Peter Reinhart's Sourdough Starter

I think my previous sourdough was a failure. I'm not sure if I mentioned this in a previous post, but starting at about day four or five it developed what looked like white strands on the top connecting  little white balls, almost like spider eggs. It also started smelling pretty bad and never really developed the nice, yeasty aroma I kept reading about.  I did a ton of research and came across the site BreadTopia. This site is amazing if you are truly interested in bread baking. Eric has tons of videos, including a series on starting, maintaining, freezing, reviving, and drying your sourdough starter.

The method he uses for making a starter was taken from Peter Reinhart, the author of The Bread Baker's Apprentice, Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads, and Crust and Crumb. This method utilizes pineapple juice instead of purified water, though you can use water if desired. The reason for the pineapple juice is that the acidity in the juice keeps the pH balance where it's supposed to be so the good bacteria wins and the bad bacteria doesn't take over. I'm hoping this will take care of the problem I experienced with the first starter.

I did try to revive the first starter, but didn't have any luck. Even with aerating it several times over two days, it didn't grow and started developing white balls on the top. Since it also started smelling, I threw it out.

Now for my third attempt. I combined 3 1/2 tablespoons of flour and 1/4 cup of pineapple juice in a mason jar and covered it loosely with plastic wrap. This is now supposed to sit on my counter for approximately 48 hours. During that time I need to aerate it 2-3 times per day. Bubbles may appear, but it is also normal to see absolutely no activity.

Day 1 right after mixing.

Kefir

I just received my kefir grains from Keysands through Amazon and made my first two batches of Kefir. I rinsed the grains with Dasani water and put them in a mason jar with 1 cup of organic 2% milk. I left it on the counter for 24 hours to ferment and drained the milk away from the grains. The directions stated that the first batch would probably be "off" and could be discarded. I dumped the milk down the drain and transferred the grains to a clean mason jar. I added one cup of milk and put the lid on, but didn't tighten it all the way.

 Taken a few hours after transferring.

After 20 hours I drained the milk into a glass cup and separated out the grains.

 Once it was done draining, I put the grains in the bottom of mason jar. They look similar to cottage cheese.

 I poured in two cups of milk and if you look closely you can see some of the grains floating on the top towards the left. The directions state to use about 1 tablespoon of kefir grains per cup of milk. This time I used organic creamline whole milk.

This is what was left in the glass after straining. You can see a thin line towards the bottom of the glass. That's the whey. I just left it for now. I'll either mix it back in and use it in a smoothie, or try to strain it out and have whey and cream cheese.

New Apron

I made myself a new apron this morning. I have an over-the-head full-size apron, but sometimes I want a shorter one. I already have one, but I think it's too pretty to use. I'm afraid to get it dirty for fear the washing machine will damage it.

I decided to use a kitchen hand towel that has some bleach spots on it and a ribbon we got with our quilt. I folded the top edge over about one-inch to hide another bleach spot. I then tucked a length of ribbon into each side and sewed right on the existing seam. Horse Girl suggested next time I thread the ribbon through the top and leave it loose and adjustable. That would have been much easier.

Cost of new apron = FREE

 I folded the bottom up about a third and sewed the edges. I made an oops in the beginning and accidentally sewed the top edge of the pocket. I was so proud of myself too, because I just followed one of the lines on the towel and made a nice straight line. Oh, well! 

I also sewed a line up the middle of the folded section to make two pockets.

Pizza Crust/Breadstick Recipe

One of my menus this month features breadsticks so I searched around until I found some pizza dough and breadstick recipes. I ended up combing several recipes in order to get what I wanted. The ingredient list and most of the directions come from Passionate Homemaking. Here's the recipe, including my changes.

2 T. yeast
3 1/2 cups water, divided (110 degrees)
3 T. acid medium (yogurt, kefir, lemon juice, whey, apple cider vinegar)
1 t. honey
1/4 cup honey
1 T. salt
8-10 cups whole wheat flour (or combination with kamut)

Soaking:
Combine 8 cups flour, 3 cups water, substituting some of the water with 3 T. acid medium, and 1/4 cup honey. Allow to soak for 12-24 hours.

