4: Teaching Kids Where Food Comes From with Jessica Hammond, RD

In this episode, Sarah talks with Jessica Hammond, a Registered Dietitian and mom. We’re diving into the importance of teaching kids where their food comes from at a young age, and how that can cultivate a love, curiosity and appreciation for food. Whether understanding how fruits and veggies grow, taking kids to the grocery store, or getting hands-on with gardening, these lessons can foster curiosity and encourage healthy eating habits (more than you'd think!).

Jessica is a Registered Dietitian and food blogger based in New Mexico. Coming from a long line of farmers, Jessica grew up learning where food came from. Her family raised turkeys and chickens, and she began helping her dad with their garden from a young age. Jessica’s love and appreciation for food naturally led her to pursue a career in food and nutrition. Her main focus for her blog is on sourdough bread but she hopes to expand her content to include other whole food, made from scratch meals that can be enjoyed by the whole family. 

Website | Instagram

Transcript

Sarah Schlichter (00:08)
Welcome to the Managing Mealtime Madness podcast, your go-to resource for making family meals less stressful. I'm Sarah Schlichter, a registered dietician and mom of three, here to help you simplify meal time from the mental stress and prep work to gathering around the table. No matter what family looks like for you, sharing meals has real benefits. Whether you're squeezing in a workout, rushing to soccer practice, or tackling the never-ending dishes, I've got you covered.

Join us for practical nutrition tips, time-saving mom hacks, and fun, easy meal ideas to make feeding your family more enjoyable. Let's get going. I'm so excited to be here with Jessica Hammond today. She is a dietician who has some really neat background and some awesome focus on sourdough. So if that's something that you're interested in, this will be a great episode for you.

So thank you so much for joining us, Jessica. Welcome to the podcast. And why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself.

Jessica Hammond (01:09)
Thank you for having me. really excited to be here today. So yeah, so my name is Jessica Hammond. I am a registered dietician and I'm based out of New Mexico. So I've always grown up in the Southwest. We have awesome weather there where you can really be outside all year round. It's really great. And I really love being outdoors. It's where I really feel my happy places. I like to just spend a lot of

I'm outdoors doing things like hiking and going on long walks and gardening, spending time with my kid and just the rest of my family. It's just how I grew up and my parents really fostered a love for being outdoors and just an appreciation for nature growing up. But yeah, I've been a dietitian since I believe 2017, I think is when I graduated or maybe it was 2018. I can't even remember now. It's been a few years.

⁓ but something that I've always been really passionate about and the reason why I went into the nutrition field at all was just because I, I feel like there is such this huge disconnect in our culture, ⁓ around food and where it comes from. And that's really what I've always been really passionate about is getting people to really know where their food is coming from, what's in their food. And, ⁓ just getting excited about creating food that tastes delicious too, because, you know, all these cool ingredients that are out there are so fun to.

get to pair together and learn about. And when you make an awesome dish, it's so exciting when you get to share that with your family. It's really important in my family for just fostering a lot of community. And like with my mom growing up, we would always cook dinner together. And that was a big time that I just spent getting to talk to her about my day. And I want that to be something that I do with my family too.

It's a time that my husband and I get to spend a lot of time just talking about our days. And I even already have my little toddler in the kitchen helping me out a little bit with little tasks that he can. It's always a process doing that. it's fun. It's just a bonding time. And it's something I'm really passionate about. yeah. I started my blog when I was on maternity leave in 2021. And that's

was when I really dove into the whole world of sourdough. It was actually kind of by accident. ⁓ I just decided one day that I just wanted to try making sourdough bread and I made a starter and once I got into that process I got totally obsessed and I just went with it and the rest is history as far as that goes. But I found there's a lot of science that goes into it and it's really cool getting to

kind of experiment and test out all these different techniques and figuring out how to make bread and also other things with your sourdough discard and just kind of learning about how it can be really helpful for people who have some ⁓ dietary restrictions. So some people who have gluten sensitivity can actually enjoy some sourdough products. It's obviously not okay for people who have like celiac disease or, you know, true wheat allergies, but some people who just find that traditional.

bread that they find in the stores a little bit harsh on their stomach can actually tolerate sourdough. So it's kind of cool to see that.

