What to Do With Empty Thrive Cans

I am the Box Tops for Education Coordinator at my daughter's school. I wanted to encourage families to participate in this program without sending out annoying reminder emails. Solution: put "Box Top Banks" in each classroom. My growing collection of empty #10 and Pantry cans have been repurposed!

I removed the label from each can and rinsed it out. My daughter and I used a hot glue gun to attach scrapbook papers and embellishments to the cleaned cans.

Many parents collect their Box Tops at home in zipper bags. The #10 cans are large enough to hold quite a few full zipper bags.

Parents will be able to take a pantry can home, then send it back with their child once the can is full. To encourage parents to trim the Box Tops, I will cut a slit in the top for them to fit through.

If you would like to make box top banks for your child's school, feel free to contact me and I will email you a .pdf document for the lid inserts!

Peanut Butter Cake for One!

1T Thrive Flour (heaping)
1T Thrive Brown Sugar
1T Thrive Whole Egg Powder
1/2t Thrive Baking Powder
2T Peanut Butter (other nut butters work just as well)
Up to 1/3c Water
1T Chocolate Chips (optional)
1T Chopped Nuts (optional)

Combine flour, brown sugar, egg powder and baking powder. Mix in peanut butter, any optional ingredients and enough water to bring batter together. Pour into a greased ramekin (coffee mug works too) and microwave for 90 seconds or until the top of the cake looks dry.

Wish you had frosting for your cake? Combine 2T Thrive Powdered Sugar, 1t Thrive Instant Milk and 1t water. Mix until a thick frosting forms and drizzle it over the top of your cake!

I have to tell you all about one of my all time favorite (non Thrive) food items. It is called PB2. Some genius figured out how to press all of the oil out of peanuts, leaving only peanut powder. This peanut powder is then packaged in pretty little jars and sent directly to your house. Once mixed with water (or jelly or honey or olive oil), it tastes like gourmet peanut butter! The best part - 2 tablespoons of the stuff has only 52 calories and less than a gram of fat!! PB2 can be used in place of regular peanut butter in all of your recipes, including this cake. Try it in cookies, shakes, sandwiches, even sprinkled on popcorn. I order mine online directly from Bell Plantation, but I have also heard that it is available at Air Force commissaries. Cost, about $5 a jar and worth every single penny.

Spaghetti Pie

1/2c Thrive Tomato Powder
1T Thrive Freeze Dried Onions
1T Thrive Carrot Dices
1T Thrive Freeze Dried Celery
1T Thrive Red & Green Bell Peppers
1/2t Garlic Powder
1T Italian Seasonings
1/2t Thrive White Sugar
2c Hot Water
1/2lb Spaghetti
1c Thrive Freeze Dried Ground Beef, rehydrated
1 Recipe Homemade Ricotta
1 1/2c Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided
1/2c Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine tomato powder, onions, carrots, celery, peppers, garlic, Italian seasonings, sugar and water. Stir well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes or until sauce has thickened.

 Sauce Ingredients

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions; drain. In a large mixing bowl, combine pasta, rehydrated ground beef, ricotta cheese, 3/4c mozzarella and 1/4c parmesan. Pour into greased pie plate. Top with marinara sauce, remaining 3/4c mozzarella and 1/4c parmesan. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes or until cheese is bubbly. Serve hot with crusty garlic bread.

Homemade Ricotta Cheese from Thrive Milk

8c Water
1 1/2c Thrive Instant Milk
3T Vinegar
1/2t Salt

Combine water, milk and salt in a large pot and bring to a boil, stirring frequently to prevent the milk from scalding. As soon as the milk begins to boil, turn the stove off and stir in the vinegar. Stir for one minute, cover and set aside. Your ricotta will be ready in as little as 30 minutes, but it will be tastier if you can give it a full 2 hours. After it rests, strain it through a fine mesh strainer (lined with cheesecloth if you have it). If you prefer a dry ricotta, leave it to drain for up to thirty minutes.
 Store your fresh ricotta in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.


Source: Misty at Your Own Home Store.

Lasagna Cupcakes with Homemade Ricotta Cheese

These lasagna "cupcakes" are so pretty and simple to put together!

