Firstly, I'd like to give a little advice on maintaining your sourdough starters. This is very easy but it does involve a committment. A starter is very much like a pet. You need to feed it regularly and make preparations for any time you happen to be away from home. I did hear on a food show a few months ago that there are now hotels that offer to look after your starter for you!!
As you know, to make a starter you simply combine equal parts of water and flour. Occasionally you can feed your starter something sweet like honey or sugar - just a little (a half to one teaspoon once a fortnight is enough). You may also be aware that starters last a lifetime if treated well, in fact many people travel to the likes of Italy to purchase hundred year old starters!!
Feeding dailiy initially is essential. Once it is maintained you can feed it daily to every other day and it should be fine. If you are going away for a long weekend/a week, you can feed it on the day you leave and pop it in the fridge. it will be fine for a week but a fortnight is a little too long to go without being fed. You may want to get someone to feed it for a couple of nights after the week, then refrigerate again for 4-5 days after.
A sourdough starter can easily last a lifetime if it is looked after. Please see other posts for how to use in breads.
Secondly I wanted to mention the fact that many of us think we're geetting enough nutrients from our fruit and vegetables but we are not - unless they have come from a small farm or local gardener. Any mass-produced fruit/veg has far less nutrients because the land is being over-farmed. The soil doesn't have time to replenish and so we acrtually need 2-3 times what we take!! This means our 5 a day minimum should possibly be a 12-15 a day!!! Growing our own is a solution to this, or going to smaller businesses who don't produce for supermarkets. Farm markets (if you are lucky enough to live near one) are the place to go! The other option is going organic, as mass produced non-organic veg tends to have less than half the nutrients of organic (and organic produce tends to be farmed on a smaller scale). Have a look at the Soil Association website for more information (products are not necessarily organic but if they have the Soil Assoc seal of approval then they are the genuine article).
Making a pot luck soup (whatever you have at the time, buing into a pot with stock, garlic, white pepper and blitz when cooked, is a good way to get a mixture of nutrients into you (and is, alas, still classed as 1 of your 5 a day).
Happy cooking!
On another note, I have written 3 books. 2 are part of a series set in Scotland about the Sidhe, fairy folk. Available on kindle and in paperback: The Island of the Mist is book 2 The Stone in the Sword is book 1 The 3rd book is an adult, sexy witchy werewolf/vampire story set in New York and featuring a strong female lead character, again available in kindle and paperback formats: The Wolf, the Witch and the Coffin
