thrifty thursday: croutons

I am salad-loving gal.  There's just nothing like a delicious bowl of greenery mixed with all your favorite goodies just begging to be dug up. 

Pear, blue cheese, and walnuts with arugula

from drizzle and dip

Figs, goat cheese, basil with pomegranate dressing

from camille styles

And of course, the kale Caesar

from simply scrumptious sf

One of my loved salad treasures is the crunchy crouton.  Problem is: the store bought varieties just don't do it for me, but I can't splurge on a cafe-prepped salad every ordinary day. 

So today I'm bringing you a little trick to not only salvage that day-old bread you couldn't finish during your cheese and wine aperitif last night, but also make savory croutons so good you'll never want to go out for your greens fix ever again.

Step One: Take out that day-old bread - be it baguette, brioche, or bun.

Step Two: Chop it up into little chunks of desired girth.

Step Three: Fry in pan with olive oil, salt & pepper, and whatever delicious seasonings you've gotten hidden away in that cabinet of yours - I used garlic, and lots of it.

Step Four: Toss and turn until EXTRA crispy.

Step Five: And then enjoy!
(Or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.) 

Never waste that bread of yours again!

Pair with some romaine ($2), oven-roasted chicken breast ($4), and Mom's famous Caesar dressing - 6 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire, 1 egg, 3 tablespoons lemon juice and Parmesan cheese to taste ($2) and you've got a delicious dinner for the bargain price of $8 buckaroos for 2 personas. 
Dollarfully delightful.

xoxo
KK