Accidental Bread Success

My son and I have been having quite a bit of fun together in the kitchen lately. We decide together what to make, and then I measure out ingredients while he dumps them in a bowl. I told him about sourdough starters recently and he begged me to do that. I washed a glass jar for it, and then found a recipe. We mixed it up and left it on the counter (sourdough starters are supposed to be at room temperature while they ferment). A few hours later, I went in the kitchen and found that the starter had overflowed (it was yeast, flour, and warm water)! It was perfect for the bread recipe I made on Memorial Day, so I gave it another go and got wonderful results!

Even though the bread is delicious, I am a little disappointed that the sourdough starter ended so poorly. I guess I'll have to try again. I'm sure my son won't might; he loves working in the kitchen!

I've been so proud of my family during the month of May. Hubby and I are really trying to restrict spending so we can pay off debt and save up for our homestead. We have done well at eating meals at home and remembering to send food to work with my husband. I've also pushed myself to dig deep in the chest freezer and cupboards for foods I normally pass up when making our meals. The chest freezer is nearly empty now, and we're using up food that would have otherwise gone to waste. I can't believe how much money we've thrown away in the past by ignoring food until it goes bad.

Another way I'm thinking of saving some money is going back to cloth diapers. We used them with our son when he was a baby (he outgrew the largest prefolds when he was 13 months), and I had them all ready to go again for our daughter, but the whole cancer thing threw me for a loop and disposables seemed like the way to go. Now that I'm in remission and have more energy, I think I'm ready to use cloth again. It would save us about $40 a month, or $480 in a year.