Lasagna Cupcakes

12 Small Wonton Wrappers
1c Thrive Ground Beef, rehydrated (Thrive Sausage Crumbles would also be good here)
1c Pasta Sauce
1 Recipe Homemade Thrive Ricotta Cheese (recipe below)
1T Italian Seasonings
1c Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese

Preheat your oven to 375 and grease a 12 cup muffin tin. In a small bowl, combine ricotta cheese with Italian seasonings. Set aside. Put one wonton wrapper in each muffin cup. Press the wrapper into the bottom of the cup, allowing the edges to come up and out of the top of the cups.

To each cup, and in the following order, add about half a tablespoon of sauce, ricotta and ground beef. Press a second wrapper over the fillings and repeat the layers. Use your judgement here and add more or less of any of the ingredients depending on your family's preferences. Sprinkle the top of each cup with 1 to 2 tablespoons of shredded mozzarella and a little parmesan cheese.

Bake uncovered at 375 for 20 minutes or until cheese is brown and bubbly. Allow the cupcakes to rest and cool for 10 minutes before removing them from the tins - this will allow the ingredients to firm up and hold their shape.


Why would you make ricotta from scratch when you can just buy it at the store? Because it tastes so good. It is rich and creamy and fat free. And made from Thrive!

Homemade Ricotta
Thanks to Misty for figuring this out!

8c Water
1 1/2c Thrive Instant Milk
3T Vinegar
1/2t Salt

Combine water, milk and salt in a large pot and bring to a boil, stirring frequently to prevent the milk from scalding. As soon as the milk begins to boil, turn the stove off and stir in the vinegar. Stir for one minute, cover and set aside. Your ricotta will be ready in as little as 30 minutes, but it will be tastier if you can give it a full 2 hours. After it rests, strain it through a fine mesh strainer (lined with cheesecloth if you have it). If you prefer a dry ricotta, leave it to drain for up to thirty minutes.
 Store your fresh ricotta in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

You can expect to see more recipes along this line - I'm thinking taco cups, nacho cups, pizza cups... there are a lot of possibilities here!

Grown Up Macaroni and Cheese

My daughter took one bite of this lunch and declared it "better than Panera's macaroni and cheese!" This is incredibly high praise coming from this five year old as she refuses to eat macaroni and cheese from a box anymore. She's a mac n cheese snob.This grown up version sneaks in a few veggies and is topped with crumbled bacon. Everything is better with bacon, right?

2c Uncooked Pasta
4 Slices Bacon, Cooked and Crumbled
2T Thrive Red & Green Bell Peppers
1/2c Thrive Freeze Dried Mushrooms
1T Thrive Chopped Onions
2T Thrive Freeze Dried Peas

1c Thrive Cheese Blend
1 1/2c Water

Prepare pasta according to package directions. In a small saucepan, combine water and bell peppers and simmer for five minutes. Add the remaining vegetables and cheese blend. Stir until cheese powder is dissolved, return to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes or until cheese sauce thickens and vegetables are tender. If your cheese sauce is too thick, add a little milk until it is the desired consistency. Pour over cooked pasta, toss gently, and serve topped with bacon. Serves 4.

What Do You Do With Tomato Powder?

Welcome to installment three of "What the Heck Wednesday." Today we're going to take a look at Thrive Tomato Powder.

I have to say - this is hands down one of my all time favorite products. It is super versatile, very nutritious, and easy to use. The first thing you will notice when you open your can of Tomato Powder is its beautiful, deep red color and delicious smell. Just in case you've missed the health report, tomatoes are some of the most nutritionally beneficial foods you can eat. They are absolutely packed with vitamins and minerals in concentrations not available from other sources. A diet rich in tomatoes, particularly cooked tomatoes, has been shown to reduce high blood pressure and cancer risk, improve vision, clear acne prone skin, and improve your immune system. Plus they taste great!

Thrive Tomato Powder is meant to replace a variety of tomato products: diced tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, pasta sauce, tomato soup and pizza sauce. You can use it to make the sauce for your favorite lasagna, give your taco meat a boost, thicken up your favorite chili recipe and make your minestrone soup unforgettable.

