If you guys have been following along in the sourdough posts, you know the amazing benefits of sourdough, what I’ve been affectionately calling the “lazy man’s” bread (because it’s easy, NOT because you’re lazy).

You likely have a decent starter ready (or near ready) to go too.  Many of you are wondering what to do with the starter now that it’s nearing the 2 quart plus capacity.  I’ve got a killer sourdough pancake recipe lined up for next week, but first – let’s get down to the nitty gritty of why we’re adding flour and water to a big ol’ empty bowl in the first place.

Let’s bake some bread!

Oh wait.  I need to clarify a few things.  Well, one major thing with a few spin-offs.  Before I go any further, you must understand this:

Sourdough bread is NOTHING like traditional bread. 

• When you’re done kneading traditional bread, you likely have a firm, round piece of dough.
• When you’re done kneading sourdough, you will have a very loose and likely pourable dough on your hands.  Literally.

• In less than two hours, traditional bread will have doubled in size.
• In two hours, sourdough looks like it hasn’t even budged.

• Traditional bread can be whipped up in half a day’s notice.
• Sourdough definitely requires advanced planning.  Like, up to 24 hours in advance.  And the hours are particular.

• Traditional bread recipes are often successful on the first try.
• There’s a good chance you’ll fail at your first sourdough attempt.  And possibly your second.  I’m warning you because I care.  Stick with it because it does get easier!

Here’s the neat part though – once you successfully make a batch of sourdough bread, you’ll fall in love with the idea all over again.

My first batch of bread was like a brick.  Dense, hard and unworthy of even crouton status (which we DID try, by the way).  My second loaf was better, but it still didn’t have the fluff of traditional bread and the shape wasn’t ideal for sandwiches.

My third loaf, however, was (and still is) absolutely divine.  Good shape, good tang, air pockets with a golden crust.  My oh my.

We sliced into it after it cooled and have been slowly savoring the two loaves every since.  A nice little bonus since sourdough doesn’t grow moldy like ordinary bread does.

Once you start baking sourdough, you’ll likely find that you prefer it with less tang… or more tang… with a  single rise… or a double rise… But until you’re ready to configure your favorite loaf, here’s a very simple, basic sourdough recipe to act as a starting place.

Simple Sourdough Bread Recipe

(adapted from Nourishing Traditions)

2 cups sourdough starter
5-6 cups whole wheat flour
1 heaping Tbsp salt
1 cup filtered water, cold or room temperature

In a very large bowl, mix starter, water and 3 cups of whole wheat flour with a wooden spoon and combine well.  Add salt and remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, attempting to completely stir in the flour with each addition.  When you can no longer mix with a spoon, use your hands to mix in the flour.  Continue adding flour until your dough begins to resemble dough, but is still sticky and “pourable.”

Pour dough into large loaf pans and fill 1/3 way up.  Cover with a towel and allow to sit in a warm place for 4-12 hours, until the dough is at least doubled in size and looks to be “domed” on top.

Place loaves in a cold oven and turn the oven on to 350 degrees.  Bake bread for 50-60 minutes, until the edges are golden and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped.

Remove to cool on wire racks for at least 30 minutes.  Makes 2-3 loaves, depending on the amount of flour used and size of loaf pans.

Additional Recipe Tips

• You can use white flour if you don’t have whole wheat or are not comfortable using whole wheat in baking yet.  It may be easier to experiment with the lesser expensive flour and once you’ve found your sourdough groove, upgrade to whole wheat.
• Putting the dough into a cold oven and then turning it on gives the yeast a final boost to help the bread rise.  Do not do this if your bread has already domed AND is starting to recede in rise.
• When experimenting with rise times, bake this bread on a day you plan to be at home.  Numerous factors can affect the rise time overall and when the yeast peaks, so you want to have a vague idea how long the bread will take in your home before you leave.  For a point of reference, I turned my oven on the lowest setting, placed it on top of my stove and it was ready in 4 1/2 hours.
• If your bread fails, have no fear!  Determine what exactly went wrong and try again, aiming to fix that problem.  You wouldn’t be the first person who didn’t succeed on their first attempt! (ahem)

I’ve been reading sourdough books like crazy this past week and plan to share all the great tips I’ve learned.  Expect a sophomore level class on the topic coming up soon!

The post {Nourishing} Recipe: Simple Sourdough Bread Recipe appeared first on Don't Waste the Crumbs!.

Pop Quiz:  What do red onions, leeks, lemon grass, celery and cabbage all have in common?

I’ll give you a hint.

Oatmeal bowls.

Wait, that doesn’t help any?

How about another then.

No dirt.  Just water.  And oatmeal bowls.

And it’s like the Lucky Bamboo.

Give up?

I’m at Whole New Mom today, sharing a secret that fellow black-thumbs will no doubt be cheering over.  Here’s a short snippet:

Our small yard is suitable, but it gets very little sun. The one area we do get sun is the same spot where the neighboring feral cats prefer to do their business. And cat poop is a big no-no in gardens.

I have a plan to deter the cats using pine cones and perhaps a lavender plant near their entry point (with reminders on my calendar to water it). If these work, I’ll give my two (black) thumbs up to a raised bed garden in the small area of sunshine. Of course it’ll be lined with chicken wire–just in case.

But until then, I’m growing lettuce in my oatmeal bowls.

Head over here to read the full post.  Not only is it genius (if I do say so myself ), but it’s WAY frugal.  Like, FREE frugal.  Which is just what I need considering my winning streak ended last month.

See ya’ll in the comments!

The post Regrowing Food in Water appeared first on Don't Waste the Crumbs!.

To everything, turn, turn, turn
There is a season, turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

The past couple months in the Crumbs household has been much like that Beatles song.  We knew since February that May and June were going to be busy for us.

Wait a sec.  Let me rephrase.  Insanely busy and overwhelming is a bit more accurate.

13 Days out of Town
8 Days Hosting Company
5 Nights of VBS
3 Birthdays
3 Holidays
2 Anniversaries
2 Kids Birthday Party
1 Day of Volunteer Teacher Training
1 Wedding
1 Church BBQ
and a Family Cold for 11 Days and Counting

We look back and wonder how we’ve made it thus far… and then question whether or not we’ll make it to the end.

Melodrama aside, of course we’ll make it through.

Meal Planning Problem #9:  Finding the Discipline to Meal Plan Among Distractions

By no means are we the only family who is busy.  We’re ALL busy, all the time, and we all encounter seasons of crazy-busy.  It’s tempting to pull back from our tried-and-true routines, like meal planning, in these times, but it’s really those routines that pull us through.

You see, by setting aside just a few minutes now, we save ourselves time, sanity and money later.  But this isn’t news to you guys.  You already KNOW this!  You just have to remind yourself of this when you feel yourself pulling away and wanting to crawl into a dark hole.

This round of meal planning literally took me 10 minutes.  I simply jotted down a few really easy dinners based on what I knew we had in the house while the kids and Mr. Crumbs were watching The Lorax on Netflix.  I had brainstormed earlier in the day when I was taking care of business in the restroom.  Alone.

Meal planning while going to the bathroom?  Is that cheating?  Is it gross?  Who cares?!  Sometimes you do what you gotta do to take care of business. [pun intended ]

The meal plan isn’t grandiose by any means.  There are several days of leftovers and duplicate meals.  But it fits our current busy season without sacrificing nutrition (or wasting food).

Sometimes I think “meal plans” means 42 different meals (3/day x 14 days), but that’s a restraint and requirement that doesn’t exist.  There are no hard and fast rules on meal planning.  Who says every meal has to be different?

Take today’s lesson as permission to make meal plans as easy as YOU want them to be.  If that means soup, salad and sandwiches for a week, then great!  Fill each of those with as much homemade nutritious goodness you possibly can and call it done.

We’ve got a trip planned at the end of week 2, we’re fighting off colds AND we have VBS every night this week.  For us that means lots of soup, fast meals (to prepare AND eat) and eating out the fridge so we’re not letting food spoil while away.

