Sourdough Starter

Yes, I abandoned my sourdough starters.
It was a bit sad since they looked really good and I was getting some good photos to share but I kind of felt it would be better to start over.

You see, our ROOF got replaced and some know what a tremendous and fantastic answer to prayer this is. Well, with the new roof came a pretty substantial loss of ceiling in my kitchen. So much so that we joked about walking through the kitchen and seeing the moon and stars since we literally did. . . see them.
We had a skylight in there and it has always been a bit of a disaster and it had to come out and this has meant a LOT of working around things and all sorts of things flying in the air. I didn't trust my sourdough starters ... covered or not ... in that environment so I baked a bunch of bread and some other baked goods and didn't save any to use later. I take that back, I did save some in the fridge but go so busy in house work and repair that I forgot it was there.

In my goal to be real as I've mentioned so many times before ... a lot of things like this get shared. Projects get started just to be stopped mid way and plans get changed before they can gain ground but it is okay. If it is God's will ... things will be in great order soon and I will be much more set up for the baking, sourdough making, and make it from scratch work will commence!

                                                                   

Being at peace with yourself is a direct result of finding peace with God.

Olin Miller

Love that quote! I just added it as a little gift after opening it from an email this morning. 

We have been making lots of pizza because we are trying to eat NO fast food (with a few exceptions for my husband and 8-year old son... it has been weeks turning into months since we have eaten fast food) and pizza had not been included in our goal. We didn't consider pizza fast food for some reason but as I've shared before - just about anything we make at home will be healthier in one way or another than whatever we can buy processed or prepared to go and grab. 

Sometimes, I still make crust but lately, we've been buying two packs of large, thin crust (whole wheat) and a three pack of smaller crusts for the kids. In a matter of minutes, we've topped them with sauce, toppings, seasonings and cheese and they are in the oven. 

Here are some of the main ingredients and a few basic instructions:

Crust - already mentioned or English muffins or flour tortillas. 

Preferably, whole grain versions.

Sauce: Low sugar/low sodium spaghetti sauce is our main used sauce. It is surprisingly good! We also use homemade or purchased pizza sauce, bbq sauce, or homemade white, garlic sauce. 

Toppings: on the sauce, we've been adding finely chopped red onion. SUCH a great addition for flavor and crunch! Broccoli that I steam or dip in boiling water and then in ice water and cut or break in small pieces, and sauteed mushrooms that I add 1-2 pressed garlic cloves to at the last 30-60 seconds of cooking.

Seasonings: onion powder or onion salt or parsley or sweet basil. 

Cheese: Parmesan around the edges of sauce and mozarella generously sprinkled over all. 

I've been baking ours at high temps on cookie sheets and stoneware pans. 420 or so degrees and as soon as the crust isn't soft or shows light browning, I change it to broil and broil until bubbly and golden or lightly browned on top. If a crunchier crust is desired (my daughter and I like at least one this way) ... longer cooking times do well before switching to broil. 

If I had pictures, I'd post but we are making 2 to 6 pizzas at a time and they are gone before I can get photos! 

Love,
Sandy