From Crusts to Croutons

My kids hate the crusts of bread. How does this begin? We show no preference toward one part of a loaf of bread or another in our house. We are an equal opportunity bread loving family. And yet if you try and make a sandwich out of the stubby beginning or end of a loaf of bread, my kids won't eat it. I've tried the trick of turning the crusty side inward, so it looks like an ordinary bread slice, but they're hip to this trick. So now I've had to come up with a new plan to keep from wasting these two slices of each loaf of bread. I am making some gourmet croutons. Because if you leave a salad with croutons within arm's reach of my toddlers they will eat every last one right off the top. Here's what you'll need:
1.Several slices of day-old bread. You can lay the crusts as well as any other bread you've got lying around out on the counter for a night and this will dry it nicely. I had about a 1/4 loaf of french bread that was getting stale that I used along with my crusts
2. Olive Oil
3. Salt and Pepper
4. Garlic Salt
5. Assorted Spices (I used Basil, Oregano, and Parsely)
*Preheat oven to 450

All of this is guess and by gosh. I measured nothing but I had a rough recipe from my days working as a waitress in a local Italian Restaurant. I roughly cubed the day old bread and put it in a container with a lid. Then I liberally drizzled olive oil over the cubes, covered the dish, and shook it to coat the cubes evenly. After the bread is evenly coated, add your spices. Again, I didn't measure, but I added a lot of garlic powder and parsely, a teaspoon or so of oregano, and maybe a tablespoon of basil, followed by black pepper and salt. Then I covered the dish again and shook it to coat all the cubes with spices. Once everything looked evenly coated, I spread the cubes out onto a cookie sheet lined with foil and baked them for about 12 minutes at 450, turning them halfway to make sure they browned evenly. After baking, I left them out to cool completely. Once your croutons are cool you can serve them immediately or put them in an airtight container to keep in a cool dry place. I imagine they'll last for 3-5 days or so. You can top off salads and soup with these savory croutons and really stretch a loaf of bread from end to end!