Each #10 can hold the equivalent of just over 110 (yes, one hundred and ten) cups of tomato sauce. That's about 63 15oz cans. How much space would 63 large cans of tomato sauce take up in your pantry? A #10 can costs $31, which coverts to about $0.50 per large can of tomato sauce. I don't know about you, but I usually pay $0.65 per can for the generic tomato sauce at our local grocery store, double that if I want the quality stuff. In addition to space and money savings, Tomato Powder reduces waste - both in packaging and food thrown in the trash. I frequently cook dishes that only need one or two tablespoons of tomato paste, and that often means that the rest of the can ends up in the garbage can. With Thrive Tomato Powder, I measure out just what I need and know that the rest of my opened container will last for a whole year on my pantry shelf.

So the next time you are adding stuff to your Q shipment, or placing a hostess benefit order to get your free food, add a #10 of Tomato Powder. I'm sure you'll be as happy with it as I am! Oh wait, you don't get free food from Thrive? Contact me and I'll get you hooked up!

Whole Wheat Strawberry Yogurt Cake

My daughter has a serious sweet tooth. I find myself constantly telling her that she's eating too much sugar, but really, who's to blame but me? I'm the one who buys her sugary treats at the grocery store and I'm the one who stops at the ice cream shop. I have a sweet tooth, too. Solution: sweet treats made at home with less sugar (and no artificial sweeteners). This lightly sweetened cake is satisfying, and sneaks in both whole grains and whole fruit at the same time! It is delicious on it's own, but feel free to add a light coat of frosting or a dollop of whipped cream. Mine was topped with leftover cheesecake filling from the cheesecake strawberries I made the other night. I added a little bit of strawberry powder from the bottom of the can of freeze dried strawberries to give the topping a pretty pink tint.

Before we get started, preheat your oven to 350 and grease an 8x8 pan.

1c Thrive Freeze Dried Strawberries
1/2c Water

1c Thrive Vanilla Yogurt Bites
1/2c Water

Combine strawberries and water. Set aside. In another small bowl, combine yogurt bites and water and set this aside as well.

1/4c Butter (we used I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light)
1/4c Apple Sauce (no sugar added)
1/2c Thrive White Sugar
1/4c Agave Nectar or Honey
2T Thrive Whole Egg Powder
4T Water
1T Thrive Powdered Milk
1t  Vanilla Extract

Whisk these ingredients together, then add the rehydrated yogurt bites. Set aside.

2c Thrive Whole Wheat Flour
1t Baking Powder
1t Baking Soda
Pinch Salt

Mix dry ingredients, then slowly add to wet ingredients. Combine well, then carefully add strawberries and their liquid. Fold gently until strawberries are mixed in, then pour into greased 8x8 dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool before serving.

 Whole cake without frosting.

Cheesecake Strawberries

Confession: the only Thrive ingredient in this recipe is Thrive Powdered Sugar. Sure, you could make it with regular store bought powdered sugar, but maybe you have some Thrive powdered sugar that is nearing it's expiration date (of 30 years) and you just have to use it right now. And let me tell you, there is no better way to use it than to make these amazingly delicious, beautiful cheesecake filled strawberries.

2 8oz Bars Cream Cheese, Softened
1c Thrive Powdered Sugar
1t Vanilla Extract
48 Strawberries

Wash your strawberries and set them out on a tea towel to dry. Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla using a spatula or hand beater. Taste it and add more sugar if you want a sweeter filling. Set each strawberry on it's top to make sure it will stand upright. I like to leave the leaves on mine because I think it looks pretty, but you might need to trim yours to make the strawberries stand up. Using a sharp knife, start at the tip and cut an X all the way down toward the stem, but don't go all the way through. This will allow your strawberry to open slightly for the filling to go inside.

Now is the time to decide how you're going to fill these babies. If you want to go super low-tech, just put your cheesecake filling into a large zip top bag, snip a little hole in one of the corners and squeeze away. You could also use a piping bag with a pretty tip. I just so happened to find the neatest little contraption at Michaels Craft Store - the Wilton Dessert Decorator Plus. It is easy to use, easy to wash, and was about $15.

Using whichever method you choose, fill each strawberry with the cheesecake filling and stand the filled strawberry upright on your serving plate. The filled strawberries may be refrigerated for up to 48 hours prior to serving. To make your strawberries extra pretty, you can drizzle melted chocolate over them or sprinkle them with powdered sugar.

