Easy Bread Dressing

I call it dressing and not stuffing because I don't stuff my birds (unless they're cornish hens). You can stuff a bird with this if you like.

This is so much yummier than anything from a box. Using fresh bread, there's no need to add a lot of broth for moistening and that makes it a pretty frugal side dish.

My bread today is frozen simply because a certain preschooler sat on a loaf of bread and squished it. So I cubed it up (okay, ROY cubed it up) and we threw it back in the bag and froze it. I briefly (less than 2 minutes) defrosted it in the microwave, broke it up into a big bowl and tossed it all into a warm oven (200F) while I was getting every thing else ready. I just didn't want ice crystals remaining to turn my dressing into goop.

You need:

• 3/4 c margarine or butter (butter tastes wonderful but a heart-healthy margarine is a lower-fat choice) (you can also use a mixture of margarine and broth to equal 3/4 c for even fewer calories and fat)
  
• 2 large celery stalks (with leaves), chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 3/4 c finely chopped onion (I use dehydrated chopped onion and reconstitute it by covering it with hot water. I will use 1/4 c dehydrated onion. I prefer dehydrated onion because it has a much milder flavour than fresh onion and I can't afford to use scallions in my everyday cooking! Plus, dehydrated onion keeps forever!)
• 9 c soft bread cubes (I usually use an assortment of breads, whole grains, dark breads, and high-fibre white bread. Today it's just white because that's what my monster squished.)
• 1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh or 1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground sage
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Melt the margarine in a big ole skillet over medium heat. I use my wok.
Add the celery & onion and cook 'til they're tender, stirring with a wooden spoon. While that's cooking, toss the other ingredients together in a big bowl.

Once the celery and onion are tender (we're talking 2 minutes, tops) turn the heat down to the lowest setting and stir in the rest of the ingredients.



Stir and toss and stir and toss and stir and toss with a big wooden spoon until everything is well blended and warmed through. Serve it up & enjoy!





This makes 10 servings and takes about 5 minutes to cook, another 5 to prepare. Yes, it's double what we need, but my husband will eat lots of it!