Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Baking Day (Ugly) Photo Shoot

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We’ve had some unusually cool days this week, so beginning Thursday, once I realized the temps weren’t actually going to even reach 66°, I decided to take advantage and get some baking done. Once those 90 and 100 degree days come back, I’m going to be very thankful I did this (if there are actually any baked goods left by then!).

I always get a little bit tickled at my baking day pictures. They aren’t the prettiest pictures in the world, you know? Take for instance this picture of my big roasting pan of baked potatoes:

Ugly, isn’t it? Does it inspire you to bake potatoes? Eat potatoes? Cut black spots off of potatoes?

Well, anyway, I took that picture to show you that we (as in the boys) scrubbed 26 potatoes and baked them so we can make Homemade Hashbrowns. I LOVE doing this, but certainly don’t love baking potatoes when it’s hot outside. Now we’ve got a nice stash ready for Hashbrowns!

Moving on to the next (ugly?) picture, we have my bowl of bubbling sourdough starter:

Now, deciding whether a picture of sourdough starter is ugly or not depends on whether or not you get a kick out of making sourdough bubbles. The picture itself looks a little strange, but I happen to really appreciate sourdough, which means that I think those bubbles are beautiful. But what do I know? I think armadillos are cute.

I made a batch of Corn Dog Muffins and snapped the picture while the hot dogs were still exposed. Not the most appetizing picture, but the end result is always yummy!

So how about we quickly follow those pictures up with a picture of a big batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies I made to put in the freezer? I’m always needing cookies to take somewhere, so I decided to bake some and stash away to be prepared for later.

It was almost dark when I took the following picture, so the shot looks a little bit yellow. I made a double batch of Honey Whole Wheat Bread, a batch of Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns and a double batch of Pancake and Sausage Muffins.

That should hold us over for a while (in theory).

One last picture – I’m excited to show you my container of Cocoa Butter that I ordered and just received from Mountain Rose Herbs. I want to use them to try a different variety of Homemade Chocolate Chips, and maybe Homemade White Chocolate Chips. Wouldn’t that be fun?

Is it baking weather at your house, or are you more in the mood to sit in a swimming pool while sipping lemonade?

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Homemade Sourdough Pita Bread (and the best lunch ever)

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In case I haven’t shown my sourdough excitement to you enough, I thought maybe I should show you the sourdough pita pockets I made last week. I’ve made a lot of cool things in my kitchen, but these pitas are about the coolest things ever.

I used the easy recipe in the Sourdough A to Z eBook from GNOWFGLINS. You just follow their simple directions for no-knead sourdough, shape the dough into flat disks, bake them for just a few minutes – then they poof up in the oven and come out a pita pocket. All of us were standing by the oven watching the poof happen. Who needs TV when you can watch a pita bread poof up in the oven?

We’ve had these pitas with tuna salad, scrambled eggs, and wowza, Matt put together the most delicious Ranch Chicken Pita using leftover chicken, homemade ranch dressing and mixed greens. If only we would have had a fresh tomato from the garden!

Unrelated to pita bread, but on the topic of sourdough bread, mixed greens and homemade ranch dressing:  Another day last week I used my sourdough starter to make this gorgeous loaf of no-knead sourdough bread, which we ate with a big salad.

Sourdough A to Z eBook rocks- it is worth every penny. So far, following the book, I’ve made sourdough English muffins, honey wheat bread, breakfast muffins, no-knead bread and now pita bread. Between making fizz and souring my dough, I’m making great use of all the healthy, live bacteria in my kitchen. Science experiments never tasted so good!

What would you/do you put in your pita bread?

 

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See My Sourdough Bread! and Menu Plan for the Week

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Well…I did it. I followed along in my Sourdough A to Z eBook and here is the bread I got. Never mind that it took my chilly kitchen twelve hours to raise my dough. That’s all a part of the sourdough bread making process – waiting. Just in case you were wondering, waiting for bread to rise is not very labor intensive. I just started my bread first thing in the morning, did a bunch of other work all day while I left my bread dough alone, and finished it last thing at night. The next day we ate bread. Easy!

I was very pleased with how well the bread sliced. It was a little more dense than we prefer. I think that as I get more used to making this bread, I’ll get a better feel for working with it and I’ll be able to get it to the consistency that we like. Still, within two days, these two loaves were gone. :)

What I’m even more excited about are the Sourdough English Muffins I made from the Sourdough A to Z eBook!!! These could NOT have been any easier to make and my family devoured them! I made enough that we now have some in the freezer for this week, which is an added bonus. I’ll for sure be making these English Muffins on a regular basis. They are fantastic!


I know I already showed you the sourdough muffins I made last week, but they wanted me to show you again so they wouldn’t feel left out of this sourdough posting experience. These muffins were also super easy to make, and my family loved them!

