Baking Zen - One Loaf At A Time

This past January, during a 2-week business trip, I decided to become a bread baking powerhouse. 

I have found, if a work trip spans more than a week, I mentally teleport back to a time when moms stayed home and baked amazing things with one hand while making a perfect gin martini in the other (in heels / while vacuuming).  I'm then consumed with guilt and come up with a MP (Mom Project).

Here we are - I'm a baker now, since that was a 2-week trip. 


Even though, I knew nothing about baking bread and had no idea how to feed a starter - I bought a tiny bit of an old sourdough starter. 

A few days after I returned, the smallest little jar with the smallest little bit of starter showed up on my doorstep.  That little bit eventually grew into something amazing that has made countless boules and loaves of bread now!

It was just a little blob with amazing aspirations.

I took my itty bitty bit of starter and added luke warm water & AP Flour.  By the next day, it had grown substantially, was bubbly & airy and had the most amazing smell.

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I kept 4 oz and the rest became my discard.  ​I fed the held back 4 oz, with 4 oz AP Flour and 4 oz Luke Warm Water.  Once mixed it will look like the photo on the left.

The next day, I had a fairly ripe starter but instead of using it, I repeated the process above by holding back & feeding.  I did this because you need to have a good bit of starter to be able to bake something and have enough left to feed.

This past Saturday, I made bread so Finn would have it, even with me out of town.  I'm only gone for a week this time so I won't come back with a new MP which is great as I am really enjoying becoming a good baker!

I absolutely LOVE making homemade bread.  I just wish I knew people that actually ate carbs as my bread making is limited to just a few small loaves a week otherwise they'd go to waste!

I only eat a single slice, each Sunday, due to maintaining a Keto Lifestyle.  The way I eat and what I like to bake are slightly at odds but I'm working on a bunch of Keto Friendly recipes as well.  Stay Tuned For Those!

Until this past weekend, I never really stopped to think how amazing it is to make bread.
I just felt so completely in awe that with next to no ingredients I can make something to feed my family.

This starter has contributed to the baking of countless - literally countless loaves of bread. 
Its origins are from the late 1800's. 

When people discard - they often give portions of it away to other homes where it is fed and discarded to another home and then that gets discarded and goes to another home.  It's endless, the cycle continues literally forever.  

Since having mine, I have given portions to a handful of friends and several of them have given portions to their friends which is just is the coolest thing ever to me.

While I really have a long (LONG) way to go in terms of perfecting my bread making - I am so very taken by the process and found a shit ton of ZEN in my kitchen!

You can bring simplicity to your life while making something timeless, wholesome, preservative free and shockingly delicious. The first bakeries popped up in Greece 2nd century A.D. and honestly - we're still using the same 3 ingredients (yeast, water, flour).  Not much has changed.

Something so simple has created a new tradition our home.  Every Sunday, our home fills up with the smell of baking bread, it brings us together around the kitchen island where we laugh and talk about our upcoming week - it's just the coolest thing of all.  

I love that my son's memories will include such moments.  

Oh!  Discard - that doesn't mean toss it out.  You can make waffles, biscuits, pancakes, etc.  That's also what you can give to friends so they can make their own!

I'm a little waffle factory and I make a massive batch for my son as part of my meal prep on Sunday mornings. Just let them cool and store them in the fridge (or freezer).

​On school days I warm them up in a buttered cast iron pan.  They become buttery & crispy within just a few minutes.  To have something easy that a teen will sit down long enough to eat is a massive win.

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