Need to serve soaked porridge for 7 days?  Do it!  Oatmeal is GREAT for you!

Snacky lunch with hummus all week?  Since when are fruits, vegetables and beans bad?

Good nutrition and good food don’t have to be complicated.  The key is to make the time – CREATE the time – to sit down and plan it all out.

• Stick the plan to the fridge so you know what’s going on that day.
• When breakfast is done, make mental notes for lunch and dinner so your chicken is thawed or salad is washed, dried and ready to go.
• If you’re cooking, make twice or three times as much so you won’t have to cook on another day.
• Designate only one day for baking and make enough to last until the next baking day.  Also, plan less meals requiring baking!
• Did you buy Crock On a couple weeks ago when it was only $1?  Pull it up and USE IT!

—————

In honor of the Crumbs busy season, I’m giving away my copy of 20 Minute Meals by Leigh Ann Dutton!

There are over 40 different recipes in the book made with whole, real foods that can be on the table in 20 minutes.  I enjoyed her tips section, especially the one about putting on your apron (so simple, I know!).  She shows how she meal plans, how she puts together her shopping list and then how she puts it all into action – in only 20 minutes.  The perfect resource for anyone else needing some relief in a busy season!

Enter the giveaway at the bottom of the post, after the meal plan!

How to Read the Bi-Weekly Meal Plans

• Read the entire meal plan before jumping in. Adjustments may have to be made based on your own schedule and preferences.
• When our plan may conflict with your plan, alternative ideas are provided in brackets.
• Preparation tips are in italics below the meal, provided in the download.
• Pay attention to Money Savers, Time Savers and Freezer Options. These will help you greatly in executing this plan and in your kitchen overall.

-

Click on this link to download, save and/or print this full two-week real food meal plan – complete with preparation tips and other ideas for maximizing your time and money.

WEEK 1

WEEKLY DESSERT:  Sourdough Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting (from Smart Sweets)

SUNDAY
(B)  Soaked Breakfast Porridge and Fresh Seasonal Fruit
(L)  Peanut Butter and Fruit Butter Sandwiches, and Leftovers
(D)  Family Dinner [eat leftovers, a simple dinner, a meal from the pantry or start a new family tradition]

MONDAY
(B)  Sourdough Pancakes with Fresh Seasonal Fruit, Raw Milk
(L)  Snacky Lunch with Carrot and Celery Sticks, Apple and Cheese Slices, Almonds and Hummus
(D)  Minestrone Soup with Sourdough Bread

TUESDAY
(B)  Scrambled Eggs with Smoothies
(L)  Peanut Butter and Fruit Butter Sandwiches with Fresh Seasonal Fruit
(D)  Beef Tacos, Homemade Tortillas, Pineapple Salsa, Coconut Lime Rice, Traditional Salsa

WEDNESDAY
(B)  Sourdough Pancakes with Fresh Seasonal Fruit, Raw Milk
(L)  Leftover Pizza Pasta
(D)  Summer Squash Pasta (aka “Pizza Pasta”)

THURSDAY
(B)  Leftover Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bars (adapted from From Garbage to Gourmet)
(L)  Peanut Butter & Banana Tortilla Pizza
(D)  Tortilla Soup with Sourdough Bread

FRIDAY
(B)  Leftover Buffet from Previous Breakfasts
(L)  Leftover Buffet from Previous Lunches
(D)  Leftover Buffet from Previous Dinners

SATURDAY

(B)  Bacon and Biscuits, Smoothies and Fresh Seasonal Fruit
(L)  Lunch Out or Leftovers
(D)  Pizza Night [or replace with your own fun family tradition]

WEEK 2

WEEKLY DESSERT:  None

SUNDAY
(B)  Soaked Breakfast Porridge and Fresh Seasonal Fruit
(L)  Peanut Butter and Fruit Butter Sandwiches, and Leftovers
(D)  Family Dinner [eat leftovers, a simple dinner, a meal from the pantry or start a new family tradition]

MONDAY
(B)  Sourdough Pancakes with Fresh Seasonal Fruit, Raw Milk
(L)  Snacky Lunch with Carrot and Celery Sticks, Apple and Cheese Slices, Almonds and Hummus
(D)  Marinated Beef Greek Pitas with Couscous

TUESDAY
(B)  Scrambled Eggs with Smoothies
(L)  Peanut Butter and Fruit Butter Sandwiches with Fresh Seasonal Fruit
(D)  Tomato Basil Soup with Sourdough Bread

WEDNESDAY
(B)  Leftover Buffet from Previous Breakfasts, Raw Milk
(L)  Peanut Butter and Fruit Butter Sandwiches, and Leftovers
(D)  Leftover  Marinated Beef Greek Pitas with Couscous

THURSDAY
(B)  Smoothies and Fresh Seasonal Fruit
(L)  Lunch at the Conference
(D)  Leftover Tomato Basil Soup with Sourdough Bread              

FRIDAY
(B)  Smoothies and Fresh Seasonal Fruit
(L)  Lunch at the Conference
(D)  Dinner Out

SATURDAY
(B)  Smoothies and Fresh Seasonal Fruit
(L)  Lunch on the Road or Leftovers
(D)  Peanut Butter and Fruit Butter Sandwiches, and Leftovers

Click on this link to download, save and/or print this full two-week real food meal plan – complete with preparation tips and other ideas for maximizing your time and money.

Enter the Giveaway

All entries must be in this form – comments on this post do not count as entries.

1. *MANDATORY ENTRY:  SUBSCRIBE to the Crumbs Newsletter (or tell me you already do).

2. “LIKE” Don’t Waste the Crumbs on Facebook (or tell me you already do).

3. FOLLOW @dontwastecrumbs on Twitter (or tell me you already do).

4. FOLLOW Don’t Waste Crumbs on Pinterest (or tell me you already do).

5.  TWEET THIS (can do once daily, but be sure to come back and update this form when you do!):
Got dinner?  Have it ready in 20 minutes, start to finish.  Enter to #win @DontWasteCrumbs #free #giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What’s on your menu this week?

The post Meal Planning June 16 – June 29: Finding the Discipline to Meal Plan Among Distractions + Giveaway appeared first on Don't Waste the Crumbs!.

My grocery budget is $330 each month, including food, household items and toiletries. Each week I crunch the numbers to see where I stand. Today marks the end of the month. You can read about the halfway point here, where I spent the first $319 of my budget.

—————

Well, I knew it was going to happen.  With only $11 real dollars left of the grocery budget, going over was nearly a sure fire bet.  I tried really hard though, and can only see a couple items that we could have skipped out on.  My apologies for the lack of photos.  I figured ya’ll knew what milk and eggs looked like.   Here’s how the shopping trips panned out.

Grocery Outlet – $3.99

Knowing there was very little money left in the budget, it was hard to not buy something I knew we were going to need.  I ended up getting two dozen organic eggs here instead of the farmer’s market where they’re $4 for one dozen.  The ones I bought weren’t labeled with anything regarding the ranging capabilities of the chickens, but at least they were fed non-GMO grain.  And I think the yolks are dark… I haven’t bought conventional eggs in so long that I’m not sure I remember what to compare them to.  You know, that would be a fun experiment when we get to protein and dairy… a side-by-side comparison of egg yolks!  Note to self.

Savemart – $5.98

This trip was only for milk.  I made yogurt and used the rest for kefir.  I cut back on my soaking the second half of this month in order to stretch the yogurt and kefir (thus cutting back on buying milk).    It’s hard to put a finger on what we’ve been eating instead… we’re nearly out of oatmeal, so I know we’ve been eating some of that.  We’ve also been munching on the leftover oatmeal chocolate cake from earlier in the week.  I know the kids have been enjoying chocolate cake for breakfast.

Fresh from D’Vine – $8.85

Peaches 2.69/lb, 6.99
Apples 1.99/lb, 6.71
Apricots & Apriums, 3.15
Plums/Apricots Mix 13.5lb, 2

Now THIS was the highlight of the month and I’ve been excited to share it with you guys since it happened, lol.  I almost wrote a separate post just to share!

