Fifty-Fifty Whole Wheat Einkorn Sourdough Bread

 

I have absolutely loved working through perfecting this loaf. The key to the best end result is a strong starter and quality ingredients. This recipe is packed with flavor. It has a wonderful amount of rise, but also keeps the denseness of whole wheat Einkorn flour. This makes two loaves. You can cut in half if you are only making one. 

Let's start by making the Levain:

You'll need

• 35g Einkorn starter
• 55g room temperature water
• 65g Einkorn All-Purpose flour 

In a seal-able container mix together the start and water.

Then add flour and mix until it becomes a paste

Cover and let rise for 5 1/2 to 6 hrs.

Time to make fresh bread:

You"ll need

• All the Levain
• 500g Einkorn All-Purpose flour
• 500g Einkorn Whole Wheat flour (fresh milled works great as well.)
• 665g room temperature water
• 20g real salt

Bulk Fermentation

In a large bowl, mix together Levain and half the water (I like to use this spatula, as this dough is very sticky and hard to handle at first.)

Add in all the flour and real salt

Begin to incorporate the ingredients adding the rest of the water as needed, until there aren't any dry bits of flour.

Let rest for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, using your spatula coated in flour, scrape the dough onto a well floured counter top. With floured hands spread the dough out a bit and then stretch and fold it 4 times. (There are great tutorial videos on how to properly stretch and fold the dough)

Place back into bowl. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.

The next two stretch and folds will be done 30 minutes apart.

After the 3 stretch folds, let rise for 60 to 90 minutes.

Your bulk fermentation will be about 3 hrs or until your dough doubles in size. This may take a bit longer depending on how strong your starter is.

After the bulk fermentation it's time to shape the dough

Using your spatula coated in flour, scrape the dough onto a well floured counter top.

At this point you'll want to separate the dough in half to make two loaves.

Take one of the separated pieces of dough and stretch it our a bit.

Then do a final stretch and fold. This time flip the dough over and seal the bottom. (I recommend looking up a tutorial video on how to do a proper boule shaping.)

Place in a well floured proofing basket, with the sealed side up and smooth side down.

Repeat this same process with the second piece of dough.

Cover your baskets and place in the refrigerator for 10 to 14 hrs.

Get ready to smell warm bread

When you are ready to bake the loaves, place a dutch oven with lid inside you oven and preheat it at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hr.

Remove first loaf from the refrigerator.

Using a plate flip your dough out onto a piece of parchment. It should now be seal size down. Smooth side up.

Use a sharp knife or bread lame to score the dough at a 90 degree angle.

Removed dutch oven from the oven. 

Place dough in dutch oven and put the lid on.

Bake in oven for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes remove lid (leave the lid inside the oven) and bake an addition 7 minutes or until the internal temperature of loaf is at least 205 degrees Fahrenheit.

After your first loaf comes out of the oven. Reheat your dutch oven for 15 minutes and repeat the same process with the second loaf. 

Let rest for at least and hour before slicing into this magnificent bake.

Journey Through the FIre

(There are images of burned hands at the bottom of this post. I am aware this may not be something people want to see. If you do not want to see them please don't scroll past the text.)   
     January 15th, 2019 is a day in history that will be burned into my memory as long as I live. It was a normal Saturday, home with my guys that didn't stay normal very long.
A little back story. My husband, James had been wanting to remove some tree stumps from the backyard and decided to burn them out. It was quite a lengthy process, but he was determined to get rid of them. There was a big pine stump that he had been tending to on and off for about a week.  Most of the week the fire was big, so our kids were very aware to stay away from it. On this last day the fire was just a pile of hot coals. James had our three older boys outside. They played while he was raking the pile of coals and making sure the last pieces of the stump had been burned. He turned around for just a moment to rest his rake against the house and our sweet two year old ventured over near the pit of coals, tripped and fell in. James turned around just in time to see him land with his hands down in the coals. He ran over, pulled him out, and immediately saw that Isaac was very badly burned. He picked him up and carried him inside to run cold water over his hands. During the time this happened I had run out for groceries. I walked in to Isaac being held over the sink crying. James as calmly as possible explained everything to me, but it wasn't until I walked over and saw his hands that I understood the severity of what had happened.
This moment started a journey for our family. A journey of deep pain, lots of tears, broken moments, and at then end of it all a stronger family and deeper faith.
     I called a dear friend to come watch our other children, so we could take Isaac to the Emergency Room. While we waited for her to come, James felt a strong urgency to pray for complete healing over Isaac's hands. I honestly didn't have the strength, peace of mind, or faith to pray well in this moment. I was angry at the Lord for allowing such a terrible thing to happen to my baby. James prayed so fervently with more faith than I have ever seen in him. The immediate healing didn't come, but I was grateful that we did wait to take Isaac to the ER. He calmed down immensely and the hospital staff were able to work with him much easier than if we had gone right away. At the ER they gave us an antibacterial ointment to put on his hands and extra dressing to keep them wrapped until Monday, when we could take him to the burn clinic.