Sarah Schlichter (04:21)
love that. And you said you started in 2021. That's when like sourdough was really big, right with COVID and everything.

Jessica Hammond (04:28)
Yeah, it took off. think that was probably what influenced me to get started on it was because that was what everybody else was doing at the time. But it just seemed like a fun thing to try. And I've never been one to shy away from a hard task in the kitchen. I really do enjoy cooking. And so, you know, I will try making lobster at home or, you know, doing cocoa van or crazy recipes like that. So I was like, this is something I'm going to do.

Sarah Schlichter (04:52)
So cool. Yeah, I tried, I had sourdough for a couple of weeks and I wasn't consistent with it. I made a few, think I made, I definitely made bread and maybe French toast or biscuits, but now I'm feeling like, I don't know if it's coming back or what, but I'm feeling inspired to try sourdough again. So I might need some tips from you offline on how to get started with that.

Jessica Hammond (05:16)
I got you there.

Sarah Schlichter (05:18)
But going back to your upbringing, first of all, I love, love, love how your motto is just teaching kids, families, people where food comes from, because I totally agree that we've come to a place where there is a huge disconnect. We can order all our food online now. Many of us, myself included, aren't always taking the time to go to the grocery store and take my kids shopping and say, look at these fresh carrots.

You know, like time is a factor, convenience is a factor, the price of food is going up. And I think it's so great to take it back to traditional culture and really take the time to understand all the work that farmers and things are putting into growing these foods for us. And I'd love to hear a little bit about maybe some of your background. You said you grew up always loving cooking. You cooked with your mom.

Can you tell us a little bit about maybe how that impacted your view on food and community? Because I agree, food is so much more than just eating it. It expands exponentially. So tell us a little bit about how that impacted maybe where you are today.

Jessica Hammond (06:24)
Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of different ways I think that that did impact me. ⁓ And, you know, another ⁓ experience that I had when I was a little bit older when I worked on an organic farm in my town, there was some pigs that I had been caring for. you know, at the end of my experience there, they actually did slaughter them for food. And again, it was one of those things where I really got to be a part of that whole process. And I do think that

I think that it was really valuable just getting to see how.

all the life that goes behind it because there's so much food that has to be fed to an animal. Animals do have feelings and there's a sacrifice there for all of us to be able to eat our food. So that was something that was hugely impactful for me and gave me an appreciation for where my food comes from. for me, my whole history on my dad's side were farmers. That was what they did.

That was definitely, I think, Bretonian talked about a lot when I was growing up through my grandparents and just through learning about their experiences growing up. And, you know, they wouldn't waste any part of an animal when they were growing up. And part of that was due to the culture that they were in, you know, around the Great Depression. But ⁓ it's something that I think that I wish we would think about more as a culture because it does matter. ⁓ It's important. On the other hand, you know, I also, we

I've always had a garden growing up and that just showed me a lot. I mean, it's a lot of work having a garden. There are ⁓ so many vegetables that aren't actually that easy to produce or get bugs on them very easily. So ⁓ when we had zucchini growing up, my dad and I would go out and we would go and take care of the squash bugs on them and try to keep them alive so that we could.

know, get a good harvest, but it's a lot of work and it's fun. And again, it was a great bonding time that I had with my dad. ⁓ You know, he would go through the little seed catalog every year and he would let me pick out like a vegetable that I wanted to grow. And so there's one green bean variety that he still grows to this day, that I think is really sentimental for him, but they were really good too. And

you know, I look back on those memories too. And it was just something where I learned so much. And I didn't realize it at the time, ⁓ you know, just how much I was learning on all those experiences, because my dad would talk to me about the pH of the soil and you know, how different seeds can grow in different zones of the country. And ⁓ I think that, you know, getting your hands dirty, there's just something very therapeutic and ⁓ enriching in your life getting to just kind of

commune with nature is kind what I say a lot, yeah, I value those memories a lot. And I think that, you know, long into the future, I'm going to need to think back on those times that I got to spend with my family.