Trying to be wise and using another Groupon, we went to pick up some apples and other snacking and smoothie fruit for the house.  As we walked in, there was a couple picking over boxes of various types of stone fruit – apricots, peaches, nectarines and plums.  There was also a sign that said $2/bag.

I verified with the cashier that the bag meant what I thought it meant (fill it up for $2) and sure enough, it did.  Turns out it was fruit that was past its prime and “needed to go,” so they were enticing frugal customers (like me) to clear it out.

Now let me clarify the size of this bag.  It wasn’t your ordinary reenky deenky paper lunch sack.  This was the same size as a “large” brown paper sack you’d find at a convenience store.  Quite frankly – in my eyes – it was HUGE!

I pulled out my Clean 15/Dirty Dozen cheat sheet, skipped the peaches and continued to pick the best of the best plums and nectarines, filling the bag as much as I could without spilling over or making it too heavy to carry.

All said and done, it weighed out to be 13.5 pounds worth of stone fruit – for $2.  I’ve already pureed it all up and frozen it into cubes, ready for smoothies.  From that huge bag, I was able to save 15 pieces of whole fruit and made 108 ounces of puree – or the equivalent of 84 ice cubes!!  For sure, this will carry us well over into the next few months.

Costco – $19.88

Organic Baby Kale 1.5lb, 3.99
Half & Half, 3.49
Bananas, 1.39
Mineral Water, 8.79
CRV, 1.40

Mr. Crumbs and I have both been diligent about our daily smoothies, so we’re going through roughly one bag of kale every two weeks.  With company coming in town, I didn’t want to skip out on creamer.  Bananas for snacking and smoothies (and keeping in mind the newsletter tip – my bag had 10!), mineral water because I forgot to get it earlier in the month.

There’s still mineral water in our closet, so there’s a chance we won’t need to buy more for the next month.  I don’t want to jinx it, but we’ll see.

Target – $8.23 (gift card)

Hormel Pepperoni, 2.99
Archer Farms Coffee, 5.24

Pepperoni for pizza and coffee because we drink it.   I used a gift card I earned from Ebates and paid nothing out of pocket.

Savemart – $5.98

Another uneventful trip for milk, although I’ll say that I really stretched out my last batch of kefir.  It stayed on the counter and fermented for WAY too long, all in hopes to NOT have to buy milk before the end of the week.  Obviously that didn’t happen, but I tried!!

Total End of Month – $371.91

This month ended over by nearly $42.  I had been under or nearly at budget for the entire year until this month.  I’m not really sure what happened, but my best guess is that trying to stock up AND incorporate new things may have caught up with me.  It just boils down to me making better and likely more simpler decisions in the kitchen.

We are well stocked with beans and broth, so I may bump up soup to twice a week instead of once just to help curb the budget next month.  Making dishes using inexpensive seasonal produce would be best (maybe serving over rice instead of pasta, since that’s what I have in the pantry), and pairing them with salads and homemade dressing would be even better.  Hmmm… next week’s meal plan is going to be a challenge for sure!

How are you counting crumbs this month?

The post {Counting Crumbs} The Streak Comes to an End appeared first on Don't Waste the Crumbs!.

My adventures in sourdough began a few years ago when my sister gave me a really awesome cookbook for Christmas.  It’s filled with make-your-belly happy “home-style” food, but with an underlying healthy, organic-like theme.  Right up my alley, right?

One of the recipes inside was for sourdough starter.  I had no interest in making my own bread at the time (this was BEFORE I read labels, but having a newborn and a 21 month old didn’t help the cause), but the author had captured my interest when she introduced the idea with this:

There’s something in the air… at least that’s what you hope when you embark on the wild adventure of making a sourdough starter.  You will need patience, but you won’t need special tools or expensive ingredients.  The end rewrd is something you can eat warm from the oven, slathered with sweet, creamy butter  ~ “Family Meals,” by Maria Helm Sinskey

Adventure?  Inexpensive ingredients?  Count me in!

I followed the recipe exactly, but my starter didn’t um, start.  I blamed it on the climate.  It’s a mild 68 degrees nearly year-round here in central California.  Not exactly “warm” and inviting to the yeast that floats around in the air.

For all intensive purposes, I gave up on sourdough.  What was the point of adding more flour and more water if there were no bubbles and no confirmed life in my jar?

Fast forward to about a month ago when I realized I had better high-tail myself into action if I wanted to order the freebies from the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle before they expired.  The freebie from Cultures for Health was my choice of either a yogurt starter or sourdough starter.  Since I’ve nearly mastered homemade yogurt with my fail-proof heating pad method and have failed miserably at creating a sourdough starter, my choice was obvious.

I ordered my starter kit, the San Francisco variety since we’re so close to the big city and it seems to be the variety that produces the tang that everyone’s taste buds remember.  At the same time, I read the recipe in Nourishing Traditions for a sourdough starter from scratch.  I started both batches on the same day, thinking if I’m “feeding” one, I might as well feed two.

The starter from Cultures for Health took as long as it said it would – 3 days.  Easy, peasy, done.

The Nourishing Traditions method, using only rye flour and water, took 7 days.  Although it took longer, it was no more labor intensive or difficult than using the starter kit.  And here’s the best part:  despite the same 68 degrees outside, Sally Fallon’s method was a success.

If you’re challenged in the sourdough department or live in a very cold climate, you may want to skip the heartache and go straight for a starter kit.  Start here and choose the one that best suits you and your family’s taste buds.  The cost is reasonable, especially since you shouldn’t have to ever pay for a starter again (unless you kill it).  I’ve read of families using starters originally from generations ago!

If you’re looking for more of an adventure, try making your own from scratch.  It’s just as rewarding as the starter kit, perhaps more so since you “captured” the yeast from the air.  I’m telling you, the “creating something from nothing” idea is pretty neat!

Tutorial:  How to Make a Sourdough Starter

Be sure to read the entire tutorial and tips through before starting your sourdough.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup ground rye flour*
1 cups cold (or room temperature) filtered water
3 cups ground rye flour*
large bowl (approx gallon-size) with lid

METHOD:  The Initial Starter

In a large bowl, combine one cup of flour with one cup of water.  The mixture will be very soupy.  Lightly cover the bowl with a lid, leaving it cracked so that air can flow freely.  If bugs and insects are an issue, you may cover the bowl with a cheesecloth and secure it with a rubber band.

Place the bowl in a warm area where it can sit undisturbed.  This could be outside on a patio, on a kitchen counter or in a pantry cabinet.

Every day, for the next seven days, at approximately the same time, feed the starter 1/2 cup of rye flour and 1/2 cup water.  Stir, re-cover and allow to sit.  Repeat.

The starter will go through a bubbly and frothy stage and eventually subside.  The starter will smell like yeast and/or wine, but the smell should always be pleasant.  If the starter ever smells sour or rancid, it has been contaminated and should be thrown away.

Day 1
One big bubble and a few smaller ones – both signs that the starter is headed in the right direction.  If yours doesn’t have bubbles after the first day, have no fear.  Sometimes it takes a few days before you see any sign of life.  Keep feeding the starter as directed.

Day 2
Lots of bubbles!  This is officially the “bubbly” stage.
Life exists and it’s producing carbon dioxide!

Day 3
The bubbles have subsided and it’s more “frothy.”
It smells distinctly sweet – the smell of natural yeast.

Day 4
The frothy stage is nearly over and there’s a small layer of liquid gather at the top – another good sign.  This is when you’d want to pour it off if before feeding the starter (see tips below).  If the liquid isn’t separated enough to easily pour it off, just mix it up into the starter before you feed it.

Day 5
Frothy stage is over and there’s even more liquid than before.  The sweet smell is still there, yet more pungent, similar to the smell of wine.

Day 6
Lots of liquid and a thin consistent layer of foam on top.  Almost there!

Day 7
Done!  Liquid on top, intermittent foam.  At this point the liquid could be poured off and the starter would be suitable to make bread.

Day 7, Side View
A side shot of the liquid that forms at the top of the starter.