Kneading:
After soaking, activate yeast in a small container with the remaining 1/2 cup warm water and 1 t. honey. Allow to foam up for about 5 minutes. Add the proofed yeast to the soaked flour, along with the salt. Mix well and let rest (autolyse) for 15 minutes. Knead for 5-10 minutes, adding additional flour as needed. Transfer to a greased bowl, turning to coat. Let rise until double.

Dough ready to rise.

Baking:
For Pizza:  Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Divide into four sections. Roll each into desired shape. (Roll on parchment paper, turning 1/8 of a turn once every roll, only rolling away from your body.) Pre-bake 5 minutes. Remove from oven and top with desired toppings. Bake for an additional 10-165 minutes, watching to make sure edges and cheese don't burn.

For Breadsticks:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dough will be slightly sticky so you'll need to flour your hands as you roll. Divide into portions slightly larger than a ping-pong ball (I ended up with 7, but some of mine were a bit long). Shape each onto a ball; roll each into a 9-inch rope. Place on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 40 minutes or until doubled. Bake 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks. Brush with butter and sprinkle with garlic salt.

 Shaped and rising

Baked, buttered and salted! Yum!

Freezing:
Mix dough completely as instructed and then divide into four portions. Freeze the dough in individual Ziploc bags. You do not need to pre-bake. When you are ready to use, thaw in the refrigerator several hours, bring to room temperature and then roll out and assemble as desired.

No-Knead Bread

I had two recipes for no-knead bread that I wanted to try, but decided to go with the one that didn't require sourdough. This particular recipe calls for regular bread flour, but I used freshly ground hard white. I think the amount of flour needs to be increased by at least 1/2 cup because the dough after 20 hours was very liquidy and would not hold its shape. I ended up adding the additional flour during the shaping stage so I could get it to hold its shape and stop sticking to my counter and the towel. The original recipe is as follows, with my changes and suggestions marked in blue.

I have to say this bread was amazing. Even Horse Girl liked it and she has been very critical of my baking lately. I had two pieces fresh out of the oven smothered in butter.

No-Knead Bread


3 cups bread flour (increase to at least 3 1/2 cups if using freshly ground flour)
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1/2 3/4 tablespoon kosher salt (too salty with 3/4 T. so maybe it was only supposed to be 3/4 t.?)
1 1/2 cups warm water
Parchment paper
Covered pot (5-qt or larger that can withstand a 450 degree oven)

1. Mix dough: The night before, combine all ingredients in a big bowl with a wooden spoon until dough just comes together. It will be a shaggy, doughy mess. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit 12-20 hours on countertop.

2. Shape and preheat: The dough will now be wet, sticky and bubbly. With a wet spatula, dump the dough on a floured surface. Fold ends of dough over a few times with the spatula and nudge it into a ball shape. You can use your hands if you like, just keep your hands wet so the dough doesn't stick. Lay a piece of parchment paper on cotton towel (not terry cloth) and generously dust with flour. Generously dust a cotton towel (not terrycloth) with flour. Set dough seam side down on top of parchment paper towel. Fold towel over the dough. Let it nap for 2 hours. When you've got about half an hour left, slip your pot into the oven and preheat to 450 degrees.

3. Bake: Your dough should have doubled in size. Remove pot from oven. Holding towel, turn over and dump wobbly dough into pot, using your hands to get the dough off the towel. Shake to even out. Remove towel and transfer dough to pot, leaving parchment paper around outside. Cover. Bake 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15-20 minutes or until crust is beautifully golden and middle registers 210 degrees. Remove and let cool on wire rack. Can re-crisp crust later in 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.

 Sorry about the half eaten loaf. I forgot to take pictures until after we sampled it.

I close-up of the inside. Look at the wonderful crumb!