French Toast with Blueberry Syrup

There's nothing like breakfast for dinner after a long day! It's quick, easy, and generally pleases everyone in our house. Tonight I decided to do a little something special and make blueberry butter and blueberry syrup to top our french toast - yum.

Blueberry butter is amazingly simple. Mix 2T Thrive Butter Powder with some powder from the bottom of your can of Thrive Freeze Dried Blueberries. No powder? Just crush a few in a zip top bag by smashing them with a mallet or rolling over them with a rolling pin. Add a little bit of honey and 1T water. Stir, adding more water if necessary until you reach a consistency you like. Chill it in the fridge until your french toast is done.

Yes, it really is that purple!

 To make your own blueberry syrup, combine 1/2c Thrive Freeze Dried Blueberries with 1c maple syrup and simmer gently in a saucepan. The berries will rehydrate and soften nicely while you make your french toast. If your family isn't a blueberry fan, feel free to use any of the Thrive berries.

While the syrup warms on the stove, make your french toast:

1c Thrive Instant Milk, prepared
6T Thrive Whole Egg Powder
1t Ground Cinnamon

Mix all ingredients well. If you have a martini shaker, it will make this process much easier. I like to use the Ziploc containers that have a screw on lid. Once your dip is mixed thoroughly, pour it into a shallow dish. Heat a griddle or skillet to medium high heat and grease well. Dip the bread of your choice into the egg mixture, coating each side well, and cook for 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Serve topped with blueberry syrup and blueberry butter!

What is your favorite "breakfast for dinner" meal?

What Do You Do With Butter Powder?

Welcome to installment two of "What the Heck Wednesday." Today we are going to take a look at what might be considered a peculiar product: Butter Powder. This stuff wasn't quite as puzzling as the Whole Egg Powder, but it still seemed a little odd. It's powdered, and it's butter, and it's in a can. Really.

The first thing you will notice upon opening your can of Butter Powder is that it actually smells really yummy - like butter (woah). It has a nice soft texture to it and measures easily. How often are you cleaning up butter smears off your kitchen counters after slicing, melting, softening, creaming and blending butter? With Butter Powder, you don't have to worry about those messes anymore. Just measure out the amount you need and mix it into your recipe. Butter Powder works perfectly with casseroles, cakes, muffins, cupcakes and soups. It can be sprinkled directly on your freshly popped popcorn, roasted veggies and braised chicken. You can also use it like you would regular butter - just mix it with water to your desired consistency and chill before spreading on the toast/muffin/corn cob of your choice.

Butter Powder also allows you to be super creative! Instead of (or in addition to) water, try mixing your Butter Powder with honey, agave nectar, flavored extracts, jelly or peanut butter. Blend it with Whole Egg Powder and milk for the richest french toast dip you have ever tasted. Add in a little powder from the bottom of any Thrive fruit cans for a fabulous flavor and color - strawberry powder makes for an amazing flavor and looks beautiful on cornbread or muffins, blueberry would be an excellent addition to a big stack of Blueberry Pancakes.

What is your favorite way to use Butter Powder?

Pizza Night

We love pizza night at our house! My daughter thinks that anything with red sauce on it is completely inedible, so she likes hers without sauce. My husband wants his loaded with meat and onions, and I prefer mine with fresh veggies and lots of cheese. So let's see... three pizzas, one with lots of toppings, one with fresh veggies, one with nothing but cheese, plus tax and delivery is... more than I want to spend. Or I could just make it at home without having to run out to the store to buy all the ingredients!

Tonight I made a whole wheat crust from scratch, and so can you. Trust me - it isn't hard at all and your kids will love the freedom to make their pie exactly the way they want to.

1 1/2c Warm Water
1 Package Instant Yeast
1T Honey (or sugar or agave nectar)
1/8t Salt
1/2t Garlic Powder (optional)
1T Olive Oil
2 to 4 cups Thrive Whole Wheat Flour

Combine warm water, yeast and honey and let rest for 5 minutes. Add oil, salt, garlic powder if desired and 2 cups flour to yeast mixture. Continue adding flour, 1/4c at a time, until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. Knead for 10 minutes. Roll the dough into a ball, put it into a greased bowl, and cover with a damp towel. Let rise for 1 hour. This crust recipe will make one really big pizza, or can be divided to make up to 4 personal sized crusts. Tonight I divided this ball of dough into three equal pieces.

