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Easy Sourdough Starter

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This post will teach you how to make your own sourdough starter simply and easily at home. You can use your sourdough starter to make sourdough bread and sourdough pancakes, and you can keep your sourdough starter for years.

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Sourdough is a fermented food, did you know that? It’s a delicious and easy way to include the health benefits of fermentation into your diet and sourdough starter is the first step to making sourdough bread at home.

Sourdough starter is simple to make and I’ll share my best tips for success.

How to Make Easy Sourdough Starter

2 Cups All Purpose Flour – I’ve been liking the King Arthur White Whole Wheat for the added protein

2 1/4 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast – I like this kind because it comes in a glass jar that’s easily recycled and the lid closes really tightly for in between uses!

16 ounces (2 cups) warm water, 70-80 degrees F (Not hot enough to take a bath in, a warm room temperature)

Combine the ingredients in a glass bowl (see note about bowl below). Mixture may be lumpy and that’s ok. Cover with a thin kitchen towel, rubber band in place, and let sit for 2-3 days.

Stir daily and notice the bubbles and fermentation happening as soon as a few hours after combining. Sourdough will smell sour and will have many bubbles, and will more than double in size the first day.

If you notice any pink growth, discard and start over.

Note this bowl is likely the one the starter will live in for years. It will also double (or more!) in size so it must have a capacity of about 8 cups. Also choose a bowl that has a wider surface area rather than a tall and skinny shape. A mason jar is not the best choice; I chose this jar because it has a lid I can use when the starter is resting in the fridge and it is easy to rubber band a cloth around when it’s warming and growing on the counter.

Pro Tips for Successful Sourdough Starter

Use wooden utensils (or plastic) as metal reacts with the starter negatively. Do not use a metal spoon to make this or any easy sourdough starter.

Leave the starter in a warm place on the countertop when it is getting started. A cold countertop will slow or stop yeast growth.

Use a post-it note on the side of your jar or bowl telling you the day you need to return it to the fridge. I had trouble remembering until I started writing “put in fridge on Wednesday” on a note for myself.

To Store Easy Sourdough Starter

Covered in the refrigerator is a great place for the starter. Alternatively, a very cool place will suffice.

To Use Easy Sourdough Starter

Just measure out how much the recipe calls for, cover the jar back up, and return to the fridge. You’ll likely want to replenish the starter, however, as described below.

To Replenish Sourdough Starter After You’ve Used Some In a Recipe

If your recipe for bread or pancakes called for 1 cup of sourdough starter, add 1 cup flour and 1 cup warm water to the remaining starter and mix well. The same applies if the recipe called for 1 1/2 cups- replace with equal parts 1 1/2 flour and warm water. Leave sourdough in a warm place for about 6 hours, until mixture is bubbly, and return to refrigerator or other cool place.

You’ll Love My Recipe For Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls

Bread Machine Cinnamon Roll Recipe | Super simple recipe that's perfect for making the night before!

Elderberry Gummies Recipe

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This post will teach you how to make elderberry gummies, and share a video tutorial to show you exactly how to make all kinds of gummies to which you can add any kind of healthful additive.

Healthy Elderberry Gummies Recipe

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Elderberries have long been reported to have immune boosting effects. This post won’t delve into those reported effects, nor will I explore the gut healing potential of using a high quality beef gelatin, nor the use of essential oils. I will be able to speak to the ease of making gummies– SO EASY- and how much my kids (and yours surely!) will love them.

I mixed my elderberry juice (you can juice your own or buy it) with cranberries (frozen from Thanksgiving) for vitamin C boost) and the taste was delightful.

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Elderberry Gummy Recipe

You Will Need

4 cups elderberry juice (explanation of juicing below)

2 cups cranberries (frozen is fine) (optional but added a great flavor and bonus vitamin C) OR 1 cup cranberry juice

2 tablespoons liquid Stevia OR 3 tablespoons honey to taste

1 cup beef gelatin (I love this brand because it is very high quality but you can also use this more common one too which is just as effective in terms of gel)

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Optional: Essential oil of your choice – I love Doterra OnGuard for this recipe. 8 drops was plenty.

Making Elderberry Gummies

Pour juice(s) into a pan. Add apple cider vinegar and Stevia. Bring to a very low simmer. While warming, add the essential oil.

