Lemon Zucchini Bread

Quite a while ago, I Pinned this recipe from Nancy Creative but never got around to trying it.  Then THRIVE Classic Lemonade came back for the Summer!  After reading other consultants talk about using the Lemonade powder in recipes, and having an abundance of zucchini from my garden, I decided now was the time to give it a try and to Thrive-a-lize it!

Results?  Delicious!  I took it to a family gathering to celebrate my brother's 40th birthday and my nephew's 12th birthday.  The family verdict?  Delicious!   We also had Thrive Classic Lemonade.  There were instant raves including the comment "This is a mix?  It tastes like freshly squeezed lemonade!  I think I need this!"

What did I change?  I replaced the lemon juice and lemon zest with THRIVE Classic Lemonade, used THRIVE Whole Egg Powder instead of eggs, and THRIVE Instant Milk (reconstituted).  I also replaced half the oil with applesauce to make it a bit healthier.

It was so good I made another loaf yesterday, experimenting with flours and using THRIVE Instant Milk in powder (adding the powder to the flour and adding water to the liquid mix).  Although still good, this second loaf wasn't near as amazing as the first.  I love the idea of using the milk powder so I'll have to give it another try without the whole wheat flour mix I used.

Ready to try it yourself?

Lemon Zucchini Bread

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 T Thrive Whole Egg Powder
1/2 cup canola oil, or a blend of applesauce and oil to total 1/2 cup
2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup Thrive Instant Milk, reconstituted
1 1/2 teaspoon Thrive Classic Lemonade powder

1 cup grated zucchini
4 T Water

Prep work:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees; grease 9x5 loaf pan (I sprayed it with Olive Oil)

In large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and egg powder.

In a second bowl, combine oil and sugar.  Add milk, water, and lemonade powder; mix well.  Gently stir in zucchini.
Add wet mixture to flour mix and combine well.

Pour into loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

15 Minute Chicken Fajitas

With all the reasons Thrive Life has recently shared about why to use Thrive Foods, I've upped our use of Thrive for meals. With the rush to get to soccer practice, games, riding lessons, etc., dinner often needs to be a quick and easy meal. For last night, I planned chicken fajitas.  This was my first time trying THRIVE Seasoned Chicken Slices (I've always used the Chopped Chicken for other recipes).  I was IMPRESSED!  These are huge slices of chicken breast and they rehydrated fast!  I had expected dinner to take me 20-30 minutes to prepare but it was ready faster than I could get the table set.  And that was while both of my girls were requiring assistance with homework (one in another room).

In between homework problems, I reconstituted the chicken slices and splashed the peppers (I used both red and green bell peppers) and onion with water in a strainer.  As the chicken rehydrated, I put a chunk of butter in the pan on high heat.  I quickly added the peppers and onion and let them start to carmelize.  Then I scooped the chicken out of the bowl of water and added it to my veggies.

It only took a few minutes for the chicken to reheat.  I sprinkled it with Chef's Choice (which we add to almost everything now) and added a splash of lime juice.  I served the chicken mixture on flour tortillas with Cheddar Cheese (Monterey Jack would be good too) and Sour Cream.

This was also my first time using the Chopped Onions (FD).  I will have to admit that for fajitas, I wish the onions were cut a bit bigger but as I pondered it, I couldn't think of any other recipe I'd use a large onion slice for to request "Onion Slices" as a new product.

Here's my put together fajita from last night:

Want the recipe?

For the month of May 2014, THRIVE Seasoned Chicken Slices, Red Bell Peppers and Green Bell Peppers are on sale!

This post is being shared with Mouthwatering Mondays, Made by You Monday, Recipe Sharing Monday, MMM Block Party, Marvelous Mondays, Monday Funday, Sweet Sharing Monday and other link parties - Go check out all the fun!

Quick Individual Pizzas

Thursday nights, I don't get home until 6 pm from activities.  Some days I'm on the ball and have dinner in the crockpot waiting for our return.  Today, I was stumped on what to make.  And then just before leaving I decided we'd have individual pizzas but I failed to rehydrate the Thrive Freeze-dried Mozzarella Cheese.  Oh well - we'll do it as we go.