If the thought of making your own pizza dough makes you want to run away screaming, skip this step and just use store bought crust or dough! No big deal.

While the dough is rising, make your sauce.

1T Olive Oil
1 1/2c Water
1/2c Thrive Tomato Powder
1/2t Garlic Powder
1t Sugar
1/2t Italian Seasonings
1/8t Salt

In a small bowl, combine Tomato Powder, garlic powder, sugar, Italian seasonings and salt. In a saucepan over medium high heat, bring water and olive oil to a boil. Reduce heat to low and slowly stir in the Tomato Powder mixture. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. If you want your sauce to be a little thicker, continue to simmer until the desired consistency is reached.

If you haven't already, now is a good time to consider toppings. Here are a few ideas from your Thrive pantry:

• Veggie: FD Red & Green Bell Peppers, FD Mushrooms, FD Chopped Spinach, FD Chopped Onions
• Meaty: FD Chopped Chicken, Sausage Crumbles, Ham TVP
• Hawaiian: FD Pineapple Chunks and Ham TVP
• Taco: Replace pizza sauce with Instant Pinto Beans (mashed to make a spreadable sauce) and top with Taco TVP, FD Chopped Onions, fresh chives, salsa and cheddar instead of mozzarella

Rehydrate your toppings as per Thrive directions. Roll out your pizza dough to desired shape and thickness*. Spread a thin layer of pizza sauce on the dough, then top with shredded cheese and toppings. Bake at 400 degrees for 18-23 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted and bubbly.

*If you want a deep dish pizza, pre-bake your dough for 8-10 minutes before adding sauce and toppings.

 Left: Bacon, Thrive Ham TVP and Thrive Chopped Onions; Right: Cheese, no sauce;

Bottom: Thrive Ham TVP and Cheese.

Gooseberry Cobbler with Strawberries and Crumble Topping

A couple of days ago we visited the Happy Apple Farm down in Penrose, CO, and picked about three pounds of gooseberries. I haven't had them since I was a kid, and eating berries right off the bush brought back some great memories of playing at our family cabin where gooseberries grow wild in the forest. They are sour little things, but oh so yummy and they cook up perfectly sweet with a little bit of sugar and some Thrive freeze dried strawberries!

 

Unbaked Cobbler

For Filling:
1c Thrive Freeze Dried Strawberries
3c Fresh Gooseberries, washed with stems removed
1/3c Thrive White Sugar
1/4c Water

For Crust:
1/2c Butter, melted
1c Thrive Whole Wheat Flour
1c Thrive White Sugar
1c Milk (fresh or Thrive Instant Milk, prepared)
1/8t Salt
2t Baking Powder

For Topping:
3T Thrive Whole Wheat Flour
3T Thrive Brown Sugar
1/4c Thrive Oats
3T Butter, softened
1/4c Pecan Pieces (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium sauce pan, combine gooseberries, strawberries, sugar and water. Simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until berries start to break down, about 10 minutes. Mash mixture slightly with a fork, then turn off heat and set aside.

While the berry mixture is cooking, make the crust layer. Pour melted butter into a 9" pie plate. Combine flour, sugar, milk, salt and baking powder and pour on top of butter. Do no stir.

To make the topping, combine flour, brown sugar, oats, butter and pecan pieces until a crumbly mixture forms.

Once berry filling is done, pour on top of crust mixture. Do not stir. Top with crumble mixture and bake at 400 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown. Serve warm. For extra deliciousness, top with vanilla ice cream or a nice dollop of Cool Whip.

Cornmeal Cookies

Our daughter Annika recently decided that she thought cornmeal cookies would be good. I've never heard of cornmeal cookies, but I like cornmeal and I like cookies so they can't be all that bad, right? Wrong. They weren't "all that bad"... they were amazing. I mean it - amazing. They were light and fluffy with a great texture from the cornmeal and just the right amount of sweetness. These are an absolute must try!

Cute little cookies baking in the oven.

1 1/2c Thrive Flour (we used a combination of whole wheat and white)
1/2c Thrive Cornmeal
1/2c Thrive White Sugar
1t Thrive Baking Powder
1/2t Thrive Salt
1T Thrive Whole Egg Powder
2T Water
4T Butter (we used I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light)
2T Applesauce
1/2t Cinnamon
1/4c Agave Nectar (you could use honey or molasses)
1/4c Chocolate Chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a large cookie sheet. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl using a hand mixer on low speed until dough forms. Spoon by heaping tablespoon full onto prepared cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until edges are slightly browned. Makes 28 large cookies.