Sarah Schlichter (09:23)
That is so cool. aside from green beans and you mentioned the animals, of course, what other crops do you remember growing with your dad?

Jessica Hammond (09:30)
Yeah,

we did a lot of different things. My dad's a big pepper guy, so we would always have a lot of different kind of chili peppers in our yard. ⁓ We would do tomatoes. I know we've done carrots and beets and radishes. ⁓ I always planted an herb garden. That was kind of my little section that I would take care of and was my, what I took ownership of a lot. ⁓ we did a lot of different things year to year, and it would depend on what grew well the year before, because there were some things that just didn't do

very well where we live. Like we can never get a good bell pepper for some reason. That was one thing that we just had a hard time with, but we tried. ⁓ We did eggplants and you we had a bunch of fruit trees. So we did we did quite a few different things. It would just depend on the area. did onions.

Sarah Schlichter (10:15)
Wow. And do you feel like that experience as a child influenced the career path that you wanted to go into?

Jessica Hammond (10:23)
Yeah, it definitely did. ⁓ Again, just because it gave me, you know, really huge appreciation for food and as I got older and was able to kind of see just how much processed food there was out there and I remember there was this actual very distinct moment where I started to learn about nutrition. My mom joined a gym.

And at the time, I was not very interested in working out with her. So I would just sit in the little waiting room and would read the nutrition magazines because I was interested in the food stuff and I would read about it. learning about just all the different ways that food impacts us really kick started, I think, my love for nutrition and the science of it specifically. And so it all kind of just rolled into that. But yeah, I knew pretty early that I was going to study nutrition in college.

It was just something that I was so passionate about and loved a lot.

Sarah Schlichter (11:18)
I mean, with that kind of background, can't imagine not considering that if you've grown up and you have those positive memories with your dad and gardening with your mom and just kind of taking that forward. How do those, how does that view or your experiences growing up? You mentioned you have a toddler now. What does that look like with him? And is he involved in any gardening or is he showing an interest or understanding of, you know, food and?

how it's grown.

Jessica Hammond (11:49)
Yeah, so, you know, I'll be honest, the past couple years, I wanted to have a much more extensive garden that I did. But just with the stage that he was in, we kept it pretty small, but I had a little herb garden at my home and I've been growing one every year. And then we also did tomatoes every year. So not a lot of stuff. It's definitely my goal in the next few years to get a drip system set up in our raised beds and like really go for it. But

⁓ But what I will say is he really does enjoy going out and picking the little tomatoes off because we always do little cherry tomatoes which I did pick specifically for him because I knew that would be a fun like also sensory activity for him to do to go and find the red tomatoes and pick them off and eat them and you know he's tried picking off the green ones and he gets to experience you know the different ripeness of tomatoes and something else I do a lot.

is I actually will go and send him on a little special mission when I need an herb from my garden. And I'll tell him, OK, buddy, I need you to go get me some oregano. I need some time. Can you go do that for me? And I think that that gives him a lot of empowerment that mommy needs his help. And he gets to be involved in dinner. And he likes going out and he'll pick them and he'll come back in so excited holding his little herbs. And ⁓ it's so cute. And it warms my heart. But I think that just having those little moments, because he's young, ⁓

know, there's not a lot that I can have him do in the kitchen, but all of those little moments and exposures, I think, do empower kids a lot and do get their, just get them that experience to, again, know where their food is coming from and just kind of learn a little bit. And so that's something that I always try to think about with him when we're doing things like that. And we have some fruit trees in our yard too. So in the summertime, we'll go and pick some plums or some peaches off of the tree and, or some cherries. And he really enjoys doing that too. So.

