Homemade Croutons/Munchies

When you have some bread that has dried out, make bread crumbs OR you can also make delicious croutons which are a popular munching treat at our house.


1 to 2 loaves French or whole grain bread
1/4 cup Greek (or other) olive oil --another type of vegetable oil can be substituted
1 teaspoon each kosher salt, dill weed, granulated garlic, onion powder
1/8 teaspoon finely ground black pepper

Seasonings used for croutons, plus Greek olive oil

Cut the bread into crouton-sized cubes.  Put into a large bowl or covered container.  Drizzle with the olive oil then stir well, or cover and shake until all sides of the bread cubes are coated with oil.

Bread cubes in bucket having been "oiled" and shaken.

Place all the spices and herbs in a bowl and stir well to combine.  Sift over the bread cubes then stir well or cover and shake until all side are seasoned.

Seasonings sifted over the bread cubes that were previously spread with oil.

In the meantime, heat the oven to 350 degrees F.  When croutons-to-be are well coated, place them in a half-sheet pan or very large baking pan with high sides (to avoid spillage when stirring) and spread out to make as close to one layer deep as possible.

Bake for 20 minutes then remove from oven and stir well.  Return to oven and bake an additional 10 minutes.  After the 30 minutes total baking time, remove from oven and let cool to room temperature.  Store in a covered container....if you can keep hands from the container!

At our house these disappear rather quickly.  They are tastier, cheaper (you already have the bread!), and healthier than potato and other chips.  Of course, to make this last true, you cannot eat the whole container at one sitting....

Quick and Easy Homemade Tortilla Chips

Our family loves tortillas and salsa...particularly fresh salsa.  A new rub has been that I have tried making homemade tortilla chips.  The exciting thing is:  they work!  and they are quick and easy.

We started with a bag of slightly older corn tortillas.  Well, actually, they were old enough that some of them were crumbly.  Those tortillas stayed in the bag!  For the rest, though!!!

To make the tortilla chips:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Get out a half sheet pan, or other large flat plan.

Place one tortilla on cutting board and brush top with olive oil then sprinkle with coarse sea salt...not a lot then cover with a second tortilla.  Brush that tortilla with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  Place a third tortilla on top and repeat the process.

When you have brushed with oil and salted 8 tortillas, with a very sharp knife (I love to use my Chef's knife which is very sharp and works great for almost everything!) cut the tortilla stack into quarters then lay the quarters on the sheet pan so they do not overlap, if possible.  If they overlap a very little it is ok.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for ten minutes then turn over carefully.  Let bake another 5 minutes then turn off oven.  Check to see if they are a light golden brown.  If not, let them sit in the oven for another 2-3 minutes, checking at the end of each minute.  They CAN burn so do watch them.

 If they seem not to be crispy when they come out, do not worry. If they have been in the oven for at least fifteen minutes, they should crisp up as they cool...that being said, they taste fabulous warm with guacamole or fresh salsa.