Bagels with cream cheese are a weekend treat for us, and if we're feeling particularly generous toward ourselves, we buy a baker's dozen for munching all weekend long. This inevitably leads to a few slightly stale bagels left in the bottom of the bag come Monday morning. But not like that's a bad thing! What do you do with leftover bagels during the week?

Here are a few ideas for using up those few remaining bagels:

1. Make Sandwiches - Because leftover bagels are a little too chewy for our taste, we pack the bagels and the sandwich fixings separately in our lunch. At work, we toast the bagels before assembling them into warm, crunchy sandwich.

2. Make Bagel Pizzas - A favorite from when we were kids, and still a great quick weeknight meal! We smear the bagel with a little tomato sauce, a sprinkling of cheese, and whatever pizza toppings we're in the mood for, and then we bake them under the broiler or in a toaster oven until the cheese is bubbly.

3. In Salad - Leftover bagels may be too stale to eat on their own, but we've found that we really like them torn up into big, soft croutons in our salad. They soak up a bit of the dressing, and add some substance to the salad. Sometimes we toast the bagel first for a little crunch.

4. In Frittata - Like leftover pasta, we'll throw cubes of bagel into a dinner frittata. Think of this as a quick, extra-eggy bread pudding!

5. In Bread Pudding - And while we're at it, why not make savory bread pudding?! We don't usually have enough bagels left for a full-sized pudding, but we can make smaller ones in individual ramekins. Just fill a ramekin with bagel chunks, cheese, and veggies, then pour a mixture of egg and milk over the top. Let it sit for a little while and then bake at 350°.

How else do you use bagels during the week?

Related: Food Science: Why Bagels Are Boiled

(Image: Flickr member Mel B. licensed under Creative Commons)