And yeah, he's been asking about them recently too. And we have to explain, you know, the seasons and again, it's just so much good life experience and learning because they're getting to experience things in the moment and ask questions that wouldn't necessarily come up in your normal everyday conversation, but because it's, you know, applicable to what he wants and what he's interested in the moment, we get to talk about all these other concepts like the seasons and, ⁓ you know, how fruit is only ripe in, you know, the summer and fall months. So.

Sarah Schlichter (14:08)
Yeah, I agree. think the lessons extend far beyond just what they're eating in the moment. And as we know, tying it into kids and eating, if they play a role in it, the agency they have, the autonomy that they have, right, they're much more interested in trying the food. So even if your son's not memorizing, okay, this one's thyme and this one's rosemary, he's recognizing, okay, those grow out of mom's garden or those come from the ground and I can use it to season food.

and all of that and it might spark that interest or curiosity and make him more interested in trying a food. Have you found any of that to be true?

Jessica Hammond (14:47)
It depends on the day, but I would definitely say yes. ⁓ I try not to assume that he's not going to like something. I always give him the opportunities to even just hold something because they're getting to experience a food when they get to look at it or when I get to talk to them about it. And I think that kids oftentimes are more skeptical of things that are new to them, and that's okay.

But I always view it as my job to expose him to things because the more that he sees me do it and sees, and he realizes that it's safe and this food is okay for me to eat because mom is consistently eating it. Mom is giving it to me and I trust mom. Then I think that that eventually oftentimes does open the door. And there are things that he doesn't like very often, but the other night, man, I had been giving him this Brussels sprout dish that I love.

And he really was not interested in it for the past several times that I made it, but he ate all of his Brussels sprouts the other night without me having to prompt him at all. didn't pressure him and he just picked them up and ate them. And it was very much like a happy, exciting moment for me getting to see like, my gosh, he ate it. I put it on his plate, I gave him the opportunity and he went ahead and did it. And there's been several times where he does things like that.

I definitely think that that helps. And another thing that I do with him too is we'll go to the grocery. I always take him grocery shopping with me. And when we go to the produce section, a lot of times if he asks to try a vegetable or he wants to buy something, we'll buy it and we'll try it and I'll cut it up. And when I'm preparing it, I'll tell him about it I'll be like, Hey, do you want to come and see this? Or I'll go and give him some of it and I'll be like, this is, you know, I'll make it really exciting. Like, wow, this is the yellow pepper that you picked out. Do you want to try this? Or I don't even

and sometimes I'll just put it on a plate and I'll just tell him about what it is and say, all right, here's the yellow pepper that you picked. This is so exciting. Or, you know, just just kind of hype it up a little bit. And then I leave it there and I walk away. And sometimes he eats it and sometimes he doesn't. But I'd say more often than not, he'll at least take a bite of something. And, know, I always think too about the statistic for how many exposures it takes for somebody to acquire a taste for something. It's like it's something really big, like 15 times before you will accept a food. And

So if he doesn't like it the first time, that's fine. If like it the second time, it's fine. But the more he gets exposed to it, I feel confident that he's going to start eating them in the future.

Sarah Schlichter (17:20)
Yes,

totally agree. Now I'm thinking we'll have some parents listening who are maybe thinking, ⁓ I haven't been doing this or my kids are four or five now and I haven't been introducing them to new vegetables because maybe they won't eat them or I feel like they won't like them and it's just a waste. Do you have any advice or tips for those families? Is it ever too late to start?

introducing your kids to new foods or is there a way to make them more comfortable to some foreign foods that might seem? Not that I want to say the Y word, yucky or anything like that.

