Gluten Free Wild Sourdough Bread Day Whatever

Isn't it bubbly and beautiful!? Let's start out by saying I have not remained as devoted a starter mother as I was in the first week. After removing the dates, I have only fed and stirred it when I've thought of it every few days. Thankfully it has thrived on neglect and bubbles up enthusiastically the morning after it is fed. 

How to feed your "mature" sourdough:

In a fresh jar, combine 1T brown rice flour and 2T filtered water. Pour in the starter and stir thoroughly. Cover with a fresh cloth. (Note that putting the new flour in the bottom of the jar is not absolutely necessary but in the long term it helps prevent problems). 

I baked my first sourdough roll today! It was crusty on the outside and fluffy on the inside. I didn't add any commercial yeast or leavening agent, so the fluffy crumb was all thanks to our friend the starter! It tasted delicious-- almost a flavor like a cheezit. I had fermented it 36 hours. Woohoo!! The recipe I used was 1 T fresh ground raw buckwheat groats (whizzed them in a blender), 2 T starter and about 2 T water. Yep, I forgot to add salt. I'm going to start another batch today to bake tomorrow. I need to check how much salt to use and try it with a bit less water so it isn't too doughy. I also need to improve on my "faux French bread oven" technique a bit. We're getting really close to a delicious sourdough roll you can replicate in your oven, folks!! Huzzah and hooray and stay tuned! :)

Jello Jigglers

I made some tasty jello treats yesterday.

I was inspired by Wellness Mama's healthy gummy bear recipe, but of course made a honey-free version to be as light on the blood sugar as possible. While delicious, the end result didn't seem gummy enough to qualify as "gummy bears." I'll need to do some further testing on these to get to that point because I love gummy bears! But meanwhile, I didn't mind eating half a batch with my breakfast this morning, so I'll share the current recipe with you. Note that this makes a lot! You may want to halve the batch especially if you are hoping it will fit in your silicon molds. 

3 T dried unsweetened hibiscus flowers (I got mine at a Mexican grocery)

3 1/4 c water

1/2 c gelatin

1/2 t salt (or more to taste)

2 T lemon juice

Liquid stevia to taste (I used 8 drops)

Flavor extracts to taste (such as lemon oil and orange oil)

Boil hibiscus flowers and water, and allow to cool (I brought mine to a boil before leaving the house, and it was cool when I came home). Strain to remove flowers and heat 1/2 c to boiling. Combine 1/2 c cooled liquid with the 1/2 c gelatin by pouring slowly and whisking vigorously. Add the boiling liquid and continue whisking, then finally add remaining liquid. I made 3 flavors by dividing the batch and separately adding raspberry flavor, orange oil and lemon oil. I used only the tiniest amount of flavoring (1/8 t perhaps) and it wasn't enough. If you are flavoring the whole batch, add slowly and taste it as you go, but I bet you could get away with 1t flavoring. 

Chill in glass dishes or silicon molds overnight. Wellness Mama suggests greasing the molds with coconut oil, but I skipped that for this light treat. Enjoy!!

Pumpkin Pie-- no sweetener added

Dear Friends,

Here is a family recipe the my dear partner developed for me, since sugar and I really do best if we each go our separate ways. ;)

If you have been on a sugar-free path for a while now, this pumpkin pie might taste just as you remembered it. If you have recently given up sugar and it doesn't taste enjoyably sweet, pop it in the freezer for 30-90 days and your tastebuds will find it sweeter next time. For THM gals, this is an E recipe.

Without further ado, here it is. It's crustless. Blend everything and bake at 350 until the center doesn't jiggle. You can bake in a pie plate, ramekins or anything in between.  Enjoy!!

1 1/2 c pumpkin puree (1 can) 

1 cup sweet potato (baked and the allowed to sit at room temp 8-12 hours) 

1/4 t cloves 

1 T cinnamon (or more) 

1 1/2 t powdered ginger 

3/4 t salt 

6 egg whites (or 4 whole eggs)

1 1/2 c light coconut milk (or almond milk)

I hope you find yourself richly blessed today.

Love,

Lisa

Gluten Free Wild Sourdough Day 3

The sourdough was starting to fall by nighttime tonight, and was looking a bit dry-- see how it's coming away from the sides of the jar? It's time to get it more food and a fresh home. 

For the curious-- a sideview of how much it's risen. Wow!

First, place 1T brown rice flour in a fresh jar. 

Pour the starter into the jar with the flour, holding back the dates in the old jar. Swirl 2T filtered water in the date jar to rise yeast off the dates.

Pour the water into the flour / starter jar. Stir thoroughly with a clean spoon. Cover with a fresh cloth. Read it a bedtime story...  just kidding. :)

By the way, our starter is currently at about 1/2 c total (unrisen state). It contains 5T brown rice flour and 8T water. I'm noting this so I can use it to calculate nutrition facts later. 

