All Is Lost but Not the Homemade Croutons!

No, All is Lost is not the name of this dish I made tonight but it is the movie we watched. Trust me, I will not be making any movie reviews on this blog but felt like I had to at least reference this movie because it was different. A good different. Let me back up a moment, I should say the movie Nate, Tyler, Zachary and I saw, Dave was fast asleep on the couch snoring! My intent was to rent Julie and Julia, highly recommended by a few friends. They didn't have it so we rented All is Lost. The movie starred Robert Redford and is about a man stranded in the middle of the ocean as a result of his yacht colliding into large shipping container. He was lost at sea for eight days trying to survive on what he had. He is the only character and there is barely any dialogue...and of the few words he does use, one of them is the "f" word, yikes!!! Luckily the boys and I laughed about it and they are old enough to understand it's a very bad word, never to be used! When we rented the movie from Redbox we had no idea there was no dialogue or only one character, the description basically said "Man lost at sea trying trying to survive, edge of your seat gripping." In hind site, luckily Dave was sleeping because he would've said "I can't believe I just wasted 100 minutes of my life watching that." I really enjoyed the movie and surprisingly the boys really did too. It reminded me of Cast Away with Tom Hanks, minus Wilson! It reminded the boys of Life of Pi. I'm not endorsing you to rent this for your kids, it was a fluke rental for us. But what was so cool about this movie is that it was so thought provoking. And since there was no dialogue the boys had so much to say during the movie like, "why is he doing that" or "I would be so angry right now" or "I would do this instead" or "I feel so bad for him." The ending could be interpreted in a few different ways...I won't say what we thought in case you plan on watching it but we also had a chance to talk about perseverance and never giving up.  If you rent this movie because of my quasi review and you don't like it, I accept no responsibility!

SO I DID MAKE DINNER TONIGHT, REALLY! I made Steak Caesar Salad with Homemade Croutons. Every time I make salad for dinner Dave thinks: not enough food. So while I was making dinner he was eating pretzels and sunflower seeds. I was like seriously Dave! This salad was plenty dinner hearty. I never ever buy store bought croutons. Let me repeat, I never ever buy store bought croutons, nor should you! Homemade croutons are the best and sooo easy to make! They are so good they can be eaten as a snack all by themselves. I typically make mine a bit larger than normal so the outside is crunchy and the middle is a tad spongy. It's a great way to use up few day old bread too. I am always buying artisanal breads from Wegmans and Dash's but the only problem is we rarely finish them before they start going bad...so making croutons out of it is ideal! There are so many variations as well, like the type of bread or herbs and spices you choose. Caesar salads scream and beg for croutons in them, so tonight I made my basic recipe. I'm surprised any of my croutons even made it to the salad because everyone kept stealing them once they came out of the oven! I couldn't help but stealing a few myself! If your family doesn't steal all of your homemade croutons and you have leftovers, they can be stored in a ziplock bag or sealed container for up to three days in the refrigerator. So toss your store bought croutons and start making your own...I promise you won't want to buy them again! Salute to All is Lost and homemade croutons!

Basic Homemade Garlic Crouton (Click to print recipe)

Prep and cook time: 30 minutes

• 2 cups day old bread, cubed 1/2 - 3/4 inch (I used day old french baguette) 
• 1/4 cup olive oil (I used Wegmans brand Basting Oil)
• 1/4 t garlic powder
• salt n pepper

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Meanwhile, cube bread and set aside. In a bowl mix olive oil, salt n pepper, and garlic powder. Add bread cubes and mix until well coated in olive oil. In a single layer place croutons on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Stir and bake for another 10 minutes or so. They should be crispy when you take them out of the oven. Let sit until cool. Add them to salads or soups.

Food Impressions:

Nate, Tyler and Zachary:  dave and I just had the salad but they devoured the croutons before, during and after our dinner. Yep, that's how much they love homemade croutons!