Monthly Menu

Weekly grocery shopping is such a time hog that I decided to find a way to shorten the time spent every month. My time in the actual store is only about 45 minutes, but when you add on the driving, putting everything away and pre-planning, you have a pretty lengthy process. I would guess I was previously spending 2-2 1/2 hours per week total, not including cutting coupons. I'm not into extreme couponing and don't stockpile, so I only cut coupons for the items I actually plan to purchase. I also only shop primarily at the commissary with occasional trips to Publix for their BOGO deals. I simply don't have time in my day/week/month to spend cutting, planning, organizing, shopping, storing and figuring out what to do with all of the products I would accumulate if I was an extreme couponer. If it works for you, great! I don't have the brain energy to do it.

I do, however, plan to start making a monthly trip to Whole Foods, Earth Fare or Trader Joe's and a twice monthly trip to the farmer's market. I also plan to increase my order from Bread Becker's to take advantage of their bulk grains and beans. I would love to be able to order from Azure Standard, but it doesn't look like it's a good deal to have it shipped to the east coast.

As always, I started with the internet and began researching monthly menu planning. I've done this in the past, but haven't stuck with it for any length of time. I found that in the past I didn't spend enough time planning everything out before trying to implement it. This time around I'm spending several weeks getting the menu just right, making sure it's filled with foods we won't mind eating on a monthly basis and making sure we have plenty of variety. As part of my healthy eating goal I've made sure the majority of the meals utilize healthy cooking techniques and ingredients.

For now I'm going to try to plan one menu to last us at least 3 months. The menu will simply repeat itself at the beginning of each month. I did not plan for holidays or special events, but figure that should not be a problem as we get to them. Each day of the week uses a different meat or type of dish. Sunday is pork, Monday is chicken, Tuesday is fish/seafood, Wednesday is wraps/sandwiches, Thursday is soup, Friday is beef and Saturday is meatless. With the high cost of grass-fed meats, though, I might find myself searching out more meatless meals. I have already decided to cut back on the quantity of meat in most meals. For dishes that previously used one pound of meat, for instance, I'll cut it down to 1/2 pound or 3/4 pound.

I did not include lunches since those are normally leftovers or sandwiches, but I did include breakfast for six days. Again, I tried to shoot for variety and have things like eggs/toast, pumpkin pancakes or waffles with orange syrup, oatmeal, creamy rice pudding, sausage/egg rollups and biscuits and gravy. My family loves dessert so I included one dessert per week, but will probably make a few more depending on how much of a sweet tooth we get.

To make shopping easier I made a twice monthly shopping list that details everything I will need for two weeks. I did not get nitty-gritty and include things like baking soda and flour, but I did include things like pecans, eggs and buttermilk. I want to make sure I get the correct amount of eggs,milk, cheese, etc. from wherever I decide to purchase them and not run out before I get a chance to get more. Since I'm trying to stay grass-fed and pasture-raised, I don't want to get store-bought milk and eggs if I can avoid it.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do a screen-capture or upload a copy of either the menu or shopping list. If you are interested in either one, please leave me a comment and I will email them to you. I'm bummed because it would have looked so cool in the post.

Sourdough Banana Bread

I just finished my sourdough starter and am praying that it's okay. I was, and am still, a little concerned about it not being right. I got varying information in all of my research, with some sites saying to cover with plastic wrap and others saying to cover with cheesecloth. I had some saying to feed once per day and others feeding every 12 hours. Hmm, what's a girl to do?

I decided to make a batch of Sourdough Banana Bread since I have the sourdough and bananas needing to be used. I took the recipe from Wild Yeast Blog and tweaked it slightly. I don't like using a lot of oil in my baking so I substituted 1/2 cup of applesauce for 1/2 cup of the olive oil, used 250 g. of Sucanat and 50 g. of honey, left out the lemon zest and used all banana. I also added about 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to one loaf. This recipe made two 8x5-inch pans and one smaller loaf.

In addition to this banana bread I plan to make Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes, No-Knead Sourdough Bread, Sourdough Bread, and Pancakes.

