Why I Started Baking Sourdough Bread for My Kids

My kids love bread.

I mean really love bread. Toast for breakfast, grilled cheese for lunch, a “just because” slice in the afternoon.

For a while, I didn’t think much about it. Then one day I actually read the label on the bread I was buying… and something in my spirit said, “No. This isn’t it.”

As a mom who loves Jesus, I’m always praying,

“Lord, help me take care of the little bodies You’ve trusted me with.”

If my kids are going to inhale bread all day, I want that bread to nourish them, not just fill them.

That’s how sourdough showed up in our story.

The Day I Turned the Bread Bag Around

You know that grocery store moment when you finally flip something over and read the ingredients? That was me with our sandwich bread.

What I saw:

• A long list of ingredients I don’t even own in my kitchen
• Added sugar in a food that doesn’t need to be sweet
• Oils and “conditioners” to keep it soft forever instead of actually fresh

I realized my kids weren’t just eating bread. They were eating a factory product shaped like bread.

I don’t think store-bought bread is evil. But a lot of it is cheap, ultra-processed, and designed for a long shelf life—not for my child’s long-term health.

And I felt a quiet conviction:

If God gave me these kids, He also gave me the responsibility to pay attention to what I’m feeding them.

Step One: Just Make the Bread Myself

Before sourdough, I started simple: I made regular bread at home.

Suddenly, the ingredient list was short and honest:

• Flour
• Water
• Salt
• Maybe a little butter or honey if I wanted

I could:

• Choose better flour
• Skip preservatives
• Know exactly what was going into their bodies

That alone was a big upgrade.

But then I found sourdough… and it took things to another level.

What Makes Sourdough Different

Sourdough is bread that’s been slowly fermented with a living starter—wild yeast and good bacteria working together over time.

That slow process changes the bread in ways that matter when your kids love carbs.

1. Gentler on Blood Sugar

Because of long fermentation, sourdough digests more slowly than a lot of regular white bread. That means:

• Less of a sharp blood sugar spike
• Fewer crashes

In real life, with kids, that looks like:

• Fewer meltdowns after a “toast breakfast”
• More steady energy instead of the “hyper-then-cranky” roller coaster

If they’re going to eat multiple slices, I want those slices to work with their bodies, not against them.

2. Bread That Actually Gives Something Back

Grains are full of good minerals like iron, zinc, and magnesium. The problem is, in regular bread, a lot of those are locked up by something called phytic acid.

Sourdough fermentation helps break that down, so their bodies can actually use those minerals.

Mom translation:

If my kids are going to live on bread, I want that bread delivering nutrients, not just taking up space.

3. Kinder on Little Tummies

That long, slow rise:

• Makes the bread easier to digest
• Creates natural acids that help with digestion
• Can be easier on sensitive stomachs than a lot of store-bought loaves

I’m not saying sourdough is magic or that it fixes everything. But as an everyday food, it’s a much kinder guest in their gut than a heavily processed loaf.

Faith, Food, and the Kids at My Table

I don’t believe every mom has to bake bread to be a “good mom.” That’s not the point.

For me, this is about stewardship.

God gave me:

• These children
• This home
• These hands

And I felt Him nudging me:

“You can do better than this plastic bag of fluff.”

Not out of guilt, but out of love.

So instead of fighting my kids about bread, I changed the bread.

Now:

• When they ask for another slice, I don’t feel that pit in my stomach.
• I know they’re getting real food, made slowly, from ingredients I can pronounce.
• I get to pray over dough that will literally feed the people I love most.

There’s something sweet and holy about stretching and shaping a loaf you know will become someone’s breakfast, someone’s school lunch, someone’s late-night snack after a hard day.

From Empty Calories to Everyday Nourishment

My kids didn’t stop loving bread. They probably never will.

What changed is this:

• Our bread went from cheap and empty,
• To homemade and honest,
• To sourdough that actually nourishes their bodies.

And in the middle of all of that, God used flour and water and salt to remind me:

• Small things done with love matter.
• Feeding my family well is a way of worship.
• I don’t have to be perfect—I just have to be faithful with what I can do.

So if your kids are bread-obsessed too, you’re not alone. You’re not failing because they’d rather eat toast than salad.

But you can take one small step:

• Maybe it’s reading the labels.
• Maybe it’s choosing a better bread.
• Maybe it’s learning sourdough and letting your home smell like fresh bread while God works in your heart, too.

Either way, you’re a mom who cares. And that already counts.