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We never waste bread now.

(125 Posts)
AussieGran59 Sun 29-Jan-23 05:51:46

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Lexisgranny Sun 29-Jan-23 10:21:10

Our bread goes straight in the freezer we’ve done this for years. If necessary we ask the bakery section to slice it for us. It separates quite easily, and I can’t say that I have noticed any difference in flavour. I can’t remember the last time that we bought white bread, we both prefer brown.

M0nica Sun 29-Jan-23 10:40:33

Since I stopped buying supermarket bread, the kind that goes mouldy, and returned to proper baker's bread that has been baked, I do not think I have wasted a crumb of bread.

Apart from keeping it in the freezer, anything spare or not eaten is turned into breadcrumbs and a box of breadcrumbs is always in the freezer drawer. We has stuffed portobello mushrooms for supper last night, stuffing containe breadcrumbs, as do meat balls and other stuffed vegetables, also dishes cooked 'au gratin'.

Then there is bread pudding. a surfeit of stalebread, left after DS and family stay is diced, soaked in milk, dried fruit, mixed spice and an egg are added and it is baked in the oven, absolutely deeee-lish!

Callistemon21 Sun 29-Jan-23 11:18:28

We always freeze whole loaves of sliced bread and yes, it is easy to take just a couple of slices off the loaf and re-seal with a plastic sealing clip.

It seems rather an over-use of plastic to separate the loaf up into slices because the slices should separate quite easily when frozen.

We can use the plastic loaf bags for food recycling as the waste food is squeezed out of the plastic bags at the recycling plant and the bags sent to another plant to produce electricity.

Callistemon21 Sun 29-Jan-23 11:20:03

From a “weight” point of view it is “safer” than having a lovely crisp fresh loaf newly out of the bread maker 😳
My bread maker stopped working and so far I've resisted buying another one.

There's more room on the worktop which is a plus 😃

nanna8 Sun 29-Jan-23 11:22:53

No, I like it baker fresh on the day. Chuck it to the birds after 3 days. I do freeze cakes,though and most things. Just not bread.

timetogo2016 Sun 29-Jan-23 11:26:36

I freeze bread milk and cheese .
Left over veg and meat i make a pie and freeze that,or put mashed potatoes on top instead of pastry.
And to my husbands dismay i freeze leftover gravy and any sauces.

ParlorGames Sun 29-Jan-23 11:33:30

I have always considered a sin to waste food of any sort and bread has been no different. If a larger loaf seems better value then that is portioned and frozen accordingly - all to often the smaller loaves work out much more expensive.
It is the same with vegetable - anything that is looking a bit sad is swiftly made into soup and often shared with a lovely elderly gentleman who lives close by. We had a bag of frozen peas recently that we didn't really like, they tasted dry and no amount of cooking improved them - they were despatched to the next pan of soup.

Aldom Sun 29-Jan-23 11:34:10

MOnica I have "PM you. smile

Callistemon21 Sun 29-Jan-23 11:38:26

Then there is bread pudding. a surfeit of stalebread, left after DS and family stay is diced, soaked in milk, dried fruit, mixed spice and an egg are added and it is baked in the oven, absolutely deeee-lish!

I have the recipe from someone who used to supply it to a cafe, but have never made it, much to DH's disappointment.

M0nica Sun 29-Jan-23 12:04:37

Aldom It hasn't come through yet.

Cs783 Sun 29-Jan-23 12:27:18

I use my freezer a lot
-batch cooking / bakes
-fruit, veg
- ice cube size portions of pesto, ginger, herbs etc and yes timetogo sauce leftovers
- emergency bread and milk.

But filtered milk though a bit more expensive seems to keep well in the fridge. And a slow cooker loaf stays fresh for days too (don’t know how long, gets eaten up in 4 days).

Blossoming Sun 29-Jan-23 12:34:10

Snap AussieGran59. We have a weekly bread order with our local family run independent baker.

nexus63 Sun 29-Jan-23 12:35:34

i don't freeze bread but i do freeze milk in ice cube trays and then pop them in a freezer bag, i don't drink tea so they are handy for any visitors that do.

HousePlantQueen Sun 29-Jan-23 12:35:54

As we only use bread for toast, it doesn't really matter if it is not very fresh. When we buy a new loaf, the ends and remains of the previous one go out to the birds. Couldn't be bothered cluttering up the freezer with low cost food such as bread!

Starrynight49 Sun 29-Jan-23 12:49:33

I've always frozen bread. I keep two loaves in the freezer, one for me and one for DH. I wouldn't bother putting it into individual freezer bags - the loaves just go in as they are. Take a couple of slices out as needed, microwave the slices for 10 seconds, done !