Blueberry Pancakes

2c Thrive Six Grain Pancake Mix
1c Thrive Freeze Dried Blueberries
1 1/4c water

Combine the pancake mix, berries and water. Stir gently until well combined, then let rest for 10 minutes. This will allow the berries to rehydrate nicely. After 10 minutes, stir the batter a little to check the consistency - it should be on the thin side but not runny. These pancakes cook up so thick and fluffy that the batter needs to be slightly thin, otherwise you'll end up with pancakes that are beautifully browned on the outside but raw on the inside. Use a small ladle to portion out the batter onto your griddle or skillet and cook them over medium high heat, flipping after the edges look a little dry.

I used a 1/4c size ladle and got 9 pancakes from this batch. They have such a nice flavor that I personally don't like mine drenched in syrup - I just put a light layer of butter on top. Other topping ideas: peanut butter, powdered sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon, or a few rehydrated blueberries.

Fruit Snacks

Let's examine some fruit snacks, shall we?

 

On the left we have the contents of 2 bags of Sunkist snacks. These "fruit" snacks contain ingredients like corn syrup, modified corn starch, dextrose, sodium citrate, malic acid, mineral oil, carnauba wax, colors red 40, yellow 5, blue 1 and beeswax. I guess they can call them "fruit snacks" because they roughly resemble some shapes that might be considered fruit-like. The orange ones look like orange wedges, the blue ones look like pineapple, the purple ones look like cherries, and the green and yellow ones look like blobs. They pretty much all taste the same. There are 8 pieces in each package (less than 1/4c), totaling 80 calories of pure sugar junk. I paid $2.69 for a box of 10 packages, 8 ounces total. This equals out to be about $0.34 per ounce.

On the right we have Thrive freeze dried fruits. Clockwise from the top are strawberries, mandarin oranges, raspberries, pineapple, blackberries, bananas, and blueberries in the middle. They contain absolutely zero added ingredients - no salt, no sugar, no additives, no preservatives. They are shaped like fruit, they smell like fruit, and they taste like fruit!

You could probably make 10 packages of these real fruit snacks in about five minutes, with as much of each fruit as your child would like. You might even be able to sneak in a few veggies! There is quite a large weight vs volume discrepancy because the Thrive fruits are freeze dried, so it is difficult to do an accurate price comparison. Just for the heck of it, I filled a Sunkist "fruit" snacks bag with Thrive fruits, then weighed it and did the math. It cost me $0.23 to fill that tiny little bag with REAL berries.

Which fruit snacks would you rather pack in your child's lunch box?

What Do You Do With Whole Egg Powder?

We're going to call today "What the Heck Wednesday".

When you start cooking with food storage products, inevitably some items will make you say "what the heck do I do with that?" Thrive Whole Egg Powder was a head scratcher for me when it first showed up in my Q shipment. I know it is a crucial part of my well stocked food storage pantry, but it looks kind of funny and I found it intimidating. Surprisingly enough, it is actually very easy to use and is far more convenient than using traditional eggs in a lot of recipes.

I am notorious for spending a good four or five minutes fishing egg shell pieces out of whatever it is I'm trying to cook. I don't know what my problem is, I guess I just missed the how-to-crack-an-egg lesson, but you can imagine how happy I am to avoid that lovely exercise in patience now! No cracking, no fishing, no slimy counter top (I always manage to drip some egg white somewhere). All I have to do is open the container, measure out one tablespoon of Whole Egg Powder and two tablespoons of water for each egg my recipe requires, and stir. That's it. Genius!

Thrive Whole Egg Powder brings some excellent attributes to baking: it is always consistent in volume, it rises beautifully and evenly, and it is lower in fat and cholesterol than traditional eggs. Using egg powder allows me to fit normally high calorie desserts into my diet more often, and I feel better serving these desserts to my friends and family. Baked goods still taste rich and delicious, they just come with a little less guilt.

