DIY - Cracker crumbs

As I walked down the isle of the grocery store I noticed that you can purchase pre-made bread crumbs in a cardboard tube container for just 99 cents. I stopped and thought to myself, hmmm...is it cheaper to buy this or to make my own. The answer is make my own. Now for those of you who have not done this before, I am going to give you a few tips.

1. Bread crumbs are overrated, use cracker or pretzel crumbs instead. They have more flavor and make a much crunchier breading.
2. You do not need a specific type of cracker or pretzel, this is where you use up what is already open and finish off those odd ball boxes/bags plaguing your cabinet. Using up what you have on hand is why this becomes cheaper than buying them pre-made. You are not buying new item, but instead using what is left from another one. If you are a sale/coupon hunter, you probably only spend 99 cents on that box/bag BEFORE you used part of it up for snacking. Just make sure they are not stale before using.
3. Using a food processer is the most efficent way to make your own -
• Put the crackers and/or pretzels in the food processor and use the "pulse" button to break the pieces into crumbs.
• Add spices of choice minus the salt (crackers and pretzels already have salt on them) to the crumbs and hit pulse button on food processor a few more times
• Use crumb mixture in about any recipe that calls for bread crumbs. I use them as breadding for my baked chicken, in meatloaf etc.
4. If you do not have a food processor, you can do the same as step 2 manually by using a heavy duty ziploc type bag and a rolling pin. Simply "beat" the crackers/pretzels into crumbs and then shake the bag to mix up the spices. Yes, you bag will get some small holes in it, so it gets pretty messy.
5. Homemade bread/cracker crumbs are best used the same or next day. Do not try to store them for use a month of two down the road, they become stale fairly quickly.

Photo pulled from whatscookingamerica.net