Meal in a Jar: Sausage Zuppa Toscana

I cannot take credit for the creation of this recipe (like pretty much all of the recipes I post ;)).  Thanks to my Relief Society President, who found some meal in a jar recipes and posted them to our Relief Society facebook page, though, I was able to enjoy it!  The recipe can be found here, along with some other meal in a jar recipes I haven't had the opportunity to try yet.  I will post the recipe as I fixed it (mostly the same, but a couple minor differences) along with my opinions on a few things :).

Also, please note that I saw this recipe today, discovered I had the ingredients to make it, and made it today.  I put it in the jar today too, to show how pretty it is.  I didn't seal it though.  I would recommend that you do seal the jars if you plan to store the jars for longer than a couple weeks.  I figure it's better to be safe than sorry!

SAUSAGE ZOPPA TOSCANA

Using a funnel, put ingredients in a quart-sized jar in this order (you may have to gently "jog" the jar as you add):

1/2 cup THRIVE Sour Cream Powder
2 cubes beef bouillon, crushed*
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup THRIVE Chopped Spinach
1/4 cup THRIVE Chopped Onions
1 cup THRIVE Instant Pinto Beans
1 cup THRIVE Sausage Crumbles
1 1/4 cup THRIVE Potato Chunks (dehydrated)

*Denotes other ingredients available through THRIVE Life.

Add contents of jar to large pot.  Add 7 cups water.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. 

I really liked this soup.  It was a tad on the spicy side for me (wondering what the hubby will say...  He hasn't tried it yet as he was at work ;)), but I address that in my notes :).

So here are some of my thoughts:

1.  I would make sure to use a wide-mouth quart-size jar if you have one.  The original recipe calls for 1 1/2 of the potato chunks.  I couldn't get them all to fit in the jar, so I cut back a little bit.
2.  I may try a different order for the ingredients in future, if I ever make them to seal.  Mainly because I think the powdered stuff on top of the bigger items (like the potato chunks) may "seep" in better and make it less difficult to fit everything.
3.  I will probably cut back to 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper to lighten up a bit on the spicy.  But if you love spicy, keep it at 1/2 teaspoon!
4.  Given the above statement...  I don't recommend this for a toddler.  I didn't even attempt giving it to my munchkin, because I figured it would be too hot for her.
5.  I used beef bouillon, though the original recipe calls for chicken bouillon, because beef is what I had on-hand.  And I really wanted to try this recipe tonight -- and not go to the store!
6.  I reduced the suggested water to 7 cups.  Depending on how thick the leftovers get, I may choose to increase the water in the future ;).

I definitely think this is a keeper!  Love that I had all the ingredients on-hand.  And, literally, this took no more than minutes to put in the jar (and 10 seconds to put in the pot ;)!!).  Even if I choose not to "jar" this meal in the future, I will have dinner cooking within 5 to 10 minutes!  What's not to love about that!?!