Here is our menu for this week (which, not surprisingly, does include some sourdough items):

Sunday, May 8
Coconut flour muffins, home canned peaches
Dad and the boys grilling for Mama  :)
Whatever leftovers the boys find  :)

Monday, May 9
Whole wheat waffles, blueberries
Taco corn fritters, carrot sticks with ranch dip, applesauce
Cheesy beef and rice, green beans

Tuesday, May 10
Fried eggs on toast, pears
Chicken chef salad with peas, boiled eggs, cheese and homemade dressing
Teriyaki chicken and veggies over rice

Wednesday, May 11
Sourdough muffins, bananas
Homemade pizza pockets, fruit-kefir smoothies
Chicken veggie quesadillas, tossed salad

Thursday, May 12
Sourdough English muffins, scrambled eggs, oranges
Cheeseburger macaroni, steamed broccoli and carrots
Sloppy joes on homemade whole wheat buns, ranch potato wedges, peas

Friday, May 13
Peanut butter honey toast, applesauce
Black bean salsa with organic corn chips, clementines
Italian roast wraps, tossed salad

Saturday, May 14
Whole wheat donuts
Leftovers
OAMM’s BBQ Chicken Pizza, fruit salad

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Say Mmm is a great, free resource to help you with menu planning!

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No More Bricks! with help from BreadClass.com

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My Sourdough Has Been Revived!

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Ever since I read through GNOWFGLINS Sourdough A to Z eBook, I have been inspired to make bubbles again. Sourdough bubbles that is. I am excited to report that over the past few days, I have worked to revive my sourdough! (Actually, I just started over with a new starter because my original one was very…dead.)

These are my bubbles. Aren’t they simply gorgeous? (Just nod and smile.)

I shared about making Sourdough Starter about two and a half years ago and was very excited to make sourdough breads a healthy habit in my kitchen. Making a sourdough starter is stinkin’ easy (and by stinkin‘, I mean that the starter really does begin sporting a mildly sour funk after a few days). But I really had no idea what to do with my starter after it was started. I played around with making bread a few times, but never got anything more than a few dense loaves that my family didn’t like. And so, my sourdough starter died a long, slow death in my refrigerator because after a few months, I stopped feeding it or trying to do anything productive with it. It’s a sad story really.

BUT, I’m all excited about sourdough again, which is why I created a new starter.  I love that not only does Sourdough A to Z eBook have very thorough instructions about how to make a sourdough starter, it has loads of recipes and ideas with directions for what to do with your sourdough starter. We’re talking cakes and muffins and pita bread and pizza crust and all kinds of great goodies. I never knew there were so many things to make with sourdough! (Forgive me for sounding like I’m writing an over-eager book review. The GNOWFGLINS ladies didn’t ask me to write this. I’m just excited about my bubbles.)

Here’s the front view of my jar of sourdough starter on day three.
Again, see my cute little bubbles?

Because all of these items are made from sourdough starter, they are so much easier for our bodies to digest. I was kinda hoping you’d get excited with me and try getting a sourdough starter going too, if you don’t already have one. Let’s make bubbles together, wanna? Think of the fun we’ll have!!! (Yes, it would appear that I’ve gone a little sourdough silly.)

If you eat a gluten free diet, never fear – Sourdough A to Z eBook even shares how to create and use a Gluten Free Starter!!!!  Yes, we can ALL play at this game!!!

This happens to be a perfect time of year to get a sourdough starter going, as the weather is warm, making for easier and happier bubbles. :)  I was eager this morning and with my new sourdough starter, made delicious muffins based on a recipe in Sourdough A to Z. They didn’t taste one bit sour, in case you were wondering. My boys didn’t even know they were sourdough and ate their typical three to five muffins each. ;)

 Tomorrow I’m going to follow the eBook directions for making a loaf of bread. I’ll share the results whether it’s pretty or not so pretty. Here’s hoping for a successful sourdough bread making experience!

If you want to create a sourdough starter, but aren’t able to purchase the ebook, please click on this link and scroll down to the beginning of the series of posts that describe day by day instructions for how to make a starter. Since the recipes in the Sourdough A to Z eBook aren’t mine to share, I’ll only be able to talk about them and show you pictures of my results, but not print the recipes themselves. 

Okay, here’s hoping for a lovely loaf of sourdough bread at our house tomorrow!!! What’s been your sourdough experience? 

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You CAN Do This Sourdough Thing! (Review and Giveaway from GNOWFGLINS)

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Okay everyone…ONE LAST GIVEAWAY for this week!!! Next week, everything gets back to “normal” around here. Whatever normal is.  :)

A couple of years ago, I wrote an entire series on making Sourdough Starter, walked you through the day-to-day process, took pictures of my little sourdough bubbles and helped you get off to a great start on your sourdough!

Sort of.

I’m just not a sourdough expert. I know enough about it to answer some basic questions, but aside from making a kind of dense loaf of sourdough bread, I have felt a little bit stuck. I knew there was a lot more I could do with my sourdough starter, but what exactly was there, and how should I go about learning?

The GNOWFGLINS (God’s Natural, Organic, Whole Foods, Grown Locally, In Season) ladies just sent me their “hot off the press” Sourdough A to Z eBook and Oh. Wow. Did you know that you can make like a million things with your sourdough starter? Crackers and cakes and muffins and tortillas and pita pockets and pancakes and English muffins and pizza pockets and a bunch of other things that made me want to eat the picture right off my computer screen! Wow.

