This bread is good.

I mean really, really good.

It's got that chewy squish that sourdough should have to it. You know, the kind that makes you want to eat three pieces of it slathered in butter and peach jam. It also lasts a few days without getting dry or crumbly and it slices well for sandwiches. It's our new favorite bread. And while it isn't 100% whole wheat…. I'm okay with that. I think the flax meal gives it an extra boost. You could certainly use all wheat flour, but you'll lose the squish factor. After about 3 dozen loaves of this… I've used the least amount of white flour possible while still making a mostly whole grain bread that we love. 

I could talk far too long about creating just the right texture in foods. It drives my husband crazy sometimes. He's telling me "this is good." And I'm going on and on about getting the right balance of crisp and chewy into it. That's usually when he looks at me and shakes his head and starts laughing.

I hope you try it and you love it too. Especially the squishy part.

This bread uses 1.5 cups of sourdough starter. I ordered my whole wheat sourdough starter here.I feed it about 8-12 hours before I start my bread…. that way it's nice and bubbly & active when you start the process. What I mean is, the starter should look something like this:

Our Sourdough Bread

1.5  cups active sourdough starter

2  cups very warm water

2-3  tsp salt (I like 3)

2  TBSP honey

1/2  cup ground flax seed (flax meal)

3  cups whole wheat flour

2  cups unbleached white bread flour (+ more for kneading)

*Add starter, water, salt, honey, flax & wheat flour to a bowl. Stir well and let sit for 15-30 minutes to give the wheat flour a chance to absorb some of the water. Add the white flour and mix well. I use my stand mixer for this. I use the paddle for the first mix and switch to the dough hook when I add the white flour. After I add the white flour, the mixture is doughy but still too soft and just beginning to pull away from the sides of the bowl. I turn it onto a floured counter to knead in the last bits of flour. About a cup or so. The dough will hold its shape when it has enough flour into it. I always do the last part by hand because too often I have incorporated far too much flour by only using the mixer.

Too much flour = dense dry loaf. (aka – no squish)

Place the dough in an oiled bowl and let sit for 1-1.5 hours in a warm place to rise. My own experience is that sourdough needs a longer first rise to double in size. I think it just operates a little differently than conventional yeasted dough.

After the dough is nearly doubled, gently knead the dough once more. Shape into two loaves and place them into oiled baking pans. Cover with a barely moist towel to keep them from drying out.

Let rise for 30-45 minutes. Preheat oven after 25 minutes to 375. Bake for 40 minutes or so. The crust will be a dark golden brown when the loaves are done.

Let cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Veggie sandwich & apple slices with maple almond butter.

Have you tried maple almond butter? Oh my, it's delicious.

Happy Monday to you~~

Did you notice the little housekeeping bits?

I've rearranged things here in hopes to make it look fresh & clean. What do you think? 

{If you happened to be here during the font/sidebar/color changes and you thought you were going a little crazy…. I do apologize.}

Anyhow… the truth is, my mind is about a zillion other places than here right now. My big boy has been home for the past week, which means all six of us are hanging out. I love this. I've got a few little writing gigs tucked under my hat too. I can't share them just yet, but soon! And a certain love-muffin of mine is turning 37 tomorrow. Which means today was cake baking and getting ready and tomorrow is celebrating! After that, the big boy heads back to school and the love-muffin heads off to training in Virginia. For three whole weeks. Guess who has to make her own coffee in the morning? Yup, me. Dang.

I wish I could squeak some more good bits in….. but a picture of the most amazingly delicious cookies will have to do for now. They're from this. But you can find the recipe here too. If you cut the honey in half and add 1 TBSP of coconut oil they are vaguely reminiscent of a butterfinger bar. Healthy butterfingers!? How's that for some Friday love? C'mon, you know you gotta try these!

And one more little big thing. Have you met Erin? Somehow we're sorta like cosmic blog sisters or something. For those of you that loved this, you should take a peek at her little mama confession of sorts. It's awesome.

Mad Mama Liberation ~ Rock On!

We used to eat cheesy potatoes a whole lot around here. I guess when Luke was little and we went dairy free they, sort of fell off the mental menu list in my brain. Last week though, the temperature dipped to a chilly 38 degrees. I wore my orange hat around the house and a cozy sweater…. that's cold for us southern folks you know! When it's cold outside, I want warm and cozy food to feed us. Comfort food. Somehow while rummaging through the pantry contents to come up with dinner, I remembered cheesy potatoes. I used to make them with all white potatoes…. but I had sweet ones in the cupboard too. So I did a combo. Nutrition boost. Color boost. And delicious.

This isn't much of a recipe, more of a very yummy idea. It's a wonderful side dish for just about anything too. Now if only I could come with another name than cheesy potatoes. Something fancy and french sounding perhaps…. ah well, I suppose simple is good too.

Cheesy Potatoes (side dish to serve a family of six)

6 or so medium sized potatoes (3 regular baking & 3 sweet potatoes)

olive oil

sea salt

seasoning blend *

parmesan or cheddar cheese, finely grated (roughly half a cup or a 2 inch square piece of cheese)

Scrub & cut the regular baking potatoes into cubes, leaving the peels on. Peel & cube the sweet potatoes. Toss the potatoes with a generous splash of olive oil, salt & seasoning. Toss around with your hands to evenly coat the potatoes. I do this right in the baking dish to avoid washing a bowl. The potatoes should be thoroughly coated with oil, but not sitting in a puddle of it. Bake at 450 on the middle oven rack until the potatoes just begin to brown & they are cooked through. Sprinkle with the cheese and continue baking until the cheese has just started to brown. (total baking time is roughly 40 minutes or so)

*I use garlic powder, rosemary, italian seasoning, paprika, fresh black pepper…. whatever seems like it would compliment the rest of your meal. Frontier makes a really yummy all purpose blend that I love too.

Be sure that the potatoes aren't too deep…. about 1.5 inches or so at the most so they get some nice browned bits in them. My kids will fight (jokingly) about those corner pieces with the best crunchy browned pieces. They're pretty yummy.

Enjoy!