Norah Sun 29-Jan-23 13:20:35

If a food is made with flour, my hands have made it, spoils faster and is frozen directly after first meal.

Most of our grandchildren love seed bread, there is always a loaf I've baked/sliced in the freezer for their sandwiches.

My husband prefers baguettes, I don't pre-slice but I do make 5' instead of full length, baguettes freeze well whole.

I make bread pudding, sweet or savoury, every week with scraps, heels, crusts, pretzel pieces, every bread made in the last week.

Baking heats the kitchen nicely.

pascal30 Sun 29-Jan-23 13:27:23

Marydoll

When I was teaching and ran the Nurture Unit, I kept bread in the freezer for the breakfast we had every morning, just taking out the right amount of bread needed for the daily breakfast.
Many of our pupils had not eaten from the night before, so we fed them, sitting together at a table, whilst developing social skills. Some had no idea of table manners and how to eat in a social setting.
We even made jam in my soup maker, from brambles we had foraged.
The school smelled like a jam factory, with no-one being able to work out from where the delicious smell was coming.

What a lovely space you provided.. those children willnot forget

watermeadow Sun 29-Jan-23 13:37:09

I’ve frozen bread (and almost everything else except lettuce) for years.
I don’t use cow’s milk but keep the littlest size bottle frozen for visitors. Most people now are happy to have oat milk in their tea or coffee.
You can freeze eggs too. Break, stir then freeze.

silverlining48 Sun 29-Jan-23 13:42:25

Even before we had a freezer we never wasted bread. ( never wasted anything).
Mixed with water or milk and crumbled up by hand, stale bread can be mixed with egg and minced meat to make very tasty patties.

Calendargirl Sun 29-Jan-23 13:46:12

I always freeze left over gravy, in flora tubs.

Franbern Sun 29-Jan-23 14:56:25

Do wonder how large some of the freezers many of you have.

Bread takes up a lot of room. Before I moved from my house, I did have a very large upright freezer in my utility room. So was able to put allsorts of things in there. However, I often, then forgot about them. Before I moved (Downsized), I largelhy lived out of that freezer for four months - but still ended up throwing a lot of stuff in it away
Have a normal upright fridge/freezer now with four drawers. Keep one drawer full of packets of vegetables - as I am by myself I find broccoli, peas, cauliflower, beans, etc etc is actually fresher to use that way than buying separately. second drawer has fish amd chicken, third drawer ice cream and lollies (for g.children) and frozen berr,es for breakfast, etc. The final drawr i s only half sized and has some sausages, bacon, and similar. No room for bread.

Ialways used to make bread pudding, was quite famous for it. Yes, it was/is delicious - but one of the most fattening and unhealthy type of cakes/puddings you can have, It is bread, sugar, suet (fat), dried fruits and then cooked in fat.

Lexisgranny Sun 29-Jan-23 15:06:53

We have had two freezers which are always well stocked. We don’t eat that much bread and don’t like small loaves, which is why it’s important for us to have a loaf in the freezer. I don’t use clips to fasten the loaves, just twist it round several times, open the top up like an umbrella and pull back over the sides of the remaining loaf (hope that makes sense).

Callistemon21 Sun 29-Jan-23 15:27:57

I always used to make bread pudding, was quite famous for it. Yes, it was/is delicious - but one of the most fattening and unhealthy type of cakes/puddings you can have, It is bread, sugar, suet (fat), dried fruits and then cooked in fat

That's why I've resisted making it! All very well DH having one (very large) piece occasionally when we were out but I couldn't let him eat most of a tin full!
My excuse 😃

Ziplok Sun 29-Jan-23 15:37:34

I occasionally freeze cheese as well as freezing bread, butter & milk. I also freeze breadcrumbs, so that I’ve always got a supply handy.

Freezing the cheese just before Christmas was really useful as it meant I could make a trip to our “cheese man” a couple of weeks beforehand and miss out on the queues. (It was the cheese man who said our cheese could be frozen, and it works fine).

Ziplok Sun 29-Jan-23 15:43:43

That’s a different bread pudding recipe to the one I make Franbern. I don’t use suet, it’s just bread very lightly buttered (or breadcrumbs for an even lighter version, no butter), some dried fruit, spices, 2 eggs mixed with semi skimmed milk, and only a sprinkling of sugar on the top, then popped in the oven for 30 minutes until the custard has set.
I’m intrigued by your recipe, would you mind posting it?