When mixture is just about to simmer, whisk in carefully and quickly the beef gelatin. Whisk vigorously for 1 minute, until the gelatin has dissolved.

Pour or use the included eye dropper to dispense the hot liquid into the mold.

Cool in refrigerator. Cooling time depends on the mold. Smaller molds cool much faster.

When cool, pop out of molds and into an airtight container (I love BPA free wide mouth canning jars) and store in the refrigerator.

Helpful tips for making Elderberry Gummies

Place the silicone molds or ice cube trays on a cookie sheet before filling.

Use a casserole dish if you don’t have a silicone mold and score cold gummies with a knife. Or, use a cookie cutter to cut shapes from the gummies.

Here’s where you can get ALL the gummy molds and gummy making supplies from my Amazon Storefront.

Juicing Elderberries for Elderberry Gummies

You’ll need about 6 cups of berries, mostly removed from the stems but some may remain (mine are always on the smallest stems).

You can use an old fashioned juicer used for canning which is very effective. Place the berries (and cranberries if you’re using them) in the top compartment, fill with water in the bottom compartment, bring to a boil, and juice will flow into the middle and down the accompanying tube.

Curious about canning? I have a Free Canning Basics Course! Jump in and let’s learn; it’s so much easier than you think!

Or, you can line a pasta pot strainer with cheesecloth, fill the bottom of the pot with water (this might be 2-4 cups depending on the size of the pot), add the berries (and cranberries if you’re using them) to the cheesecloth, and simmer for about an hour. Strain and measure the juice. Proceed back up to the recipe to make the elderberry gummies.

Ready to make Elderberry Gummies?

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Healthy Homemade Gummies Recipes

The Best Canning Jars

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This post will share the best, most versatile canning jars for a new or experienced canner, that will double as food and drink containers in your home, and will help simplify your pantry and your canning process. Read on for the best canning jars!

The Best Canning Jars

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If you’re a new canner, you probably have no idea which jars would be the best and if you’re experienced, you know there’s so many to choose from and that it’s hard to know what really is the best canning jar. I’m here to share what works best for me, and what I’d do if I were you, and why.

I’m always thinking about how easy things are to clean. If it is hard to clean, I’m probably not interested. That’s why the jars I’ll list below are all WIDE MOUTH jars. These are so much easier for your hand or the dishwasher to wash no matter if the jar held canned tomato jam or ground coffee.

Watch the video version of this post below!

Furthermore, a WIDE MOUTH JAR stacks easily, while a regular mouth jar does not. I want to be able to create a tower of jars if I want to, and wide-mouth jars allow for easy stacking.

It is true that a regular mouth pint or quart IS nice for pouring liquid- it offers a tiny bit more control of the liquid pouring out- but that benefit is so small and the advantages of a wide mouth are so much greater than if I had to start all over, I’d never buy any regular mouth jars except for a few exceptions I’ll list below.

The Best Canning Jars

The wide mouth pint jar holds 2 cups and doubles as a drinking glass. They are sturdy, stackable, and 2 cups are not too much applesauce, not too much jam, and is a perfect amount of tomato sauce for a pasta supper. If I had to choose just one canning jar to use forever and ever, it would be this one. Truly, I use them to drink from, and they are the most versatile overall. Pickles like Dilly beans and carrot pickles fit nicely, shoulder to shoulder in them, and it is easy to get air bubbles from a wide mouth pint jar.

Beautiful drinks Tower of canning jars from the Best Canning Jars post

The second jar I’ll recommend in this Best Canning Jars post is the wide mouth half-pint. I can serve sizes of applesauce, fruit cups, pickles, and more. Yes, you’ll can more batches but think about how many food products you buy or think about buying that is a convenience or serving size packaged? The usefulness of not having to scoop out the applesauce and wash a separate bowl after cannot be understated. If you’re feeling like it will take longer to can in smaller servings, you need to use a steam canner– they are ready to can in 5 minutes and save 25 minutes every batch. Read more about steam canning in this post.

Wide mouth half pints hold one cup of food, are small enough that a kindergartener can likely manage to unscrew the ring (though I would open the lid before sending the jar to school until probably Christmas time for my daughter, just until she got the hang of it at home). I love having a wide mouth half pints to grab when we are headed out the door- they are the ultimate fast health food.

