July? Ouch. That hurts.
See this picture? This is what’s up for July around here:
With the warmer summer weather it’s the perfect time to finally get my sourdough going for another shot at a homemade, mostly whole grain, tasty and light loaf of sourdough bread! You probably saw this pathetic loaf, right? That was one of my many sourdough flops. I’m still goin’ again though, even if it does kill me to keep wasting so much organic flour…
The other packet in the picture is kefir grains.
My original batch got neglected in our downstairs fridge for a few months. Oops. I sorta forgot about it. So I started another batch not long ago and it had an off smell. Julie from Cultures for Health said to go ahead and ditch it and she sent me another starter. Again. She’s so patient with all my mess ups! If you need any probiotic fermented food starters for sourdough (many kinds to choose from!), kefir grains (make your kids some homemade kefir soda pop for a refreshing summer thirst quencher!), or she also has a variety of yogurt starters, buttermilk starters, and all kinds of other good stuff, be sure to check out her site. (I’ll be paid a small amount per click if you visit there, and thank you!)
So what’s up this month in your kitchen? Remember you’re chatting here with other Real Food weirdoes like you and I who love to read about all this stuff, so share away! 
Leave a link in the comments if you post about this at your blog (and feel free to grab that picture above), or you can just tell us all about it in the comments.
- Have you seen my recipe for soaked whole grain bread that I’ve pretty much got down pat now? It’s soft (for real!) and tastes great!
- Wonder how much alcohol is really in homemade kefir soda pop?Back when I was more consistent about running a few times a week, I came up with this post, 4 —Tiny Tips for Beginning Runners, that you might find helpful if you’re trying to get into running more. (I self-taught myself a lot about running, things that I wished someone had told me earlier!)
$40 worth of Safe Sexy Stainless Steel!
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
I too have had many sourdough flops. I never toss the bread though. I either put it in the food processor for bread crumbs that I keep in the freezer or cube it, season and bake into croutons. Great use for bread that’s not suitable for anything else. I HATE to think of the hours of work and the ingredients going to waste. I’m signed up for Wardeh’s sourdough class and hopefully will get better at it.
Ditto on the sourdough. I am still having trouble with it too. I am going to try to take Wardeh’s class if I can come up with the money. My other challenge is keeping my son, home from college now, happily fed. He isn’t loving my real food change. He won’t drink the kefir soda pop I make, or try any of the fermented foods I make. I can’t keep enough healthy snacks in the house for him. When I do buy crackers they are gone in two days. He won’t eat the ones I make. This sounds like I am a bad cook, doesn’t it?
My goal is to come up with snacks he can eat that I feel good about. I can’t keep running to the store and it’s hard to be constanly baking to keep enough good food for him to eat. I can’t be the only one dealing with this.
Linda ~
I am not an affiliate of any kind, but still highly recommend Katie’s “Healthy Snacks to Go” eBook at Kitchen Stewardship. We have tried quite a few recipes and have loved every single one so far. Snacks were our biggest problem too and it has helped tremendously!
Yeah, not impressed with my sourdough hockey pucks. I need to work on my sourdough and get it light, fluffy and as un-sour as I can so the family will eat it!
I gotta say, the kombucha mothers at CFH make the yummiest kombucha. I just can’t manage to keep enough going! I already make four quarts a week and production needs to just about double to keep up with demand (yes, it’s that good.) Kefir, too. We’ve been making popsicles with our kefir soda this summer. Yum!
Linda, it’s time college boy learned how to cook!
I, too, would love to master sourdough this summer. For now, I’m on an elimination diet, so I’ve experimented a bit with gluten-free sourdough (not a fun place to start with sourdough) and had two flops so I took a break for the last week. I’m a little nervous that I may have a gluten intolerance and then I’ll only be able to do GF breads. Of course, I’ll still make wheat breads for my family – I am just about convinced that sourdough is the only way to go, though!
Linda,
My son (now college age) is the same way. As soon as I buy a compromise food it’s gone in half a day. Mostly he walks around complaining that there isn’t anything to eat. He does love my dinners, thankfully, but the other 2 meals and snacks we still struggle with. The younger kids are great with all of it, though, for the most part anyway. What a difference to start when they’re young!
I think if I can get the sourdough down that he’ll eat that, especially if it was WHITE, but I don’t really want to make an all white loaf of bread! My dilemma though, is that I’m not convinced I can even make a sandwich-type loaf of bread come out well if I have much whole grain flour in there…none of us want to eat another brick. I’m going to try again though!
Worse case scenario: we’ll keep eating my homemade soaked bread that goes over well or the fermented whole wheat we get from our local breadmaker.
