Soughdough Starter

Y'all know I loves baking me some bread!

I've cut way back on doing it since being diagnosed with diabetes, but every now and then you just have to have a warm, crusty loaf of the stuff (slathered in butter and honey...but I digress).
I thought it would be fun to make a sourdough starter with the boys. Ryan and I did this many years ago when he was studying a unit on Alaska. We made bread like the gold miners did, by capturing the natural yeast in the air!

Making your own starter is very easy. You simply put one cup of unbleached flour and one cup of warm water (not tap water) in a glass or plastic container. Stir with anything non-metallic to combine.

Every day for the next 4-5 days, pour your starter into a clean container, wash out your old container, and "feed" the starter. You feed it by taking out half of the mixture and replacing it with fresh flour and water. So we started with one cup flour/water and we'll take out half a cup of starter and replace with half a cup of flour and half a cup of water.

When the thing is bubbly and smells like sourdough, you're done! Place the starter in your fridge and feed once a week. To bake bread with your starter, you'll make a sponge with a portion of the starter. There are some really great recipes out there, just do a Google search, everything from loaves, muffins, tortillas, pancakes, pizza, even cookies!

Mmmm...you can almost smell that bread, can't you?

It's Lent, and if your going to fast on bread and water,
it might as well be really good bread, right?