Adventures in Sourdough

I discovered fermentation this last year and enjoying it. My husband wasn't too thrilled about my kitchen pets like I was and the children love to see what our kitchen pets are doing when I care for them. The kefir has lots of uses. Both the kefir and Kombucha have been working well for our health and getting probiotics. Do to finances and the cost of our gluten free bread, I just haven't bought any. We have been craving it and so it opened my eyes to ways I can make bread in our RV without heating it up with the oven. I one day made Gluten Free Fry Bread. It was good and so I continued to search for recipes. And then I found sites about Gluten Free Sourdough. I was thrilled, because four years ago, gluten free sourdough starter had little or no information about it.

Gluten free sourdough is easy to start, just make sure that you will be home and that your distractions are limited. You have to remember to feed it once a day and stir it 3 times a day for 3 to 5 days. After that you can refrigerate it and feed it as you use it. I suggest you read about how to care for it, because I am still experimenting with mine and don't have the answers yet. I am starting out with easy recipes first.

The one thing I noticed is that there are different consistencies with sourdough starters. Some make it up to have more water contents and it is like a pancake batter consistency and some have less water consistency and is like a sponge. During the Alaskan goldmine days, the miners would keep their sourdough starter thick enough to store next to their bodies day and night. I started with a wet consistency and am now thickening it up a little to see where I like it, so I am not sure what ratio to feed mine daily yet. I am on day 4 and thinking that it will be time to refrigerate it now. It is smelling a little drunk now.

The sites that I found to be the most helpful are

Thinner and wetter consistency
http://web.mac.com/simplyalaskan/iWeb/YukonRiverLodge/Blog/FB5D067E-C864-4077-9F78-9E0790557701.html

Thicker consistency
http://www.redstaryeast.com/best_recipes/37/7/GF-Sourdough-Starter

Sourdough for beginners
http://www.io.com/~sjohn/sour.htm

A good wedsite about sourdough
http://www.sourdoughhome.com/startingastarter.html

The recipe that I stared with was the wetter one from the Yukon River Lodge site. I liked the easy to remember ratio.

What I did:
1 package of active yeast to 2 cups of warm water (the temperature that yeast like). Stir and add 2 cups of rice flour and 2 Tblsp of sugar. Stir again. I started mine in a half gallon size jar with a plastic canning lid placed on top. Don't screw the lid down. You want the gases to escape, but to keep bugs and contamination out. (don't let it come in contact of metal). Store on the kitchen counter top. The first day I stired with a spoon 3 times a day. I made pancakes the next morning, but they were too thin. They were good with lots of holes, so there was still hope. I then moved it into a quart jar and fed it 1 cup of water, 1 cup of rice flour and 1 Tblsp sugar. Stir (or shake) 3 times a day. The third day the consistency was watery so I changed my pancake recipe. I used the starter in place of the liquid portion of the pancake batter. Then it was too thick and so I had to add liquid (milk, water, yogurt, kefir) until I had a pourable thick consistency of the pancake batter. They turned out wonderful and thick. We ate them with and without syrup. Now that it is day 4, the girls want me to make muffins.

I would love to hear about your adventures and recipes you used with your starter. There are other ways to ferment without the bakers yeast using kefir and kombucha, but I was not that adventurous yet.

Gluten Free Navajo Fry Bread

Last night I had a craving for bread to go with dinner. My bread machine is in storage along with my nice mixer. I do have the hand held mixer that likes gluten free globs of dough to climb up the beaters and into the holes of the mixer. But that is too much work. I really need to think of a guard for that area. (think, think, think!) Instead of fussing with all of that, I searched the web for Indian Fry Bread and converted it. Now this hit the spot and was yummy. It was quick and easy.

After eating this with dinner, I started thinking of other wonderful bread stuff. I always wanted to make a sourdough starter. After being diagnosed with Celiac, I thought that would never happen. There was nothing out on the web about it then. Now there is! I am looking forward to doing more research and seeing if I have the room right now to take care of a sourdough starter. I may have to wait for now.

Here is the link that I converted the recipe from

If the link didn't work, here is the address: http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/NavajoFryBread.htm


Gluten Free version of Navajo Fry Bread
(originally written by Cynthia Detterick-Pineda)

1 cup GF flour blend (I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Flour Blend)
1/2 tsp xantham gum
1 tsp ground flax seed
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon powdered milk
1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup water

oil for frying

Sift together the flour, xanthum gum, flax seed, salt, powdered milk, and baking powder into a large bowl. Pour the water over the flour mixture all at once and stir the dough with a fork until it starts to form one big clump.

Flour your hands. Using your hands, begin to mix the dough, trying to get all the flour into the mixture to form a ball. NOTE: You want to mix this well, but you do NOT want to knead it. Kneading it will make for a heavy Fry Bread when cooked. The inside of the dough ball should still be sticky after it is formed, while the outside will be well floured.

Cut the dough into four (4) pieces. Using your floured hands, shape, stretch, pat, and form a disk of about 5 to 7 inches in diameter. NOTE: Don’t worry about it being round.

Heat the vegetable oil to about 350 degrees F. NOTE: You can check by either dropping a small piece of dough in the hot oil and seeing if it begins to fry, or by dipping the end of a wooden spoon in and seeing if that bubbles. Your oil should be about 1-inch deep in a large cast-iron skillet or other large fryer. (I only added about a large spoon full of shortening)

Take the formed dough and gently place it into the oil, being careful not to splatter the hot oil. Press down on the dough as it fries so the top is submersed into the hot oil. Fry until brown, and then flip to fry the other side. Each side will take about 3 to 4 minutes.

Indian Fry Bread can be kept warm in a 200 degree F. oven for up to 1 hour. They refrigerate well and can be reheated in a 350 degree F. oven for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

(Thank you Cynthia for your easy to follow directions.) =)

Saving Money When You Have To

The economy has hit our family hard. We adapted for the most part, but are struggling in a lot of ways. Here are some of the ways we adapted.


* We learned how easy it was to eat naturally gluten free.

* We gave up buying mixes and have made our own baking mix, cake mixes, cookies, brownies.

* We started using corn tortilla's instead of gluten free bread for sandwiches.

* We gave up buying organics, in order to survive. To be honest with you, my health has improved quite a bit in the last year since I gave up organics. Makes me wonder if organics are worth my money. I do like the taste of organic sugar and organic celery better.

* I cook at home all the time now. My husband likes to eat out, but now that isn't an option.

* I started using my microwave and Tupperware microwave cookware for the convenience when I am too tired to cook. Again, my health has improved. I really think that the convenient, processed microwave food is the problem, not the microwave. Tupperware cookware is made from a pexiglass and has been tested for health. It has tested to be safe.

* We are eating more raw veggies and fruits.

* We started eating fermented veggies and making kefir at home. My friend started making kefir at home to save money on probiotics. She shared some with me and I am able to digest it, because the casein in the milk has been broken down.