Croutons....

It's winter here....I mean it's a cold, windy, snowy blizzard outside and I am very thankful for the warmth of our home this afternoon and the coffee I'm drinking but will be regretting later wen I'm trying to go to sleep. It seems as though this week I have been baking bread a lot. I made loaves of bread, home made hamburger buns and dinner rolls. I have had ends and pieces left over here and there and I just can't let them go to waste. What do you do with leftover stale bread? Sometimes I dry the pieces of bread in the oven on really low heat then throw the bread in a food processor to use for bread crumbs.This time I made these.....

Today since it was so yuckie outside I was craving soup. I could not make up my mind as to what kind of soup to make with what I had on hand but when my hubby finally called at 4:00 that he was on his way home I finally settled on this Broccoli Soup. It was definetly the right decision it was so delicious and comforting. I had all these ends and pieces of bread and diced them up to use them with our soup. I used seasonings that would go well with the soup.

Croutons:

4 cups of diced bread
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp of butter
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
pinch of cardamom ( I use this in the soup it makes it extra special)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Melt the butter and add the olive oil and the rest of the seasonings. Spread the diced bread on a cookie sheet and sprinkle the olive oil mixture over the bread then toss all together using your fingers. Bake at 450 degrees for about 10-15 min or till they crisp up and turn a little brown.

They were so yummmmmmooooo!!! Made the soup that much more enjoyable. Here is another combo that I like to use for croutons.

Homemade Garlic Croutons


1 loaf french bread (a few days old or any other bread you want to use up)
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp Italian seasoning

Directions : 


Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Cut the bread  into small cubes. Transfer cubed bread to a parchment lined baking sheet.
Drizzle the bread with the olive oil and butter and then sprinkle with garlic, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.
Using your hands, gently toss the croutons and make sure they are coated with all the oils, butters and seasonings.
Bake for 10-15 minutes until they are golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool before serving.

Such an easy thing but what a yummy addition. 

 Ohh and speaking of buns :) yes this little baby bun is still baking!!! I am 31 weeks today and ready for the arrival but not till he is good and ready :)