     Monday came and this situation didn't get any easier. We didn't know what to expect and were completely blindsided by what we experienced. The burn and wound specialist took one look at our baby's hands and explained very gently that he needed surgery right away to remove the dead skin, clean out the wounds, and properly wrap his hands with cadaver skin. If not, his hands would not heal properly. Also, he explained that Isaac would have to be sedated for the procedure. We didn't realize any of this was a possibility, so we allowed Isaac to eat that morning. James ended up waiting at the clinic for 8hrs with Isaac for the time limit required to go under anesthesia. I was honestly amazed at the patience, grace, and strength James showed as he worked with a hungry, tired, and in pain two year old in a waiting room for the entire day. I had to run home to help with our other kids and picked up our youngest nursling to bring back with me. I also asked a very close and trusted friend to come with me for much needed support.
      The time finally arrived for Isaac to go back and the doctor and other staff were so very kind to us. They allowed James to go back with them just until Isaac had fallen asleep. If you've never experienced leaving your toddler in the hands of a physician, nurses, and an anesthesiologist, I hope you never do. If you have, then you know how difficult a moment like this was for us. The surgery didn't take long, but what happened following the surgery seemed like an eternity. Isaac came back to us being wheeled in on a small bed with cords in every which direction. There were so many people in the room and my baby was screaming, with his arms lifted up in the air, kicking and shaking his little body. He hadn't come completely out of sedation and was in what they called an in between state. We tried to calm him from the bed, but it didn't help. They allowed James to pick him up and continued to watch his vitals on a monitor as we waited for him to come completely back to us. The screaming and fighting lasted about 30 minutes. Once Isaac realized he was in daddy's arms he calmed down and just whimpered.
     We waited another 30 minutes and then they allowed us to take him home. After a long day we were so very grateful that Isaac passed out and slept the entire way home. He also slept comfortably in our bed for most of the night. Switching between Tylenol and Ibuprofen also seemed to calm a good bit of the pain he was feeling.
     The following days were met with a lot of cuddles, ice cream, and movies. Again James amazed me with his willingness to let go of everything and focus on our family. Isaac wasn't able to do anything for himself and didn't want to be alone at all. Every feeding, every bathroom break, middle of the night pain wake ups. It honestly felt like we just brought home a newborn. The first week James and I were rock solid and remained a team focused on taking care of our children. A week after the surgery we went back to the clinic to have the wounds checked on.  After looking everything over the doctor explained to us that if the cadaver skin didn't release within ten days of being put on, they would have to rip it off and possible need to do skin grafting. They were also okay with Isaac being awake for the removal process, as James wasn't okay with the idea of sedation if it wasn't absolutely necessary.
     The next few days are where things got very rocky between James and I. The sound of Isaac screaming and crying during our first bandage removal was more than I could bear. We both thought the worst of it was over and the news of what might be ahead broke me. I've always promised myself that I would stay in the room and stand with my children through any kind of pain. They would always remember that mom was there with them strong as a rock, so I knew I had to be in the room. I began to get angry at James for not allowing them to sedate Isaac, so he wouldn't feel the pain. I pushed him away and also pushed God away. In my mind something like this should have never happened to someone so little and they both allowed it to happen. Now there was more pain that could be avoided and James was standing in the way. As we waited for our next appointment, I argued quite a bit with my husband and the Lord. Amazingly, God still talked with me while I yelled at him. He explained to me that this was a time for me to submit to my husband and trust him. Nothing in me wanted to, but I obeyed the Lord. The day of the appointment we made sure not to feed Isaac just in case he needed to be sedated for skin grafting. We arrived as early as possible and the nurses gave us a closed room to remove the outer bandages on Isaac's hands. James held Isaac on the clinic bed and I sat out of the way right where Isaac could see my face. The doctor came in and discussed a couple of things with us and then proceeded to remove the cadaver skin. It was so much quicker than I thought. Isaac did scream and there was quite a bit of bleeding, but it was over. He checked the wounds and decided his hands would continue to heal without skin grafting. We just needed to keep them wrapped in silver dressing and an outer bandage for a few more weeks.
     And breath. I could finally feel breath filling my lungs. We were through the worst of it and there wasn't anymore intense pain my boy had to experience. We took him home and continued to care for him. I did notice one area that wasn't healing and decided to use a homemade ointment to help it along. Within a couple of days it finally scabbed over. We went back to the clinic a few more times to check on things and learn about long term care, as it took about a year for his hands to be fully healed. Lots of lotion, compression gloves, and minimal sun exposure was needed to help avoid heavy scarring and possible laser surgery. I'm so very grateful to say Isaac's hands are all healed. There is a little bit of scarring on his left hand, but it hasn't stopped him from chasing adventure. He also hasn't shown any signs of being afraid of fire.
      Although this is something I hope to never experience again, I'm grateful for what it grew inside of me. My faith and my marriage are stronger because of it. The Lord allowed me to let it all out. He never walked out of the room and he never yelled back. He saw all of it and walked with us through it. I believe in every moment he was holding each of us. He used this very painful experience to create a more beautiful us.
(Below are pictures of Isaac's hands.)

