding

There are hundreds of thousands of bread pudding recipes available ranging from hearty traditional English egg and bread puddings to spicer Eastern and Middle Eastern desserts.  Pick one (or several) and get busy.  Puddings call for bread to be cut into cubes and soaked prior to baking.  Other ingredients usually include milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla and spices.

6.  Dog Treats

If you are looking for healthy, teeth-cleaning, foul tasting treats that you practically have to force your dog to eat, then skip this.  If, on the other hand, you want to buy your dog's loyalty and love and don't want to spend a fortune doing it, then stuff him or her full of all the stale cookies, doughnuts and cereal that you can't otherwise find a use for.  

Note:  dogs will do everything short of standing on their heads for vanilla wafers and watching them skid around the floor chasing fruit loops is just too funny to pass up.

Stale foods don't have to be wasted.  Keep an eye out for other recipes that call for "day-old" products like the Mexican sauce Mole Poblano (which calls for stale corn tortillas) and Fried Rice (made from day-old cooked rice).  Experiment and have fun while saving money!