Sourdough Starter

"What in the heck is that on the counter?" is usually a question I hear weekly from my husband. This time it was in reference to the jars of goopy stuff in mason jars with paper towels fastened on the top. AKA my sourdough starters. Sourdough bread has been my favorite since I was a little girl. Only until my recent homesteading obsession did I learn that you can actually make your own starter at home, and very easily! Of course I had to do it. While I am still working on mastering the art of homemade bread I did discover a yummy pancake recipe using the starter. This post will share with you just how easy it is to make your own sourdough starter and also include a pancake recipe your family will love!

What you need:

Glass Mason Jar
Unbleached Flour

Unsweetened Pineapple Juice (or non-chlorinated water)

Now while I said the process was easy, it does take time. It can take up to a week for the starter to come alive so don't get discouraged. Basically all you have to do is put 1/4 cup of flour in a jar and 1/4 cup of  liquid. Pineapple juice works well because the acids and the sugars help to feed and initiate the yeast to come alive. Leave your starter out at room temperature and feed it once a day. I set an alarm because otherwise I will most likely forget since the sourdough can't remind me like my real babies or fur baby do when they are hungry!  All you need do is add the flour and liquid and stir up until there is no more dry flour and cover. You may begin to see bubbles in the mixture after 3 days, but my first time I didn't till about day 5. It takes about a week for the starter to get going. The warmer the temperature, the faster it comes alive. The mixture will rise after each feeding so depending on how much starter you have on hand, you may need to transfer to a bigger container.  The best thing to do is to get the starter up and running with pineapple juice and you can always switch to water later on. That is what I usually do. After about a week you will begin to smell the sourdough and the mixture will be bubbly and beautiful! (well maybe goopy looking, but I think it's a beautiful sight!) If the starter doesn't look very active you can also add a bit of unfiltered apple cider vinegar to help regulate the PH levels. I actually add a bit of the ACV to the mixture every couple of days and have had great success. If you don't feel like feeding your starter every day you can refrigerate it and I've read it can last up to 30 days without needing to be fed. So far I've made a whole wheat flour starter and a rye starter and had good luck with both.

So now that you have this jar full of goopy goodness, what do you do with it? Well, I tried to make a loaf of bread, that turned out to be a big bust. I was so distraught. How am I supposed to be a homesteading goddess when I can't even make a loaf of bread! Then I heard from others that it's actually harder than most people think. So I will have to try again. I did stumble upon a great Sourdough Starter Pancake Recipe from What's Cooking America. It was delicious and the kids loved it!

2 cups of starter (room temperature)
2 tsp of sugar
1 egg
4 Tbs oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1Tbs warm water

Mix together the first 5 ingredients. Warm up the pan or pancake griddle and right before you are about to cook you mix the warm water and baking soda and then add to the pancakes and it will begin to bubble and fluff up. These were so light and yummy. My daughter kept screaming "THESE ARE THE BEST PANCAKES I EVER HAD IN MY LIFE!" and my son kept asking for more. I have also made them adding bananas and another time with leftover fruit pulp from juicing. The results were equally as amazing. I can't wait to experiment with other Sourdough Starter recipes. I promise, if they turn out great, I will post them!

We would love to hear your stories if you have experienced making your own sourdough starter, and of course any recipes you have!

DIY Dishwashing Detergent

In my quest of all things homemade I have done quite a bit in the last couple of months, as many of my followers already know. I have been making my own laundry soap, butter, cream cheese, yogurt and more! I have a long list of new things to try as I work to meet my New Year's resolution of making 85% of our the stuff we use. This includes cleaning products, beauty products as well as food (vinegars, salad dressings, condiments) My most recent experiment has been homemade dishwashing detergent discs which I will share in this post.

1 cup of Super Washing Soda
1 cup of Borax
1/2 cup of Epsom Salts
Zest from lemon
Lemon Juice
Water

The recipe is very easy, you pretty much just mix up the contents. Add the water slowly and just a bit at a time. You just want to make the mixture so that it sticks together to form the pellets. You can use a plastic glove or a plastic baggie when you press down the concoction to mold into the ice tray to make squares. Then you just place out in the sun for a couple of days to let it dry up and harden. Once that is done you can pop out your discs and store in a plastic bag or container and use accordingly.

You can always increase this recipe so that you have to make it less often, I had two babyhood/ice trays  and only wanted to make enough to fill them (24 discs). I've also read where you can just leave this recipe in powder form (without water) and just add a tablespoon to the dishwasher per load. I've used them for a couple of loads and I think it works well. Everything looks clean and there is no soap residue leftover on the dishes. Im loving that I can buy one box of Borax and 1 for Super Washing Soda and can use it for 2 months of laundry and now loads of dishes (and still have some leftover!) How exciting! I really get so much satisfaction out of making my own stuff, it does take a little extra time and effort, I will admit. But to me it is so worth it, knowing that I am avoiding toxic additives and chemicals and from what I have noticed I haven't had to compromise much in terms of quality, which has been a problem with a lot of natural products I have used before.

