Homemade Garlic Breadcrumbs

Something I've been focusing on during maternity leave is cutting down on our wastefulness.  Take, for example, this little project.  My family came to visit the weekend before last and I bought a big loaf of Italian bread to make garlic bread with.  The weekend got busy and everybody brought food and even a carb lover like me had to admit that garlic bread wasn't necessary.  So I bagged up the bread, put it in the fridge, and figured we'd make sandwiches with it the next week.  But we never did and by this weekend I just had a bag of super stale bread.  Instead of tossing it (directly into Fred's mouth), I decided to make breadcrumbs.  It's a quick little endeavor that uses up stale bread and ensures you have tasty, homemade breadcrumbs for future recipes.

I used:

stale bread

olive oil

salt & pepper

garlic

herbs of your choice (I went with Herbs de Provence)

I turned the oven on to 350 degrees and then cut the bread into chunks and put into my food processor along with two cloves of garlic, a teaspoon of Herbs de Provence, and a few shakes of salt & pepper.  It all depends on how salty, garlicky, and herby you want your breadcrumbs.  I put the food processor on pulse and let in a small stream of olive oil (a tablespoon or two) while they chopped into a fine crumb.

Using a silpat-covered baking sheet, I spread the crumbs out into a thin layer and popped into the hot oven for 15 minutes, mixing them up every 5 minutes so all crumbs had a shot at being toasted.  I let them cool once out of the oven and then stuck into a mason jar for future use.  

They're perfectly flavored and will be great in any recipe that calls for breadcrumbs.  Here are a few Hardly Housewives favorites:

Parmesan Panko Crusted Chicken Fingers

Gouda Mac N Cheese

Bacon Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Chicken

Stay hungry!

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