I'm repurposing bread this morning

[spinbaby]

The downside of being a household of two light eaters is that you need to be creative about your leftovers. On Saturday I baked a lovely loaf of challah topped with everything bagel seasoning. It was great, but we still had three quarters of a loaf of stale challah by Monday, so I cubed some and made a batch of garlic croutons. After croutons, I still had some left, so I stared into the fridge for a bit and decided to put together a cheese strata using a hunk of smoked Gouda that was a bit past its prime. Added eggs and milk, and now the strata is resting in the fridge ready to bake for dinner. Tomorrow, I suppose I’ll have to figure out what to do with leftover strata.

[niyad]

1. Croutons,strata, french toast, grilled cheese sandwiches. leftover bread is so useful.

As the holidays approach, I toss my stale bread in the freezer, and, when t-day rolls around, I have a wonderful base for stuffing.

[2naSalit]

2. Bread pudding?

Save some for stuffing by freezing it?

[Karadeniz]

5. My thought, too...love it!

[littlemissmartypants]

7. Me three. ❤ nt

[Irish_Dem]

3. I freeze leftover bread and then pop it in my toaster which has a thaw setting.

Challah freezes very well and makes great toast.

[Retrograde]

4. Ribollita

An Italian way of using up leftover bread. Start with a hearty vegetable soup - I like white bean and kale. The next day, add old bread to the leftovers: it will absorb a lot of the liquid.

There's always bread pudding: try a savory bread pudding made with onions (and if you eat pork) bits of leftover ham or bacon. It's a meal in itself - and it sounds like your cheese strata is going in that direction!

I know your problem: we get pretty good sourdough around here, but it normally is only available as large loaves. Cutting them in half and freezing part works well.

[Marthe48]

6. I like to make bread crumbs

I've been baking my own bread for over a year, and sometimes a loaf lasts longer than 10 days. I keep the loaf refrigerated. I'll cut the bread that is left into cubes and then put it in the food processor to make crumbs. I can make a nice buttery crust and fill it with a savory filling-cheese, onion, garlic, cream and eggs. S&P, paprika, turmeric, sometimes some spinach. I don't follow a recipe, but usually 3 eggs, a couple tbs heavy cream, a 1/2 cup of cheese, the other ingredients to taste. It is a real treat, and is a little lower carb than a pastry crust.

All of your ideas sound so good. I have been really creative buying and using food. I'm using pick-up or delivery, so planning is key!

[Warpy]

8. One thing you can do with any stale, hard wheat based bread is steam it

This works as well for slices of bread as it does for rock hard dinner rolls.

It doesn't work for GF breads and rolls, they tend to dissolve.

[demtenjeep]

9. that sounds good

how do you do the strata?

[murpheeslaw]

10. Panade

[link:https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-a-panade-114846%3famp=1|]

It’s a kind of savory bread pudding but uses cheese and broth instead of milk and eggs. Veg and meat should be fully cooked before adding to the layers.

[AKwannabe]

11. njcher turned me on to panzanella salad

Anytime I have rustic bread going stale I cut it up and dry it. Then add tomatoes and juice from a can and Italian seasonings and herbs. Then I make a regular salad with all kinds of veg and combine the two. Panzanella is excellent!

I make a vinegrette with red wine vinegar. Mmmmm