I would love to hear of any natural dishwashing detergent recipes you have tried!

Disclaimer:  Please note: I am not a medical professional. Please use your careful discernment and double check with your naturopath or doctor before taking any vitamins or supplements

PAID ENDORSEMENT DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog.

Mmmmmm Muffins!

We love muffins in our house! The kids think they are cupcakes, which they are, minus the frosting. We have been juicing a lot and I have been trying to be resourceful and waste as little as I can. When I see all that precious pulp I always say Im going to reuse it, but it typically gets fed to our worms (yes, we have worms! Thousands of them!) I don't feel bad composting the discarded fruit and veggie fiber, but I have been wanting to make use of them in other ways. Although the kids are pretty good about eating their veggies, I am always looking for ways to increase our servings. I decided that juice pulp muffins would be perfect- turns out I was right! This post will share with you an easy, yummy recipe for homemade fiber muffins.

2 cups of flour (I like Whole Wheat or Coconut Flour)
½ cup of organic sugar
3 teaspoons of baking powder
½ teaspoon of salt
¾ cup of water (you can add juice if you want the muffins to be sweeter)
1/3 cup of oil (I use sunflower or coconut)
1 egg
1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon
1/2 cup of apple or pulp(beets help tint the muffins pink, orange helps to add some yumminess and don't forget the greens!)

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease bottoms of muffin (or mini!) tins
In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and slat. Mix well. In a small bowl, combine water (juice), oil and egg. Blend well. Add dry ingredients all at once to the wet, stirring until just combined (batter will be lumpy). Stir in pulp.
Fill tins 2/3 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for a few minutes before removing from pan. Wonderful served warm!

So easy and so yummy! My kids go crazy for them! Next time I might even add some extra chopped fruit and even some chopped nuts. I might even get really adventurous and try to make pulp pancakes!

 I would love to hear of the great ways you reuse juice pulp!

Disclaimer:  Please note: I am not a medical professional. Please use your careful discernment and double check with your naturopath or doctor before taking any vitamins or supplements

PAID ENDORSEMENT DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog.

5 best multi-purpose products

These are my top 5 Go-To products that are essential in my house. These items are cheap, chemical-free and best of all multi-purpose! Thanks to these 5 items I am on my way to saving money on homemade products that are a healthier alternative for me and my family, and surprisingly easy to make!

1. Baking Soda- I swear I use baking soda a million times a day! Okay, maybe not quite a million, but Wow is it awesome. I pick up boxes of it at the dollar store and if you regularly follow my blog you know that I use it to make cleaning products, beauty products, and even for healthcare.

2. Vinegar- Of course you should always have raw, organic, unfiltered apple cider vinegar on hand for its multitude of health benefits. But in this particular post I am referring to just plain, white vinegar. I also get bottles of this at the Dollar Tree because it is a must have for homemade cleaning products and works wonderfully.

3. Hydrogen Peroxide- Another dollar store gem. This is great to use in a homemade toothpaste recipe or to whiten teeth yourself. It can also be used in cleaning products as a safe alternative to bleach.

4. Epsom Salts- Okay, last dollar store item on the list! Epsom salts are great for making a scrub, or making bath salts (not the kind that make you want to eat another's face!) It's also great for a detox bath and helps to replenish the body of magnesium.

5. Lemons- Hopefully you are lucky enough to have some growing in your own backyard, or at least know someone. Otherwise these are cheap and accessible at any grocery store. I love drinking lemon water to start my day and it offers many health benefits. Lemons can be used as a natural bleach alternative for skin, is great at removing blackheads and can be used to make homemade cleaning products.

A few of my past posts have been written using these products and are linked throughout this post. Be on the look out for future posts as I am making new things each and every week!
 
I would love to hear about your top 5 essentials or any ways that you use the above list!

Disclaimer:  Please note: I am not a medical professional. Please use your careful discernment and double check with your naturopath or doctor before taking any vitamins or supplements

PAID ENDORSEMENT DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog.