In order to make all of these wonderful things, I've placed several items on my Amazon wishlist, including a digital scale, The Bread Bible book, Silpat, and Kefir grains. I'm so excited to begin this amazing journey! I can't wait to get them ordered.

October 18, 2011 Update: The banana bread is wonderful. It's nice and moist and full of flavor. The pancakes this morning turned out fine, though a bit tough. I think they would be wonderful as a cross between bread and tortillas. I put fresh peanut butter (from Whole Foods) and raspberry jam on mine to make a sandwich. 


I decided not to make the cupcakes as I didn't keep enough starter out. I put roughly 2 cups in the refrigerator and left one cup out. I added 1 cup of flour and 2/3 cup of water to the one I left out and it grew slightly overnight. I used that this morning for the pancakes, No-Knead bread and regular sourdough bread. The sourdough bread is currently in its final rise and waiting to go into the oven. The No-Knead is in its overnight resting phase and will be baked around mid-day tomorrow.


I couldn't wait any longer and ordered my Kefir grains and the digital scale last night.

Sourdough Starter Day 5

I think my starter is beginning to come together. It's doing exactly what the tutorial said it would and the odor is getting fainter and sweeter. I did remember to take pics this morning.

 View from top with weird, but really cool bubbles.

No Dairy No Chocolate "Chocolate" Pudding

Horse Girl is using the book Nutrition 101: Choose Life for her health credit this year. Each chapter has a recipe to try that utilizes foods that benefit the particular part of the body that was just studied. We are getting ready to start studying the respiratory system and the first recipe happens to be for chocolate pudding. This recipe intrigued me because it was specifically mentioned at the booth when I was researching the book at the last home school convention and also because I think I'm sensitive to both dairy and chocolate. So, daring to be brave and try something I have never liked, I took the plunge and bought the avocados for the recipe and gave it a shot a few days ago.

Verdict: husband, daughter and I did NOT like it. Son liked it, but said his ears started to feel funny within a few minutes. Husband actually said it tasted like it had a dirty dish rag in it. Daughter and I just thought it tasted odd. It might be an okay recipe if you take it one step at a time and replace the more common ingredients over time. It uses avocado in place of dairy, carob powder in place of cocoa powder and honey in place of sugar.

Here's the recipe if you're interested in trying it.

2 small ripe avocados
1/2 to 3/4 cup Blue Agave Nectar, raw honey, or Grade B Maple syrup
1/4 cup carob powder
2 tablespoons coconut milk or rice milk
1 tablespoon organic vanilla extract
Pinch of sea salt
Pinch of cinnamon (optional)

Make sure the avocados are ripe, as unripened avocados will change the flavor. Place the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend on high until smooth. Chill until serving. Makes about two cups.

Sourdough Starter Day 3

I forgot to take pictures this morning before pouring off the dark liquid and mixing in the new flour and water, but boy, did it stink. I think it's supposed to be stinky if I remember correctly from the directions. Horse Girl said it smelled like a dirty diaper. I'm not sure what I would compare the smell to, but let's just say it wasn't pleasant.

Sourdough Starter Day 2

I've decided to try my hand at making a sourdough starter. I found directions on the Heavenly Homemaker site at this link. You need to scroll all the way to the bottom to find day 1 and then wind your way back to the top to finish with day 8. This link also has recipes for different ways to use your sourdough once it's finished.

 Morning of day 2 with a layer of dark liquid, hooch, on top.

 View from the top.

After 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of cold water have been added and thoroughly stirred. It is now sitting on top of my refrigerator.

Cornbread using soaked grains

I recently came across information on soaking grains to get the most out of them nutritionally. I decided to try a recipe called Blender Batter Cornbread from Sue Gregg. It turned out phenomenal. I am saving it for cornbread stuffing tomorrow evening, but this may become a staple item for us. I just had some for a snack and I can see making a whole meal out of it. I should have taken a picture this morning after it had been sitting for 24 hours.

Batter ready to go into the oven. 