METHOD:  Feeding Your Animal

Once the starter is officially created, it enters maintenance mode.  The frequency of feedings is determined by how much starter you need and how often you plan to use it.

• At a minimum, the starter can be kept in the refrigerator and fed once a week merely to sustain life (the yeast).
• You can continue to feed it daily as you have been, and in another seven days there will be enough starter for another batch of bread.
• You can also feed it daily with as little as one tablespoon of flour and water – enough to continue daily growth but not produce a large quantity of starter.

However frequent or infrequent you decide to feed your starter, the yeast thrives best when it’s fed regularly and consistently.  Choose your time frame and quantity and stick with it as best as you can.

METHOD:  Prepping the Fridge Starter for Baking

Yeast grows incredibly slow at refrigeration temperatures, which is why you can get away with feeding it only once a week.  In order for the yeast to successfully leaven a batch of bread, it must be “revived” so to say.  The steps are below, along with an example to help you better understand the time frame involved.

• Three and a half days before you plan to bake bread, remove the starter from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature. (Monday night)
• Once the starter is at room temperature, feed with equal parts flour and water. (Tuesday morning)
• The next day, feed the starter again with equal parts flour and water. (Wednesday morning)
• On the morning of day three, if you have foam and liquid rising to the top of the starter, you are ready to bake bread.  If you do not, continue feeding daily until there is foam and liquid. (Thursday morning)

METHOD:  Flour Options

The best flours for sourdough are white, whole wheat, spelt and rye.  While rye is recommended when you’re first starting, you can easily switch to a different flour once the starter has gone through the first seven days.

• Split the starter in half, placing half in the refrigerator.  This is your back-up in case your attempt in switching flours fails.
• Feed your starter as desired (per options above) using the new flour.
• Within a few days, the starter should be successfully converted.
• If in after a few days you no longer see bubbles and liquid forming at the top, the conversion was not successful.  Use what you have in a non-bread recipe and try again with the refrigerated starter.

Looking for gluten-free sourdough?  Folks with sensitivities or allergies to gluten can enjoy the benefits of sourdough by using a brown rice starter culture and feeding with brown rice flour and water.  Using brown rice flour will require more feedings (2-3 per day instead of once), but once the starter is going, it can be maintained with 2-3 regular feedings each week.

Additional Recipe Tips:

• *One 22oz package of rye flour is the exact amount needed for this recipe.  If you want to continue to feed your starter rye flour after the first seven days, or wish to have a greater quantity of starter after the first seven days, you will need at least two bags of flour.  Doubling the measurements will yield approximately 3 quarts of starter.  One package of rye flour was $3.79 at my local grocery store.  Buying in bulk at Amazon costs as little as $2.71 per package.
• If excess liquid collects at the top of the starter, pour it down the drain before adding more flour and water.
• If your starter outgrows your bowl, you may split it between two bowls.  Continue the feeding process, dividing the flour and water between the bowls (2 Tbsp of each, for each bowl).
• If you are culturing other items simultaneously, be sure to leave at least 3-5 feet of space between each item so the yeasts do not cross-contaminate.  (Sourdough won’t make your kefir “bad,” but overtime both cultures can weaken.  Best just to keep them apart.)
• Always allow a bit of room for expansion by pouring out some starter (yet using it in recipes) and leave approximately 1/2 cup of starter to feed.  This ensures you have enough yeast to continue fermenting at the same pace you have been.
• With the time involved in “reviving” refrigerated sourdough, it’s often easier to keep the starter at room temperature and reduce the feedings to only a tablespoon or two daily.  Excess starter can be used in pancakes, waffles, stored separately in the fridge or freezer, or given to friends and neighbors.

Wondering if you can throw in leftover dough scraps?  That’s the easiest way to not waste food, but it doesn’t come highly recommended.  Dough tends to have other ingredients too, like salt, eggs, butter, etc. and that wouldn’t be a good environment for your starter.  Instead freeze your dough scraps and when you have enough, fry them up and coat them in cinnamon sugar for a homemade version of donuts.

Do Something:  Grab some flour and some water and make a sourdough starter.  That’s it!  Hop to it!

What do you think -  is a sourdough starter something you can do?  Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Disclaimer:  Please know that this post contains affiliate links. By making a purchase through those links, I will earn commission that helps to keep the lights on in the Crumbs house – with no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Crumbs in this way. If you have any questions regarding this, I encourage you to read my full disclosure statement here.

This post is shared at (Sun) The Chicken Chick, Butter Believer (Mon) Natural Living Mamma (Tue) Love Bakes Good Cakes, Cooking Traditional Foods, Real Food Forager

The post How to Make a Sourdough Starter appeared first on Don't Waste the Crumbs!.

What do you do with your leftover oatmeal?

Make cookies?  Eat it anyway?  Add it to pancake batter?

*whispers*  Hide it in chocolate cake? 

Friday’s Deals & Steals round up on Facebook mentioned a free 20-page download of the eBook From Garbage to Gourmet.  It’s a book that’s been on my “want to read” list for quite some time now, so I was going to take advantage of the freebie myself when the author of the book Carrie Issac sent me an email, telling me that you guys were the perfect audience for the book.

Well shoot, I thought.  Now I HAVE to check it out!

I cuddled up with my copy of the book and while the kids played camping in their tent, I read the whole book cover to cover.  Holy smokes, am I so glad I did!

You guys know I’m serious about not wasting food.  We eat leftovers, we plan our meals and use food twice whenever possible because wasting food is essentially wasting money.  Admittedly though, there’s always room for improvement.

I can be lazy.  I don’t always want to eat the bruised apple.  Food has begun to spoil in my fridge when life got busy and I ran out of time to do something with it.

To say Carrie is passionate about not wasting food is an understatement.  She knows just what to do with that bruised apple so that it doesn’t ever hit the trash can.  Got limp celery?  There’s a fix for that.  And what about the leftover soaked oatmeal that the kids weren’t crazy about to begin with?  Turn it into cake!

From Garbage to Gourmet has it all covered, and then some.  It is the ultimate guide for foods that fall into the what-am-I-supposed-to-do-with-this-now category, but really, it’s so much more than that.

The no-food-left-behind way Carrie approaches food rubs off on you.  Reading her tips on using up half an avocado or the ears of corn sparks the inner-Tiffany to be less wasteful and more creative with the food I do have so that in the long run, I’m not only being a good steward of my money I have, but being a good steward of what I’ve spent my money on.

Her last bit of advice in the introduction really hits home with me too.  She talks about the guilt of waste – the awful feeling in our gut when we see something in our fridge or pantry that we know we won’t eat, but don’t want to throw away because we know we spent money on it and throwing it in the trash can would be the epitome of wasting money.

I TOTALLY get that; don’t you?

From Garbage to Gourmet has recipes, but I don’t think that’s the best part.  Don’t get me wrong – the recipes are GOOD!  In fact I’m sharing one today that’s based off a recipe in the book and it got three thumbs up (Mr. Crumbs wasn’t available for testing).

I really think the best part of the book is the changed mind set it brings.  It doesn’t just tell you what to do with your leftover food.  It gives you hope that you can really use up every last bit of food you have.  That your hard-earned money won’t go down the garbage disposal without a good fight!

I chose to make a version of Carrie’s Leftover Oatmeal Chocolate Snack Cake because we almost always have leftover soaked oatmeal come Tuesday.  If I forget to soak it with yogurt instead of kefir or apple cider vinegar, we’ll have leftovers on Monday.

It also has two of my most favorite words in the title:  chocolate.  cake.  If I could somehow figure a way to use up leftover soaked oatmeal AND make chocolate cake at the same time… well shoot, I’d be silly not to give it a shot!

So I took her recipe and modified it just a bit by using wheat flour, reducing the sugar, using yogurt instead of milk, coconut oil instead of butter and adding leftover coffee (another tip found in the book).  We thought the cake was delicious and certainly one to keep around.  The ingredients could be swapped with whatever you happen to have on hand, and you could easily add more oatmeal too (which are those lighter colored specks in the cake), and we’ll definitely do that next time.

