I'm sure that you are starting to think about bread making, or maybe you're not. Maybe your local stores have been awesome with their stock. Or maybe you don't even eat bread.. But this post is for the bread lovers, the ones who appreciate a homemade loaf of bread. 

In my first cookbook, Healthy By Choice: The Cookbook, I outlined my recipe for a sourdough starter and a loaf of sourdough bread. Some people found it difficult to follow, so I will outline it very simply here:

• Use 1 Cup of Purified Water & 1 Cup of Regular All Purpose Flour. Mix it together & put it in a glass jar. Mason Jars are great. Cover with a cheesecloth or a wash cloth. 
• The next day 12-24 hours later, remove half of what is in your glass jar and toss it in the trash. Add 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup of flour to the glass jar, mix it and recover. 
• You will follow step 2 for about a week. You'll begin to see your sourdough starter's personality. She/he will begin to bubble & you'll notice when they are hungry. Depending upon your climate and humidity and even the temperature in your home, you might have to feed your starter more or less often. 
• Once your starter is about a week old... you're ready for this super simple recipe. 

First off, this recipe is adapted from Man Made
You will want to follow her link to follow her process, as that worked wonderful. However, her ratios didn't work well for me- but the method did. Here is my recipe-ratio:

Here you will need:
-a kitchen scale
-about 12-14 hours (it's best to do this overnight)
-17 ounces of All Purpose Flour
-8 ounces of Active Sourdough Starter
-10 ounces of Room Temperature Water
-1.5 Tsp Sea Salt 
-Dutch Oven to bake this beauty in. 

Don't forget, click here, to follow her method. 

But I will give it to you in simple terms:

1. Mix together the above ingredients, flour, salt, sourdough starter, and room temperature water. I think it works better to mix together with a wooden spoon & your hands rather than a dough hook. You want to give some good love to your sourdough-- it's a relationship here man. 
2. Put your dough in a bowl & cover it with a tea towel and set it aside for about 12 hours. I do this at night time. 
3. In the morning, wake up and say Hey Yoooo! to your Dough. Turn on your oven to about 425 and put your cast iron dutch oven in your oven while it warms up. 
4. While the oven is warming up, knead your dough together, Tell it how amazing it is and how the glutens are relaxing and you appreciate how easily digestible this will be for you and your family. Okay once you've worked this dough into a nice ball, set it aside for about 30 minutes. 
   
5.  Now, CAREFULLY with oven mits and all remove the dutch oven from your oven. Line it with parchment paper & set your dough ball in there. Cover it with the lid and then put it back in the oven. Bake it covered for 35 minutes. 
6. Remove the dutch oven from the oven again, carefully, and take off the lid. You'll see the dough has risen. Now leave the lid off and put it back in the oven for about 30-35 minutes. 
7. Pull it out and as long as it sounds hollow when you tap it, you're golden! Let it rest & don't cut it until it is completely cooled! Enjoy! <3 

​-Jes

Unless you're living under a rock... you will know that their is a global pandemic literally sweeping the globe. The Coronavirus that originated in China has made it's way across Europe, Africa, and now into North America. Italy is closed- full quarantine unless going out for groceries and medical supplies- aside from that they must stay home. 

What is the Coronavirus you might ask? Basically it is a virus that presents itself as a cold with a fever & labored breathing. Those who are most at risk are elderly and those with compromised immune systems (autoimmune, autonomic, etc). Children aren't immune (there is an article going around saying that they are) but the virus presents itself differently and usually much more mild. The death toll is in the thousands right now & leaders around the globe are hoping to slow the spread of the virus. 

In the United States- many (if not all) public schools are closed. In Michigan, where I am located, restaurants, spas, and gyms are closed. Some restaurants are allowing delivery and carry out orders. The stores are a bit ransacked depending upon your area... and everyone is obsessed with having enough toilet paper. We are practicing something called social distancing. This is basically where you don't really go out into the main public unless you have to, many people are working from home, no playdates, no family gatherings, etc until the beginning of April, while some government officials say this might last until July. A lot is up in the air at the moment.