The Sourdough A to Z eBook walks you through the entire process of making a sourdough from start to finish. Then, once you have your starter alive and kicking…they teach you  how to make all of these wonderful, healthy, easy to digest foods!!!!

AND, guess what!!! While it teaches about all different grains, wheat included, there’s also a whole section in the Sourdough A to Z eBook detailing how you can make a GLUTEN FREE sourdough starter and how you can adapt all the awesome recipes to be GLUTEN FREE!!!!!!!!!

I wasn’t sure whether to giggle or get weepy when I saw that section. I think I kind of did both. Yes, I did the weepy-giggle thing. It was cute.

I can not tell you how impressed I am with the Sourdough A to Z eBook. It is 150 pages of incredible, easy to understand information and recipes and tutorials and tips. The GNOWFGLINS ladies did a fantastic job putting this together! 

In addition, if you are more of a visual person (like I am), they have an online Sourdough eCourse available that will knock your socks off.   If you are interested in creating grain products that are delicious and incredibly healthy, I just can’t say enough good about the Sourdough A to Z eBook and/or Sourdough eCourse.

The lovely ladies at GNOWFGLINS have offered to give away three of their Sourdough A to Z eBook here!  I’m telling you…you WANT this Sourdough A to Z eBook. Unless you want the Sourdough eCourse.  Either way, you’ll recieve a wealth of sourdough knowledge!

Leave a comment here on this post if you’re interested in winning one of the three copies of Sourdough A to Z eBook. 

I’ll draw three random winners for this giveaway on Tuesday, April 12.

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Three Reasons I Love My Sourdough Starter

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Please welcome Katie from Kitchen Stewardship, sharing with you a fantastic opportunity to learn more about the wonderful art of sourdough! I never knew you could make so many delicous foods from sourdough! I think you’ll be as excited as I am as you read on…

“I have captured YEAST!” I cried, in the midst of my sourdough happy dance, the day I first saw bubbles in my starter. (You can picture the scene if you overlay it with Tom Hanks in Castaway screaming, “I have created FIRE!”)

I used Laura’s photo tutorial to help me get started, but I was so nervous that I would fail, I refused to even take pictures for my own blog. I had zero confidence.

Fermentation and, you know, helping bacteria to grow and proliferate, is my hardest challenge as a real foodie. Sometimes I just need to see and experience something to really ‘get it’ and wish for someone to hold my hand a little. I wish the GNOWFGLINS Sourdough eCourse would have been available last fall to encourage me and ease my fears. I might have jumped in with both feet instead of stewing about sourdough for a year before trying a starter.

Now that I have a jar of flour and water bubbling away on my counter, I’ll never go back. I love my sourdough.

 

3 Reasons I Love My Sourdough Starter

  1. It’s More Forgiving Than a Fish. When someone overheard me explaining the care and feeding of my sourdough starter to someone with whom I was sharing a jar, she said, “Goodness, it sounds like you’re talking about a goldfish!” She’s not too far from the truth.I feed my starter some whole wheat flour every day and stir it well, adding water every other day or so. The starches give the natural yeasts something to eat, and they produce the bubbles that will make a lovely sourdough loaf.The difference between feeding my sourdough starter and feeding my son’s goldfish is simple: The starter doesn’t mind being forgotten in the refrigerator for a week. Sometimes we all need a break, and our kids goldfishes won’t “rise up” without constant TLC!
  2. I’m “in the club.” With my sourdough starter, I get to rub shoulders with sourdough masters Wardeh Harmon and Erin VanderLugt as they share 20 weeks of recipes. I tried to count how many actual things these women can make with their sourdough starters, but I lost count. From tortillas to spice cake, pita bread to cinnamon rolls, I quickly realize I’m a little fish in a big sourdough pond.Plus, I get to throw around terms like “active, domed state” and sound important!


Mmmm, cinnamon rolls. I think I know what’s going on the menu plan for Saturday morning!

3. I Make the Healthiest Bread on the Planet. Did you know whole grains can cause mineral absorption problems? God wisely created seeds to be difficult to digest, which is for the good of the seed and the proliferation of that species.

For the good of ourspecies, however, we like to eat the bread of life. To be most life-giving, whole grains need to be properly prepared to neutralize the enzyme inhibitors and phytic acid that hinder digestion. There’s much talk of soaking vs. sprouting vs. sourdough, but in my research, sourdough is the most traditional and Biblical form of bread. It’s also the most backed by scientific research on human beings. Added bonus!

Click HERE for more information on the art of sourdough baking via video, downloads, and recipes for everything you can imagine using sourdough.

The unique Pay What You Can philosophy allows you to preview the course and pay a fair price according to your means, and you can choose which lessons interest you the most and skip the rest without feeling like you’ve wasted a registration fee. Get a free thank-you gift every month when you make a payment! Enrollment never closes.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by GNOWFGLINS eCourses.

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