I know I should - but WHAT should I buy? Part 1

Building up a home store (aka food storage) can be overwhelming trying to figure out what you want in it.  The THRIVE Calculator is one great way to create your food plan!  But that's actually not my focus today.  Today I'm introducing you to the THRIVE Shopping List.  The Shopping List is a great tool for identifying those THRIVE Foods you want in your home store.  There are 5 categories of foods on this document you want to store.  And I will add one more category - if you had to live off your food storage, what foods do you not want to have to buy at the store?

Today we're going to talk about 2 of the categories.  And then we'll go over 2 more tomorrow and 2 on Thursday.  Follow along and build your shopping list or THRIVE Q as we go.

Foods your family could snack on.
The #1 THRIVE foods that come to mind for my family for snacking are the yogurt bites and fruit.  THRIVE fruit is simply fruit.  No sugars, no preseratives, and no added dyes.  The yogurt bites are great for snacking compared to yogurt at the grocery store because it's not messy AND doesn't require refrigeration.  My favorites are the Strawberry and Pomegranate yogurt, but you may find Cherry, Blueberry, Passion Fruit, Vanilla or Orange to be your favorite.  I'm keep some in a little container and take it with us wherever we go for when my girls say they're hungry.

A surprise snack for me was discovering the Freeze Dried Sweet Corn and the Freeze Dried Green Bell Peppers.  They are a delicious snack without rehydrating.  Just scoop some out and munch!  Easy, quick AND healthy!  No guilt!

I would also list in here desserts.  If you were having to live off your food storage, there's going to be some stress involved.  And for me that means dessert, and chocolate.   Our fudge brownie mix is DELICIOUS AND only requires water to mix up - no eggs or oil required.

Foods that take a long time to prepare. 
My immediate thought of something I don't like to make because of the time involved - beans!  So I definitely have the THRIVE Instant Black Beans on my Food Plan.   These beans are ready in just 20 minutes.  THRIVE also has Instant Red and Pinto Beans.

I'm also going to put foods that are a pain to prepare in this category.  Best examples for me - Freeze Dried chopped onions (no more tears pouring down my face), and Freeze Dried Mango (have you ever cut up a mango?  Super messy for me!).  THRIVE Foods are pre-chopped and many don't have to rehydrated for you to use, making food prep quick and easy!

Tomorrow, we'll go over Foods you commonly throw away and Foods you run out of.