24 hours after burn

One week with cadaver skin

2 weeks after burn

January 2020

Paleo Hot Chocolate

If you're looking for a smooth, creamy, sweet, and chocolatey treat, you came to the right place. This hot chocolate has all the above with a neat twist. It's sweet base is dates. Follow the recipe below for a heavenly hot chocolate that will be sure to have you coming back for more.

Ingredients

5 to 6 dates soaked over night

1 cup almond milk

1 heaping Tbs cocoa powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp coconut oil

1/4 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

1/8 tsp sea salt

Instructions

Put all ingredients in a high powered blender and blend on high for 1 minute.

Remove from blender and warm to desired temperature.

Enjoy!

You can make this in advance and store in the refrigerator for later use.

Ezekiel's Birth Story

Ezekiel’s Birth Story:

            The beginning of this journey doesn’t start the day we had our sweet boy, but about 2 weeks before. Everyone thought for sure he was going to come early, as I began to have strong contractions around 37 weeks. The days went on, and what felt like “early labor” never progressed into “active labor”. There were days where my contractions would be 5 minutes apart for hours on end. Sometimes even days where they just never seemed to stop. At each visit with my OB I would explain what was happening. Baby seemed to be doing just fine with it, and I was only dilated 1 centimeter, so we waited for my body to decide when it was the right time.

            I had my final doctor’s appointment Wednesday, June 27^th, the day before my due date. As I sat in the office and talked with the doctor and nurse I couldn’t hold back the tears. I was very tired, and needed resolution, but I wanted my body to decide on it’s own. Dr. Sullivan asked me to go to the hospital to monitor baby and said we would decide on things from there. He explained that as long as baby was doing fine, we wouldn’t mess with anything. So I went home, got everything in order, and my husband and I headed to Sarasota Memorial Hospital to monitor baby boy.

            After an hour on the monitors, he seemed to be doing just fine. The nurse taking care of us was very reluctant to let us go home. She could see that contractions were 5 to 7 minutes apart and thought for sure we should be having out baby very soon. After taking some time to discuss and pray about everything, James and I decided we wanted to go home. I’m so thankful that we did because it continued like this for another day and a half, and then the time finally came!

            Around 2 a.m. on Friday, June 29^th I had a very hard contraction. I remember waking up and quickly trying to find a position to work though it. About 5 minutes later another one came, and they kept coming. By the 4^th one, I woke James up. We waited another 30 minutes, and then decided it was time to go. Our last baby came in 4 hours, so we didn’t want to waste any time. We called our dear friend Eliza Davis, who came as quickly as possible to be with our other three boys. We also called Mama Nancy Slabaugh to meet us at the hospital.