Leftover Oatmeal Chocolate Snack Cake

(adapted from From Garbage to Gourmet)

1 cup wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup granulated sweetener
1/2 cup coconut oil (or butter)
2 Tbsp leftover brewed coffee, optional
1/4 cup yogurt (or buttermilk or milk)
3 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 egg
1 – 1 1/2 cups leftover cooked oatmeal
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray or butter an 8×8 glass baking dish.  Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

In a small sauce pan, melt coconut oil.  Remove from heat and add yogurt, coconut powder and sugar and stir until well blended and sugar is dissolved.  Add egg, oatmeal and vanilla, stirring until thoroughly combined.

Fold the cocoa mixture into the flour mixture until just, but thoroughly, moistened.  Pour into the baking dish and sprinkle with chocolate chips.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick or knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Got some leftovers that you’re not sure what to do with?  From Garbage to Gourmet has an index in the back that lists the ingredients in alphabetical order, making the leftover dilemma quick and easy to resolve.  Next to her tips on using up food items you’ll find over 80 recipes that are worth of feeding company – and they’ll never know they’re eating leftovers!

Think you’ve got $5 worth of excess food in your kitchen?  Through this Wednesday only, From Garbage to Gourmet is on sale for 50% off, making the book cost as much as your leftovers.  Seriously folks, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that you will save $5 off your grocery budget with the tips in the book.  In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if you ended up saving way more than that as you implement her ideas, and even coming up with your own ways to waste less food!

Don’t think you have $5 worth of excess food?  Carrie challenges you to keep a log of every food item you throw away for a few days to a week.  Every single thing you throw away must be logged.  Everything.  Complete her challenge and see how much it adds up to.  I bet the total will be more than you thought!

CLICK HERE to buy your copy of From Garbage to Gourmet while it’s on sale.  Remember that the discounted price is only good for three days.  Starting Thursday it goes back up to $9. 99 – this is especially important if you’re stubborn like me and don’t think you’re really wasting that much food.  You could keep your journal AND THEN buy her book, but in the end then you would have missed the sale and wasted $5 anyway.  Take my advice – don’t wait.

—

While you’re not waiting, don’t forget to enter the giveaway for all natural toothpaste, Earthpaste.  Two winners will each receive two tubes of their choice of flavors.  Read my full review on this awesome stuff here, and enter the giveaway before it ends tonight at 11:59pm EST!

Got a tip for using up leftover oatmeal?  Leave it in the comments!

Disclaimer:  Please know that this post contains affiliate links. By making a purchase through those links, I will earn commission that helps to keep the lights on in the Crumbs house – with no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Crumbs in this way. If you have any questions regarding this, I encourage you to read my full disclosure statement here.

This post is shared at (Sun) The Chicken Chick, Butter Believer (Mon) Natural Living Mamma (Tue) Love Bakes Good Cakes, Cooking Traditional Foods, Real Food Forager

The post {Yummy} Recipe: Leftover Oatmeal Chocolate Cake appeared first on Don't Waste the Crumbs!.

Sourdough has always seemed like a specialty bread to me.  We didn’t have it at home (and if we did, my teenage self wasn’t paying any attention), but I noticed it as an option when ordering sandwiches at deli’s.

Many years ago I asked someone what kind of bread it was and they said it was slightly sour and something… else… too… but quite honestly, I don’t remember what that something else was because I stopped listening at “slightly sour.”

The idea of bread being sour totally grossed me out and I purposely stayed away from it for nearly all my life.  It wasn’t until I ordered a sandwich on sourdough a few years ago that I experienced the amazingly light and delicious tang of sourdough.  Grilled with butter, topped with ham and melted swiss…

Oh.My.Goodness.  It was heaven in my mouth.  I’ve been converted ever since.

What is Sourdough

Sourdough is a bread made from the natural occurring yeast and bacteria in flour.  In traditional sourdough recipes, you’ll find three ingredients:  sourdough starter (which consists of flour and water), salt and flour.  There is no yeast, no milk, no oils and no sweeteners.  It’s about as natural as you get when it comes to bread.

What Makes Sourdough Special

Ask anyone who’s eaten sourdough and they’ll tell you that the tang is what makes it special.  I agree, and in fact the signature tartness of sourdough bread comes from the same bacteria that gives yogurt and sour cream their pucker too.  It’s found naturally in wheat flour, along with yeast, and comes to life so to say when the flour is mixed with water.  Here’s a very simple explanation of the process:

wheat flour + water –> natural enzymes break down starches into glucose (sugar)

natural bacteria (tang) + glucose = food for natural yeast

natural yeast + food = carbon dioxide –> natural leaven

natural leaven + more flour + more water –> more natural leaven

So basically you start with flour and water.  Nature takes its course and over time, you have a mixture that contain enough leaven (yeast) to make bread rise.  Pretty cool, right?  Who knew doing so little could yield such an amazing result!

The Benefits of Sourdough

You guys know the health benefits of yogurt and kefir, right?  Imagine those benefits, fresh and warm from the oven and smeared with butter.

Ok, so it’s not exactly like that, but it’s close!!

Lactobacillus – the good bacteria in yogurt, kefir, sour cream, buttermilk, etc. – ferments the flour/water mixture and creates lactic acid, a catalyst that greatly increases the micronutrient profile.  In simple terms – all those nutrients found in whole wheat flour are bigger and badder, and now your body is better able to USE them too.

I’m hesitant to open this can of worms, but the long soaking required of sourdough (the natural way takes a bit longer than using modern day yeast) breaks down much of the phytates that bind the  awesome minerals in grains.  With the phytates gone, our bodies can grab those nutrients and actually use them!

Note:  Phytates, phytase and phytic acid are something we WILL talk about, I promise.  Just not today.

With those nutrients readily available, digestion of the starch is MUCH easier on your body.  In fact, the natural bacteria working with the natural yeast predigests the starch a little bit for you.  Kinda like pre-chewing food when you’re feeding rabbits… but without the ick factor.

The fermentation process alone is great for your digestive system.  The Lactobacillus helps feed the good bacteria found in your digestive system so they can continue to fight off the bad guys.  And remember that a healthy gut means healthy body (because most of your immune system is found in your digestive system).

Remember how the natural yeast feeds on the glucose?  With a large portion of the glucose devoured in the fermentation process, sourdough doesn’t cause a spike in your blood sugars like processed white and wheat breads often do.  The long process also breaks down many of the gluten proteins into amino acids, possibly making sourdough bread tolerable for those who are sensitive to gluten!

One last neat tid-bit:  sourdough bread is less likely to stale, retains much of its moisture as it ages and its acidity helps prevent the growth of mold!  Now this doesn’t mean your sourdough won’t EVER go stale and will NEVER grow mold, but it’s nice to know that the artisan loaf you treated yourself to at the farmer’s market won’t go bad because it was in a plain plastic bag with a zip tie instead of a factory-sealed and glued bag.

Why Bother Making It Yourself?

Besides the fact that most “whole wheat” breads are just really made with plain ‘ol white flour, making sourdough is probably the absolute easiest homemade bread I’ve ever made.  In fact, it nearly ties kefir for the easiest fermentation ever.

Mix flour and water.

Wait.

Add flour and water.

Wait.

Add more flour and water.

Wait.

Seriously?  In seven minutes – one minute each day for seven days (which included me taking pictures of the process) – I had natural leaven ready for homemade bread.  It’s the match made in bread heaven for those with busy schedules (and bloggers testing out various types of flour in an assortment of baking recipes).

The only downside of sourdough bread is that it does take time.  The work itself isn’t hard, but you must plan ahead if you’re wanting to make sourdough 100% from scratch.  It takes a full seven days if you’re using only flour and water, but there are kits you can buy that will produce sourdough starters ready for bread in as little as three days.  Cultures for Health (<– affiliate link) offers several to choose from, including rye, Italian, French, whole wheat and even brown rice for those who can’t take any chances with gluten.  I tested out the San Francisco variety and it was almost TOO easy to ferment.  I’ve already made two batches of pancakes and biscuits with the extras!