I got home from our horse class and pulled up our favorite pizza sauce recipe (using Thrive Tomato Powder, thank you very much).  While waiting for the water to boil for the sauce, I poured the cheese into a strainer, set it in a bowl and covered the cheese with water.  When the sauce was done, so was the cheese.  I removed the strainer from the bowl of water to let it drain.  I quickly put sauce on pita bread, topped it with the mozzarella (plus a little cheddar I had on hand), then came time for individual toppings.

My choice: Mushrooms, Pineapple and Spinach.  I think the freeze dried Spinach would work great for this but I have a big container of fresh spinach on hand for salads so I used it.

7 y/o's choice: Pineapple

11 y/o's choice: Ground Beef

My husband was the only one who didn't use THRIVE for his toppings - he chose Pepperoni.

Into a 400 degree oven for 7 minutes and dinner was done!  If I'd had the pizza sauce ready before hand (like I will next time with this week's remaining sauce), these pizzas can be ready in less than 15 minutes!

Other options from THRIVE: tomato dices, green bell peppers, red bell peppers, sausage, green onions (sounds strange but it's actually good), diced chicken, and onions.  The THRIVE advantage is no chopping and no waste.  For the ground beef, I didn't have to brown a whole pound.  I simply scooped out the amount I needed, splashed it in water and put it on her pizza.  For the mushrooms and pineapple, same thing, and NO CHOPPING.  No chopping means less clean up (knife, cutting board, juice on the counter).

Having a wide variety of THRIVE vegetables and meats is great for when we host pizza parties because everyone can so easily make their own pizza and I have little prep time!

What topping will you put on your pizza?  

This post is being shared with Foodtastic Friday, Mouthwatering Mondays, Made by You Monday, Recipe Sharing Monday, MMM Block Party, Marvelous Mondays, Monday Funday, Show Me Your Plaid Mondays, Sweet Sharing Monday and other link parties - Go check out all the fun!

Chicken Enchiladas and Enchilada Sauce Recipe

It used to be that I stocked cans of tomato sauce in my cupboard for making pizza sauce and enchilada sauce.  But then I bought Thrive Tomato Powder.  It only takes a moment to turn the powder into sauce.  I've tried several different recipes but this week's trial seems to be a winner.  I used this recipe from Healthy Family Cookin to get started.

I grabbed my Thrive Tomato Powder and got to work.

 Adapting the original recipe just a bit, I added salt, Thrive dehydrated onions, and garlic powder to my tomato powder. 

After boiling the water, I added it to my tomato powder mixture.  Next up, convert this tomato sauce to enchilada sauce.

For that I turned to this enchilada sauce recipe I've used for years but I changed it up some (replaced the salt and garlic with garlic salt, and reduced the chili powder to 1 T per my child's complaint that it's been too spicy).

Now let's turn it into enchiladas.  I've used this recipe for years. I'm often asked "what should I buy?" by those just getting started.  My favorite advice is to pick a family favorite recipe and convert it to Thrive ingredients, then purchase those items.  This is one of those recipes for me.  And I have purchased the ingredients - I just didn't use them this time. 

This day, I chopped up leftover chicken breast, added 1 recipe of cream of chicken soup substitute (made from white bean flour), a can of Rotel and regular cheddar cheese.  Next, I poured in 1/2 of my enchilada sauce.  To convert, simply use rehydrated Thrive Freeze Dried chopped chicken and rehydrated Thrive Freeze Dried Cheddar Cheese (or go crazy and use both the cheddar and Thrive Freeze Dried Monterey Jack!).

 Spoon into flour tortillas, roll them up and lay down in a sprayed 9x13 pan.

Once you've used up all the "enchilada goop" (we use fancy words like that at our house), cover the enchiladas with the remaining enchilada sauce and as much cheese as you like (we like a lot).  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Here are the recipes for you:

Tomato Sauce

(original recipe from Healthy Family Cookin')

¼ Cup + 2 Tbsp. Thrive Tomato Powder

1/8 tsp. salt

¼ tsp. Thrive Chopped Onions

¼ tsp. garlic powder

¾ Cup + 2 Tbsp. water, boiling

In a small bowl combine the tomato powder, salt, onions and garlic powder. Pour hot water over powder mixture and stir until thoroughly dissolved. Makes the equivalent of 8 oz of tomato sauce.

Enchilada Sauce 

2 T vegetable oil
2 T flour

1 T chili powder
1/2 t ground cumin
1 recipe tomato sauce (above)
2 c water
1 t garlic salt

Heat oil in 2 qt saucepan; stir in flour and chili powder.  Cook for 1 minute.
Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 min. 

