Crispy Croutons

With Grandma now living with us, it has been interesting to see what a creature of habit she is.  She's got her routines in the morning and afternoon, and follows a strict after-dinner clean-up/Wheel of Fortune schedule at night.  She also has her "places".  The Italian pastry shop down the road, the Chinese food place up the block, the ONLY diner (in a town that has 5 within two seconds from each other) that she likes because they make her Western Omelette to perfection.  Oh yeah, and her #1 Italian restaurant choice of all time.  Obvi.  I used to work there in high school and I would stuff my face all day long.  Shocking, I know.

When you order from their takeout menu, they give you a few mini baguettes on the side.  Alone, they are fantasic, and with the food they are perfection, but they have so much potential outside of the takeout box (see what I did there?).

Croutons.

Crispy.  Crunchy.  Warm.  Did I say crispy?

What you will need for 1.5 cups:

• 2 small baguettes
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil for the frying pan, plus some more for drizzling
• 1/2 tablespoon of oregano
• 1/2 tablespoon of basil
• 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1/2 tablespoon  parsley

Cut the bread into cubes and set aside.  In a large frying pan, heat the 3 tablespoons of olive oil for about 30 seconds.  Place the bread cubes face down in the oil, and toast until golden brown, about 5 minutes.  Once golden, flip the bread to toast up the other side.  Drizzle with some additional olive oil and sprinkle with the oregano, basil, garlic powder and parsley.  Toast for another 5 minutes, and do a quick stir to mix everything together.

Serve immediately.

I prefer to eat these alone, but if you're normal, I guess you can put them in a salad or something *wink*

Xoxo

Jillian