Homemade Mustard Recipe

It's Fermentation Friday!! Who am I kidding, I've always got something going! But this week I tried something new. Homemade Dijon Mustard. It was so easy and came out delicious. With grocery prices increasing a bottle of dijon mustard is typically $2.99-$12.00 but you can make 3 times the amount for less than $5. Plus, it's fermented which includes health benefits that cannot be found in store bought mustard.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of brown mustard seeds
1/4 cup of yellow mustard seeds
2 cloves of garlic
1/3 cup of filtered water
2 tablespoons of organic apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of whey (click here for homemade whey recipe)
Juice of a small lemon

I let the seeds soak overnight and then drained them. Soaking seeds, nuts and grains before cooking allows for the production of numerous beneficial enzymes which contain many vitamins. The soaking process also breaks down difficult to digest proteins into simpler components which are easier for the body to absorb.

Add all the ingredients into the food processor or blender and blend. Pour the mixture into a bottle, and cover with paper towel or cheesecloth and a rubber band. Let it sit on your counter for 3 days. You will begin to see bubbles in the mixture and will see a yellowish liquid at the bottom of the mixture within 24 hours. Give yourself a high-five! Your mustard is making beneficial probiotics to boost the immune system and balance the body! After the 3rd day you can remove the paper towel/cheesecloth and mixup  the mustard, place in the fridge and -Viola! You have homemade dijon mustard! So simple!

I would love to hear if you try this recipe and your comments on it!

Disclaimer:  Please note: I am not a medical professional. Please use your careful discernment and double check with your naturopath or doctor before taking any vitamins or supplements

PAID ENDORSEMENT DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog.

Ridiculously Easy Homemade Cream Cheese

Okay, so I realize that this blog is quickly becoming a How-to-make-your-own-food blog! I promise after my next two posts, I will share something non-food related!

This week I have been doing inventory of what we are running out of and researching new food projects I can make myself. I wanted to make some new fermentation recipes and decided that I was going to try my hand at making my own whey, a common ingredient in many ferments. I learned that it was very easy, and a great way to make your own cream cheese as well! A twofer! Who doesn't love that!!

I really wish I had more presence of mind to take pictures for the blog during this process, but I was just so excited (and distracted with the kids) that I didn't. BOO! I promise pictures in my next post! Making your own cream cheese is so easy that my 3 1/2 year old could have done it herself- and that is not a lie!

First you need yogurt, you can use store bought, or make your own using my homemade yogurt recipe. You need a fine mesh strainer, or if you don't have that, you can use a regular strainer, some cheesecloth and a wooden spoon. You want to put the desired amount into the fine strainer, or place a piece of cheesecloth in a regular strainer and place over a bowl. If using the cheesecloth tie the corners together over the wooden spoon and hang over a bowl to collect the whey and separate the cheese. Let it sit for anywhere up to 12 hours and you've got your own, delicious cream cheese! YAY!

You can keep the whey in a jar in the fridge and use it if you are into fermenting, or just discard. You can add some salt or herbs to the cheese or even some fruits and use to spread on crackers or breads. Enjoy!

I would love to hear about any recipes you have tried and your experiences!

Disclaimer:  Please note: I am not a medical professional. Please use your careful discernment and double check with your naturopath or doctor before taking any vitamins or supplements

PAID ENDORSEMENT DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog.

Homemade Laundry Soap

It seems like it's been so long since my last post! We had a couple weeks of the dreaded flu and instead of writing my blog during the evenings I took advantage of going to bed early to help fight off this horrible infection! I may have been skimping out on actually writing, but I still kept up with some of my homesteading projects and am back, in full effect, to share them with you!

This post will share with you the recipe for homemade laundry detergent. Now I have to warn you, this is kind of time consuming, but I thought it worked great. In fact, I felt that this detergent took out stains better than some of the alternative detergents I have been using. For a couple of years I have used detergents without all the yucky petrochemicals in it, but feel that I had to sacrifice getting out some stains. This homemade detergent is good to use, and gets the stains out pretty well. I felt like my whites were brighter than they have been for awhile.

The recipe is easy, and much more cost effective than buying your own laundry soap. My main complaint, is the grating of the laundry soap. I despise this step, but since I only have to do it once every two weeks or so, I can deal with it. Just be warned, the grating is not fun.

The ingredients are easy and cheap, you buy a box of Borax, a box of Super Washing Soda (not baking soda) and a bar of laundry bar soap. I used Fels Naptha. All you have to do is mix a cup of Borax, a cup of Super Washing Soda and up to 1/2 the bar of Fels Naptha. I actually used about 1/3 for the two batching of detergent I made, just because I got so tired of grating, and still think the mixture works great!

I ordered the ingredients off of Amazon, but you can find them at most stores as well. You can also use the Borax to make your own dish washing detergent, which I will try once we run out of these little tablets.

Have you tried making your own laundry soap? I would love for you to share your recipes and/or your experiences. 

Disclaimer:  Please note: I am not a medical professional. Please use your careful discernment and double check with your naturopath or doctor before taking any vitamins or supplements

PAID ENDORSEMENT DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog.