Food Today: Homemade Croutons/Munchies

Do you ever have a nice loaf of bread in your kitchen for which you have very honorable intentions, but then time goes by and that loaf of bread dries out and begins to be less fun to eat "as bread"?  This does happen in our home from time to time.  Today I decided that the birds did not need this loaf of sesame-seed-covered French bread, especially since some short people will be here for supper (the tallest of these particular short people is a Cub Scout and needs to cook a meal outside.  We have just the situation for that to take place.  A giant plus to me is that someone else will be cooking supper!  I am thrilled it will be our oldest grandson doing it!).

In the back of my head I remembered that the father of these short people came by once before when I made some croutons.  The crouton level had decreased markedly by the time he left!  It always pleases me when people like the food I make.  This is not an especially common occurrence here, I am sad to say. I almost always like the food I made.  This is not the general reaction.  Oh well.  No one will starve.

So, on to the croutons/munchies.

The first order of the day was to cut the bread into cubes. I did use the very sharp chef's knife and a cutting board to protect our counter...in this case the beautiful marble slab that used to be in my great-aunt and -uncle's hardware store as part of one of the counters.  In case you do not know, marble does break, thus this piece of marble counter-top is about 24 inches by 24 inches.  It is wonderful, and makes me smile when I think of Aunt Lottie and Uncle Leonard.

After cutting the cubes I placed them in a plastic bucket that  local store recycles. I like the clear plastic buckets (well, somewhat clear...) so I can tell what is inside them at a glance without having to open the cover.  At that point I drizzled over the top some good Greek olive oil.  After putting on the cover, I shook the bucket for one to two minutes so the olive oil would cover much of the bread cubes.

With the bread cubes nicely "oiled",  I made a mixture of granulated garlic, onion powder, dill weed, paprika, kosher salt, and finely ground black pepper.  When this was well mixed, I sifted it over the top of the bread cubes and, yes, you guessed it: I covered the bucket and shook again for one to two minutes.

By the time I had finished the above process the oven which I had set pre-heating was ready for the croutons-to-be.  Putting them onto a half-sheet pan, I baked them for 20 minutes then stirred them well and returned to oven for another 10 minutes.

After 30 minutes total baking time, I removed the pan from the oven and let the croutons cool to room temperature then returned them to the bucket which was where they will be stored until the munchers come later today. 

These munchies are quick, easy, inexpensive, and better for munchers than potato chips.  Seasonings can be adjusted to suit your munchers' tastes.  The complete recipe is found on Grammie's Kitchen and Bedtime Stories.