            We made it to the hospital by 3:40 a.m. and contractions were still very strong and about 5 minutes apart. A nurse took me right back, and James took care of getting us checked in to the OB ECC. I was dilated 4 cm, and the monitors showed that our little man was doing just fine. At this point Nancy had arrived, and James had finished with everything at the front desk. Everything to this point went so smooth. We were admitted and taken up to labor and delivery!!!

            The nurses caring for us were so helpful and very flexible in accepting our wishes to birth naturally. They also seemed to be excited to be a part of the ride. For about 2 hours things didn't progress much. I asked Nancy to put on some songs I requested to have playing. One of them being my birth song, Fresh Outpouring by Kim Walker. When this particular song started playing I felt a shift in my contractions. I could no longer hum through them nor could I hold myself up. Then I started feeling the need to push.  The midwife Sharon was called in to check on things and found that I had jumped to 7 centimeters. She asked if I would like my water to be broken to help relieve some of the pressure. Also, understanding that it would probably move things along more quickly, we decided it was the right decision.

            Before laying down to break my water, Sharon asked what position I’d like to be in to deliver my baby. I thought being on my hands and knees would be best and really looked forward to being able to experience something different. She was totally on board with it. After my water was broken, I was in too much pain to get back up and ended up staying on my back. As I laid there trying to work through each contraction I remember the  

Lord telling me to look out the window. As I looked, I saw a beautiful sunrise. This a moment I will never forget! 

            The next moments were absolutely amazing and truly like nothing I had experienced in my previous births. The nurse took the monitors off me, stating that I knew what I was doing and that they weren’t needed. Sharon told me that I could gently push to relieve some of the pain, but not to push hard yet, since I wasn’t quite 10 cm. When I was fully dilated the nurses and midwife stepped back and let me birth. No one touched me or said anything. They just watched, and allowed the miracle of birth to take place. It was amazing to feel my body tell me when to push and move my baby in to the world. As he came out Sharon caught him, and immediately placed him on me. Ezekiel David Beechy was born, weighing 7lbs 12oz at 6:48a.m.! 

Picture taken right after birth

Our Team

Couldn't have done this without
 Miss Eliza Davis taking
care of our other boys!

I am so grateful for the prayers, strength, and peace Mama Nancy brought to the room.

The Comforter Breathes Me In

Isaiah 40:11(NIV) He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those who have young.

Recently, I read this verse, and it spoke so sweetly to me. Specifically, "He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart". I am always so grateful for the reminder that the Lord holds us when we need to be comforted. 

After reading,I went in to pick up my baby, who was crying, and gently held him close to me and comforted him, as I did this the Lord gave me a picture of him doing this with me. In broken moments and weak place, he picks me up, and holds me close to his heart. 

Something else that I always do when I'm holding my children is smell their head. I breathe them in, and it's always so sweet and calming to me. I imagined Him breathing me in, and being a sweet aroma to Him. He takes nothing from me as he does this, but it ministers to His heart and He cares for me.

Sauteed Greens

Sauteed Greens
Ingredients:

• 1 bunch chopped kale
• 4 cups Spinach
• 1 minced garlic clove
• 3 TBSP olive oil

Instructions:

1. Warm up olive oil in a skillet. This recipe comes out best with a cast iron skillet.
2. Add minced garlic and let it sizzle for a minute or so.
3. Add kale and spinach; mix together until the greens are coated in oil.
4. Cook about 5 to 7 more minutes, mixing every couple of minutes.
5. Serve and enjoy.

I love these as leftovers!

Sweet Potato Noodles

Sweet Potato Noodles

Serves: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

• 2 medium size sweet potatoes 
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil, or avocado oil
• sea salt
• optional freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF and line a baking sheet with foil paper.
2. Thoroughly wash the sweet potatoes and peel it. Slice off both ends.
3. Spiralize the sweet potatoes and place them on the lined baking sheet.
4. Drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt, and mix together to make sure everything is coated. Roast them in the oven until just tender, about 20-30 minutes mixing together half way through cooking time.
5. Enjoy.

These make great leftovers.