Please could I have your best ideas for using up old bread

[Battlefront]

It used to get toasted here, but toast is my worst binge food, so I've stopped toasting it FTB. What do I do with all the old crusts though? (I'm the only one here who would even consider eating a crust DH is the worst)

I'm looking for savoury recipes please, maybe with breadcrumbs?

I whizz mine up and make breadcrumbs, pop them in a bag and freeze. Use them straight from the freezer when making burgers, chicken nuggets etc

Thank you. Yes, that's what I was thinking of doing, but I need some more ideas for using the breadcrumbs

Queen of puddings? Stuffing? Bread sauce (yuk)? Or you could make bread pudding

wiener schnitzel

Treacle tart!

Feed it to the poor, hungry birds?

LOL Heston, birds here are neither poor nor hungry, they cost me a fortune in peanuts and sunflower seeds (DH's obsession!) I thought bread wasn't actually very good for them..

As benedict says: whizz into breadcrumbs, freeze them and then you always have a nice sprinkle to give crunch to gratin dishes eg lasagne, cauliflower cheese, etc.

Chop into cubes to make croutons?

Buy less bread?

Another one for whizzing up as breadcrumbs here. You can freeze them remember. Homemade chicken kievs are good, none of the rubbish you get in the shop bought ones.

You don't have to totally cover a dish with plain breadcrumbs (weiner schnitzel, chicken kiev), you could do a herb crust instead so you get to incorporate all sorts of interesting flavours (herbs, chopped seeds or nuts, garlic, lemon zest)

Slice it and make savoury bread and butter pudding.

Panzanella salad is lovely, but more of a Summer thing. And best with stale odds and sods of 'fresh' bread/ciabatta/french stick, rather than normal sliced bread ends.

You can use the breadcrumbs for when you make meatballs or homemade fish fingers. If you cut into larger cubes, fry in garlic of whatever ( bit of chilli paste) you can freeze and use as croutons in salads, soups etc.

Or toast them and freeze for use as homemade breadsticks for dipping.

And I mostly keep old bread and make a stash of breadcrumbs. I freeze the old ends in one bag and then when I've got enough to make it worthwhile getting the processor out, then I defrost them and whizz them up. Then bung back in the freezer.

Recipes for breadcrumbs:

[http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4670/crisp-chicken-bites Crisp chicken bites]] - really yummy chicken nuggets bits, very easy, my DC love these (as do me and DH!)

Crispy pesto chicken - breadcrumbs with good handful of grated parmesan and some cooked bacon lardons, top raw chicken, bake in oven 30min, with sauce of warmed creme fraiche with a tbsp or so of pesto.

[http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/516560 Chicken with ciabatta and parma ham crust] - this is a truly lovely recipe, I've used normal non-Ciabatta breadcrumbs and can't taste the difference. only thing to note with this is sometimes I've had to give it a little longer in the oven than 60min.

Chicken schnitzel (brilliant way to make one chicken breast feed 2-3 people!) and garlic alioli (mayo and a squeeze of pureed garlic in a tube!).

Fish in breadcrumbs - dust white fish fillet in flour, dip in egg and then into breadcrumbs, repeat the egg and breadcrumb step, spritz some oil and then bake for 15-20min (Weight Watchers recipe - so good for those January resolutions! Altho' we usually have with chips!)

Parmesan crusted roasted parsnips - Par-boil parsnips, while still steaming toss in some breadcrumbs and parmesan. Roast in some hot oil for 30-40min.

I use old bread for two things:

1. breadcrumbs
   I use my breadcrumbs for fishcakes or fish goujons (posh fish fingers)
   Posh Fish Fingers!

2. Bread and butter pudding (with cinnamon)
   Winter Bread and Butter Pudding with Cinnamon

Failing that, I take my little one to the park and feed the ducks.
You could also make summer pudding with berries which also uses bread :)

Spanish bread and garlic soup.

Break the bread up into pieces, and put in a low temperature in the oven to toast off. When it's nice and brown, take it out to cool off, and put into the food processor, or hand grinder (my mum uses this as an old Hungarian tradition). Voila.....breadcrumbs for schnitzel, fish cakes, chicken goujons etc.

No need to freeze, they'll keep in a container like a lunchbox forever, like shop bought breadcrumbs.

I made a fabulous bread and butter pudding last night. All ingredients we had in the house.

Longdistance, thanks for that post. I'll try that. Like the idea of not having to freeze.

use instead of mash on top of fish pie or on top of chicken mixed with white or cheese sauce. you can mix cheese with the bread to make it tastier

I make breadcrumbs and fry some to scatter over cooked casseroles etc. Nice crispy topping!

I've made a steamed chocolate pudding before with breadcrumbs, I think it was a Nigella recipe, no flour- breadcrumbs instead, it was yum