Simple Sourdough & Motherhood: Embracing Peace in the Kitchen and at the Table

For sourdough, I’m all about systems. Most weeks, I bake a lot of sourdough—but I stick to my four favorite recipes and just change up how I use them.

I also use a simple two jar system for sourdough that makes it manageable rather than having a gallon-size crock in the kitchen.

I explain how I refresh and care for my starter in this post: What is a sourdough starter?

And learn how I use and store sourdough discard in these posts:

The Gift of Letting Go

Embracing simple has been an important lesson in my season of motherhood with small kids. Sometimes I over program my time with my kids or set my expectations too high.

Recently, we took a trip to the beach as a family. I had a whole weekend itinerary full of places to go, hikes, activities, and special time baking cookies.

If you’re a parent, you might guess what happened next…

Well, day one of taking our kids to the beach to play in the sand and chase waves made me realize I needed to toss out all my scheduled plans and make a new plan: go to the same beach 5 minutes from the rental house and play in the sand with the kids each day.

At ages 1, 5, and 7, they didn’t want anything else. And we had a great time embracing the simplicity of the weekend with them.

Not only that, sometimes I have to put boundaries on my kitchen time so that I can be present with my family. We even tossed the complicated meal plans… and (gasp) ate store-bought bread and cookies.

The result: less stress for mom and dad created more peace and joy for the whole family.

I love the proverb in the Bible that says: “Better a dry crust with peace than a house full of feasting with strife.” (Proverbs 17:1)

So with that perspective in mind, I want to share a fun way that we’ve enjoyed connecting around the table. This can be made complicated and fancy or can be super simple. The main point is creating a table for connection.

It’s a concept that’s been trending for a while, but I’ve recently become a big fan of grazing boards for snacks or meals. These beautiful boards—also called charcuterie boards—are one of my favorite ways to use sourdough and gather the family for easy, meaningful meals.

It’s a great way to share bread and create an opportunity to connect, relax, and break bread as a snack or meal. The arrangement is meant to bring beauty to the table and conversation to the people partaking.

And if you have picky eaters, it’s a great way to introduce new foods in a casual, no-pressure way.

I love doing this on the weekend, especially on Sunday when we invest our time in rest and connecting as a family.

What to Include on a Grazing Board

Here are some great finger foods to place on your grazing board:

Vegetables, cut into easy-to-grab sizes
Cheese, sliced
Wedge of soft cheese
Deli meat
Charcuterie
Small pastries
Slices of bread
Crackers
Chips
Guacamole
Ranch Dip
Chocolate
Fruit, easy-to-grab portions like grapes, berries, or sliced apple
Dried fruit
Candy

Tools for your Grazing Board

You can get creative and fancy with matching gold cheese knives, but here are some basic tools to create your graze board:

Large plate or platter
Clean Wood Cutting board
Small bowls
Ramekins for small items
Cheese knives
Toothpicks (Kids love to use these!)
Optional: Parchment sheet for easy clean up

Sourdough Additions We Love

In this post I have a few photos of graze boards we’ve made for recent holidays and celebrations as well as some simple ones we’ve made. Here are the sourdough recipes we love incorporating:

Sliced Sourdough Boule with dipping oil
Sourdough Discard Savory Crackers
Sourdough Discard Graham Crackers
Seeded Raisin Bread Crackers
Mini Hot Dog Bites (Pigs in a Blanket)
Sourdough Discard “Tortilla Chips”
Butter & honey sourdough bites on small pieces of a sourdough boule
Sourdough Baguettes with baked brie

Simple Meals, Rich Connection

In motherhood, I have no secret sauce, but creating spaces to connect is a key priority in our home. Sitting around the table at meal time is one of the most important and regular point of connection for our family.

I hope this inspires creativity and connection in your kitchen! I look forward to seeing what you create!

Bonus Idea: Kid-Friendly Deconstructed S’mores

The “deconstructed s’mores” with mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, and Sourdough Graham Crackers (Sourdough Discard) was a big hit with the kids!!

We make this as a favorite snack often! Sometimes we use store bought crackers, but if I have time to make my sourdough discard graham crackers its an extra special treat.

If you want to get fancy and toast these in the oven, that’s fun too! My kids usually eat this snack too fast for me to offer. 😉

New to sourdough?

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