Jessica Hammond (17:58)
think that not making a big deal about it is really helpful because I do think that if we put too much pressure on kids about things and it kind of sets them up for thinking that something is not good because why would mom be pressuring me so much about this if it's not good? So I think part of it is just thinking and understanding that there's probably going to be some refusal.

first. And that's always a little bit tricky too. And something that I think that I have a hard time with and that probably a lot of parents do too is that there does sometimes end up being food waste with that because if your kid is not going to eat something, you what do you do with the food? There are definitely things that you can do. You can always, you know, refrigerate it and then, you know, somebody else eat it later or you can compost things. So that's definitely a tricky thing that you'll have to think about.

But I think that if you try to avoid putting too much pressure on kids, they eventually will just get used to it and accept it because that's what's available. ⁓ I think that as the parents, and as dieticians, you've probably heard this a lot, but parents get to choose what and when we eat, and the kids get to choose if and how much. I always think about that a lot with my son.

So, you we get to decide what they get served and whether they eat it is their choice. And I think that's also important too for listening to their hunger cues and just getting to be in touch with what their body is telling them that they want or need. And I think that that also does help to build a lot of healthy eating habits over time as well.

Sarah Schlichter (19:36)
So it sounds like for those parents out there who are maybe a little disheartened, it sounds like just keep offering it, know, having it on the table, having them see it, becoming more comfortable with it, watching you eat it does go a long way. And maybe someday they will try it on their own, but you know, it's not wasted effort.

Jessica Hammond (19:56)
Yeah, and serve things in different ways too. That's something that I found as well can be helpful. You know, if you, if they don't like a vegetable that's, you know, steamed, try it roasted or try different seasonings or serve it with a, you know, a dipping sauce on the side. Something like that can also make things taste a lot more palatable. And, you know, seasoning goes a long way with things, which we know as adults, you know, I'd so much rather eat something that's like nicely seasoned than something that's just really bland and plain, but.

Sometimes it's just kind of nailing down the specific cooking technique that they might like. And then if you find that, you can go with that more frequently. And then eventually maybe start introducing an alternative way of preparing that food because then you know, okay, it's not necessarily the food they don't like, but maybe they don't like it served this way and they might be more accepting of it over time.

Sarah Schlichter (20:43)
And food, when prepared in different way, does take on so much more flavor. We, every now and then, I'll buy kale to do kale chips. And my kids will not eat kale in a salad. I mean, I'll serve them or they'll watch me eat it, not interested. But if I serve them kale chips, they're crunchy, they're more similar to the potato chips that they're used to. You can put some salt and other seasonings on there. And it really does taste different and open up a new view for them. So...

I do encourage parents to cook things, cook foods in different ways. And another thing that often works for us, back to your view on taking kids to the grocery store, it's not always feasible, but when you can, if they do pick up that yellow pepper, like you said, or maybe they're looking at a sweet potato, mom, what does this taste like? know, ⁓ buddy, great choice. Let's cook that for dinner tonight. You know, let them play a role in it and prepare that food. ⁓

put it on a plate and oftentimes we'll just put a plate like call it like a snack plate or a community plate. I'll put some fruits and vegetables on there. Usually kids get hungry before dinner is ready. And I've learned the hard way if you give them a snack or something more substantial, they're not hungry for dinner. So out goes the community plate. There's some dips. I don't even say anything. Oh, if you're hungry, there's something on the table. Dinner is almost ready. And sometimes their curiosity gets the best of them with that.

Jessica Hammond (22:10)
Yeah, I love that you said that because that was actually what I was just about to say, because we do that a lot in our family for the pre the pre dinner snack is always a plate of like fruits or vegetables, something that is healthy that I would love for them to eat more of. So we always put out a little tray of vegetables or fruit and, know, sometimes they'll eat it, but sometimes they don't. And it's really exciting when they eat, you know, all the bell pepper stack or all of the tomatoes or all of the cucumbers.

