Frugal Feeds | 15 Ways with Bread Crumbs

Continuing on the theme for the week, lets now talk about Bread Crumbs.

Bread crumbs are great extenders in so many dishes!

2 slices of whole grain bread will give you about 1 cup of dried bread crumbs. Because of weight differences in the type of bread you use and how dry your crumbs are, this number is an average from my experience--but modify as needed.

Going with the 2 slices=1 cup theory, you will want 1/2 cup of crumbs per person for a serving. That means that if you are doing a crumb topping for a casserole you would use 2 cups for 4 servings.

Meat Extenders. Any time that you have a little less meat than you need for a dish, add up to 1/2 cup crumbs per desired pound of meat plus 1/3 cup of liquid. For example, if you needed 4 servings (1 pound) of ground beef for a dish, but had about 3/4 pound of meat you can add that 1/2 cup of crumbs plus 1/3 cup of any of the following broth, wine, tomato sauce, 2% milk, vegetable juice, barbecue sauce or 1/2 cup of sauteed vegetables such as mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant or any other moist vegetable.

This works also to intentionally use less meat. Less meat consumed saves money, so if you are buying ground beef at $1.75 a pound and bread at $1.00 a pound, then you save over .17 cents per serving, or .68 cents per meal, or somewhere over $400.00 a year.


Lets take a basic list of ingredients and change it a few times over:

3/4 # 95% Lean Ground beef or turkey
1/2 c. Bread Crumbs
1/3-1/2 c. Liquid or vegetable

Method

Extended Meat Dishes--

Mexican Style Meat Extender: 95% Lean Ground beef, bread crumbs, salsa (or canned diced tomatoes and peppers)--add to tacos or burritos

Stroganoff Style Meat Extender: 95% Lean Ground beef, bread crumbs, mushrooms--add to whole grain egg noodles with a white sauce (add onions and parsley for Stroganoff)

Italian Style Meat Extender: 95% Lean Ground beef, bread crumbs, peppers and onions--add to whole grain pasta with a tomato sauce

American Style Meat Extender: 95% Lean Ground beef, bread crumbs, broth--add to brown rice with vegetables and/or cheese

SOS Style Meat Extender: 95% Lean Ground beef, bread crumbs, 2% milk, white sauce--add to lightly buttered toast for SOS

Casserole Style Meat Extender: 95% Lean Ground beef or lean ground turkey, bread crumbs, red or white wine--add to casserole, top with additional seasoned crumbs also

Sloppy Joes Style Meat Extender: 95% Lean Ground beef, bread crumbs, bbq sauce and ketchup--add to toasted buns for Sloppy Joes.

The combinations are endless already. But don't just think of ground beef here though, think of ground lean turkey, chicken, fish, lamb, buffalo, and even veggies and cheese.

Lean Meat Solution: Ground turkey breast is notorious for being very dry and tasteless but add seasoned breadcrumbs and some moisture and it suddenly becomes delicious. Same is true of lean ground buffalo or beef. Crumbs with some egg also help hold together lots of little bits of things into lumps of things that taste really great! They hold moisture, flavor and hold it together. But don't add too much or it will taste more like meatloaf.

Meat Cakes--
Basically, if you have 3/4 pound of cooked meat bits, you can add 1 1/2 cups of bread crumbs, 1/4 cup of liquid, 1/2 cup of vegetables and one beaten egg. Mix well. Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper. Using a #20 disher, dish out 8-12 patties. Flatten with the bottom of a cup. Cover and chill for at least one hour. Lightly butter a second cookie sheet, or use a non-stick cookie sheet. Invert and place on top of first sheet and then, holding pans together, invert and remove the parchment paper. Or, simply transfer meat cakes with a thin, flat spatula to the buttered cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes, or until golden brown and heated through. Serve immediately and allow unused servings to cool in refrigerator. Place four patties each into three freezer bags. Write the date and name of the patties on the freezer bag and freeze for up to three months.

This is the basic recipe behind crab cakes, fish cakes, meat loaf and seasoned sausage patties. You can add herbs, spices or low-fat cheeses to change the flavors. Play around with different vegetables, different types of crumbs, use bbq sauce, tartar sauce, citrus juices, tomato juice, vegetable juice, gravies, sauces, etc...
Its your dish. Play around with it and make it unique to you.

Cheese Straws

1 cup bread crumbs, Pinch of cayenne, 1/2 cup grated cheese, 1/4 cup milk, 2/3 cup flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Mix all together. Roll it out fairly thin, about a 1/4 inch thick. Cut into strips about 6 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. Place on cookie sheet. Bake 20 minutes in moderate oven. 


Crumbs don't need to just be a small component to a dish though. They can be the dish. Here are some super simple ways to use up a bunch of crumbs quickly, and sweetly--

Pancakes--To the traditional custard:

(2 Eggs, beaten, 1 cup 2% Milk, 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar, 1 Tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract)

add another 1/2 c. 2% milk
1 c. crumbs
1 c. whole grain flour
4 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt.

If crumbs are very dry you may want this to rest for 20 minutes before cooking. Pour by 1/4 cupfuls onto a moderately hot, lightly buttered, griddle. When edges of pancakes have dry bubbles, flip them and cook until they no longer send out any steam. Serve as usual pancakes.


Fridge pudding--This is not a blanc mange or a creamy pudding but more similar to a very moist bread pudding or English pudding. It is a super easy and breezy way to go through that bucket of fresh picked berries in the Fall.

Take 4 c. bread crumbs and mix with 2 cups pureed berries pureed and sweetened to taste with honey. Pour into a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Invert onto a plate. Slice. Serve with maple, honey or stevia sweetened plain yogurt. Simple and delicious!

