Homemade croutons and tuna potato cakes

I can't believe it's the end of the holidays already! And I just realised it's Matthew's LAST EVER school summer holiday. Oh my!

We wanted a day out with all the family before the kids go back. We went to the park and took our own food and drink. The occasions when I can't be bothered to make a picnic and think I'll just get something there, I always regret it. Food is so expensive when you're out and about. And generally not that good. I'm all for the odd treat, but spending £20 on rubbish overpriced sandwiches does not work for me! So we took sandwiches, crisps, fruit and a bottle of squash.

I've been working on the leftovers again this week. To go with my super cheap, yellow sticker soup, I made croutons from old crusts of bread. The nicer the bread, the nicer your croutons will be. It's a perfect way to use up leftover French stick. But smart price wholemeal does the trick too!

I knew I wanted to make croutons but didn't want to put the oven on just for that. So I waited until I was doing some baking and chucked them in alongside the cake.

I chopped into cubes, added salt, pepper and herbs. Then sprayed with low fat spray.

These took about 45 minutes to be totally crisp, because the oven was on low. They'll be lovely on soup or a salad!

I've also cooked up some tasty tuna potato cakes using some left over mash. This is the recipe I used, but you can chuck other herbs/veg in based on what you have. 

Leftover mash

1 tin tuna

1 small grated carrot

1/2 grated courgette

2 spring onions

1 egg

Few chives

1 tsp mustard

Salt and pepper

Just mix it all together really well and squash into patties. I coat mine in flour before frying but you could cover in breadcrumbs if you prefer. They can be served with salad or peas.

I love finding ways to use those things a lot of people would just discard. If you have some tips or tricks I'm missing, be sure to let me know!