Recently we found that my husband had developed a reaction to gluten which we diagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Researching gluten-free bread substitutes led us to sourdough products,
Sourdough starter culture is rich in Lactobacilli bacteria. Lactobacilli, besides being great for the gut microbiome, makes the bread more nutrient rich by neutralizing the undesirable phosphorus, or phytic acid, found in the wheat’s bran.
Phytic acid in conventional bread binds to important minerals like calcium, zinc, iron, and magnesium, making these nutrients bio-unavailable to us, meaning we are unable to absorb them. Being a fermented food, sourdough is rich in prebiotic and probiotic bacteria, acting as a positive aid in balancing the microbiome.
Wild Yeast for Sourdough Starter
Our research led us on a hunt for air born yeast needed for a sourdough starter. My husband and I are intrigued by the invisible phenomena of wild yeast. We had not yet heard that there be “wild yeast” having only been introduced to the yeast found in little foil packets at the grocery store, so we set a trap to hunt the invisible guests floating though our airwaves.
Following information on Pinterest I mixed 1/4 cup flour with 1/4 cup distilled water. It was important to use filtered or distilled water as the chlorine in tap water kills the airborne yeast that we are trying to capture in the flour and water mixture. I didn’t have any cheesecloth, so I used a coffee filter secured with a rubber band on the jar mouth to keep marauding insects or dirt from harassing my wild yeast which were small enough to enter my restaurant trap.
Sure enough, the next day saw our trap bubbling with yeasty bubbles. Of course, once captured, I was responsible for feeding the little critters just like any other pet with a daily ration of ¼ flour and ¼ cup distilled or filtered water stirred into the existing concoction. I fed the mixture for seven days. The wild yeast needs food to digest every day to continue producing yeast.
The sourdough starter will expel alcohols on its surface. They can be stirred back into the starter or poured off before adding more flour. I pour it off as the alcohols may adversely affect IBS sufferers.
Making Sourdough Bread from Culture
After seven days of feeding, I removed ¼ cup of the yeast mixture, placed it in a clean jar, and fed it with ¼ cup flour and ¼ cup distilled water to start a new batch of sourdough. I placed the new starter in a warm counter location and turned my attention to making bread.
Recipe
I used the 4 Ingredient Sourdough Bread recipe from the Practical Stewardship blog. The recipe calls for ¼ cup of starter, 2 cups flour (and more for kneading later), 1 ½ cup distilled or filtered water, and 1 teaspoon salt. Mix these four ingredients together in a glass bowl, cover with plastic or a dishtowel, and place in a warm spot overnight.
My 8 cup mixing bowl makes it easy to see how much the sourdough has risen.
Kneading
The sourdough mixture will look somewhat sponge-like after rising overnight. After 12-16 hours, scoop the sourdough mixture onto a well-floured counter. It will literally pour out of its container. At this point I sprinkle 1 teaspoon of baking soda over the sourdough mixture. I found that this gives a lighter loaf when baked. Gently fold flour into dough until it does not stick to the floured surface. I use a spatula to fold in flour at this point as the dough is very wet. Continue adding flour until you can knead the dough without having it stick to your hands. The outside of the dough should not be sticky although the middle dough may be somewhat sticky. This process may take up to 1 cup of flour and sometimes more.
After kneading to a bread dough consistency, I place the dough into my crock pot which I line with parchment paper and coat with cooking spray. Let rise until almost double. Then cook on low for 2 ½ hours. To check on progress, gently lift parchment paper to examine crust. The sourdough will not brown on top, but the bottom will turn a light brown when done.
Bake in Crockpot
Sourdough bread can also be baked at a low temperature in a crock pot for a longer time. A lower temperature and longer cooking time help preserve the nutritional value of the grain and aids in breaking down the gluten protein.
The remaining sourdough starter may be used as it is in recipes for biscuits, waffles, pancakes, muffins, dehydrated, or disposed of if unneeded.
Some people are driven to create a better world for their fellow men. It’s like they have an internal mechanism that propels them into activities that make the world better for the recipients of their vision and work. They see desperate needs and set about seeking practical solutions to change the circumstances crushing the lives of others. David Bornstein in his book How to Change the World calls these individuals social entrepreneurs.
Past examples of social entrepreneurs include people like Florence Nightingale who changed nursing practices and founded the Red Cross. Ghandi embodies a world changer whose philosophy of passive resistance freed India of colonial rule and inspired Martin Luther King in his passionate pursuit of civil rights in America.
Rather than rely on government to implement effective change in the challenges of poverty, crime, drugs, mental health and other social ills, Bornstein has documented the growth of private citizens and organizations that are responding to these crisis with innovative ideas and solutions.
Grassroots Social Changers
Bornstein met one such citizen, Bill Drayton. Bill Drayton created the Ashoka Foundation that searches for today’s grassroots social changers, for those persons who were making a difference in the world with their vision and ideas. Drayton and his team began interviewing people in many countries who were demonstrating new approaches to social ills.
Drayton wanted to find out how these unusual social entrepreneurs developed a strategy for change; how did they develop institutions, and how did they market their ideas for the greater good?
