Oops, bought 11 loaves of sliced whole grain bread

[prunefeet]

I placed an order from Freshdirect the other day and somehow ordered 11 loaves of bread, instead of one. What a blunder!! It's Arnold's 12 grain sandwich bread. It's my intention to find a food bank for much of it, but I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas for too much bread of this sort. I am not much of a sliced sandwich bread kind of girl, I prefer hunks torn off a crusty loaf...any ideas?

[jfood]

P

Jfood was heading done a similar path when he read the post about the Food Bank.

Another suggestion, one that jfood has done over the years is now buy packages of ham or bologna and some american cheese plus mustard. Make as many sandwiches as possible, wrap them up and bring them to the local shelters.

Call ahead and see if there is a particular day wen they might need these extras.

[chicgail]

Here's another idea. In my neighborhood, homeless people troll the alleys looking for useful discards. If I put loaves of bread out there -- especially with a note -- they'd be in the hands of people who can use them in no time.

[weezycom]

Maybe your local fire department would take it off your hands. I'm sure they've got a big freezer and go through a lot of sandwiches.

That, or host a really big poker tournament.

[damadchef]

The breadcrumbs are definitely the way to go on this one

[renov8r]

By any chance do you work for a car dealer? I'm always hearing those commercials -- "Oops! We ordered too many new cars. Come on down and help us out..."

But seriously, I have had pretty good luck freezing loaves of sandwich bread. The super large zipper closure freezer bags help to prevent moisture loss and a good cold deep freezer will hold the stuff for many many weeks if not months. I would not recommend that you keep frozen bread in a regular self defrosting freezer, as the defrost cycles seem to ruin the textures of most things more quickly.

[oakjoan]

renov8r, that is hilarious. Made my day! And that's saying something. Thanks.

[pitterpatter]

That is so funny. I would think that Freshdirect would notice something amiss, as this mistake happens all the time. I once worked for a distributor where milk was entered by the piece, and orange juice was entered by the case, and they were one digit off. Can you imagine how many tiny restaurant iowners called me to say that the delivery guy was bringing in 24 cases of orange juice?

Make strata, which is savory bread pudding, and make sweet bread pudding.

[financialdistrictresident]

Give the bread to someone less fortunate, your local Soup Kitchen, etc.

If I have leftover or stale bread I make breadcrumbs and freeze them.

[prunefeet]

Yeah, I tried, and they would not take it. Only canned and boxed stuff. But thanks.

[rworange]

You could always make kvas
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/29100...

Probably too late, but just leave the loaves out on a bench or something in an area with homeless people. Someone will pick it up. I see from your posts on your profile you are in a metro area so there should be places to drop it.

Sometimes churches will accept what soup kitchens wont. You could make some sandwiches and donate them to church groups. Usually the St Vincent de Paul Society will take them.

Sometimes I just make sandwiches and hand them out to homeless people on the street.

You can always go to the beach and feed the seagulls or a park and feed the ducks and pigeons ... yeah, yeah, pigeons ... flying rats ... but at least they will eat it ... just be sure local laws don't prevent feeding birds.

[chicgail]

A knock on the door and a loaf-of-bread-in-hand might also be a good way to get to know you neighbors. If you already know them, a party might be in order.

[Full tummy]

Grilled cheese sandwiches, yum! One is never enough. Invite some friends for lunch and tell them to bring the cheese. Serve with a salad.

[mojoeater]

Have a crostini party! Cut the slices into four pieces each and toast. Make a variety of toppings like tomato bruschetta, hummus, tapenade, roast beef w/horseradish sauce, salmon spread, etc. Invite folks to bring wine and hang out at your place.

[prunefeet]

You guys are great! Such quick responses. Revsharkie, my freezer could fit 2, maybe 3 loaves. I just hate to waste food. Good suggestions! I'm going to get fat on all this bread!!

[othervoice]

Well there's a couple of things you can do.....dry it in the oven and make bread crumbs. Bake it with spices and olive oil and make croutons. French Toast. Big pan of bread pudding. Stuffing mix.

I know some of the food bank's around here won't even take donations like that, Maybe you'rs aren't as picky.

[dietfoodie]

This sounds like a fantastic excuse to make bread pudding. You can pretend the whole grain makes it healthy! Hmmm... make bread crumbs and freeze for later?

[revsharkie]

Whoops! Do you have a freezer you can put it in?

I'd cube some up and make a strata.

[LauraB]

A bit of a warning - I am not 100% sure about multi-grain bread and strata/bread pudding if the bread has any sort of seeds or large grain pieces - I tried it once and there was something weird in the texture - soft egg and whole grains just do not go together well in my book. I think French toast is fine since it is not as soft. Croutons, breadcrumbs, grilled cheese and crostini all sound great if you cannot give any away.

[piccola]

Funny, that's exactly why I like using whole-grain bread for strata, etc: the grain adds heft and texture. Otherwise, I find it too soft.

[LauraB]

I like really crusty bread (which also add heft/texture) in strata, but somehow soft sandwich bread with seeds just weirded me out. I guess it is just one of those personal preference things.

[piccola]

I see what you mean. I usually toast it into oblivion first, I think it helps. But you're right that crusty bread is number one.