A Meal By Mail

I have a dear friend in Alabama who recently had a sweet baby girl.  With all my heart, I wish I was closer so I could go over and take dinner for her family.  I know how fun it can be to have a newborn and still have to prepare dinners for a hungry family!  I know it takes a while for the whole family to adjust to the newest little member.  And so, when dinners were brought to our home just a couple months ago, we were so very grateful.  I wanted so very much to offer my sweet friend the same thing.  But I live in Washington -- and it's not super convenient to drive to Alabama to deliver a meal ;). 

But once again, THRIVE Life came to the rescue!  It occurred to me that I do have a way to offer my friend a meal for her family that would be very quick and easy to prepare.  Literally just add water!!!  So this morning, I prepped a whole meal for her family and shipped it off in the mail -- all using THRIVE!  I posted some pictures of it to my Facebook business page ("THRIVEing with Hila," if you're interested in following me!) and had a request that I share the recipes.  So here they are, the recipes I used for a meal by mail for my dear friend!

VEGETARIAN TACO SOUP  (original recipe posted here, but I changed some measurements)
 1/2 cup THRIVE Instant Black Beans
1/4 cup THRIVE Taco TVP
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons THRIVE Sweet Corn
3 tablespoons THRIVE Chili Peppers
1/4 cup THRIVE Tomato Powder
2 tablespoons THRIVE Chopped Onions
1 tablespoon Taco Seasoning
3/4 teaspoon ranch dressing mix

Bring 4 cups water to boil.  Add contents of bag and simmer 15 minutes.  Add additional water to your preference.


GOLDEN CORNBREAD (this is a THRIVE Life recipe)
1 cup THRIVE Cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour*
2/3 cup white sugar*
1/2 cup THRIVE Butter Powder
2 tablespoons THRIVE Whole Egg Powder
2 tablespoons THRIVE Nonfat Powdered Milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Put contents of bag into a medium mixing bowl.  Add 1 1/2 cups water and stir (or whisk) until well blended and lumps are gone.  Pour into a greased 8x8 pan.  Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to set 15 to 20 minutes before serving.


SUMMER (BERRY) LEMONADE (recipe from the can of Summer Lemonade)
1 cup sugar*
2 tablespoons THRIVE Summer Lemonade
berries of your choice (I included THRIVE Strawberry Slices and THRIVE Raspberries)

Mix contents of larger bag with 2 quarts (8 cups) water.  Chill.  Add berries of your choice to individual servings.

*Denotes other ingredients available through THRIVE Life.

All of these things can be done in jars as well.  In fact, we will be making the Golden Cornbread at our upcoming jar meal event in September!  So if you're interested in attending, let me know so I can get you the details!  The cornbread is awesome, by the way...  My family had it with chili on Friday (the chili recipe will also be available at the jar meal event in September!).

I noted in the instructions to them that I recommend these be used within a month, since they are not vacuum sealed.  At the jar meal events, we do vacuum seal the jars and that means they are good for 5 years!

I am truly excited I found a way to get a meal to my friend.  She is an amazing woman and we have a friendship I treasure beyond words.  And I hope this dinner makes at least one of these days with a new little miracle just a little bit easier -- and yummy to boot!

If you'd like to know more about this and how you can get all these great ingredients, contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com or visit my website:  www.thriveingNilla.thrivelife.com/THRIVEingNilla.

Happy THRIVEing!

Prepping for Baby!

As part of preparing for the arrival of our little bundle of joy, I knew I wanted to have several meals on-hand.  Over time, I decided I didn't just want dinner meals readily available, but also breakfast (since I have a hungry toddler to feed in the mornings :)). 

Once again, THRIVE Life has helped me!  And I can't say how much I love how versatile the product is.  It has helped me in so many ways with shaving time off meal prep, reducing waste, and offering my family healthier options (and easy ways to get veggies!).  And now it's helped me prepare for a baby!  So loving it!

So now I have dinners and breakfasts, all thanks to THRIVE Life! 

Here's what I now have on hand (in addition to several freezer meals that THRIVE also helped me with!):

Oatmeals (this is the basic recipe I followed, but changed up the fruit and some of the spices for some of them!)
Sausage Zuppa Toscana
Sloppy Joes (I haven't posted this as a jar meal specifically, yet, but plan to eventually.  The recipe is there, though, and I'll just add a can of tomato sauce since I don't have tomato powder on hand at the moment!)

I know it'll be so wonderful to have these on-hand when we have a newborn and sleep is hard to come by -- and time is a little crazy for a while :).  I love THRIVE, and I love my home store!

