So let me preface what I’m about to say by saying that I love my kids and I love spending time with them. But I’m a creature of habit. I love having a routine. While I try to be flexible in many areas of my life, if my general everyday schedule is spontaneously messed up without warning, it messes me up.

This week, school has gotten cancelled again. And again. And then my landline rings at 4:00 pm and since the only people who call me on my landline are telemarketers, collectors looking for Meshach McCall (have no idea if that’s how his name is spelled), and the robocall announcing that school is cancelled the next day, I get this sinking feeling of doom that school has been cancelled again. And it was. One of those was a legit snow day (actually, it was because of an ice storm–does that make it an ice day?), but the other two were iffy (like today when it was 55 degrees and sunny outside and I made my kids run up and down the driveway 20 times. Our driveway is unusually long.)

Either way, I’m off my game. I find myself showering for the day in the late afternoon and changing from one pair of yoga pants to another pair of yoga pants. I don’t do this in the summer because I’m ready for it. Armed with swimming lessons and playdates and routines. But this…I am not prepared for this.

So during our pseudo snow day adventures, we tried using up what food we had in the house. On Monday, we had French Dip sandwiches on ciabatta rolls from Sam’s Club, but when we all ended up tummy troubles (yes, I hate the word “tummy,” unless you’re asking a baby where his tummy is, but that’s about as much detail as I’m willing to go into) and the meat smelled a little funky the next day, we decided to play it safe and toss the leftovers. So then we had a whole bunch of leftover rolls, teetering on the edge of going bad.

When I made this Minestrone Soup, I decided to use the leftover rolls to make garlic bread. Even then, I still had a bunch of rolls leftover (I didn’t want to make more than we needed because I would either eat the extras or throw them away because, let’s face it, no one wants reheated toasted garlic bread) and I still had some garlic butter left. I was about to pack up the garlic butter and toss the bread (because it was on the edge) when I remembered the one piece of wisdom I gleaned from the dreadful summer I worked at the grocery store bakery the summer before I went to college: use the day-old (or older) bread to make garlic bread and then freeze it. Yes, that’s right, the garlic bread you buy at the grocery store is yesterday’s French bread that didn’t sell. At least that’s how it worked at this particular grocery store.

So no. This is not the most mind-blowing recipe either. But it’s a little life-hack that will make things easier–just imagine a world where a) that yummy preservative-free bread never goes to waste because you didn’t get around to eating it fast enough and b) you’re never too far away from hot garlic bread.

Ingredient Notes

Bread – Pretty much any sturdy loaf or rolls will work here. I like Italian or French bread. Sourdough would be amazing. In these pictures I used ciabatta. This is one of my favorite ways to use up leftover bread that I know we won’t get to before it dries up.
Butter – I’ve listed a basic recipe for garlic butter, but you can always mix things up with something like this Herbed Garlic Butter with Feta and Lemon, this Creamy Jalapeno-Lime Butter, or this Homemade Garlic Bread Seasoning mixed with butter.
Cheese – Cheese is optional, but a good sprinkling of Parmesan or shredded mozzarella is a delicious addition.

Instructions

Mix up your desired garlic butter from the list above. If your bread isn’t pre-sliced, slice it in half.

Then spread each side with the garlic butter. If you want to get crazy, you could sprinkle one side with Parmesan or shredded mozzarella cheese.

Tightly wrap each piece of bread in aluminum foil and then place each wrapped loaf in a Ziploc bag and label it with the date. Unless you’re doing a whole baguette or loaf of French bread–then just wrap it in plastic wrap to try and keep it from freezer burning.

When you’re ready to serve it, take out as many pieces as you need. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and pop the wrapped loaves in there (you don’t even have to wait for it to preheat). Check on it after 20 minutes or so and place it back in the oven if it needs a little more time. If you’d like to toast it just a little, you can place the halves, buttered-side-up under the broiler during the last few minutes. Remove from oven and carefully cut it however you want to.

Serving Suggestions

What can’t you serve garlic bread with? Here are some Our Best Bites Favorites!

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does this stay fresh in the freezer? Frozen bread of any sort is usually good for up to 3 months in the freezer. After that it is still safe to eat, but the chances of it getting some freezer burn or a bit of an off flavor increase.

Did You Make This?

I’d love to hear from you! Snap a picture and tag me on Instagram, then come back and give this recipe a rating!