Homemade Croutons

2 posts in one day on the day I start back to work with the kids?? Wow, I'm on a roll! I actually wrote both this post and my school supply post on Saturday night, because I had so much blogging inspiration for some reason!

Saturday night was one of those nights when I threw a meal together with ingredients that I needed to use up. I made pasta with both Alfredo sauce and spaghetti sauce to put on it (umm, not both at the same time. Ha!), because I only had enough of each for one serving. so I had spaghetti while Luke had spaghetti noodles with Alfredo sauce on top. I'm sure that is breaking some kind of foodie rule, but we were okay with it! I also made a salad because I had some lettuce I needed to use up, and I had a ton of yummy tomatoes in my fridge just calling my name. I put everything together and realized I was missing a pertinent ingredient to the salad: croutons. Luke and I have a hard time eating a salad without croutons.

I decided to be adventurous and make my own. And yes, making something homemade with no recipe is about as adventurous as I get!

I had some hamburger buns that were starting to get a little bit borderline stale. So I took one, and cut it up into little squares. I then took a cookie sheet and put a tablespoon or two of Extra Virgin Olive Oil right in the middle. I threw the bread squares right in the EVOO and kind of smeared them around so that they soaked it all up. then I just poured a bunch of Italian Seasoning (The Pampered Chef variety) and garlic powder on top. I shook the pan a few times until it looked like they were all evenly coated. Then I stuck the cookie sheet into the oven which had been preheated to 350 degrees. I probably left them in there for about 10 minutes, but I took the pan out and shook it around every 2 minutes or so to prevent them from burning.
They came out really tasty with the perfect amount of crunchiness, if I do say so myself! At least as good as store-bought if not better. I'm excited, because now I know what to do with my hamburger buns when they are a little past their prime without having to throw them out. Luke and I can never use up a whole package quickly enough between the two of us!

I'm sure this would work with any other type of bread, too. It was so easy, and I'm glad I tried it!