I know I should - but WHAT should I buy - Part 3, Plus Chicken Enchilada Recipe

This is the final segment of our 3 part series on what THRIVE foods to include in your home store.  So far we've covered snack foods and foods that take a long time to prepare,  as well as foods that you commonly throw away and foods that you commonly run out of.  So that leaves "Family Favorite Recipes" and foods you don't want to buy when living on your food storage.  These are probably my two favorite types of food to make sure are in my home store.

Family Favorite Recipes
My family has lots of favorite recipes and since I love to try new recipes, that list of family favorites is always growing.  If we had to live off our food storage, I don't want to change what we eat.  We'd already be having some stresses so it would be nice to keep family dinner normal.  With THRIVE Foods, it's easy to convert most recipes to THRIVE Recipes.  And as you go through your recipes, don't forget to include some favorite desserts.  With FD Granny Smith Apples, I could make an apple pie.  With THRIVE Brownie Mix, I'd satisfy my chocolate cravings.  Here's an example, using our favorite chicken enchilada recipe (sorry - I don't have a photo of the enchiladas).

Jasmine's Enchiladas  (original)

1 pkg tortillas
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1 tomato, diced
1 lb skinless chicken breast / 2 cups cooked chicken
1 can enchilada sauce
1 can green chiles

If using chicken breast, cook chicken and dice.
Combine cooked chicken, cream of chicken soup, diced tomato, green chiles, some of the cheddar cheese and 1/2 of the enchilada sauce.
Put 2-3 T of mix into each tortilla and roll up.  Spray 9x13 pan before putting tortillas into pan.  Pour remaining enchilada sauce over enchiladas.  Top with cheddar cheese.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Jasmine's Enchiladas  (THRIVE'd)

1 pkg tortillas
1 can cream of chicken soup or 1 recipe of cream of chicken soup
2 cups THRIVE cheddar cheese, rehydrated
1/2 cup THRIVE FD diced tomatoes,
2 cups THRIVE FD Chopped Chicken
1 can enchilada sauce (can make using THRIVE Tomato Powder)
1/2 cup THRIVE green chiles


The night before, rehydrate cheese.
Rehydrate chicken, tomatoes and green chili peppers.
Combine cooked chicken, cream of chicken soup, diced tomatoes, green chilis, some of the cheddar cheese and 1/2 of the enchilada sauce.
Put 2-3 T of mix into each tortilla and roll up.  Spray 9x13 pan before putting tortillas into pan.  Pour remaining enchilada sauce over enchiladas.  Top with cheddar cheese.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Foods I don't want to buy if living on food storage
I've shared short comments on this blog that 3 years ago this month we went through a semi-unexpected job loss.  That job loss has inspired a lot of my choices in our home store/food storage.  We had basics in our home store (flour, sugar, rice, wheat, etc.) and we also had some frozen meat, canned fruits and vegetables, cream soups.  We even had some powdered milk but no one wanted to drink it.  Having this stockpile was very helpful as we looked at how to cut our budget to make the funds that we had stretch.  But I realized I still needed grocery money for eggs, milk, cheese, fresh vegetables like lettuce and tomato, and additional meat. 

I wished there was a way to store these foods without filling my freezer and hoping for no power outages (we live in tornado country).  Then in 2011 I discovered all the wonderful THRIVE Foods.  The freeze dried cheese immediately caught my attention.  I also was interested in the freeze dried chicken and beef so that I could store meat without being dependent on electricity.  I have also discovered freeze dried fruits and vegetables that I can use in place of fresh ones for various recipes.


So as you think about what to put in your home store, envision what things you would want to feed your family that you're not going to want to spend money on if you're having to live off your food storage.  Here's a few of my favorites:


THRIVE FD diced tomatoes
THRIVE FD Chopped Chicken
THRIVE cheddar cheese
THRIVE Sour Cream Powder
THRIVE Ground Beef

Whole Egg Powder  

Recommendation

Now we've gone through 6 different methods of determining what to put in your home store.  My recommendation is start with a favorite recipe for the first few months so that you have everything to make those recipes.  I also recommend that if you find the same items coming up on multiple lists/categories, then those items should be at the top of your THRIVE shopping list.  I look forward to seeing what you make with THRIVE!