Waste not, want not

Salamwalikoum,

After having thrown away a piece of moldy bread yesterday I was reminded of something my husband has been repeating to me since we met about not wasting food.

As most people know it's not good to throw away food that might have been saved somehow. Please bear in mind I am reminding myself before anyone else.

As a muslim there is a verse in the Qu'ran that tells us not to be wasteful (chapter 6: verse141)

Chapter (6) sūrat l-anʿām (The Cattle)

So for those of you like me with still very limited arabic, here is the english translation(or one of the them)

Ahmed Raza Khan: Mohammed Aqib Qadri:

"It is He Who produces gardens spread on the ground and above, and the date-palm, and crops of various flavours, and the olive and the pomegranate, similar in some respects and unlike in others; eat from its fruit when it bears yield, and pay the due (obligatory charity) from it on the day it is harvested; and do not be wasteful; indeed the wasteful are not liked by Allah."

Ok so with this in mind I decided today I would give some ideas and recipes that I learned from my mom and elsewhere to use up old bread instead of letting it get fuzzy and tossing it in the trash.

Use #1: French toast - Super easy, yummy and pretty fast breakfast.

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 cup milk

cinnamon(optional)

slices stale bread (the dryer the better)

Directions:

-In a bowl beat together the eggs, milk, and cinnamon.

-Quickly dip sliced bread in egg wash and make sure both sides are covered in egg. drop into a frying pan with just a little oil or butter.

-Cook both sides until golden.

 Use #2 : Dry bread crumbs- break bread into bits and toast on a cookie sheet in the oven (low heat) until dry. Crush with a rolling pin or pass in a food processor until they are as fine as you want them.

I make my own shake and bake mix using the bread crumbs, I just add whatever dried herbs and spices i like with it. It can also be used to top au gratin dishes.

Use #3: Stuffing- I sometimes collect stale bread in a bag in my freezer. When holidays come around I have something to make stuffing with.

Ingredients:
1 onion chopped

2-3 stalks celery chopped

herbs and spices (depends on my mood)

Water or broth

Bread cubes

Directions: Mix everything in a bowl and make sure the bread chunks are wet but not too soggy or mushed up otherwise the stuffing will be too dense.

Bake in a casserole dish or stuff a bird or your choice.

* If you are stuffing a bird, please make sure the stuffing inside is the same temperature as the meat to make sure no one gets sick, minimum temp of 165 F*

Use # 4: Bread pudding

Ingredients:
Bread cubes

1 egg

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

 nuts, dried fruits or your choice

 Milk to wet the mix, but not too soggy

Directions: Mix everything in a bowl and put into a loaf or casserole dish, put a few bits of butter on top and bake for about 1hr on 300F or until a nic crust forms on top.

So there we have it, four ways of using up stale bread so as not to waste it.

Any other good ideas out there? Please share in the comments.

Until next time!