Homemade Croutons

I have two sons who bring me lots of  bread home.  One works in a restaurant, the other in a bakery.  I can't use all of this bread at once, some I put into the freezer for later, some I throw to the birds, they have to eat too!  My friend Mary gave me a great idea for them, and taught me how to make these awesome homemade croutons.  She too, works in a restaurant and deep fries hers. I took the low fat route on making mine by baking them in the oven.  Easy, peasy, this is how I make them - 

Cut bread up into medium size cubes, place on a baking sheet, drizzle with a little olive oil, toss to coat the bread and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.  Take out of the oven and toss again, return to oven until all the bread is lightly toasted.  Remove from oven and cool completely.

 Now, mix up the flavors in a bowl - garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and Parmesan - Romano cheese, as much as you like, it's all in the taste, combine it with a fork.  When croutons are cooled, pour them into a resealable bag and toss with the cheese mixture.  Remove any air from the bag, the croutons will stay fresh for 2 - 3 weeks.

Awesome homemade croutons!

Quick Meal - Hail Caesar!

If you love Chicken Caesar Salad this is the easy way to make it, you can also put it on a wrap, we like it this way too. If you do the wrap - spread the dressing on the wrap, it helps to hold it together when you roll it up, add lettuce, chicken, cheese and pepper. Voila - Chicken Caesar Wrap.  This is what you need:

1 head of romaine lettuce, grilled chicken breast strips, I get mine from Costco, they're cheap and you get 2 packs of them, then I stick them in the freezer to have on hand for this quick meal. I use Ken's  Caesar Dressing, creamy or the oil one is good too, fresh Parmegiano-Reggiano cheese, a bag of croutons and fresh cracked pepper.

I grill up the chicken, to get it brown and warm, in a little olive oil.

While the chicken is cooking, grate and shave the cheese on a grater 

Wash and chop the romaine.

Start building the salad.

 Add the cheese, croutons and fresh cracked pepper.

 Dress it and you are ready to eat.  Yummy, looks good and takes 10 minutes to prepare!