 (converted and changed from recipe I found here years ago)

 Chicken Enchiladas

1 pkg flour tortillas (soft taco or burrito size - your preference or what's on sale)
1 can cream of chicken soup or 1 recipe of substitute
8 oz shredded cheddar or mexican blend cheese (Thrive Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese)
1 can Ro-Tel (original works but the Mexican version with cilantro and lime is best)
2 cups leftover chicken or rehydrated Thrive Chopped Chicken
 Enchilada Sauce (recipe above)
 

Combine chicken, soup, Ro-Tel, 3/4 of the cheese and 1/4-1/2 of the enchilada sauce.

Spray bottom of 9x13 pan.

Put 2-3 large spoonfuls  into each tortilla.  Wrap tortilla around filling and place seam side down in 9x13 pan.  Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas and cover with remaining cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

What can I make this month?

Here are some great soup ideas from Chef Todd featuring this month's specials:

	Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup		Minestrone Soup
	Hearty Beef & Bean Chili		Tuscan Tomato Soup

Of course, I have some favorite soup recipes myself that I love to use Thrive ingredients:

	Chicken Tortilla Soup		Loaded Baked Potato Soup
	Hearty Beef & Bean Chili

Chicken Tortilla Soup - Updated

I shared this recipe almost a year ago but when I recently made it for a party, I took pictures, and made some improvements in the instructions.

To get started, gather all your ingredients - THRIVE Chicken Bouillon , 1 large can of cream of chicken soup, salsa, THRIVE Sweet Corn (FD), THRIVE Instant Black Beans, and THRIVE Chopped Chicken (FD).

Get the soup started by measuring 3 cups of Thrive Freeze dried Chopped chicken into a large bowl and covering with 4 cups of water. 

While the chicken soaks in the water for about 10 minutes, measure the Instant Black Beans and add enough water to cover them.  I'm going to take this moment to rave about Thrive Instant beans, the black ones are my favorite.  I've never made regular beans from scratch and now I never have to!  These beans are already cooked!  For those of you who have actually cooked dry beans, you know how many HOURS and HOURS it takes to prepare the beans.  With the Instant Beans, it's 20 minutes, and none of the watery good that comes with a can of beans.  Check out all the Thrive Instant Beans - Pinto, Red, and Black.

After 10 minutes, strain the chicken, saving the water.  Measure the water (I ended up with right at 2 cups), which is now basically a chicken stock, and add enough water to make 4 cups.  Put into a large pot and add the chicken bouillon.  Add cream of chicken soup and stir together.  Bring to a boil.  
Add salsa. 

Drain black beans.  Stir corn and black beans into pot, then add chicken.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat.  Simmer until ready to serve.

Serve with sour cream, cheddar cheese and tortilla chips or strips.  Of course, I used reconstituted Thrive Sour Cream Powder and Thrive (FD) Cheddar Cheese.  YUM!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

4 tsp. THRIVE Chicken Bouillon 
4-6 cups water
1 large can cream of chicken soup (or substitute recipe using white bean flour & THRIVE Chicken Bouillon)
1/2 jar salsa
1/2 - 1 cup of THRIVE Sweet Corn (FD)
1/2-1 cup THRIVE Instant Black Beans
3 cups THRIVE Chicken Slices (FD)

Rehydrate Chicken in 4 cups of water for 10 minutes.  Rehydrate black beans in water until ready to add.  Once chicken is rehydrated, drain water from chicken and measure the water.  Add enough water to make 4 cups and pour into large pot.  Add chicken bouillon and mix together until bouillon is well dissolved.  Add cream of chicken and bring to a boil.  Next, add salsa.
Drain black beans.  Stir corn and black beans into pot, then add chicken.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat.  Simmer until ready to serve.