Out of the oven and cooled a bit. It sank down in the middle, but it still tastes awesome.

Unfortunately I spoke too soon and this is what the cornbread looked like several hours later. It's a weird grayish color inside. I'm not sure if it's still safe to eat. Any ideas?

Wedding Pics

A few pics from my husband's brother's wedding in August.

Me with both kids

Me with husband

The whole family

The Secret Garden Movie Review

Horse Girl and I just finished reading The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Let me clarify by saying that I finished the book, but Horse Girl did not. Even though she had over three weeks to read it, she still has several chapters to finish. Oi, what to do with her? I told her this would be reflected in her discussion grade as she will not be able to discuss several points with me.

I thought it would be a great idea to watch the movie once we were finished reading and ordered the 1993 version from Netflix. I did that previously with Around the World in Eighty Days and it wasn't quite so bad. It was still off, but not as much. I didn't realize it when I ordered The Secret Garden movie, but it stars Maggie Smith as Mrs. Medlock, the housekeeper. She plays Professor McGonagall in Harry Potter. This turned out to be a bad thing, however, as Horse Girl could not get over the change in character. (Horse Girl much prefers her in Harry Potter!)

Overall, the movie was a poor adaptation of the book. So many things were changed! It was frustrating to watch because we kept pointing out all of the discrepancies. It wasn't just the scenes, either, but the behaviors of the characters that were off. Mrs. Medlock was portrayed as mean, but in the book she's more stern with a kind soul running beneath. Dickon was thoughtful and wise in the book, but is portrayed as somewhat silly and rambunctious in the movie. It could have been a good movie if they had stuck closer to the book.

Healthy Eating

I've been doing quite a lot of research the past few days on healthy eating. I've decided to avoid using a specific "plan" as outlined in any number of books, but rather to simply strive to go back to nature. God gave us food abundantly and in perfect form. He didn't create foods intending for us to alter them with chemicals. Our bodies are designed to live and thrive with the foods He gave us.

I've decided to take this whole lifestyle change gradually. I typically jump in too soon and then fail when it becomes overwhelming so I'm not doing that this time. I'm not going to stress myself out with everything I could be doing and all of the things I could be buying and making. One thing I'm going to do that I believe will help is to make a schedule for my time each week. It is going to vary each week, depending on outside appointments, so I need to plan each week as I get to it. I plan to schedule in things like starting my bread dough (which needs to sit overnight to soak), making and checking on yogurt, and possibly sprouting some grain.

I had fun at the commissary this morning trying to find new products. It was kind of frustrating at the same time, though, because I didn't find everything, which means I will have to shop at at least one additional store each week/month. Some of my finds include coconut flour, coconut oil, and cage-free chicken at a decent price. I also wrote down the price for a 3L jug of olive oil and found that it was cheaper than at World Market by $5.

Some websites to learn more:

Nourishing Gourmet

Keeper of the Home

Kitchen Stewardship

Health, Home and Happiness

Heavenly Homemakers

Dinner menu for the week:

Tonight-Caribbean Jerk Chicken, sweet potato fries and green beans

Saturday-Spaghetti with homemade sauce and rolls

Sunday-Meatloaf, mashed potatoes

Monday-Tilapia, cornbread stuffing

Tuesday-Black-eyed pea soup, bread

Wednesday-Beef Noodle Soup, bread

Breakfast:

Steel-cut oatmeal with apples

Cinnamon scones

Apple-Cinnamon muffins

Maker's Diet vs Eat Right 4 Your Type

I've struggled for years with digestive issues, fatigue and headaches. My headaches are finally somewhat under control with a new medication I'm on, but I still have around 14 headaches per month. I've had allergy testing done and know I'm not allergic to any of the commonly tested items. I've also had a gluten test done and it came back negative. I believe my problem has two culprits, over-eating and an unhealthy diet combined with dehydration.