Sarah Schlichter (22:39)
So I want to get back to farming before we start to wrap up the conversation because there might be some parents who feel like, I'd love to have a little garden or I don't know where to start. Or maybe they don't have the space. Me personally, in our old house, we didn't really have a yard. It was very sloped, but we did buy the little plants. And I kind of cheated because it was my first go around, but I bought the tomato plants that were already started. Same with the pepper plants. I wanted to get some confidence.

but having my kids just pick when there was a little ripe pepper, having them pick it and taste it was awesome. So how can parents who maybe wanna start that experience with kids, how can they start with gardening or even something more simple, having plants or herbs in the house? Do you have any tips for that?

Jessica Hammond (23:29)
Yeah, I definitely think going the planter route is the way to do it. A lot of vegetables and fruits can be grown in planters and even on, if you live in an apartment, you can even do it on your balcony if you have that available. My other friend who has a very extensive garden on her balcony ⁓ and she's able to grow so many delicious things that are doing quite well. you know, it definitely makes it a little bit more challenging not having as much space, but it definitely can be done.

And I say, always start small. Do what you think you can do. It doesn't have to be anything really extensive, but even just having a couple of herbs sitting on your windowsill in front of your sink can be really helpful. just kind of get that process started of having your kids learn about something that you're going to eat and being able to pick it and take care of that plant and get to be a part of that.

process a little bit. So I think, you know, you can always start with herbs. I think are such a great way to get into, get into gardening, especially ones that are a little bit hardier, like thyme is a really easy one to grow. ⁓ Rosemary and sage and a lot of more evergreen types of herbs are really, ⁓ they're hard to mess up, I guess I'll say. Basil's a little trickier, I think, to grow indoors, but it can be done too. It just needs a little bit more space to have enough nutrients and ⁓

expansion I guess.

Sarah Schlichter (24:54)
Good

to know. And is buying some plants or seeds at the grocery store okay? Or do you have recommendations for where parents could get a good start for good crop?

Jessica Hammond (25:06)
Yeah, mean, seeds are seeds are a really inexpensive way to get started with growing veggies, but I do think that it takes a little bit more effort to do seed. So it is nice to get one of the little starter plants that they sell even just at like a Lowe's or a Home Depot or your local nursery. Those are really easy to get started because they're already kind of past that little small stage. And if you're starting a little bit later in the season, you'll still be able to get a little harvest. Whereas if you do straight from seeds, you have to start that pretty early and

you know, go through the whole process of germinating them and sprouting them, which is fine. And that's, you know, a great experience for kids to be able to see that, you know, what a learning experience, but it definitely is trickier. you know, I'd say, you know, try that with just that knowledge that it may be a little bit trickier to get started. But if you're, you know, if you're up for it, go for it. Okay.

Sarah Schlichter (25:57)
Okay,

good to hear that gives me that gives me some confidence because my goal this spring and summer is to get a little bit more into gardening grow a little bit more. I still may start out with some planters or some ones that have already sprouted just to kind of build that confidence. And I do want to talk a little bit about your sourdough. So you have an awesome blog with plenty of sourdough recipes.

Jessica Hammond (26:16)
That's great.

Sarah Schlichter (26:25)
Can you tell, share a little bit about maybe some of the nutritional benefits of sourdough or maybe even just what it is for people who aren't quite aware of how sourdough differs from other types of grains or breads?

Jessica Hammond (26:39)
Yes, I'd love to. So sourdough bread is really made off in the same way that bread was historically leavened and made. So what it is basically is you have a culture of flour and water is really all it is. Those are the ingredients. But as it ferments and once you kind of go through the whole process of turning it into a starter, which requires several days of feeding it with more flour and more water,

until it is able to ferment and it will start to bubble and grow and that's the point when it can start to leaven bread. But it consists of a lot of different bacteria and yeast. there's the two main thing is is yeast and lactic acid bacteria. And so the lactic acid bacteria really what gives sourdough bread the sourdough flavor and the yeast is what really helps it to rise. ⁓ But it's really the slow fermentation process that allows

