Why to make sourdough everything

I finally got over my fear of making a sourdough starter. I am not a baking expert by any means, I am a decent cook and baker and people usually enjoy what I make, but I guess at most of it and make it up as I go, and make mistakes too lol so you can see why I didn't really want to try a starter. I also don't have a lot of time as a single working mom to a very active 5 year old and was hesitant to try it, but have gently been led by The Holy Spirit to try it for my family. I started looking into food this year, with God guiding me to a healthier family, and showing me how badly they are altering our food. Most bread is filled with preservative chemicals and is bioengineered. Also, regular bread is harder for your body to break down and can cause bloating and digestive issues. Sourdough interacts differently with the gluten. I started buying from the local farm, which is delicious, but at $6 a loaf (a fair price, just a strain on my budget at times), a 30 minute drive, and trying to get there on days it is fresh, I wanted to look into alternatives. Also, sourdough is really good for your gut health. It has probiotics and prebiotics that feed the good bacteria in your intestines and help maintain a healthy digestive system although once baked only acts as a prebiotic and works with your gut health and digestion. Eat some of the muffin batter for probiotics haha. Our bodies are so messed up because we are missing things like this in our diet in modern day America. So, I got over my fear of something growing in my food and caring for it correctly, and delved in to the sourdough world.

You will need flour, water, yeast (if you go the easy way) and a jar. I only have small pint mason jars, and it needs a bigger one so I found a $6 1/2 gallon jar that has a lid that doesn't seal tightly, so it is perfect for it because it needs to breathe, but most recipes go into detail for you. I used this recipe and it was really easy, watching each day as it bubbled, stirring, and feeding until day 6 where I finally baked my first loaf of bread ever, and my very picky 5 year old actually took 1/2 the loaf while I was on my computer, so it was definitely a success! I used a sandwich bread recipe that uses milk and 1/2 tbsp of honey per loaf, so it was extremely kid-friendly and delicious! The recipe is here if you want to use it for your family. We also made chocolate chip and blueberry muffins, and I made a homemade pizza dough this week too. What I have found is that it is actually really easy once you get started, doesn't taste like traditional sourdough bread if you don't want it to (I didn't), and that it didn't take that much time at all, and has definitely been worth it for my family. I now have 2 starters in the fridge, which when I open them to bake or feed my son says stink (it does smell kind of like alcohol) and we are enjoying the baking and food and I am sure our guts are smiling. I strongly believe that all of us can start making better choices for our families so we can lead healthier longer lives with less medical problems, and be more self-sustainable a little bit at a time! I hope and pray you try it and start incorporating sourdough and all those good prebiotics into your bellies!!! God bless you! Shalom!