6 jars of raspberry jam Tower of canning jars from the Best Canning Jars post

My mother canned primarily in quart jars. I find this to be problematic for several reasons. Leftovers are liable to go to waste, despite my best efforts. Having half a jar of preserve left-over in the fridge takes up refrigerator space for something that very well may go bad. When I do use up the second half, it may not be as delicious as when the jar was first opened. A quart jar can’t be stacked, and the opening is harder to get a scrub brush into. Processing times are longer, too, for quart jars. They are not my preference.

What about specialty jars?

The tiny 4-ounce regular mouth jar is really a delightful little jar. It has no shoulder, no difficult space to clean, so it is like a wide mouth half-pint but half the size. They are the perfect jar if you want to share your preserves. They are a single serving size of jam (1-2 pieces of toast), a single serving of salsa, or a 2 person serving of hot sauce. They are what I’ll can one batch (perhaps 12 jars) of applesauce for when my kids want a snack, but it’s close to suppertime or they just aren’t that hungry. I canned more fruit sauces in this size when my kids were very small.

Two jars of jam Tower of canning jars from the Best Canning Jars post

The 4-ounce jar is what I’d use if I were pressure canning plain veggie puree for baby food or plain fruit sauce like applesauce.

This jar is also what I’d use for canning for a party- bridal or baby shower favors are a thoughtful treat and a manageable project in this size.

Read the post about canning for a party here!

Tower of canning jars from the Best Canning Jars post

Other specialty jars are just that- you can use them to be adorable when that’s a priority but they are an investment. They might be affordable, but they are not disposable. They will be around, on your shelf or someone else’s indefinitely, so imagine what other preserve or other use you’ll have for the jar in the future.

Other Jars I Love

I use the wide mouth pint and a halfs (3 cups in one jar) for coffee, and all manner of beverages. They’d be ideal for canning a tall pickle like asparagus, garlic scapes, or some other long, languid veggie. I love that they are easy to clean and fit into a car cup holder.

Half gallon mason jars are something that every household should use if not for canning but for dry goods storage. They are so inexpensive, relatively speaking, sturdy, BPA free, like all of these jars, and can be used to store things like flour, sugar, coffee, cereal, oatmeal, crackers, tea bags, and more. They cannot be used for canning in a steam canner (too tall) but can be used for canning in a very large water bath canner. I’d can with these jars if I had a glut of cider, for example.

These are the best canning jars, Wildflowers. If you’re inspired now to learn how to can, join my Free Canning Basics Course to put these jar recommendations to good use and preserve healthy, delicious foods in jars! It’s just a few lessons right in your inbox to get you started the easy way!

Bread Machine Cinnamon Roll Recipe

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This recipe is for a delicious cinnamon roll that you make in the bread machine, roll out and can let sit over night if you’d like, to bake in just 20 minutes in the morning. Instead of the tired powdered sugar glaze, I dress mine in jam. Read on for the perfect bread machine cinnamon roll recipe.

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I am a big fan of unpopular things to do in the kitchen I guess. I LOVE canning (and I’ll teach you here), and instead of getting an instant pot, I’m ALL about my bread machine.

Guys, bread machines are AMAZING. I need to confess first of all, that I didn’t buy mine. My Gram gave me hers. However, if mine died (it’s probably 20 years old and going strong) I’d buy one of these. The price is reasonable, the features include the delayed start and different crust options (we like a light crust in our house, but some may like a darker crust) and it can make up to a 2 lb loaf which feeds a family. It also doesn’t take up a ton of countertop space, which is really handy.

They are amazing because you put the ingredients in and turn it on and leave. Truthfully, that’s the appeal of the Instant Pot, right? Same idea with bread machines, folks.

You don’t have to knead it, or remember to come back and knead again (I mean, those activities are nice if you can remember to do them).

They get exactly the right temperature of “warm” to kick the yeast into “go” and do its magical thing.

Mine has a “delay” function which means I can put the ingredients in, making a little volcano island of flour, a sea of water around, and in the volcano’s top, the few teaspoons of yeast, far away from the activating waters below so the bread is warm and fresh from the oven when supper is ready.  

In addition to regular, delicious classic bread, this cinnamon roll recipe is a great use of the bread machine.