bread to rise when you use sourdough starter in bread. As opposed to yeast that you would buy at the grocery store, like dry active yeast, which will give you bread in a couple of hours. This usually will take anywhere from like four to 10 hours to rise. And the main benefit that people see as far as the nutrition aspects go are that that whole process of fermenting your bread and allowing it to rise in that slow

manner is it actually will ⁓ digest some of the naturally occurring gluten. And that is helpful for a lot of people who have more sensitivities to the gluten that we consume typically in the US, which actually is quite different than what was consumed historically in terms of the structure. And so it's just a way that a lot of people aren't finding that they're able to consume gluten products again. ⁓

without upsetting their stomach. And, you know, as far as other health benefits go, I think that's a little more up for debate in terms of like, you know, glycemic index and things like that. ⁓ You know, it still is a carb and if you're using white flour, it is still, you know, a simple carbohydrate. So there's definitely ways that you can make it a little bit more nutritious by using some whole wheat flour in your, in your bread, which can still make really great loaves of bread and

But yeah, that's kind of the whole process with sourdough. But it's fun. It's fun getting to, again, just kind of see and understand how bread was traditionally made. And also knowing that you don't need to go to the grocery store to get, ⁓ you know, to make a loaf of bread. can, all you need is some flour and some water and you can create this really beautiful creation that tastes delicious, that, you know, is free from a lot of additives that are oftentimes found in commercially bought bread.

Sarah Schlichter (29:28)
Yes, my girls, they're six and four are obsessed with sourdough bread. I spend a lot of money on sourdough bread. So I'm really thinking I just need to get a starter going and correct me if I'm wrong, Jessica, but for the people who aren't aware, once you have that culture going, each recipe leaves a little discard that you can just keep using in the future. Is that correct?

Jessica Hammond (29:50)
Yes, yeah. So I have a jar in my fridge that probably needs to get changed out because it has been it has been through many loaves of bread. ⁓ But I just feed from that jar. I feed just a little bit more than what I need for the recipe that I'm going to make. And then you can just save your jar that has kind of the remnants of the sourdough starter in it. Put it in your fridge. And that's going to preserve it as well. So you don't really want to leave it out on the counter. But if you keep it in the fridge, it'll last for months.

Sometimes it takes a little bit longer to get it kind of reactivated again with a few extra feeds, but yeah, if you keep it in the fridge, it can go for a very, very long time without having to start completely from scratch.

Sarah Schlichter (30:35)
It's good to hear. And if you check out Jessica's blog, I'll let her tell you about it, but you can find all sorts of baking recipes with sourdough and sourdough discard.

Jessica Hammond (30:45)
Yeah, so yeah, so my site is foragersofhappiness.com and I really do focus all on sourdough baking. So I have a ton of sourdough recipes, but also sourdough discard recipes, which basically are a way of using up extra sourdough starter that you might have and putting them into a traditional recipe like a cookie recipe.

and baking it in and it helps to decrease some of the waste that can happen when you are baking sourdough bread. And some people will actually do what we call a long fermentation where basically you will make your dough and you allow it to sit in the fridge for a few days and that will also help to digest some of the gluten in the recipe as well, which again can be a little bit more helpful for people who have a little bit more of a sensitivity to gluten.

Sarah Schlichter (31:35)
Well, we'll definitely have that site in the show notes for people to check out and let us know where followers can find you, Jessica. Thank you so much for your time today. ⁓ Yeah, tell everyone where they can find you and if they wanna reach out how they can contact you.

Jessica Hammond (31:52)
So obviously through my website, you know, there's a contact me page and you can join my email list. And I also am very active on Instagram. That's the primary channel that I really post a lot on. And you can always send me a DM. I'd love to hear about you and where you're at in your journey when it comes to sourdough bread or anything else related to food or nutrition or anything that we talked about today. But yeah, send me a DM and we can talk about it.

Sarah Schlichter (32:15)
Perfect. Thank you so much for your time.