I never went without food as a child, so I'm not sure why I overeat. I can't stand to waste food and have a hard time throwing food in the garbage. I tell myself I'm being a good steward by finishing the last few bites. I also eat because food tastes good and I'm bored. I eat even when I'm full because I can't get my mind off of a particular item of food. Another part of my problem is unhealthy eating and dehydration. My typical diet consists of coffee with cream and sugar, yogurt with granola for breakfast, leftovers for lunch, chips/cookies/ice cream for snack, and meat and carbs for dinner. It doesn't seem to matter what I eat, as I've experienced pain after eating salad, dairy, wheat, processed foods, etc. You name it, I've probably had pain after eating it.

I've owned Eat Right 4 Your Type Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo for several years, but was recently loaned The Maker's Diet by Jordan S. Rubin by a friend. I'm desperate to find an answer for why I can't eat without pain. I don't need to lose weight, so I'm hesitant to say the books are diet books. I consider them more along the lines of lifestyle books. Both books cause you to radically alter your current way of thinking and living and both offer good suggestions and make a lot of sense. I agree with much of what both gentlemen put forth, but there are some big differences between the two plans.

The Maker's Diet tells you to avoid all shellfish, soy milk, commercial dairy products, pasta except kamut or spelt, and all breads unless they are made from sprouted grains. It also recommends the use of special supplements throughout the day. It takes you through three phases, with the first phase being very strict and the last phase less restrictive. The first phase is "designed to stabilize insulin and blood sugar, reduce inflammation, reduce infection, enhance digestion, and help balance the hormones in your body" (p199). Phase two continues with the above benefits, but allows you a greater number of foods to choose from, and phase three is the maintenance phase.

Eat Right 4 Your Type says that our food choices should be linked to our blood type. I, for instance, am type O. Type O is characterized as a hunter and should eat lots of meat with very little grains and dairy. It also says we have hardy digestive tracts, are intolerant to dietary and environmental adaptations and respond best to stress with intense physical activity. This book goes into great detail about what to eat and what to avoid, even down to condiments and spices.

According to the dietary guidelines, I should be eating:

6-9 servings of meats and poultry weekly

3-5 servings of seafood weekly

3-11 servings of dairy and eggs weekly

10-18 servings of oils, nuts and seeds weekly

1-2 servings of beans and legumes weekly

2-3 servings of cereals weekly

0-3 servings of bread and muffins daily

0-6 servings of grains and pasta daily

6-10 servings of vegetables daily

3-4 servings of fruits daily

2-3 servings of juice daily

Does anyone have any experience with either of these plans? I don't really want to put forth the time and energy needed to successfully carry out either of these if they aren't worth it. I also want to make sure I'm fully prepared when I do decide which one to follow. I tend to jump in too quickly and then fizzle out just as quickly. I think if I put more time and effort into the planning stage, the actual doing stage will go much smoother.

Procrastination

I am the queen of procrastination. I have a myriad of excuses for why I can't start a job/task/project, but in truth, all of my excuses are simply EXCUSES. Here are a few of my most used:

1. I can't finish within the allotted time

2. The end-product might not be perfect

3. I have to do important internet research first

4. I don't have all the ingredients/supplies

My goal for the next few months is to stop procrastinating in all areas of my life. I need to start off with prayer and sincerely ask God to order my days. I've asked Him to prioritize my time before, but I never really listened. God will not give me more to do in one day than I can accomplish.

The next step is to stay moving. It's amazing how much I can accomplish if I don't sit down. Once I sit down, I'm down for awhile. I always have a really good reason for why I'm sitting down ;) There's my important internet research, reading a book for book club or school, catching up on email and Facebook, or watching the news. My problem is that I tend to spend too much time on any or all of the above. I get carried away and the time just flies by. The next thing I know, it's dinner time and nothing much has been accomplished. Nothing gets done if zero effort is put forth.

My final step is to lighten up on myself. I don't need to be perfect in everything I do. I couldn't be perfect even if I tried, and honestly, I don't think anyone is expecting it. I'm going to strive to live life with joy and thanksgiving, not fear and judgment! God knows the state of my heart and whether I'm following His will for my life or not.