Which leads me to the goods news – once you get in the routine of feeding your starter, you’re more likely to find yourself needing to use up extra starter.  And once you have a starter, you can feed it more or less depending on how soon or not soon you need a certain amount.

If you haven’t guess already, I’ve documented the entire sourdough process with my nose and camera.  Expect a tutorial on making your own sourdough early next week.  And I in turn expect you all to start making your own bread gosh darn it!

Do Something:  Skip the regular sandwich bread and consider buying sourdough bread the next time you’re at the market.  Try it if you haven’t before and if you have, rekindle the love for the tang.  You’ll be doing lots of good to your body, and by default, there’s less ingredients to read on the label.

Have you tried sourdough bread before?  Did you like it?  Hate it?  Leave your experience in the comments!

This post is shared at (Sun) The Chicken Chick (Mon) Natural Living Mamma (Tue) Love Bakes Good Cakes, Cooking Traditional Foods, Real Food Forager (Wed) Allergy Free Wednesdays, This Chick Can Cook, Kelly the Kitchen Kop, Day2Day Joys, Intoxicated Life (Thu) Jill’s Home Remedies, GNOWFGLINS, The Nourishing Gourmet, Thank Your Body (Fri) Green Thickies, Allergy Free Alaska, Small Footprint Family, My Cultured Palate

The post Sourdough 101: The Crash Course appeared first on Don't Waste the Crumbs!.

I’ve been baking bread now for about a year now, and I can count with my ears the number of times I’ve bought bread since I started making our own:

1. Fourth of July, 2012.  We had hot dogs for lunch instead of dinner, meaning I didn’t have time to make rolls.  I spent $1 on a package of buns and they were absolutely awful.  Never again.
2. Family Vacation November 2012.  We were out of town, in a rental condo on vacation.  I made dinner rolls one night, but let Sprouts handle the sandwiches for the week.

I’ve been out of the bread label business for so long that it literally took me a few minutes to look at everything and familiarize myself again with brands and all the varies types.  And I’m not exaggerating!

My goal for this post was to share an easy way to decipher bread labels so that when you walked into the grocery store looking for bread (that is, if you haven’t started making your own yet), you would:

a) have a pretty good idea what to look for,
b) know what you were actually buying, and
c) know whether or not what you were buying really provided the nutrition it appears to be offer

And now I understand why everyone is so confused about wheat!  Besides being overwhelmed by the umpteen different brands, colors and prices on the shelf (and this store is a small-town chain, not a huge mega-store or anything), manufacturers try very hard to make their product sound good and healthy, even if it’s not.  I wrote down all the “healthy” sounding bread available:

• 7 Grain
• 10 Grain
• 12 Grain
• Healthy Multi-Grain
• Wheat
• Cracked Wheat
• Split Top Wheat
• Whole Grain White
• Whole Grain Wheat
• 100% Whole Grain
• 100% Whole Wheat
• Honey Wheat
• Honey Whole Wheat
• Honey & Oat
• Oatnut
• Health Nut

Holy smokes!  How is the average consumer with two fidgety kids in a partially-filled grocery cart supposed to maneuver around a crowded grocery store without losing her purse or mind and still have time and patience to read all the labels to find what’s best for their family?

You can see why I choose to make my own!

I’ve said this before, but manufacturers are sneaky.  They’ll use any method possible to get you to buy their product.  For the majority of the food industry, labels and packaging is about making money.  Items are made to appear healthy so that homemade granola folk like us will buy them.  Just because they appear healthy, doesn’t really make them so.

The Bad News

While my son used the product shelves to slowly push himself and his sister down the bread isle to gawk at the Spiderman Cheeze-Its (they’re both in the card mind you), I read the ingredient labels of twelve different “healthy wheat” breads covering three different manufacturers.  In summary, here’s what I found:

• The first ingredient listed (i.e. the main ingredient) in 9 of the 12 breads was enriched bleached flour.
• 8 of the 12 breads had high-fructose corn syrup as either #3 or #4 in the list of ingredients.
• No single brand consistently offered a more nutritional product – as in every brand had the wheat varieties for the healthy folk AND processed white varieties for the wheat haters.
• The terms “whole wheat,” “whole grain,” and “whole grain white” don’t really mean anything.

Government Regulations

The last one is especially upsetting.  We buy whole grain or whole wheat thinking we’re doing good when if you look at the label, it barely meets the minimum.

As of 2003, the government offers “common sense” labeling and suggests to manufacturers that their content be 51% whole wheat by weight if they are going to label it as such.  (source)  See?  Barely.

I don’t personally believe the government has implemented this or any other guidance very well when it comes to grains (they allotted four years to review and approve the WIC guidelines for whole wheat), but I do know this:  if something is going to be labeled 100%, then it must be so.  It is our job as consumers though to pay attention to what comes after than percentage.

If something 100% whole grain, that is no indication to the flour used.  You could easily find 100% whole grain bread made with bleached white flour.  My post-label reading conclusion:  breads labeled 100% whole wheat are the best of the bunch.  But I’m hesitant to write that because one of the packages of 100% whole wheat bread had high-fructose corn syrup listed as #3 and we should all avoid HFCS like the plague!

Your Options

So what’s a real foodie to do?  You have a few choices.

1. Make your own bread.  I probably sound like a broken record here, but this is the easiest way to control what goes into your body.  Yes, it takes longer to bake bread than it does to throw a loaf in your grocery cart, but your work is certainly worth the effort in taste and nutrition.  BONUS: Not only do you control WHAT goes into your body,  but you control the quantity too.  My family eats significantly less breads and starches now that mommy makes it at home.  There are many times when there is just too much to do and making bread is not at the top of the list.  Instead of sandwiches, we eat fruits and vegetables!
2. Barter with someone who makes their own bread.  I don’t think yeast is difficult to work with, but I can’t ice a cake without getting frosting EVERYWHERE.  Literally.  Maybe you can barter your skills with a friend who does have time to bake.  Honestly, if I’m already baking bread, it’s no more trouble to bake another loaf or two.
3. Start with 100% whole wheat bread and read the labels.  If I really wanted bread and didn’t have the time to make it, this is what I’d do.  There was one brand whose first three ingredients were fine whole wheat flour, water and whole wheat flour.  Not only is the primary flour whole wheat, but the supplemental flour is too and I like that.  The manufacturer didn’t feel compelled to cut back on the nutrition of their product just to get a better rise.
4. Buy organic.  I personally haven’t been able to find organic bread, but I have friends who only buy organic so it must exist out there somewhere in grocery-store-land.  The key with organic bread is that the ingredients must be organic too, so you won’t find bleached or enriched flour because they’re made with chemicals that aren’t certified organic.  It’s like a last resort safety net.  I don’t know how much whole wheat you’ll find, but at least it’ll be free from the really bad stuff.

The one thing you should take away from today is this:  READ EVERY LABEL.  Yes, STILL!  The front of the package doesn’t count.  It’s deceptively made to be appealing to us as consumers.  Flip that package over and read what’s inside.  Unfortunately, our “whole wheat bread” may just be bleached enriched flour in a fancy package.

Do Something:  Read the labels of bread items currently in your house and know what they’re really made of.  This goes for sandwiches, buns, rolls – ALL types of bread.  The next time you buy any type of bread, make sure “whole wheat flour” is the first ingredient listed and “enriched bleached flour” is nowhere to be seen.

This post is shared at (Sun) The Chicken Chick (Mon) Natural Living Mamma (Tue) Love Bakes Good Cakes, Cooking Traditional Foods, Real Food Forager (Wed) Allergy Free Wednesdays, This Chick Can Cook, Kelly the Kitchen Kop, Day2Day Joys, Intoxicated Life (Thu) Jill’s Home Remedies, GNOWFGLINS, The Nourishing Gourmet, Thank Your Body (Fri) Green Thickies, Allergy Free Alaska, Small Footprint Family, My Cultured Palate

The post Is Your Wheat Bread Really Healthy? Probably Not. appeared first on Don't Waste the Crumbs!.

