A quick and cheap recipe for homemade croutons

Ingredients:

1 loaf of day old Italian bread
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
2 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
2 TBSP Minced Garlic

When I'm at my local market, I go to the day old bakery section and scoop up 2 or 3 loaves of day old bread for $1 a piece. They keep in my wooden bread box for more than a week, and actually, a little stale is better for this recipe!

If you keep the rest of the ingredients in your fridge/pantry on a regular basis, their cost is pennies per batch made.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Cube your bread up into 3/4" squares, put them into a large mixing bowl and drizzle liberally with the EVOO. I don't ever measure the amount, I do it based on the size of the loaf of bread. Basically you want to be able to coat (but not drown)all the pieces in it so they brown nicely in the oven.


Next, add your Italian seasoning, garlic and parmesan cheese.


Now get your hands into the bowl and mix until all the seasonings are well combined.

Spread the bread mixture evenly onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown.

When they're completely cooled, you can store them in a zip top baggie. Typically we eat them fast because there are 5 of us and we have salad every night, but I have made double batches and stored them in my cupboard for upwards of a month.

Enjoy!