For using with non-THRIVE foods (but why would you want to?), here are the amounts:
1/2 can corn
1/2 can black beans or 1/3 c dry beans (= 3/4 cups cooked)
3 cups shredded chicken

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

Our house is in complete disarray as we do millions of projects to prepare it for the market.  So if you've been looking for updates, that's where my brain has been.  I'm developing all kinds of new skills, but they're still in the novice skill level.  All these projects has meant lots of last minute meals, which is proving to me that I need to be better prepared to use THRIVE - Even after buying it for 18 months, being a consultant for a  year, and sharing ideas here, I'm still not good at turning to it at the last minute.  I think the primary culprit is I have not put those THRIVE Recipes on my Allison Family Menu (our list of favorite dinner recipes).  And after years of cooking chicken breast and dicing it before adding it to a menu, it's still my automatic thought that I don't have time to prep the chicken - totally failing to remember that I have THRIVE FD Chopped Chicken in our storage which would make dinner prep a snap.  It would probably also help to get back into the menu planning habit.

So all that prep to say we had muffins for dinner.  Breakfast for dinner is our go to backup plan.  And today it wasn't because we were running late, it was by request of our 10 y/o.  She begged for my chocolate chip muffins.  You may remember that I tried adding THRIVE FD Raspberries to it here. 

Tonight I decided to add THRIVE FD Strawberries partly because I thought they'd taste good, partly because I knew I'd be needing to open a can of them anyway in the next few days to make some Strawberry Mango Salsa for an upcoming party, and the final part is because I wanted to try a new combo.  When I asked the family what they thought, the immediate response was yuck from both my girls, and an "I guess I'll try it" from my husband.  Well "ha!" to them.  One of the many things I love about adding THRIVE to my recipes - I can easily add just enough for myself, and a little extra.  So I made the muffin batter and filled 6 cups with the plain batter, and announced how many plain I made.  They all complained so I filled another 6.  Then I took the remaining batter and added the strawberries.   And looked at my batter and added more (after trying the muffins, I wish I'd added even more).  I ended up with 6 regular-sized muffins with strawberries, and I used the rest of the batter to make mini muffins for that upcoming party.

The results at the dinner table?   The 10 y/o who had complained in the beginning of dinner prep was ecstatic about how the strawberry muffins turned out.  Her exact quote after her first bite of strawberry was "Awesome".  Other comments included "Mmmm, a big bite of strawberry!" and "Why did you only make 6 with strawberry?"  Hmm, why did I only make 6?  The hubby also approved; but for full disclosure, the 6 y/o made a very interesting face and then gave the rest of her muffin to her daddy, who quickly ate it before she changed her mind.

The THRIVE FD Strawberries are sliced and are one of the March specials, which means they are on sale through Monday (Apr 1st).  Through Monday, the #10 can is $23.19 and a pantry can is $8.49 (prices are when ordered through me via email or phone call; online store prices are slightly higher).

And for a sneak peek, the THRIVE FD Whole Strawberries are part of the April Specials and will be on sale starting Tuesday (Apr 2nd).

Tomato Basil Bread

Back in June 2012, I shared a family favorite bread recipe, Tomato Basil Bread, with instructions on making it in the bread machine.  The original recipe came from here at Stolen Moments Cooking.  With THRIVE Tomato Powder on special this month (February 2013), I made the bread by hand this weekend and did a little tweaking to the instructions.  Since it's a little more work making it by hand, I'll probably make it more often in the bread machine so I'm also including tweaked bread machine instructions here too.

My biggest tweak was to not use tomato paste, nor did I make tomato paste from my THRIVE Tomato Powder.  Instead, I increased the water amount and simply added in the THRIVE Tomato Powder dry.  This worked wonderfully.  It was a lot less work as I didn't have to make the paste first, but also because I didn't have to clean the bowl that I would have made the paste in.  The other tweak that I made (and I make this to most recipes) is that I try to use a mix of whole wheat flour, oats and white flour whenever I make a bread recipe (bread, muffins, pizza dough, etc.).  It adds more flavor and more nutrition.

To conserve energy and keep my utility bills lower, I keep my thermostat set to a cool temperature in the winter.  This is great for my finances but not so great for trying to get bread to rise.  One tip I've learned over the years to counter this is to turn my oven on to about 180° and then turn it off.  I then place my dough in the oven to rise.  It works great; but be careful to not get the oven so warm that the dough actually starts baking.

