Homemade Multigrain Croutons

My husband and I used to be BIG on buying those premade Caesar salad kits. They're cheap enough, convenient, and pretty tasty. We always bought the "light" kit, which had a lighter dressing and croutons, but no cheese or bacon bits.


Then we realized ... Um. We're paying $4 for romaine and croutons and a little dressing?! When we have our favorite Renee's dressing and parmesan cheese at home in the fridge?! And romaine lettuce is $0.79?! And we can just make our own croutons?!


So we ended up paying $2 all together for a head of romaine lettuce and a fresh baked loaf of multigrain bread. And we've been able to have two Caesar salads so far and still have ingredients left to make more!

A close-up of croutony goodness.

Daddy Lego made the most incredible croutons out of that multigrain loaf. I still dream about them at night.


Here's how to make them:


Preheat your oven to 200 degrees. Take four pieces of bread (try not to get a moist, dense bread - if you prefer really crunchy croutons, go for a lighter bread) and cut them (or rip them) into small pieces (slighter bigger than playing dice). Toss them in with 2 tbsp of light butter and 2 tsp of fresh minced garlic. Spread them out on a baking tray and bake for one hour. Cool to room temperature and add them to your Caesar salad - yum!!


How easy was that?!


With the thin-sliced multigrain bread we used and the light butter, our croutons were two points per serving (half a cup!). Delicious, all natural, fresh and homemade with no question to how long they were sitting on a shelf in the grocery store. That makes me smiley :)


Enjoy!

All homemade yummies - caesar salad, croutons, red pepper marinara sauce and panzerottis! Will be posting more recipes soon!