DAH! Just got the idea!
 

I'm shaking my head, thinking how dense I have been! I eat white bread...not what I call amercan bread...the kind already sliced in the bag...like wonder, butternut or whatever. No, I like crusted French or Italian......but I don't eat it everyday, three meals a day, so because it has a short "shelf life" I have for several years now been either throwing "green" bread away,or giving it to the birds outside when hard.....can only make so much bread crumbs and bread pudding,.suddenly about a month ago, lightening struck! Why not slice it when I buy it fresh, put into a ziplock, suck air out with a straw and put into freezer. Then when I want toast or whatever...take out slices I want and it's crusty and "like fresh". Maybe this will enlighten someone else...

ps... Picked up one of those bread slicer/ tray at goodwill, which I think was what started my brain working...love how it cuts even slices.........just a thought

That's what I do, too. But I do it because otherwise I would eat the whole loaf by myself - lightly buttered, with romano cheese sprinkled on it, and into the oven for a few minutes of toasting. Yum!

Hmm, never heard about the paper towel....good trick...will remember that too.

I keep all extra bread in portions in the freezer. I even make huge batches of cornbread and do this. We live in the country and you don't just run to the store when you run out!

I bake tons of bread and I like to wrap it fresh from the oven in a large paper towel and then put it in a zip lock bag. It can then be stored in your fridge, or put into a small bread box for use. If I have any get dry, I just cube it up and use it for croutons, or make bread pudding, or smash it into fine bread crumbs and finish drying it out for casserole toppings. I also feed the birds bread. They love it.

I vacuum seal bread on the moist setting. All excess air is out but not from the bread. I usually make our bread but I do buy a loaf of Italian bread or sourdough from the bakery every so often. It keeps frozen sealed and after thawing it tastes like fresh. My DD freezes several slices at a time so she always has good bread when she wants it. A loaf would go bad at her house before it was eaten. Frozen slices do not have to be thawed to go in the toaster for fantastic toast.

I have a Foodsaver vacuuming system. I shop once a month (or less). After putting groceries away, the Foodsaver comes out and I prep short life items for freezing. This system has saved me hundreds of dollars!

I freeze all my bread too. The wheat bread is so expensive. On bagel Tuesday at panera's I bring home a dozen,wrap each cut bagel, place in freezer. And the bakery special loafs too. This way I have more variety,and less waste.

As the oldest of 6 kids many times I saw my mother pick the green dots off the bread and make us a sandwich or toast. I will still do that and it horrifies my husband. If he finds the bread first he tosses it off the deck for the birds and our chickens. I keep telling him that he will wish for that bread in retirement when we are poor:)