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Crunchy. Extra. Starter-obsessed. These are just a few of the terms people call moms like us who decide to get on the sourdough bandwagon. Hey, if you know, you know.
But in all seriousness, it’s a start. The mom guilt that surfaces every time you reach for a pre-packaged food to feed the kiddos is real. Let’s start there – THERE IS NOTHING TO FEEL GUILTY ABOUT, MAMA. It’s a busy season of life you’re in raising these tiny humans and, at the end of the day, if pre-packaged food gets the kids feed while also saving what’s left of your sanity – it is healthy. So start with one thing. Maybe it’s sourdough, maybe it’s something entirely different. If you want to move away from pre-packaged, start with one thing. Hey, Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Why Moms Should Bake Sourdough: Benefits for You and Your Kids
Swapping the prepackaged breads, pancakes, baked goods, and whatever else you want to make with your new sourdough skills is a great step away from processed. Yes, it can be very involved and time consuming BUT it doesn’t have to be. There are several ways to build sourdough in to the daily rhythm of your life so that it compliments what you already do instead of detracting from it.
Sourdough is a great learning opportunity for the kiddos. Just watching you do the work will make them more aware of where food actually comes from and how it’s created. Double down on the educational benefits by including them in the process. Kids love to help. Whenever you can – and no matter how much extra time it takes – allow them to help. It allows them to cultivate independence, learn some basic life skills, and – most importantly – bond with you. The math skills you naturally develop the more you bake don’t hurt either!
And hey, if the world tries to come to a stand still again, sourdough will be an awesome tool to have in your back pocket to keep your family fed until it starts back up again. It never hurts to have some of these from-scratch skills. Saving a little money by making your own sourdough bread and other goodies isn’t such a bad thing either!
Must-Have Sourdough Baking Tools Every Mom Needs
You don’t have to spend a ton on all the really cool sourdough goodies out there. You can – but you don’t have to. Some of my personal favorites are:
- Standard Mixing Bowl
- Good flour (my favorite brand)
- Dutch Oven – No need to get too fancy unless you just want to. This basic cast iron dutch oven works beautifully!
- Bread Pans
- Kitchen scale (my FAVORITE way to measure ingredients)
- Scoring tool
- Starter jar (a mason jar with a paper towel over it works just as well!) – This one comes as a two pack so you can easily share your starter with a friend!
- Bread whisk
- Banneton
- Parchment paper
- Bread Bag – Bags are my favorite way to store my bread when I’m going to use it right away and this one also comes with a proofing cover!
- Paper Bread Bags – Sourdough loaves make incredible gifts and a fun addition to parties, these bags make it easy.
Again, you can absolutely go crazy with sourdough accessories, but this is a really great start. You can also get by without several of these – use this list as a jumping off point for what you want to use!
Sourdough Baking Process + My Favorite Simple Recipe for Busy Moms
The sourdough baking process looks super intimidating when you first glance over it but it’s absolutely not. Don’t panic, moms have been baking bread for thousands of years. But hey, words like “levain” and “autolyse” are terrifying if you’ve never seen them before. Have no fear! This amazing recipe from Farmhouse on Boone is a lifesaver when you start your sourdough journey. It’s super simple and not at all scary. Plenty of hand-holding and encouragement!
Time-Saving Tips for Making Sourdough Bread as a Busy Mom
Now that you know how to make sourdough bread, how do you make it work with mom life? For starters (pun intended!), you can place your starter in the fridge when the two of you need a break from one another. Some days it be like that – you feed your starter, let it rise, and then something throws a wrench in your plans and there goes your baking time. Toss that cutie in the fridge and it will be ready when you are.
Make sourdough work for you. Once you’ve practiced the above recipe, or another you like, find regular moments in your life that you can easily work the steps in to. Adjust it to fit your existing rhythm – not the other way around. And if you’re off a little here or there, bake that thing anyway! Bet ya it still tastes better than store bought!
Finally, make friends with your discard. That stuff is liquid gold, seriously. You can make all sorts of things with it – pancakes, scones, muffins, cookies, pizza dough, and so much more. Save a little more money and make delicious food with it.
Like everything else when it comes to being a mom, sourdough baking is a learning process. You can’t really learn how to do it until you get in there and do it. We all sucked at it when we first started (and still do from time to time!!) but you’ll figure it out. Go get your hands dirty, mama, and never forget – you’ve got this!