Pie Crusts--

Pie Crusts Sweet Version--2 cups bread crumbs, 1/2 a cup of liquid coconut oil (warm briefly in a small pan on the stovetop or in a bowl in the microwave), 1/4 cup brown sugar or ground dates. Press into pie plate with the bottom of a glass. Use for fruit pies. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. To prepare for cream pies fill pie pan shield with dried beans then bake. Allow to cool thoroughly before putting the beans back into the pantry. Fill, chill and serve.

Pie Crusts Savory Version--2 cups bread crumbs, 1/2 c. nut butter (almond, cashew and pecan work well), 2 Tablespoons herbs. Press into pie plate with the bottom of a glass. Or, reduce the nut butter and add low fat cheese. Use for quiches, shepherds pie or top with unbaked biscuits for pot pies. Bake according to recipe or at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour.


Crumb Topping For Desserts--
Combine 2 Tablespoons ground nuts with 2 Tablespoons brown sugar, 1/3 c. crumbs, 2 Tablespoons whole grain flour, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Cream the butter and sugar. Mix in the remaining ingredients until all is the texture of crumbs. Top cakes, pies, bars and muffins with this before baking.

Frugal Feeds Begins

Lets start off with an oldie but goodie that really takes little effort and will give you a dish full of food at the end of the month.

Get two gallon sized zippered freezer bags. Label one Sweet Bread Ends, the other Savory Bread Ends. Put today's date on it--or just an indicator like First Monday of the Month. Put it in the freezer. Now, for the next 30 days every time you get to the end of a loaf of bread, add the ends to the bag. Have hot dog buns that didn't get used up? Add them to a bag. A bagel gone stale--Bag it. Italian bread from Spaghetti night? Just make sure that if it has any garlic that it goes into the Savory Bread Ends bag, not the Sweet Bread Ends bag. Any bread part, piece or more that is in danger of being thrown out for not being used--put it in the bag. Raisin bread to the sweet bag, Cheese bread to the savory, etc...


30 days have passed and you have 4 cups or more of bread and no idea what to do with it.

(You can scale this easily--if you have one cup just use 1/4 of the recipe quantities. If you have 2 cups, use 1/2. 3 cups, 3/4ths.)

Here are some starters:

Take it out of the freezer in the morning and let it sit on the counter, in the bag, until it defrosts. Usually about an hour. Once it is defrosted cut it all up into cubes. Big or small is up to you and how you want to proceed with it.

I am going to give you two recipes. Very simple recipes that you can build on.

Recipe #1 Croutons

The first is for croutons--now, don't go running off just yet. The croutons are made so that you can make other recipes with them too, not just for crunchy salad stuff.

Place your oven rack squarely in the center row of your oven. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

Take two cups of the savory bread cubes (or half), place in large bowl and toss with salt, pepper and a bit of dried herbs to your taste. You can also add 2 Tablespoons of oil for crispier croutons, but it isn't necessary. Spread one layer thick on a walled cookie sheet. Straight edged cookie sheets will cause them to slide off after baking. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes. If they are small croutons 15 minutes may do the trick. Larger ones may take 30 minutes or more. Check that they are crispy all the way through. You want them to be thoroughly dried because you want to be able to keep them on hand in the cupboard for an easy dish without thawing.

Now, they are ready to be used for your salad--but they are also ready to made into stuffing, bread crumbs and crispy toppings for casseroles.

To make into Stuffing take 1/4 cup celery, 1/4 cup onions and a teaspoon of dried sage and saute in 3 Tablespoons low sodium broth in a medium sized pot until the celery and onions are glossy and a bit soft. Add 2 cups of Savory croutons and 1/4 cup low sodium broth, stir well, put a lid on it and remove from heat. It is ready to be served in five minutes.

OR

To make into Bread Crumbs, pulse the croutons in a food processor.
To make the bread crumbs into Crispy Topping, just before use, add 1 Tablespoon dried Parsley and 2 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle on top of the casserole 15 minutes before casserole is to be finished baking in the oven.

Recipe #2 Bread Pudding

Place rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a small casserole with cooking oil or grease with butter or coconut oil.

Add 2 cups of sweet or plain bread cubes to the casserole. In a large bowl make a custard slurry. 

Combine: 
1 1/2 cups 2% Milk
2 beaten Eggs or 3 beaten Egg whites
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
Pinch of ground Nutmeg
1/2 cup of leftover fruit. 

Mix together thoroughly. Pour slurry over the bread cubes. Make certain that the cubes have all been doused with the slurry and press down top edges slightly so that the surface of the bread is fairly even.
Bake for 45 minutes. Tips should be browned, center set.
 
The fruit can be over ripe bananas, frozen berries, raisins (soak raisins in hot water or hot juice or hot brandy for 10 minutes), peaches, pineapple or a mix of leftover fruit. Melons need to be seeded, cubed and pureed and then cooked until half of the liquid is evaporated and it is more like a jam that you swirl into the slurry after you have added the slurry to the cubes. If no fresh, frozen or canned fruit is available, a few Tablespoons of preserves works too, but I recommend swirling that over the top after you have added the custard slurry as well. (You can add it to the slurry but the fruit flavor is constant that way, while if you add a swirl it is a nice contrast from bite to bite).

The slurry above, minus the fruit, also makes a decent French Toast Batter. Although adding over ripe Bananas is yummy also. Just make sure they are pureed before hand.

Here is the best thing about these recipes. They are plain Jane, simple. Easy to remember but also easy to modify. Too sweet? Change the sugar. Too little fruit? Add more. Want more spices, you know what to do... It really is difficult to make these not turn out right because they taste pretty good just by themselves, so if you add to them it helps. And, it makes them yours. Just don't add too many things too fast or you might increase your cost of the item and make it taste too mixed up.