Tomato Basil Bread (by hand)

• 1 pkg active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp yeast)
• 3/4 cup + 1/3 cup warm water
• 2 t dried basil
• 1/4 c grate parmessan cheese
• 2 1/2 t  THRIVE Tomato Powder
• 1 T Sugar
• 1 T Olive Oil
• 1 t salt
• 1/8 - 1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 1/4 – 2 1/2 c. flour (I use 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup old fashioned oats, and the rest white flour)

In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast with water.  Stir in basil, Parmesan, tomato powder, sugar, oil, salt, pepper flakes and 2 c. flour.  Stir in enough remaining flour to form a stiff dough.  Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes.  Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top.  Cover and let rise in a warm place (like my oven - see tip above) until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down; knead for 1 minute.  Shape into a round loaf.  Place on a greased baking sheet (I used a round stone).  Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.  With a sharp knife, cut a large X in top of loaf.  Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.  Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool.

Original Recipe and instructions at Stolen Moments Cooking

Tomato Basil Bread for Bread Machine

• 3/4 c. + 1/3 cup warm water
•  1 T. olive oil
• 2 1/4 – 2 1/2 c. flour (I use 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup old fashioned oats, and the rest white flour)
• 2 t. dried basil, oregano, or Italian seasoning
• 2 1/2 t THRIVE Tomato Powder
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 T. sugar
• 1 t. salt
• 1/8 – 1/4 t. crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 pkg. active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 t. yeast)

Add liquid ingredients to bread machine pan.  Add flour, herbs, THRIVE Tomato Powder, parmesan, sugar, salt and red pepper flakes on top.  Create a well in dry ingredients and add yeast.  Use 1 lb loaf setting for bread machine.


For both of these recipes, if you want to make this while you are waiting for your THRIVE Tomato Powder order to arrive, you can use 2 T tomato paste.  A small can of tomato paste generally contains 10 T of tomato paste.

Sharing this at Finding the Pretty and Delicious at Your Home Based Mom,  The Busy Bee's Thursday Blog Hop, and Strut Your Stuff Saturday at Six Sisters Stuff.  Go check out all the other great ideas and recipes!

Banana Raspberry Chocolate Chip Bread

I Pinned this recipe a while ago, immediately thinking to use THRIVE Raspberries (FD).  I finally got a chance to make it back in November to share at a PTA Board meeting and now I'm finally sharing with you.  My pictures may not be the best but this was definitely delicious!  I'm not sure I can ever make any banana bread again without raspberries.  And now I'm craving this bread again, and I have a couple bananas that are more ripe than my girls will eat.  Hmm, guess I know what I'll be doing tonight.

Banana Raspberry Chocolate Chip Bread

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour (or a mix of all purpose flour and whole wheat flour)
3/4 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 cup Sugar
4 T unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 T THRIVE Whole Egg Powder
4 T water
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (abt 3 bananas) (or 3 cups THRIVE (FD) Sliced Banana  + 3 cups Water)
1/3 cup prepared THRIVE Sour Cream Powder (or plain low fat yogurt)
1 t vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup THRIVE Raspberries (FD)

Instructions:
1.  If you are using THRIVE (FD) Sliced Bananas, now is the time to reconstitute them.  If you're using fresh bananas, mash them.  If you're using mashed banana from your freezer like I sometimes do, now is the time to start defrosting them.
2. Preheat oven to 350°.  Spray a 9x5 loaf pan with Pam (or grease with shortening).
3.  In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, salt, and whole egg powder**.
4.  In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter.  Add water, banana, sour cream and vanilla.  Beat until blended.  Stir in the flour mixture, just until moist.  Fold in the chocolate chips and FD Raspberries.  You can break up the raspberries into smaller pieces if you prefer.
5.  Spread batter into your loaf pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes.  Be sure to test with a toothpick (make sure a toothpick comes out clean) before removing from oven.  My loaf had to cook for longer than 60 minutes.
6.  Cool 15 minutes on a wire rack before removing loaf from pan; then cool loaf completely on a wire rack.

**Note if you're using fresh eggs or reconstituted egg powder instead of the egg powder, you'll add them into your butter and sugar combo, one egg at a time, intsead of into the flour mixture.

Chicken Azteca Recipe

I love getting tried and true recipes from my friends!  A few years ago, a friend gave me this recipe for Chicken Azteca.  I tried it and loved it, my non-bean eating family did not, but they were willing to keep it on the menu if I didn't make it often.  We were feeding the missionaries from our church the other day for dinner and I decided to pull the Chicken Azteca recipe out and make it using THRIVE FD Sweet Corn and THRIVE Instant Black Beans.  It turned out great!

