Lately, it’s been in the kitchen… and a whole lot of wonderfully dirty dishes.

I’ve been making our family’s bread since early spring 2024, and I’ve been loving it! Researching frugal, everyday practices and baking bread is something I’m passionate about and was one of the consistent tips I found across blogs, videos, and talking with other women. I was advised to start with a little bit at a time because bread-making can be a daunting undertaking.

There’s rise times and kneading technique to consider and hone. Like with my other baking, I’ve learned to plan a day for baking otherwise I know I’ll be up late into the night because I misjudged the time for the recipe and even the total time listed on the recipe itself usually seems inaccurate.

So I found a beginner recipe lacking intimidation that I’ve been able to vary for different flavors of bread. It’s been especially fantastic for the flexibility in the rise time and made me more comfortable to try other dough recipes in general.

Shortly after I started making more of our own bread, Caleb brought up sourdough and would mention when I went to the grocery store for active dry yeast that I wouldn’t need to have it on the list if I tried sourdough. Oh was I intimidated by the whole concept! I’d heard so many great things about sourdough, how fantastic the taste is, how healthy it is for you, and the wonderful smell that warms your house. But there’s the maintenance..

I’d entertained the idea of starting by looking up instructional videos about how to make your own starter and become so confused by the many different methods I’d heard and seen; I wanted straight-forward instructions and because I couldn’t settle on picking one set to follow, I put off trying any at all.

I finally sucked it up and picked a set to try, read through the list 4 or 5 times before I started and got to work. And IT worked!

I officially have a sourdough starter and made my first loaf just this past Friday..

The bread turned out so well and I can finally say I’ve made sourdough bread! It felt so good to see it go from ingredients, to dough, to a warm loaf with a crust that crackles as it’s slightly squeezed.

I would HIGHLY recommend that anyone just try it even once or ask for some starter from a friend if you choose to make it only on special occasions. The loaf is gorgeous and the smell is amazing. I found a variety of other baked goods that can use sourdough besides bread and am anxious to try them (brownies, for example). I’d encourage you to do a little research on Google or Pinterest, invest in a Dutch oven, and just take the first step, that’s all it takes.