For a very long time, I thought cavities were normal.

As a kid, I’d go to the dentist, be told I had a cavity, and then schedule another appointment for the filling.

I distinctly remember being thankful when my last molar was filled.  In my mind it was a sense of relief because it meant I’d finally be able to go to the dentist and get two thumbs up for a healthy mouth.

And then my hopes were crushed to pieces when at the next check-up the dentist told me I had another cavity… between my teeth.

*sigh*

Fast forward 20+ years and I’m now learning that there’s a huge correlation between nutrition and dental health.  It especially hit home earlier this year when my son went to the dentist.

It was like a flashback to that same dentist’s office from many years ago.  I was getting the bad news, but this time it was his mouth.  My son had more cavities in his mouth than candles on his birthday cake.  The dentist gave the usual speech:

Tooth decay is caused by common kids snacks like goldfish and graham crackers… Cakes and cookies invite bad bacteria in the mouth… Start rinsing with fluoride and the toothbrush you’re using is too big… You use Tom’s of Maine toothpaste?  Oh no, just stick with Crest… Blah blah blah.

I didn’t really care much for her “advice.”  I don’t buy crackers, I don’t make crackers and even if my son was offered some, he’s probably turn them down and as for an apple instead.  Besides, didn’t she know that goldfish are processed out the wazoo and graham crackers have hydrogenated oils?  You won’t find those in my kitchen.

And fluoride?  Don’t even get me started.  I pushed back on her recommendation and she suggested to dip floss in it instead, just so that it gets in between the teeth to fight off cavities there.  Out of fear of history repeating itself, I bought one bottle of the only variety that didn’t have added chemicals.  My husband questioned the fluoride, hesitant to use it and I explained everything the dentist had said.  He saw what Cathie had to say about the topic and sided with his gut, making the decision not to use it.

Her claiming the toothbrush was too big is just dumb.  It’s the Crest ProHealth Spinbrush – battery operated to help my husband and me get all spots that are easy to miss when you have wiggly children, gagging at the taste of toothpaste while trying hard to listen to mommy and daddy and not swallow it.  It’s no bigger than the manual toothbrush she sent us home with. (I checked.)

What about her comment that Crest is better than Tom’s of Maine?  Not that I’m on board with ToM, but has she read the ingredients of either tube?  Crest has far more long and unpronounceable ingredients and if we’re not willing to eat it, then I’m certainly not brushing our teeth with it.

As if her “advice” was bad enough, I was then forced to decide what to do about his cavities.  He wouldn’t be losing his teeth for at least two years, and it would likely be closer to 7 with his molars.  Do I let the cavities sit and grow?  Or do I fill them with mercury-laced amalgam?  Better yet, how about the tooth-colored resin made with BPA?

Seriously?!  My choices really boil down to poisoning my child or letting his teeth rot?

*sigh*

So the quest to heal his mouth from the inside has begun.  We’ve switching up our food a bit, incorporating raw milk and pastured eggs into his diet when our budget allows (or at least making a conscious effort to find affordable pastured eggs!).  He’s eating grass-fed butter every day and eating more yogurt for the healthy gut bacteria.

I’m saving up Swagbucks to buy the Blue Ice Butter Oil/Fermented Cod Liver Oil blend because it’s highly concentrated in vitamins that will help his teeth to heal on their own, and continue to grow strong.

And we ditched fake toothpaste.

Earlier this year I contacted Redmond Clay to see if they’d work with me on this tooth decay adventure.  They founded Earthpaste, an “amazingly natural” toothpaste without stuff that hinders good health.  They created Earthpaste because they too were frustrated when trying to find toothpaste that really was pure and safe for kids.

A company that’s founded out of concern for their kids health?  I like that.

Earthpaste… What’s it Like?

The package arrived last month, literally the day we were leaving to visit Mr. Crumbs while he was attending some training.  I picked it up as we hit the road and we all gave it a test run that same night.  The results?

We. Loved. It.

We both agreed that our mouths had never felt so clean from a toothpaste.  I expected the wintergreen taste to be strong after reading some reviews, but it wasn’t at all!  It was just enough to make my mouth feel fresh without that coating of mint that other toothpastes tend to leave.

I’ll admit – it’s weird brushing my teeth with brown toothpaste.  My dad even gave it the stink eye when I squeezed some out for him to try.  But it only took one brush to get over that.  I mean, what should we expect?  It is made with clay… and clay comes from the earth… and the earth is brown…

About Earthpaste

Actually, every single one of the seven ingredients in the tube is completely natural.  And I mean really natural – not the fake natural that manufactures put on their food labels to trick us healthy folk.  The ingredients  are legit!

• Food Grade Redmond Clay:  a polishing cleanser with antibacterial properties
• Xylitol:  natural sweetener (extracted from fruits & vegetables) also shown to promote healthy teeth
• Redmond Real Salt:  enhance flavor and lend antibacterial properties
• Tea Tree Oil:  natural essential oil used to support oral health with anti-viral and anti-fungal properties
• Menthol:  leaves fresh breath and mouth feeling clean (made from mint oils)
• Wintergreen Essential Oil:  sweet, minty flavor and used to promote dental health

The front of the tube promotes what Earthpaste doesn’t have:

• No glycerin
• No fluoride (this got two thumbs up from Mr. Crumbs)
• No artificial coloring (as if the brown didn’t give it away)
• No foaming agents

But just wait, it gets even better.  Check out what else is written on the tube:

Earthpaste is safe to eat.  Rinse or swallow at your discretion – either would be fine.

No more having to worry about the kids swallowing toothpaste!  With a 3 year old girl who LOVES to suck the toothpaste off the toothbrush, this is music to my ears!

See that big smile on her face?  Two minutes before we took this picture she was whiney and cranky, not wanting to be “mommy’s big helper” at all.  The moment I tell her she can eat the toothpaste?  All smiles.  This stuff really is magic!

The Opportunity

I sent Redmond an email as soon as I got home and raved about their product.  “Beyond amazing” and “I have absolutely fallen in love” and “I don’t think my teeth have ever felt so clean!” were the phrases I used to describe Earthpaste, according to my sent items.

You may remember that Redmond was a sponsor of the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle eBook sale last month.  They offered a gift package containing either Earthpaste or Facial Mud.  Guess which I chose?

The toothpaste.  I love this stuff so much that I bought two more so my order would qualify for free shipping.  We now have all four flavors of Earthpaste in our house and we love every.single.one of them.  How awesome to be able to open the tube, squeeze some out and eat it without worrying about what I just put into my mouth!  The Girls likes cinnamon the best, and The Boy likes Lemon Twist, the newest flavor of Earthpaste that is designed specifically for kids (of all ages).

The Official Switch

We’ve officially converted and have thrown away all other open containers of “regular” toothpaste.  I’ve even cleaned out my stockpile and I’m ready to ditch the unopened boxes of the old stuff too.  Let me know if you live in Central CA and you want some of the gross Colgate and Crest.  It’s all yours.

If you don’t mind, let me share a two other really great things about Redmond.

1. Their Philosophy:  “… the end goal is human development and life enhancement.”  Love it.
2. Their Customer Service:  My email conversation with Kimberly was one of the most pleasant conversations I’ve ever had with a company.  She was incredibly polite, funny and so easy to talk with.  I mentioned our venture in fighting tooth decay and she offered the advice to stay away from glycerin because it seals the teeth from healing or remineralizing.  Lo and behold, glycerin is in nearly all “regular” toothpastes, including Tom’s of Maine.

We also stumbled onto the topics of raw milk and pastured egg prices in Utah compared to California… Did you know eggs are only $4/dozen and raw milk (from their own farm) is only $7/gallon?  Reason right there to move to Utah in my opinion… and they may even have a job opening coming up here soon.  Two words:  employee. discount. 

The wonderful folks at Redmond are generously giving away Earthpaste to two readers!  Each winner will get to decide two flavors and have their mouths and lives changed forever!

Enter the Giveaway

There are a total of 20 opportunities to enter this giveaway.  All entries must be in this form – comments on this post do not count as entries.