Because I was running out the door, I didn't have time to reconstitute the corn and black beans and threw them into the crockpot dry and added in 3 cups of water.  When it came time to serve dinner, I drained some of the liquid out of the mixture and wish I hadn't.  So that will be different the next time I make this recipe.  I also had some extra chicken breast that I added and had to pull out before shredding it as it was too much chicken, although no one else thought there was too much chicken.  My husband did say there were too many beans.  But since he didn't pick any out of his dinner, that means there really weren't.  Adjust your quantities of Beans to match your family's preference.

Chicken Azteca

2 cups THRIVE FD Sweet Corn

1 1/2 cup THRIVE Instant Black Beans

3 cups water

1 cup salsa

1 clove garlic or 1/8 tsp garlic granules/powder

1/2 tsp ground cumin

4 boneless skinless chicken breast or 2 cups THRIVE FD Chopped Chicken, reconstituted

1 pkg cream cheese, cubed

Hot Cooked Rice

Shredded Cheddar or THRIVE FD Cheddar Cheese, reconstituted

Combine corn, beans, 1/2 cup salsa, garlic, cumin, and 3 cups water in slow cooker.  Arrange chicken over top; pour remaining salsa over chicken.  Cover; cook on High 2-3 hours or on low 4-6 hours.

If using fresh chicken breast, remove chicken and cut into bite-size pieces; return chicken to slow cooker.

Add cream cheese and stir.  Cook on High until cream cheese melts and blends into sauce.

Serve over rice.  Top with cheddar cheese.

Day 2

This recipe made a lot!  So even though the missionaries were eating with us, I still had a ton of leftovers.  I mentioned it at the end of our meal on Day 1 that I thought it would be good wrapped in a tortilla. Everyone seemed to agree so the next day, that's what I had for lunch.  To make it more like a burrito, I chopped up a fresh tomato and added some sour cream.  It was delicious (and I ate it again the next day).  I think it would be even better with some fresh pico de gallo.  And if you notice the white cream on my tortilla, that's sour cream.  That is my trick for keeping burritos and tacos together - take a small dab of sour cream and put it where the tortilla overlaps.  Super easy and makes setting your food down to help a child without having your dinner fall apart so much easier!

Copy Cat Recipe - Chili's Loaded Baked Potato Soup

With both of my children at school now, my husband and I have been trying to have our dates for lunch since it helps the budget to not pay for a babysitter on top of eating out or an activity.  Our last lunch date was to Chili's and we both fell in love with their Loaded Baked Potato Soup.  I came home and immediately pinned this copy cat recipe to try later.  That later was yesterday for lunch but it was a last minute decision and I hadn't read the full recipe before I started making it.  That can be a problem when it calls for you to bake potatoes for an hour before making the soup.  Solution:  THRIVE!  We pulled out our THRIVE FD Diced Potatoes and the soup was ready in less than 30 minutes.  Interested to try it for yourself?   Of course, if you prefer to spend an hour baking potatoes then burning your hand trying to scoop out the middle, you are welcome to use real potatoes :)

Warning:  It was so delicious that my husband declined the leftovers I was serving for dinner and ate another large bowl of the soup (leaving me just a few spoonfuls for today's lunch).  Next time I may have to double this recipe.

THRIVE'd Copy Cat Recipe

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Soup
3 T butter
6 T THRIVE Chopped Onions*
2 T flour
4 t THRIVE Chicken Bouillon
6 cups water
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups prepared THRIVE Potato Beads**
1 t salt
3/4 t pepper
1/2 t basil
1/8 t thyme
2 cup heavy whipping cream***
1 1/2 cup THRIVE Freeze Dried Chopped Potatoes

Garnish
 1/2 cup THRIVE Cheddar Cheese (rehydrated)****
1/4 cup crumbled cooked bacon*****

2 green onions, chopped (green part only) OR 1/4 cup THRIVE Freeze Dried Green Onions

Instructions
1.  You can rehydrate your dehydrated onions for just a few moments in water if you prefer.  Melt butter in large pot and saute onions until light brown.  Add flour to the onions and stir to make a roux.
2.  Add water, chicken bouillon, cornstarch, mashed potatoes and spices and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
3.  Add FD Potatoes and heavy whipping cream to pot and bring back to a boil.  Then reduce heat and simmer the soup for another 15 minutes or until potatoes have hydrated.
4.  Spoon into bowls and top with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese, bacon and green onions.

