Why My Friend Heather Makes Her Own BreadCrumbs
Long-time readers of A Better Bag of Groceries might remember my friend Heather.
She is part of the 40 Club – those of us blowing out 40 candles us on our cakes in 2010.
Heather is a really, really good cook. As in “out of this world” good. I have learned a lot about cooking from Heather in the 14 years that we’ve been friends. Heather is also a healthy cook, so I pay attention to many of her suggestions and recipes.
A few months ago, Heather told me that she did not buy packaged bread crumbs and that instead she made her own.
“Really?” I said, as I dredged my cod fillets in some Progresso bread-crumbs while we chatted on the phone.
“Oh, yeah,” she said. “Bread crumbs. Not good.”
“‘Kay! Thanks for the tip.” And we hung up.
I Love Heather, but making my own bread crumbs is not making it to the top of my priority list. Thankfully, Heather is awesome and when she comes to visit, she brings me a big bag of her homemade crumbs!
Fast forward to last week, when I was perusing the aisles of my local Big Y, taking lots of pictures of NuVal scores on different products and I found myself in the Bread Crumb department. Ouch!!!! No wonder Heather goes though the pain of making her own!
First I saw the scores of the Progresso bread crumbs, the kind that I grew up with! Ugh!
4C scores were a little bit better, but not by much.
The 100% Whole Wheat Seasoned score was at least getting closer to the score for a piece of wheat bread!
And then I saw it – Ian’s Panko 100% Whole Wheat Breadcrumbs with a score of 50!
Wow! This product really stood out in this category. So, when I run out of my big bag of Heather’s homemade bread crumbs, I know I can get some of these Ian’s.
That is what is so cool about NuVal – I never would have paid attention to the Ian’s without that 50 score on the shelf tag! I can’t tell you how many new products I’ve tried because of high NuVal scores.
I’ve always considered myself a healthy eater, but more and more, I find that there are still a few products that I’m buying that I can still trade up. Bread crumbs was definitely one of them! Heather (as usual, when it comes to food) was right!
Question of the Day
Have you found that something you were eating or buying scored lower than you expected on the NuVal scale? If so what was it?
Posted by: Melissa 13 comments
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on Nov 12th, 2010 at 8:14 am
The NuVal scale is not available in any stores near me. But I do make my own bread crumbs sometimes too. I often buy matzo meal to use as bread crumbs because it is not loaded with sodium like the Progresso crumbs. I am also a fan of the Panko crumbs for the same reason!
on Nov 12th, 2010 at 8:24 am
I’m so excited you did a segment on this. I just switched last month to Panko and whole wheat(I sometimes mix them depending on what I’m serving. So how would the scores compare with the homemade vs. higher score brands? How does Heather make her bread crumbs?
on Nov 12th, 2010 at 9:14 am
Oh that sassy Heather – always making us look bad (but I still love her…)but thanks goodness I love Panko so now I will buy this breadcrumbs and ditch the pregresso ones!! awesome tip!
on Nov 12th, 2010 at 9:34 am
Funny that I’m with you on not wanting to make my own, but I think about it and realize it’s SO EASY and I’m just being lazy!
on Nov 12th, 2010 at 11:04 am
I have definitely chosen a brand of panko bread crumbs because of the NuVal score. I don’t remember what the scores were, but I bought the second-highest scoring brand (World Classics–a United brand) because the highest scoring one was too expensive, I think. Or it was double the calories. I can’t remember. But I think I distinctly waited until I could get to Market Street and see the NuVal scores before choosing bread crumbs.
on Nov 12th, 2010 at 11:16 am
Any chance Heather wants to tell us how she makes her bread crumbs? I’d love to know the bread choice and seasonings!
on Nov 12th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
So, I got my friend Heather on the phone – in between appointments – she is a busy social worker, when she is not in her kitchen! Here is how she makes her own bread crumbs:
She saves the heels of her 100% Arnold Whole Wheat Bread (NuVal score of 41) and she grinds them up in her food processor using the metal blade. Then, she spreads the crumbs on a cookie sheet and toasts them in a 350 degree oven until they are lightly browned. Once they are cooled, she transfers them to a large resealable bag and stores them in the freezer. Very easy! Thanks to Heather for the Recipe Over The Phone!
Melissa
on Nov 12th, 2010 at 12:57 pm
Thanks to you and Heather!!
on Nov 12th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Thanks Heather and Melissa!
on Nov 12th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
Thanks for Heather’s recipe–this will be a much less expensive alternative to bread crumbs as well!
on Nov 13th, 2010 at 8:29 am
I just bought Panko the other day! My Mom is obsessed with it!
on Nov 13th, 2010 at 9:35 am
NuVal score of 5? Yikes! I can see why your friend makes her own breadcrumbs, because some of the ones out there taste like cardboard. I admit, I tend to use the store-bought panko, but whenever I have made my own, they always taste so much better. Ah, well, if I only had unlimited time
I hope you had a great time at FNCE!
on Nov 14th, 2010 at 4:39 pm
I have never bought bread crumbs in a box or bag at the grocery store (except, once, from the bakery department). They all seem to have things added to them (I prefer to choose my own seasonings), they’ve been sitting on the shelf for who knows how long?, and they’re pretty expensive for, well, CRUMBS OF BREAD.
I keep a ziplock in the freezer with all the ends of bread – or pieces that started to go stale. When the bag gets full, I pull out the food processor and whirl up the bread – yes, frozen is fine. Then, it all goes back in the bag until I need to use it. I don’t even bother toasting it. You can do that shortly before you use it, if you need *toasted* bread crumbs for your recipe. Most of my bread is whole wheat, but any kind will work.
You can also tear up a piece or two of fresh bread and pulse it in your blender (or food processor) if you are out of crumbs. These would be called “fresh bread crumbs” in a recipe.