Homemade Croutons

{Yeah, I know... It's not the best looking loaf of bread. Little bumpy on top. Oh well. Better for croutons then, right?!}

What do you do with bread that is getting dry and old? (before it turns green) Sometimes I just throw it away. Sometimes I make french toast for dinner. This time I decided to make croutons. I started by cutting up the bread in bite sized cubes.

Pre-oiled-and-seasoned

I sliced off the burnt bottom crust and set it aside. I put the bread cubes on a large cookie sheet. (I don't always burn the bottom of my bread... it just happened the last time I made bread - darn it).

This picture was taken just after they went in the oven.

I added olive oil (just until I thought they were wet enough). I sprinkled with dried basil, dried oregano, Jane's Krazy Mixed-up Salt, and some garlic salt. Didn't measure. Sorry - I often just improvise. We kept them in the fridge in a bag {actually... the bag that the bread was originally in}!

They turned out a little overdone for my liking. I forgot about them. They must not have been that bad, my kids liked them. My kids actually ate them as a snack. They didn't last long.


***Update 9/25: I forgot to mention how long I had it in the oven and at what temperature. Don't even know if it would really help. I started it out at about 275* and it they were in there for about 20 minutes. I was getting impatient and turned up the temperature to 375*, but didn't change my mindset - oops. I left it in there for about 10 more minutes and they were a little on the done side. So, take from that what you will, to come up with your own temp and time. Or just keep checking on them (more frequently than I did). Next time I might try 325* for 20 minutes and checking every few minutes after the first 10 minutes. ***