Social Entrepreneurs
Examples of today’s social innovators includes a Bangladesh economics professor who began extending small, collateral free loans for self-employment to some of the world’s poorest people. Extending “micro-credit” enabled poor families to overcome poverty. The Grameen bank founded in 1976 pioneered the “microfinance” model that by 2005 had inspired 3100 “micro-credit” programs in the world reaching 81 million of the world’s poorest inhabitants.
Childline connects children to emergency services
Childline is a 24-hour helpline and emergency response system for children in distress. Childline was begun by a young woman in Bombay where street children lived in abject conditions. Childline rescues children and is the vision sprung from the needs seen by one social worker. It has spread to 42 cities in India and had fielded 2,700,000 calls. Its founder is working to make Childline an international organization with a global help desk for children in distress.
This book is a chronicle of hope in a world often overshadowed by social ills. Social change is not the venue of government alone. The power of change rests in individual hands as well. One can change the world. Be encouraged and inspired by Bornstein’s book, How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, available on Amazon.
Married in 1969, my husband and I had three young children and lived from paycheck to paycheck on less than $1000 a month. As young adults we had drifted away from our Christian heritage. Our family was headed for disaster before we reversed our life and pointed our feet in the direction of prosperity and abundant living
50th anniversary
Celebrating 52 years of marriage, I marvel at the financial blessing and abundant life we enjoy and want to share the secret we discovered of how to prosper and create an abundant life.
Our finances were under a curse.
In 1982, my husband and I, newly baptized in the Holy Spirit, found our way to Christ for the Nations Institute summer session. Freda Lindsay, co-founder of Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas, Texas, instructed new students at CFNI on giving tithes and offerings. Mrs. Lindsay taught on how to prosper and lift the curse from one’s finances by tithing. In Malachi 3:8-9 scripture says,
“Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me….” Her teaching was a revelation to us.
In Malachi God said to put Him to the test about this scripture.
“Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”
Though Dennis was unemployed at the time, and I had only a modest teaching salary, we committed to tithing a tenth to the Lord.
Malachi 3:10
By mid-summer we had fallen in love with the vision at CFNI. We decided to return to Colorado in the Fall, sell our home and possessions, and get to Dallas as soon as possible to begin full-time studies and preparation for the ministry. Anticipating the sale of our house, we made our first pledge of $1000 that summer. God immediately responded by doubling our income! The new superintendent of the school district where I taught, called and hired Dennis over the phone as an art teacher that Fall! Now we had two teaching incomes to provide for our family.
Promises of Abundant Life Fulfilled
Two years later in God’s perfect timing, our house sold. This income permitted us to pursue our hearts’ desire, and in 1985, we were blessed and returned with our three children to Dallas and enrolled at CFNI. Meanwhile, we had made two more pledges; and God blessed us abundantly! While Dennis took courses at CFNI and the children attended Life Christian school, I found a job at Southern Methodist University. One of the job benefits was a tuition waiver for employees; so, I enrolled in a Master’s program at SMU for the next two years. Consider—at that point, there were five of us attending private schools on the salaries of 1 ½ jobs!
Business Supplied to Prosper
In our second year we pledged for a Native Church and for a Bible school in Jamaica. God blessed us again. This time we found ourselves encouraged to begin our own sign business. The sign business was portable and would create an abundant income to support our family for the next 20 years.
As our two years were coming to an end, Dennis felt a pull on his heart to go on the CFNI summer outreach to Israel. God again opened up the windows of heaven and poured out His blessing. We had $20 to contribute to the needed funds of $2000 for the outreach. By summer God poured out His blessing and all the funds needed for the trip were supplied. That’s a 100 fold increase to what we could contribute.
What Next?
Courses ended and diplomas granted to Dennis from CFNI and to me from SMU, our hearts questioned, “What next, Lord?” And with His abundant blessing, He proved that if you give to the poor, you lend to God and that He is a debtor to no man.
God gave us back the house we sold to follow Him. The buyer was unable to sell the house in a depressed real estate market and desired a larger home. He wanted to return the house that we had owner-financed. In answer to prayer God led us beautifully through the Ezekiel 36:11,”….and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings; and you shall know that I am the Lord.” So, we journeyed back to the area where we are well-known and began ministering to friends, family, and neighbors.
Abundantly, Exceedingly, More than Enough
You can’t out give God! This testimony only acknowledges a fraction of the financial blessings He has poured out on us. The miracles He performed in the restoration of our marriage; the deliverance from drugs, alcohol and nicotine, the physical healings, and a renewed call to the ministry are other testimonies for another time.
Break the financial curse from your life and watch God prove Himself on your behalf and open up the windows of heaven to pour out blessings on your family.
Enjoy more insights into God’s plan and provision for you. I wrote a book focusing on the words of Jesus. What does Jesus say about our lives? Click on the link to order it from Amazon and be blessed.
Welcome to Country Parson's Wife, I'm Dr. Mary Ellen, author, teacher and wife of a country pastor for 50 years. My blog is dedicated to a lifestyle built on faith, family, simplicity and self-sufficiency that enhances the health, peace, beauty and industry of our homes and gardens.
My prayer is that you be encouraged and propelled into the abundant life God has prepared for you.
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