A few other ideas for incorporating Thrive Whole Egg Powder into your daily meals:

• Blend with milk and cinnamon to make a delicious dip for your french toast.
• Replace half of the eggs in your favorite quiche recipe with egg powder to reduce the calories, fat and cholesterol.
• Make your favorite cookie dough using whole egg powder, and eat the dough raw without worrying about salmonela.
• Make home made mayonnaise that travels - it won't spoil nearly as fast.
• Add a tablespoon or two of egg powder to your Thrive 6 Grain Pancake Mix for fluffier pancakes.
• Scramble up a quick omelet using egg powder and your favorite Thrive veggies.

 Question of the Day: What is your favorite egg dish?
I love bacon, spinach and swiss quiche. I usually have the necessary ingredients on hand, and it bakes up pretty enough to serve guests at a nice brunch. It can also be made into mini quiches if you bake it in a mini muffin tin. I'll share a recipe soon!

Potato Mash Up

Mashed potatoes are good. Sweet potatoes are good. Mashed potatoes with little bits of sweet potato goodness blended in are amazing!

1c Thrive Potato Beads

1/3c Thrive Sweet Potatoes

1  2/3c Water

2 Green Onions, Thinly Sliced

1 Heaping Tablespoon Thrive Butter, prepared

Bring water to a boil. Add sweet potatoes and simmer for 5 minutes or until tender. Add potato beads and continue to simmer, stirring frequently, until beads dissolve into creamy potatoes. If potatoes are too thick, add milk one tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached. Stir in green onions and butter just before serving.

Delicious meatloaf recipe coming soon :)

Question of the Day: What is your favorite food "mash up"? 

I'm a big fan of bananas with chocolate, chocolate with cinnamon, and chocolate with peanut butter. Maybe I'm just a big fan of chocolate! LOL :)

Black Bean Taco Soup

I know I promised you black bean chili with sweet potatoes, but I changed my mind. There has been a #10 can of Thrive Taco TVP* sitting in my pantry, begging to be tried, along with some instant black beans. All I can say is holy cow this soup is good! The corn and sweet potatoes bring a soft sweetness than balances out the cumin and red pepper nicely, while the onions and celery offer up the fantastic aromatics I have come to love about Thrive vegetables. And the instant black beans? These are great because you don't have to remember to soak them the night before. Plus they have, um, well, fewer "side effects". :)

1 1/2c Thrive Instant Black Beans
1/2c Thrive Taco TVP
2T Thrive Corn
2T Thrive Onion
2T Thrive Celery
3T Thrive Sweet Potatoes
1/2t Garlic Powder
1t Cumin
1/2t Ground Red Pepper (or Red Pepper Flakes)
6c Water
For Garnish: shredded cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, salsa

In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Add black beans, taco TVP, corn, onions, celery, sweet potatoes and seasonings.

At this point I decided to add a can of petite diced tomatoes and a small can of diced green chiles. Yeah, I know, it's not in the pictures. It was a last minute decision :) You could also throw in a can of jalapenos - maybe even a diced zucchini. That would be really good. Now I wish I had a zucchini.

Reduce the heat and let everything simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally. After about an hour, give it a taste and adjust the seasonings at your discretion. I like my soup to have a nice kick to it, but feel free to add more or less seasonings to suit your taste. Garnish with shredded cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips and/or salsa before serving.

* Are you afraid of TVP? Don't be. TVP, or textured vegetable protein, is a delicious meat alternative that is made from soy flour. It is an excellent source of low fat protein, and is quite inexpensive. There is a great little article about it here.

Question of the Day: what is your favorite soup?
Mine has always been split pea with ham, but the soup I made tonight ranks right up there with it!

Where to Start?

I've been agonizing over how to start this blog forever! Okay, not forever. I've only been designing it for two days. Anyway - there are so many cool ideas I want to talk about, so many tips I want to share, so many concepts I want to detail... so many places to start that I just can't pick! So, I'm going to start here: my plan is to teach you why food storage is important, how to get started, how to use your food storage on a daily basis to prepare delicious meals for your family that are both nutritious and quick and save money on your groceries. Simple enough, right? The first thing I'm going to do is - cook something! I hope to have three or four simple recipes to share with you each week, the first of which I will be working on tonight. Creamy chicken soup with wild rice, anyone?


Today's Question: do you have any food stored away for a rainy day? What do you have stored?