Gluten Free Wild Sourdough Day 2.75

See the glorious bubbles! My starter loved its morning meal and is trying to rise. Zippideedoodahh! I never lose the excitement and magic of this process. It is just so fun how it unfolds. This would be a great project for bread-loving homeschoolers. :)

The top of the starter is also mounded and somewhat hilly:

I couldn't be more pleased with its progress! Check the next post for what to do at the end of day three. I'll just be here, ogling at it while I knit Christmas presents. ;)

Gluten Free Wild Sourdough Day 2.5

We have bubbles folks! 

And, after a bit of stirring, 10 times more! 

It's hard to capture on IPhone but they are covering the surface. I'm adding one T of brown rice flour for a bit more food for our baby yeasties. That brings the total current proportions to 4T brown rice flour, 6T water.

Gluten Free Wild Sourdough Day 2

Not much changed from day 1 to 2 in my sourdough pot, except that it got really thick at the 24 hour mark so I added 3 T of water. I wondered if the yeast colonies were getting bigger on the dates but told myself it was probably just rice flour.

Gluten-Free Wild Sourdough Day 1

Making gluten-free sourdough bread is easy and fun, and the final product is delicious. It tastes a bit sharp and cheesey, which a dairy-free gal like me really appreciates.

Many THM gals have asked me for my gluten free sourdough bread recipe. I love to be of service so I'm glad they asked, but I was a little bit intimidated by the prospect because my recipe is still under development and I just shelved it for a couple years. After some consideration I decided to start my sourdough starter again and track my progress on the blog. That way, gals (and guys!) can follow along on the day-by-day process and hopefully I can just put the finishing touches on the recipe to make sure it turns out as delicious and well-textured as it should. 

So for day one, you'll need organic brown rice flour, filtered water (if available) and 2 whole organic dates. 

I use the dates as a source of wild yeast. If you look closely at this zoomed in picture, these dates have some tiny white specks on them-- little colonies of yeast. The date on the right is more uniformly covered (except on the raised wrinkles) with a purplish film. This is all called bloom- wild yeast that has been attracted to fruit. The bloomier and white-speckled-ier you can find them, the better. I've seen traditional recipes that use grapes for this purpose but grapes didn't work for me. The dates you see in the picture are not very bloomy but they were the best I could find and they'll work out okay. I also see dried figs covered in white bloom sometimes-- you could try that if you couldn't find bloomy dates.

Measure equal parts brown rice flour and water and combine in a straight-sided jar. Mix well. I used 3T of each.

Plop in those dates.

Push them down with a spoon until they are fully submerged.

Cover loosely to keep out dust. Put in a warm, cheerful place. Stir morning and night, more if you think of it, to keep water and flour well-mixed. Sometimes I call my sourdough starter my "chia pet" because I will bound out of bed in the morning to see if it has come alive yet. After a few days, one morning you'll lift off the cloth and find your starter is exuberantly bubbling away-- how exciting!-- and you'll be ready for the next step.

By the way, I think you could try non-organic but sometimes the chemicals prevent healthy sourdough growth. Since you're investing your time and patience, set yourself (and your starter) up for success if you can. 

Have fun and let me know if you have any questions!!

Nourishing Chocolate Pudding (S)

This chocolate pudding feels like a huge treat, yet doesn't contain any sugar, dairy or gluten. With nearly 10g protein, it is a balanced meal replacement if you ever need to be able to grab a breakfast-to-go out of the fridge, and it makes a wonderful nourishing snack that will keep you going for a few hours. It also makes great pudding pops-- a treat I am nostalgic for after family vacations in the early 1990s. :)

Here's how I made it:

1 can Thai Kitchen light coconut milk (13.66 oz)

1 can pure water (reuse coconut milk can and skip the measuring cup)

5 T "sweet chocolate" (recipe below)

1/2 t salt

1 T vanilla

4 T almond meal

2 T unflavored gelatin powder

4 egg yolks

Heat and whisk all but last two ingredients in a saucepan until steamy. Gradually sprinkle gelatin powder in while whisking. Crack eggs and put yolks in a glass or metal measuring cup (reserve whites fpr another use). Pour some of hot cocoa mixture into egg yolks and whisk thoroughly, then whisk back into saucepan. Continue stirring until mixture is glossy and uniform. Pour into four 1c jelly jars. Add lids and cool in a sinkful of water. Jars will seal but must be stored in the refrigerator. Bon appetit!

Nutrition Facts per Serving: 

Protein: 9.4 g Fat: 15.8 g Usable Carbohydrate: 3 g

Sweet Chocolate

1 c unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 t stevia powder

Combine ingredients in a large food storage container and shake very well to distribute stevia thoroughly.