Fluster: Wasted bread
One of my major flusters is when I spend my money on something and it doesn’t get used, it’s money down the drain as my mom used to say. When we were growing up we didn’t have much and every dollar that was spent had to have significant value. There was no waste and if there was my mom would come unglued. Although I didn’t care for her rants back then, I did learn to spend my money wisely, I guess that’s where I learned to get so flustered over waste.
One of those wasted items that causes me fluster is bread. There always seems to be a piece or two that doesn’t get eaten or gets stale. Normally I’ll freeze the unused pieces and use them for garlic toast or bread crumbs. However, my freezer seems to be getting overrun with bread.
Buster: 21 Unique Tips Using Bread
Since there’s only so much garlic toast and bread crumbs that a person can eat I thought that there had to be some other ways to use bread. With the help of family and friends we came up with a list of creative ways that bread can be used instead of going to waste.
Health
Always consult a doctor before using bread as a treatment
1. Boils – to drain, soak a piece of bread in some milk and apply to the affected area. Tape the bread in place and allow it to dry over night.
2. Calluses – to treat, place a piece of bread that has been soaked in apple cider vinegar to the area. Tape the bread in place, cover and leave it overnight.
3. Corns – to treat, place a piece of bread that has been soaked in apple cider vinegar to your foot. Tape the bread in place, cover with a sock, leave it overnight.
4. Splinters – to remove, place a piece of bread that has been soaked in milk to the area. Cover it with a bandage and allow it to dry. The bread will pull the splinter out.
In the Kitchen
1. Cake – to keep it fresh, place a slice of bread on the cut side. You can attach it using toothpicks.
2. Cookies – to keep them fresh, store them in a sealed container with a couple of slices of bread.
3. Grease – to clean spills, use a piece of bread to soak it up.
4. Grease Fires – to avoid when broiling meat, place a couple of slices of bread in the bottom of the drip pan before cooking.
5. Marshmallows – to alleviate staleness, place a slice of soft bread in the bag. Seal and let it sit for a couple of days
6. Odors – to absorb vegetable odors while cooking, place a slice of bread on top of the vegetables while they are cooking.
7. Onions – to avoid tears, place a slice of bread in your mouth when you are cutting.
8. Onions – to avoid tears, place a slice of bread over the handle of the knife before cutting.
9. Rice – to remove burnt flavor, put a slice of bread on top of the rice, cover and wait several minutes.
10. Rice – to remove excess moisture, remove the rice from the stove and place a piece of bread on top. Cover and let it sit for a few minutes.
11. Soup – to remove fat, use a piece of toasted bread to skim the fat away.
12. Spoons – to eliminate messes when cooking, use the heel from a loaf of bread as a spoon rest.
13. Sugar – to soften, place a slice of bread in the container and let it sit for several days.
Cleaning
1. Broken Glass – to pick up small pieces, press a piece of soft bread on the area.
2. Oil Paintings – to remove dust, gently rub the surface with a piece of soft bread.
3. Suede – to remove smudges, gently rub the area with a piece of bread.
4. Walls – to clean smudges, wipe the area with a piece of soft bread.
With such a huge list of uses for bread I don’t think that there’ll ever be a wasted piece again. Do you have a unique use? Share it with us in the comments below.
Picture from: Behance (2013 Calendar – Berlys Bread Company)* If, by some small miracle, you worked at Amway in Ada, MI in the 1980’s and were the person my mother loaned the notebook to, please Contact Me. The notebook is a small (aprox. 6″x9″) black leather, 3-ring binder, and contains hand drawn patterns (teddy bear), recipes and household tips and tricks. It would mean so much to my family to have it back.
I’ve never thought about bread to clean up grease. Makes perfect sense! We actually keep a couple slices of cheap, white bread in the freezer for plumbing projects. You take a piece, ball it up, and stick it in the pipe to stop any drips while you are working on the pipes. Since it is just bread, when you turn the water back on, it sort of dissolves and goes away. (visiting from Welcome Home Wednesdays)
What a great idea! My husband is a plumber, I’ll have to share this tip with him.
This is so interesting! I usually just throw any bread I’m not sure I’ll use in the freezer or I make breadcrumbs with it.
That’s what I used to do, but I was ending up with more bread than I could use for bread crumbs.
I had no idea that bread had so many uses! Some of those seem so crazy to me. Did you test out all of these ways yourself? I just wonder how crazy my husband will think I am if he comes home and sees me dusting with a slice of bread. Hahah! Thanks for sharing!
Some do seem a little crazy! My grandmother had a homemaking journal that she created during WWII which was lost. My family, friends and I have been trying to re-create it, most of the uses are ones that my family remembers from the journal. I don’t have any oil paintings so I haven’t tried the dusting, but I have used many of the others. Removing the fat from soup works really good!
I’ve always made bread pudding for major family gatherings with my leftover/stale bread. I just throw it in the freezer and come Thanksgiving and Christmas, I make great big pans of bread pudding. It’s become a family tradition and my adult kids save their breads for Mom’s pudding. I fill my small blue oval roaster for each pudding and I never have any leftovers. My daughter-in-law is going to learn the recipe this year, so that she can take over when I can’t cook easily any more.