Kelly
Have you tried King Arthur’s White Whole Wheat? I didn’t know what this was when I saw it…how could it be white and whole wheat? They describe it as an albino grain…so it is white in color (not quite as white as white flour) and lighter in texture than regular whole wheat. But it is 100% whole wheat. I’ve used it in pastries like toppings for peach crisp and my husband has no clue. My kids are good with my homemade whole wheat bread but you’ve also inspired me to try a sourdough!
I wonder if I can find these wheat berries so I can grind them myself…I’ll have to check my buying club before ordering again. Thanks for the tip!
I think they use either white winter wheat or white spring wheat for the white whole wheat. Hope that helps when you go looking.
Hey, Lori! Now I know your real name!
I have used white winter wheat and white spring wheat both I believe, and they still taste like whole wheat to me. Not that that’s bad, but it doesn’t go over like white…
Today I’m working on dulce de leche today in the crockpot (made from raw milk and sucanat). Going to make dulce de leche ice cream tonight.
Linda – I can’t believe your son doesn’t like homemade crackers. The sprouted flour crackers I make are so good — I can’t keep them around very long. They taste a billion times better than storebought crackers.
I asked for a grain mill for my birthday so I plan to start experimenting more with soaking grains. I’ve always used sprouted flour. I also plan to sprout my own flour.
For those of you who are having trouble with sourdough, read my post on sourdough bread that I did a few months ago.
http://www.cheeseslave.com/2010/04/06/no-knead-sourdough-bread/
My goal was to master sourdough and I thought it would take months but it was so easy. With the help of my friend Janis who taught me. She says to start with white flour though and then try the whole grain flours. I’m going to try spelt next — Janis said that it comes out great. You use the same recipe we used for the white sourdough.
The other thing I want to work on is homemade sausage — blood sausage and liverwurst. I’ve got the liver and blood in my freezer ready to go!
Thanks for reminding me about that sourdough recipe!!! And I’d forgotten that you said to feed the starter every 8 hours when firing it back up. I got mine going again last week and was doing once a day – it would do great and then all the bubbles would go away again, now I know why!
Kel
OH, and I just looked up “dulce de leche” – MILK CARAMEL, can you say YUUUUUUMMMM?? Can’t wait for THAT recipe!
Well, I just ruined the first batch. I am doing it in the crockpot. I wasn’t watching it — have been on the phone with RFM clients. It totally curdled.
The recipes online all said it didn’t matter how hot you set the temperature. Clearly it does matter!
So I just started a new batch — this time I set it on low.
And YES it is caramel! You can buy Hagen Dazs Dulce de Leche ice cream at the store. Of course I’m making this from scratch from milk and cream from grass-fed cows.
This recipe will go out in the menu mailer next Sunday.
If I were there I’d still eat it for you and take it off your hands, ya know, cause I’m nice like that.
My goal is just to get back in the kitchen. It has been a hectic, unplanned summer. Everyone is on various schedules. We have been very lax in our daily eating. Nothing horrible, but definately not our normal eating habits.
Also I am researching how to get more iron dense food into my diet. I am learning all about iron inhibitors (whole grains, red wine and other “healthy” foods. And iron absorption enhancers (white wine- yeah I have never liked red wine, red meats, some fish, fruits and some vegetables).
Let’s see….
Pickles are on my agenda now that I’m starting to get cucumbers from my CSA. I want to do water kefir, too. I need as many probiotic foods in my kitchen as I can! It’s not really a secret, we want another baby as soon as God decides to bless us with one. So that’s part of the reason for the probiotics.
Also want to get rid of most or all grains (we can just barely tolerate them) and increase fats even more. Yogurt is helping us all. I’ve given up making it for now but maybe I’ll choose to try again this month. I found some Dannon at Walmart cheap and it’s not organic but it only contains cultured milk — good enough for now!
My goal is to clean out my pantry and extra fridge.
I’m anxious to read about your bread. Every time I try to make any kind of homemade bread, it just isn’t good sandwich bread. We only use bread for sandwiches, so I’m still buying this item from the store. Ugh.
I really want to get in touch with my friend, who can give me some water kefir. I’ve been craving the “pop” of soda with this summer heat. I think it’s time to try making some kefir soda.
Michelle, here’s my soaked HM bread recipe that everyone loves and is soft and great for sandwich bread, too! http://www.kellythekitchenkop.com/2008/10/organic-soaked-homemade-bread-recipe-in.html
This month I am lacto-fermenting the season’s fresh harvest. I am looking for some new recipes. http://nourishyourchildren.com/blog/2010/07/kitchen-goals-for-july-2010/