Cooking Self-Reliantly

On Sunday night I made Rachael Ray's delicious "Stromboli Bread":

Rachael Ray's Official Website :: Pat's Stromboli Bread

I have made this before and usually end up with 2 problems: problem one is the insides of the bread.  What do I do with it once I scoop it out of the loaf?  I eat it, of course!  But that is kind of wasteful (although very tasty).  So this time I took a note from Martha Stewart's book and made some delicious croutons.  Simply toss cubed bread in a little EVOO, pop them in the oven while the Stromboli Bread is baking and voila!

Okay, problem two: I always have extra stuffing.  Maybe Rachael's bread is bigger or maybe she tastes more stuffing along the way, but I always have way too much and it usually goes to waste.  My solution here was actually another RR recipe: I mixed the leftovers together with some kidney beans, added a can of chicken broth and BAM! soup for lunches!  Guess what goes great on top of that?  Homemade croutons, that's what.

So as you can see, I'm fairly proud of myself and my cooking adventures this week.  Tonight I am home alone so I made a grilled cheese-- not exactly gourmet but better than take-out!