You set the machine to “dough” so you don’t do any mixing or kneading by hand, but roll it out once the machine’s cycle is complete.

Cinnamon Roll Bread Machine Recipe

You may want to prepare this the evening before you’d like to enjoy them. Then, they will rise the final time overnight, and you can bake them in 20 minutes in the morning.

You will need

8 ounces warm water- not hot, 70-80 degrees F, and never hotter than 100 degrees.

1 ½ teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons real butter, softened

3 cups flour

2 tablespoons milk

1 ½ tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons active dry yeast (get the jar, as packets are unreliable, and store in the refrigerator)

Measure all ingredients into bread machine. Following the directions on your bread machine and select the dough function.

While the dough is being prepared in the machine,

Combine:

4 tablespoons real butter

¼ cup sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Let this mixture sit at room temperature so it is soft and ready to be spread when the dough is done.

Once the cycle is complete, roll dough on a floured board into a shape that’s close to 15 x 9 inches (though mine is more of an oval than anything).

Spread butter and cinnamon mixture across dough evenly, all the way to the edges.

Roll tightly, into a long log. Slice into about 9 sections, about 2 inches in width. Place into a greased baking dish. They will fit snuggly.

Let rise in a warm place, about 45 minutes or as long as overnight, with a towel covering them.

Spread ½ cup of jam (here’s a great recipe) over the tops.

Bake 20 minutes in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes.

Easy and delicious! I want to hear if you make these, Wildflowers. Let me know in the comments if you try the recipe and what jam you spread on top!

How to Grow Microgreens in a Victorio Sprouter

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This post will explain how to sprout microgreens easily on your countertop especially if you would like a steady supply of sprouts for eating on salad, sandwiches, eggs, and more. The sprouter that I use is forgetfulness-proof and helps you sprout more of your seeds, saving you money, and allows for you to have sprouts ready all the time, as opposed to one jar full ready, and then having to wait for another week to go by without any fresh spouts.

How to Grow Microgreens in a Victorio Sprouter

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You may remember that I shared my mom’s method of sprouting in a mason jar in this post, and it is indeed a good solid method that works just fine. It costs very little and is super simple and effective.

The trouble with the jar is that you sprout a jar full, and then in a week or so, you have sprouts and then you have to wait another week for more. A family can eat a jar full of sprouts in a single sitting. This isn’t a problem, exactly, but it can be a drawback for some families.

I also find the jar method to be a bit more hands on. You have to wait for alllllll the water to drain out, which takes time. It doesn’t take a TON of time, but it absolutely does take a minute or so. I would find myself thinking, “Oh I’ll water my sprouts in a bit when I have a minute” and that minute seemed hard to come by, there in the busiest room of the house.

The Victorio Sprouter is a tool that I honestly wouldn’t have sought out because I’m a person that would just “tough it out” with the jar. Once I got to know Amy, one of the owners of Victorio Kitchen Products, I realized that if this busy mom is using it, I probably should give it a shot.

Let me explain why the Victorio Sprouter is a genius tool.

Each tray has little holes that allow water to drip to the tray beneath, creating a self watering system. It’s low tech but super smart. You just pour 2 cups (or just a water class full) into the top green tray morning and night (or just once a day if you’re Forgetful Franny like me) and go about your day.

The bottom green tray collects the water that the seeds aren’t using to turn into sprouts so you don’t have to stand there at the sink waiting for the water to drain out the way you do when you sprout in a mason jar.

You can fill one tray with sprouts, water it, and the next day start another, and the next, start ANOTHER. In that way, you’d have one tray of sprouts ready on Monday, and another tray ready on Tuesday, and so on.

OR you can start ALL of the trays on the same day and have a lot of sprouts ready all at once.

You could get two sets and combine the trays into one tower.

I really like that the trays are see-through so my kids and I can peek in and see the seeds sprouting and I didn’t have to open any lids- it’s completely hands off.

Here’s a video showing how it works.

The set comes with seeds, which were tasty indeed and really handy. If you’re looking to sprout a variety of seeds, I really liked Sustainable Sprouts- their Spicy Mix is one of my favorites.

I’ll be using my Victorio Sprouter to have sprouts ready steadily, one tray at a time, so I can have them on my sandwich today, and tomorrow my husband and I can add them to an omelette.

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