1. *MANDATORY ENTRY:  visit Earthpaste and tell me something you’ve learned about their product.

2. *MANDATORY ENTRY:  SUBSCRIBE to the Crumbs Newsletter (or tell me you already do).

3. “LIKE” Earthpaste on Facebook (or tell me you already do).

4. “LIKE” Don’t Waste the Crumbs on Facebook (or tell me you already do).

5. FOLLOW @dontwastecrumbs on Twitter (or tell me you already do).

6. FOLLOW Don’t Waste Crumbs on Pinterest (or tell me you already do).

7.  TWEET THIS (can do once daily, but be sure to come back and update this form when you do!):
Glycerin-free Earthpaste helps my teeth heal themselves. Enter to #win @DontWasteCrumbs #free #giveaway

8.  EMAIL THE GIVEAWAY to five people (can do once daily, but be sure to come back and update this form when you do!).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This promotion is open to US residents only.  Entries for this promotion will be accepted until 11:59pm EST on Monday, June 10, 2013.  The winner will be chosen randomly and will be notified via email shortly after. The prize for this promotion is provided by and shipped by The Redmond Trading Company and/or its representatives.  Don’t Waste the Crumbs will not be held responsible for unclaimed or undelivered prizes.

The post Our Baby Steps in Tooth Decay, Plus a Review and Giveaway [OVER] appeared first on Don't Waste the Crumbs!.

Do you ever wonder what to do with those random items in your fridge and pantry?  Do you try to make a meal out of them?  Eat them as-is (if possible)?  Or don’t waste your time contemplating them and just toss in them in the trash?

Like the handful of broken nuts at the bottom of the jar, the half empty box of pasta and the one carrot, one celery rib and opened can of green beans in the fridge.

What do you do?

Meal Planning Problem #8:  Using Up Food to Avoid Spoilage and Waste

What type of planner are you?

When someone asks you, “What are you in the mood for?”  How do you answer?

Do you offer a type of cuisine?  Like American, French or Greek?

Or do you say a type of meal, like soup, sandwich or salad?

Please don’t feel overwhelmed at the fact that I just asked you 10 questions in a row.

Your answer to the third to last question may help you plan your meals a bit better. 

If you offer a type of cuisine, you would benefit from meal planning 101.  It was my very first series on the blog, so please go easy on the criticism.  It’s also slightly outdated since I don’t quite follow that method anymore… but it’s still good if you have no idea what you’re doing when it comes to meal planning.

However, if you suggest a type of meal, pay attention to today.  Today is for you.

I have what I think is an absolute brilliant idea that will no doubt, revolutionize your meal planning in some shape or fashion.  The premise is this:

Whatever you have on hand can be prepared in any one of the following ways:

• roasted
• soup
• stir-fry
• salad

That’s it!

Um… has Tiffany fallen off her rocker?  Why does this “genius” idea sound incredibly simple?

Because it is!

I tend to make things more complicated than they really need to be.  I try too hard to be super-efficient with time, resources and especially food.  Sometimes it works, and sometimes it backfires.  And then every now and then it blows my grocery budget out of the water.

But when it works, it’s pretty awesome.

HOW EXACTLY DOES IT WORK?

1. Pull out the ingredients you have on-hand.  (nuts, pasta, carrot, celery and green beans)
2. Plug them into one of the above four meals.

• roasted – put everything but pasta in a 9×13 baking dish, dab with pads of butter and roast at 350 degrees until done.  Serve over cooked pasta.
• soup – put everything but nuts in a large pot, cover with homemade chicken stock and simmer until noodles and vegetables are cooked through. Chop nuts and sprinkle before serving.
• stir-fry – put everything but pasta in a wok or large sauté pan, drizzle with sesame seed or coconut oil and sauté until al dente.  Serve over cooked pasta.
• salad – cook pasta and when done, put everything over a bed of lettuce.

Season all of the above with anything and everything you have in the kitchen.  Spices, sauces, condiments, dressings… nothing is off limits.  BBQ ranch chicken salad?  Um, yes please?  Isn’t that on some restaurants menu somewhere?

WHEN SHOULD THIS METHOD BE USED?

• When a friend drops off perishables before they leave for vacation.
• When a neighbor cleans out their fridge before moving.
• When you’re sent home with an abundance of leftovers from a party.
• Anytime you have food you have no idea what to do with.

With this method, you’re instantly able to come up with a plan for this “extra” food instead of letting it go to waste because it didn’t jive with what you had on the menu.  Simply choose a method, eat the food, and move your other meals on the calendar as necessary.  Pretty easy, right?  And brilliant too?

I thought so too.

Joking aside, From Garbage to Gourmet really does have brilliant ideas for using up random items of partial food and leftovers. It boasts over 80 recipes, but the way it re-trains your brain and inspires you to waste less is worth its weight in gold. Always wondering what to do with half a browning avocado or corn cobs? This book has all the answers.

With company coming in town next week and $11 non-gift card dollars to my name, this menu plan is primitive.  It’s very basic, requires minimal work, utilizes only what I have in my kitchen and is highly likely to change.  Mr. Crumbs is out of town for another day or two and we haven’t had a chance to talk about what he’ll want on the menu during his parents visit.   I have no idea what they’ll want to eat either.

But I do know that I can plan for this week using items we likely won’t eat during their visit.  Like lentils.  So far it’s me and The Boy eating them.  I’ve got to win over the other 50% of the family before serving them to guests.

And the one pound of beef in my freezer.  Plenty for my family of four, but it may not cut it when the head count goes up by two.  We’ll set aside the remaining chicken instead.

I can also feed the kids pancakes for breakfast everyday this and no one would ever know the difference.  So the bacon is having out with the chicken too.

The list of meal ideas you see below actually fits perfectly for the visit next week.  We have a list of things we’re wanting to do, but we don’t know what we’ll do and when, so it’s nice to be flexible for dinners.

WEEK 1

Weekly Dessert:  Whole Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

SUNDAY
(B) Peanut Butter, Banana & Honey Oatmeal
(L) Fellowship Lunch at Church
(D) Grilled Apple & Cheese Sandwiches

MONDAY
(B) Sourdough Pancakes
(L) Peanut Butter & Fruit Butter Sandwiches
(D) Red Curry Lentils (carryover from last week)

TUESDAY
(B) Scrambled Eggs
(L) Packed Pancake “Calzone” w/Peanut Butter & Banana, Apple Slices
(D) Spaghetti with Dinner Rolls, Green Salad

WEDNESDAY
(B) Breakfast Porridge
(L) Snacky Lunch
(D) Coconut Cashew Beef Stir-Fry

THURSDAY
(B) Sour Cream Apple Cardamom Quick Bread
(L) Peanut Butter & Fruit Butter Sandwiches
(D) Minestrone Soup with Sourdough Bread

FRIDAY
(B) Leftover Buffet from Previous Breakfasts
(L) Snacky Lunch
(D) Pizza Night

SATURDAY
(B) Leftover Buffet from Previous Breakfasts
(L) Lunch Out or Leftovers
(D) Lemon Caper Chicken w/Brown Rice

 WEEK 2

Weekly Dessert:  Vanilla Bean Cheesecake

BREAKFAST
Bacon & Biscuits x2
Breakfast Porridge x2
Sourdough or Soaked Pancakes x2
Sour Cream Apple Cardamom Quick Bread
Healthier Carrot Bread

LUNCH
On Your Own (OYO) x7

DINNER
Family Dinner (Prime Rib)
Family Dinner @ Dad’s
Dinner Out
Spinach & Chicken Verde Enchiladas, Spanish Rice, Green Salad [chicken already cooked]
Tortilla Soup, Jalapeno & Cheddar Focaccia, Green Salad [crock pot]
Grilled Chicken, Summer Squash Rice Pilaf [make the men work ]

What about you?  How do you use up food to avoid spoilage and waste?

The post Meal Planning June 2 – June 15: Using Up Food to Avoid Spoilage and Waste appeared first on Don't Waste the Crumbs!.