Notes:
* I used the dehydrated onions from THRIVE because I didn't want large chunks of onion.  You could also use the THRIVE Freeze Dried Chopped Onions.
** The measurement is for after preparing, not the quantity of Potato Beads from the can.  You can also substitute your preferred instant mashed potatoes.
***The original recipe I was using called for half and half but I had heavy whipping cream already so I used that.  I also increased the amount of the heavy cream to allow for reconstituting the FD Potatoes.
****I actually used cheese from my grocery store this time.  Both will work.
***** I used 4 slices of bacon and didn't measure.  For a shelf stable recipe or didn't have bacon in your refrigerator, you could use bacon bits.
******I was out of fresh green onions, and haven't gotten any of the new THRIVE FD Green Onions yet (even as a consultant, I just can't everything right away but the Green Onions are on my list to get soon.)  The 1/4 cup of the FD Green Onions is an estimate. You'll want to play with that quantity to rehydrate the right amount for your family's taste preferences.

I think this recipe would also be good if I added a handful of THRIVE FD Sweet Corn (note the exactness of my measurement there).

Chicken Tortilla Soup

So when I shared about THRIVE Instant Black Beans saving my soup last week, this is the recipe it was saving - Chicken Tortilla Soup.  This originally came from my friend Nancy but for a much larger crowd so I had to make it smaller, and then adjust it to match my family.  And now I've adjusted it for THRIVE.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

4 cups chicken broth (make from 4 tsp. THRIVE Chicken Bouillon and 4 cups water)
2-3 cans cream of chicken soup (or substitute recipe using white bean flour & THRIVE Chicken Bouillon)
1/2 jar salsa
1/2 - 1 cup of THRIVE Sweet Corn (FD)
1/2-1 cup THRIVE Instant Black Beans
3 cups THRIVE Chopped Chicken (FD)

Rehydrate Chicken in water for 10 minutes.  While chicken is rehydrating, pour broth into large pot.  Add cream of chicken and stir.  Bring to a boil.  Add salsa.  Stir in corn and black beans, then add chicken.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat.  Simmer until ready to serve.

For using with non-THRIVE foods, here are the amounts:
1/2 can corn
1/2 can black beans or 1/3 c dry beans (= 3/4 cups cooked)
3 cups shredded chicken

Next time I make this soup, I will take pictures and update this post.

A Sweet Episode of THRIVE Live

Join us tonight for THRIVE Live.  See how easy THRIVE is to use as Chef Todd prepares these delicious recipes:

	Easy Brownie Parfait Take this to your next party!		Quad Chocolate Chip Cookies These will change your life!
	Angel Food Cake Delightful cake using THRIVE Egg White Powder.		Strawberry Cheesecake Enjoy this summer cheesecake any day of the year! THRIVE is always in season.
	Palmer Oatmeal Cake A rich, gooey, oat-full cake!

I recently bought the THRIVE Egg White Powder specifically to be able to make Angel Food Cake (but with the summer heat, I haven't done it yet).  I have a hard time throwing away food, and with limited recipes calling for just egg yolks, I haven't been able to convince myself to make an angel food cake from scratch using fresh eggs.  Solution:  THRIVE Egg White Powder.

What recipe are you most looking forward to?

Anniversary Chicken in the Crockpot

One of the recipes I chose for this week's Menu Plan is Anniversary Chicken.  A friend introduced this recipe to me a few years ago (she actually shares lots of great recipes so I love going to her house for dinner).  With this hot weather, I decided to make it in the crockpot (not for the first time) to prevent the oven from heating up the house.  I actually use my crockpot more in the summer than in the winter for that reason.  One reader commented that she'd like to see how I did this in the crockpot so I'm sharing - even though THRIVE was not a part of it.  Hope you enjoy!

 Because I was short on time, I skipped browning the chicken in oil on the stovetop that the original recipe calls for and just placed the raw chicken breast in the crockpot.  I drizzled it with Teriyaki sauce.

Have you discovered the Hickory Bacon Ranch Dressing from Hidden Valley?  This recipe was good with regular Ranch but the Hickory Bacon Ranch kicks it up a few notches!  I squirted some on top of the chicken.

 Then sprinkled with cheddar cheese (and this would be one area where I could use THRIVE - THRIVE FD Cheddar Cheese) and bacon bits.

