Let's see the ideas that come to me right away are, croutons and bread crumbs, seasoned the way you like. Bread soup, bread pudding, and used as a filler in meatloaf and meatballs. NancyLouise

Great suggestions from NancyLouise. I also use day old bread to absorb exta grease in the pan from cooking meat. It is easier then straining or draining the grease. Less mess too.

I've used left over bread to make croutons, and white rolls or french bread can be turned in to garlic bread quite easily. If you break it up in to crumbs and bake these in the oven for a while you can use them for making breadcrumb coatings.

Toast, toast, and more toast, french toast, and grilled cheese sandwiches, or freeze for use later. I have a recipe (somewhere) for a wonderful breakfast casserole that takes quite a bit of bread.

Sue

Put a 1/2 piece in with your brown sugar and it keeps the sugar from going hard and lumpy.

it will also soften up your chocolate chip cookies if they get dried out a bit and aren't suitable soft.

If all else fails, the ducks at the park seem to like it.

As already mentioned, my favorite thing to do is to use leftover for croutons... I will pre cut the bread in peices and throw in freezer in a lg. zip lock baggie & take out what I need to make fresh croutons. (I just add olive oil/butter combo to pan and saute fresh garlic, add cubed garlic, sometimes sprinkle with kosher salt...saute a few min. Then put into cookie try and bake at 350 until crisp).OR sometimes I'll just make up a huge batch & freeze the croutons. So much better then store bought!! And so good on salads and some soups!

why even have left over bread? We keep ours in the freezer and defrost on as needed basis.

Bread pudding used to be a use for it when I was young ... but I don't know the recipe. Milk, egg, sugar, raisins/dates included, I think. Perhaps in the same ball park as rice pudding.

As for keeping brown sugar or chewy cookies moist, an apple core, banana peel, etc. on a piece of waxed paper, plastic wrap will do the job, as well.

ole joyful

If I burn toast, I cut it up for croutons.

As mentioned, bread pudding is good. There are several ways you can do it:

1. For dessert - Look up any number of recipes online. Easy and delicious.

2. For breakfast - French toast souffle - There should be many variations online as well. Some with cream cheese, blueberries, etc. Let it soak in the fridge the night before and the next morning pop in the oven and serve with syrup.

3. For dinner - There are a number of bread casseroles that are savory with cheese, garlic, herbs, sun-dried tomatoes, etc. Make a salad to go with and you have an easy dinner.

Thank you everyone so much for all the great ideas.
Laurie

Also salmon patties, or a salmon loaf. Yesterday I was making salmon patties and I did a recipe search for it, and saw where bread crumbs could be used as opposed to crackers (a whole tube-Yikes!), so I ran 4-5 slices through my Oscar food chopper for bread crumbs, thus saving my crackers. The patties were just as good as when I used crackers.

There is a good recipe for bread crumb cookies in one of the editions of the tightwad gazette...look into it. I've made a chocolate version many times and we like them (much like a chocolate wafer). I also have used bread crumbs when making a graham wafer pie crust, using a half and half mixture and no one in the family has noticed the difference. Just a couple of thoughts .... Budster

Great suggestions above, and I will add one more. Store leftover bread in the freezer until you have enough to make dressing.

Depends on how much leftovers you have. I'm thinking French Onion Soup. Top it with toast and cheese, instead of pastry. Yum!

Also it depends on how left over the bread is... Since this is not a cooking forum, if it is past the point of edible, find someone with corn or callus. Or someone who just wants soft feet.

You can "make a poultice of one crumbled piece of bread soaked in ¼ cup of vinegar. Let it stand for half an hour, then apply it to the corn and tape it in place overnight. By morning, the corn should peel off. If it's a particularly stubborn corn, you may have to reapply the bread/vinegar poultice a few nights in a row."

For soft feet, just use the bread as something to keep the vinegar / moisture in the applied area over night.

As one poster has already said, use it as a filler with your ground meats...it makes a wonderful extender and if you watch the amount you add, there is no taste or texture difference. I also make stuffing with bread cubes and refuse to purchase those expensive stuffing mixes they have for sale. Just mix your stuffing and bake in the oven as usual. Budster.

perfect for making bruchetta - along with tomatoes that are a little too soft!

Budster-So glad you and others are posting to help out others who are trying to get by in these financially trying times. Besides, it's fun to watch the emergency fund grow as you learn new ways to pinch. Your cooking habits sound just like mine. Yahoo!

Well thanks. I got a couple new ideas, and here's one from me: for a cheap quickie lunch or snack, take a couple slices of leftover bread, top with some spaghetti or pizza sauce, a little cheese and broil. Not gourmet, but tasty.
Cream

Joyfulguy
You said you did not remember the recipe for bread pudding. It is on my blog at commoncentsliving.blogspot.com . (Hope that is ok to post.) Once a month I make this and it is wonderful for dessert or breakfast. Mom made it for years... a bit differently, but close. If you decide to try it, let me know how it turns out.

Thanks, prairiefloozy - my Dad turned into a prairie farmer for the last 40 years of his life ... well, prior to his retirement.

Iva Mae gave me some Amish Friendship bread (plus recipe) a couple of weeks ago that I've been working on.

It seems more like cake ... plus, for every bag that one has at the beginning, the mix turns into four in about a week, and I'm finding the extra three (I live alone, so only need one of the four) about as hard to get rid of as surplus kittens.

ole joyful

Oh, Ole Joyful! I hear ya on that one. It is a gift that keeps on giving! If we could only figure out how to make "$dough$" replicate as well? Well, it was the thought that counts from Iva Mae, but you might have to kill that dough off. Seems I had that problem with Friendship bread many years ago.

Came from a Chicken and Cornfield Farm myself. If I remember correctly, your are from Canada? So your Dad had a farm on the Canadian prairies? I am from MN and SD. There is less and less prairie all the time.

Good luck with that overflow of dough. ;-)

I cut leftover bread/heels,etc into cubes and use in breakfast casserole, a mix of cheese,bread,sausage,salsa, and lots of eggs. It's like a fritata.

I love savory bread puddings for dinner. Simply cut the sugar, add plenty of cheese, tasty herbs and spices, and maybe some sauteed onions and celery. Exact recipe depends on what's on hand, and what I feel like eating.

Since it's just the two of us, I keep bread in the freezer and use as needed. Frozen sliced white bread doesn't stick together, and one slice defrosts in about 5 minutes just sitting out on a plate.