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!

I know I should - but WHAT should I buy? Part 2

This is a 3 post series breaking down what THRIVE foods we should have in our home store into 6 categories.  They are based on the THRIVE Shopping List plus my personal experiences.  Yesterday, in Part 1, we went over foods that your family likes to snack on and the foods that take a long time to prepare.

Today's focus is on the next 2 categories - Foods I commonly throw away and Foods I commonly run out of.  My family loves for me to focus on the snack foods from THRIVE that we talked about yesterday.  And I do buy a few things in the category of items that take a long time to prepare.  But the foods I commonly throw away were some of my first purchases.

Foods I commonly throw away

The phrase "the most expensive food is the food you throw away" has stuck in my head since I joined Shelf Reliance.  I hear it every time I go to clean out my fridge and I throw away leftovers or even worse foods that we had planned to eat and didn't get around to.  One wonderful benefit of THRIVE Freeze dried foods is that you only use what you need and the rest does not go bad!  Most THRIVE foods have an opened shelf life of 1-2 years and an unopened shelf life of 25 years, giving you plenty of time to use it!

I've talked about it several times already on this blog as well...

Spending More Can Save You Money <<< Celery
What a Waste <<< Yogurt
Product Feature: Green Bell Peppers <<< Bell Peppers
Product Feature: Tomato Powder <<< Tomato Paste/Tomato Powder

So what foods should you include in your THRIVE Shopping List?  Anything that you would often throw away before eating.  If you love Blueberry muffins but don't eat all the blueberries before they go bad, put them on your list.  Or maybe you're like me and the only one who eats mushrooms on their pizza so the rest of the mushrooms go bad.  THRIVE is a great solution!

Foods I commonly run out of.
For years, I have been building up a basic home store - flour, sugar, white rice, so these are not things I, personally, run out of.  But if you're just getting started, that may be something you experience and THRIVE has those Basics as well as the freeze dried foods that tend to be my focus.  So what do I run out of?  Eggs.  Butter/Margarine.  Cheese.  Milk.  So guess what are on my Shopping List (in my Q food plan)?

Whole Egg Powder
Butter Powder
Instant Milk
Freeze Dried Cheddar Cheese, Mozzarella Cheese, and Colby Jack Cheese

Now I'm covered when I go to make something and discover we're out of an essential ingredient.  The only restriction is with the cheese - it needs to be rehydrated and sit overnight before using in most recipes to get the best texture.  What do you run out of?  Add it to your Shopping List.


Tomorrow, we'll go over Family Favorite Recipes and What do you NOT want to buy.

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.