Fixing A Stale Food Dilemma

Sometimes when you've been trying to stretch dollars for years, as many of us have, it seems like we face the same old stale problems over and over again. We face the choice of spending money on a car tune up and repair or on better clothes. Or the choice of buying the higher quality item for a higher price hoping it does the job better and lasts longer or buying the less expensive option to save the money currently available.

I'm sorry, I don't have solutions for these stale old, seemingly ceaseless struggles....I wish I did....they seem to be repeaters or at least similar to so many that we face.

I DO however have an answer to some genuine 'stale' dilemmas....of course in the food department.

By now, if you know me, you may realize that if it sin't growing anything on it, I'm going to find a way to still use food. What can you do when items go stale? Some things just don't do so well when they're bricks rather than biscuits. Well, there are some solutions to problems such as these. Actually there are a number of solutions for the same old stale problems of stale food....

Let's look into some foods that get stale or hard and the solutions to salvage them rather than trashing them:

Stale cereals or crackers: When these items go stale they are actually moist, chewy, bland and not enjoyable as a food at all! Lay the crackers out or pour the cereal onto a cookie sheet and place in the oven at 200 degree (F) for 15-20 minutes. Or put them in a food dehydrator for an hour. Then as soon as the cereal or crackers have become room temp again (not warm at all) put in air tight bags and use as usual.

Rice Krispy Treats, Hard biscuits or cookies: Did you leave the cookies out and they got rock hard and are only good now for skipping on water? Do you take a chance on breaking a tooth? Certainly not! Any baked good that has become too dry can be softened up (without a microwave) by putting it in either a plastic bag that can seal tight or under a cake dome with a half of an apple. That's right, slice an apple in half (be sure to use the other half) and place among those stone biscuits or brick rice krispies under glass or in plastic and in a few hours - Tah-da! They'll be soft and moist again!

French Bread or Stale Loaf: There are so very many options for still using bread that can be sliced even once it's gone stale. Make bread pudding; make bread crumbs; make croutons; make french toast - get creative with bread that may have gone stale and use it up.

Don't ever give up on food too quickly. No matter what you do to find a solution to stale problems with some foods, be sure they are free from mold.