I set the crockpot to High and let the chicken cook for 3-4 hours.  I was sick that night so my husband took over for the sides.

Here's the recipe for those who don't want to click through....

Anniversary Chicken 

2 T vegetable oil
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 cup teriyaki basting sauce
1/2 cup Ranch dressing
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 green onions, chopped
1/2 (3 ounce) can bacon bits
1 T chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a large skilled, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add chicken breasts, and saute 4 to 5 minutes each side, until lightly browned.
Place browned chicken breasts in a 9x13 baking dish.  Brush with teriyaki sauce, then spoon on Ranch.  Sprinkle with cheese, green onions and bacon bits.
Bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.  Garnish with parsley and serve.

Source:  "Anniversary Chicken I" recipe by VICKI117 on

For cooking in the crockpot, place chicken in crockpot, add toppings and cook on High 3-4 hours.  Simple, but delicious!  Perfect for a hot summer day, and year-round!

Cheesy Bacon Chicken Pasta Bake

I recently discovered Real Food Wednesdays on Kelly the Kitchen Cop.  It's a linkup focused on recipes using REAL FOOD.  Since I've been trying to have my family eat REAL Food and THRIVE is a great way to do that, I'm sharing this today on Real Food Wednesday.  I recommend checking out the other great recipes shared there!   I define REAL Food as food that has ingredients I recognize.  If I can't read it, why do I want my family to eat it?  That's one of the wonderful things about THRIVE - the ingredient lists!  No preservatives, no dyes.  The ingredients for FD Pineapple?  Pineapple!  That's it!  In fact, all of the fruits, vegetables and dairy are even GMO free (including the FD Sweet Corn). 

I put this Baked Cheesy Chicken Bake on my Menu Plan for Thursday a few weeks ago but didn't check it ahead of time.  Life got busy and all day, I thought we were supposed to be having Quinoa Pancakes which wouldn't take much prep time.  So when I checked the menu at about 4 pm and saw the pasta bake and read the recipe, I started to change the plan.  I didn't have the right ingredients, nor had I defrosted any chicken.  But the oven was already hot from preparing lasagna for Youth Conference and the temperature outside wasn't steamy so I figured I'd better take advantage of it before the summer temperatures hit.  Plus it would give me the chance to share with you about using my THRIVE Home Store.


I grabbed some penne pasta, FD Chopped Chicken (but the FD Seasoned Chicken Slices would have been amazing in this!), and FD Mushrooms from my Store and got ready to experiment.  I was nervous when it came time for dinner but went into shock when they all said they loved it (after some removed the tomatoes and others removed the mushrooms).  We each had a few suggestions to tweak it so after making it again last week, here's the approved version.  Of course, I wrote this for using THRIVE ingredients, but you could easily use fresh in the same quantities

Cheesy Bacon Chicken Pasta Bake

1/2 cup FD Chopped Chicken
1/4 - 1/2 cup FD Mushrooms
1/4 box Penne Pasta
1 cup reconstituted THRIVE Powdered Milk or THRIVE Instant Milk
1/2 cup FD Diced Tomatoes
1/4 cup flour (I used whole wheat flour)
2 T Butter
1-2 minced garlic cloves
2 T bacon bits
1 cup grated Swiss cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmessan

Rehydrate chicken by soaking in cold water for 10 minutes.  Drain chicken.  While chicken is soaking, start pasta cooking and rehydrate Mushrooms and Tomatoes by placing in strainer and spraying for a few seconds with cold water.  Set aside mushrooms and tomatoes.

Preheat oven to 400. Grease 9x13 dish.  Cook pasta a few minutes short of al dente; drain pasta and set aside.

If using fresh chicken, instead of THRIVE, while pasta is boiling, heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Season chicken with salt and pepper; and cook thoroughly. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and remove from pan.

While chicken pan is still hot, toss the mushrooms in and saute until golden brown (3-4 minutes).

In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and garlic; cook, whisking, 1 minute. While whisking constantly, gradually add milk.  Keep whisking as sauce thickens, about 1 minute more. Add mushrooms and tomatoes; cook 1 minute. Take the pan off the heat and and gradually stir in Swiss and Parmessan.  Add chicken, bacon bits, and pasta to pot; season with salt and pepper to taste.  Pour pasta mixture into 9x13 pan.

Bake, uncovered, until top is golden and bubbling, about 25 minutes.

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!