Worm Moon 2008

This month's frugal project might seem as if I'm trying to stretch a dime. The truth is that I don't like to let good (organic) food go to waste. I could blame my Catholic grade school influences. In the cafeteria, we had a poster above the trash bin that simply stated, "Waste not, want not." Or I could blame my kids. They just can't seem to choke down their bread crusts. I got tired of playing clean-up, eating their soggy, gnawed-on leftovers. Yuck. So I gave in and started trimming their sandwiches to free them from the crusts. What to do with a bunch of trimmed crusts? Make breadcrumbs, of course!

How much am I saving? A 15-ounce canister of organic breadcrumbs costs about $4.00. But think about all the gasoline that is used to truck those crumbs from the breadcrumb factory to our co-op here in Viroqua. And the packaging...plastic canisters. More waste. And more good reasons to cook up my own breadcrumbs.

How hard can it be? Not hard at all. Like all of my projects, it requires more time than money, more physical energy than brainpower. In the end, you'll have a delicious product and you'll be able to state proudly, "I made it myself, darn it!"

The process:

• Trim the bread BEFORE making the sandwich, or your crumbs will taste like PB&J.
• Put the trimmed crusts in a container and freeze until you have a big stash.
• When you have the oven heated from another baking project, put the crusts in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Let them dry in the warm oven until crispy.
• Put the dried crusts into a blender or food processor. Pulverize until you have the desired consistency. I like to leave a few chunks for added texture.
• Add seasoning, such as garlic powder or dried herbs, if desired.
• Store in a container in the freezer.