What’s For Dinner?
A good supply of recipes is a must to keep on hand for home storage. There are excellent cookbooks written specifically for cooking with bulk foods and I recommend you purchase a few. If you're on a tight budget, look under the favorite links section for free recipe downlaods.

Non-refrigerated methods for preserving sourdough starter, eggs, and cheese are available in my book, Survaval Diva. Below I've listed a few bread recipes you might enjoy. I'll be adding to them as time allows. If you have favorite recipes, please share!
 

Counter Stored Sourdough Starter 

2 Cups All-Purpose Flour (can be white or wheat flour)*
2 Teaspoons Granulated Sugar*
1 Packet (2 ¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast
2 Cups Warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)*

*Whole wheat will not have the same rising properties and may take extra rising time. You can mix white and wheat flour if you chose.
* Adding sugar kick-starts your sourdough starter because yeast feeds on sugar, but you do not have to use it when dietary needs restrict sugar.
*Use distilled water if your water contains chlorine use distilled water, bottled water, or tap water left out for at least 24 hours. Chlorine can stop the action of yeast.

Mix flour, sugar, and yeast together with a wooden spoon, never metal, in a sterile glass, glazed ceramic, or crockery container that holds 2 quarts. NO plastic or metal.

Gradually stir in water until mix becomes a thick paste.

Cover container with a dishcloth and allow to sit in a warm 70 to 80 degree room with no drafts. NOTE: temperatures over 100 degrees F will kill the yeast.

The dishcloth allows wild yeast to pass into your starter. The mixture will bubble and foam as it ferments.

Stir once a day for 2 to 5 days. It is ready when iy gives off a pleasant sour smell and is bubbly.

Note: to keep sourdough starter un-refrigerated, remove one cup of starter daily for use in baking or throw it away. Replace with one cup water and one cup flour and let sit out for several hours to become active before using in baking.

You can refrigerate your sourdough starter, covered, for as long as you want. Let it sit out overnight to reactivate your starter before baking. If left refrigerated for months, it may be necessary to restart the feeding process 2 or 3 times to wake it up and get it active again. This will take 2 to 3 days.


Everlasting Yeast Starter

1 Quart Warm Potato Water *
½ Tablespoon Yeast Cake or ½ Tablespoon Dry Yeast
1 Teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Sugar
2 Cups White or Whole Wheat Flour

Stir all ingredients together. Place mixture in a warm place to rise until ready to mix for baking. Leave a small amount of Everlasting Yeast for later use. Keep covered in a container in the refrigerator until a few hours before use.

Add the same ingredients above, except yeast, to the Everlasting Yeast start for future baking. Staying on top of your Everlasting Yeast, you can keep it on hand indefinitely.

No-Yeast Breads

Irish Soda Bread

3 Tablespoons Butter or Margarine (can be reconstituted)
2 ½ Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
½ Teaspoon Salt
1/3 Cup Raisins (if desired)
¾ Cup Buttermilk

Heat oven to 375 degrees & Grease cookie sheet
Cut butter into flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in large bowl using a pastry blender, or crisscrossing 2 knives, until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in raisins, if desired, and just enough buttermilk so dough leaves the side of bowl.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface an kneed 1 to 2 minutes or until smooth. Shape into round loaf, about 6 ½ inches in diameter. Place on greased cookie sheet. Cut an X shape about ½ inch deep through dough with floured knife.

Bake 35 to 45 minutes at 375 degrees 

*Note: The following can be used as a substitute for buttermilk—if you are without refrigeration, adjust proportions according to recipe amounts, as any remaining buttermilk substitute MUST be refrigerated.

1-Cup Water
1/3 Cup Powdered Milk
1-Tablespoon Vinegar or Lemon

Let set in a warm place until thickened, usually 18 hours.

** Buttermilk freeze-dried culture can be purchased at grocery stores and will keep indefinitely.


White Soda Bread

4 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Salt
14 Ounces Buttermilk or Buttermilk Substitute (see recipe above)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients (can be sifted). Add Buttermilk to form a sticky dough. Place on floured surface and lightly kneaded—but not too much, as it allows gas to escape. Shape into a rounded, flat bottomed shape in a greased and floured cake pan and cut a cross in the top of the dough.

Cover pan with another pan and and bake for 30 minutes. Remove cover and cook for another 15 minutes.

*The bottom of the bread will have a hollow sound when tapped when it is done.
** Cover bread with a tea towel and sprinkle water over the cloth to keep bread moist.

Spoon Bread

Put 3 Cups Self-Rising Flour in a large mixing bowl. Make a depression in the middle of the flour. Add a lump of Shortening –about the size of a black walnut. Pour buttermilk, or buttermilk substitute (see above) in the depression and start stirring the flour closest to the center, working out to the bowl. If the batter looks too dry, add a little more buttermilk. The batter should be sticky, but not liquid.

There are several options to cook the spoon bread; you can greese and heat an cast iron skillet and cook it on top of the stove, or in a fireplace on top of hot coals, or you can bake it in a 400 degree oven. Depending on your cooking method, your spoon bread should be done in approximately 15 – 20 minutes. The more moist the batter, the higher and lighter your bread will be. If your batter is too moist, it will take longer to bake. To make the bread look smooth, you can wet the top with a little water and smooth the batter with the back of a spoon.

*Spoon Bread makes great ‘soppers’ to dip into gravy, soups, bean dishes, or whatever else you cook that could use a bit of warm bread.