Would you love to do jar meals or learn more about them?  Contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com!  We do jar meal classes periodically and are planning to do one in July for the sloppy joes!

Happy THRIVEing!

Jar Meal: Vegetarian Taco Soup

This past Tuesday was our Cinco de Mayo Jar Meal Event!  It was another get-together full of fun and good food!  So I figured I'd share the recipe for the Vegetarian Taco Soup!  We found the original recipe here, for anyone interested.  I have to say I'm grateful for the THRIVE Life Consultant community!  All the consultants help each other and are so willing to share recipes and ideas.  It's a wonderful group of which to be a part :)!  I tweaked it a little bit because we did the vegetarian option and used the THRIVE Taco TVP, which is already seasoned with taco seasoning.  But you can also use THRIVE Ground Beef in this recipe as well.

VEGETARIAN TACO SOUP

1 cup THRIVE Instant Black Beans

¾ cup THRIVE Sweet Corn

1/3 cup THRIVE Green Chilies

½  cup THRIVE TomatoPowder

3/4 cup THRIVE Taco TVP

1/3 cup THRIVE Chopped Onions

1/8 cup Taco Seasoning

1 ½ teaspoons Ranch Dressing Mix

Soup Preparation:

Bring 8 cups water to a boil in a soup pot.  Pour in contents of jar and stir; reduce heat to low and simmer 15 to 20 minutes or until veggies are tender.  Optional:  Serve with your favorite taco toppings.

This recipe is incredibly flavorful!  We had lots of compliments from event attendees who tasted the samples -- and then made themselves jars to take home!  It is just a nice, quick-fix meal for those super-busy days!  

Contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com or visit my website:  www.thrivelife.com/THRIVEingNilla if you want to get the ingredients to be able to make these at home!  And if you want Ground Beef in yours, now is a great time to get it at a great price, since the THRIVE Ground Beef is this month's Q-Pon item!  For the month of May, you can get a #10 Can of Ground Beef for $43.79!  You can check it out and the other May specials here!

Happy THRIVEing!

Jar Meal: Chicken Tortilla Soup

We have another fun jar meal party coming up on May 5th -- Cinco de Mayo!  And to celebrate, we are making Mexican-inspired soups -- in a jar!

But naturally, I wanted to test out this recipe and see how it looks in the jar and how it tastes in a bowl :)!

So tonight, my family enjoyed Chicken Tortilla Soup!  And all I did when it came time to prep dinner was bring 8 cups of water to a boil, dump in the jar of ingredients and simmer 15 to 20 minutes!  And I definitely love the ease and speed of that!

Pictured is the prepared jar with most of the THRIVE ingredient cans!  I actually didn't have any THRIVE Green Chilies on hand, but my friend Rebekah did, so she dropped some by for me.  But I didn't have the can for the picture ;).  So there's most of the cans at any rate ;).

Just a close-up of the jar.  Very pretty, don't you think!?!  So here are the ingredients in the order I placed them in the jar:

1 cup THRIVE Chopped Chicken
2/3 cup THRIVE Green Chilies
1/2 cup THRIVE Chopped Onions
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 cup THRIVE Tomato Powder
2 teaspoons THRIVE Chicken Bouillon
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup THRIVE Sweet Corn

To prepare, add contents of jar to 8 cups boiling water.  Reduce heat to low and simmer 15 to 20 minutes.  Top with your favorite toppings:  tortilla chips, sour cream, cheese, green onions, salsa, etc...  *If you prefer a higher fat content in your soup, you may consider adding a tablespoon of olive oil to the water when bringing it to a boil.

And when you're ready to eat, it tastes delicious and looks like this!

This was as definite win in our household!  I'll be making it -- in a jar for easy meals on busy days! -- again and again!  If you'd like to have one (or more) of this jar meal on hand, join us at my house on May 5th anytime from 7 to 9 p.m.  Just drop on in!  Plus you can sample all these delicious recipes -- and more -- while mingling and visiting with others!  It's sure to be a great time!  Contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com for more information and location!

Or you can order the ingredients and make your own jars at home!  Just visit my website: www.thrivelife.com/THRIVEingNilla or contact me to place your order!  Remember, the BIG DEAL Sale is still going on through Monday, so now's a great time to get great prices on these ingredients!

Happy THRIVEing!

Make-Ahead Golden Cornbread!

I've mentioned on other personal blogs before that our family tries to keep meal prep to a minimum on Sundays.  And this past Sunday, THRIVE Life helped me do just that with some make-ahead cornbread!  Because I had all the ingredients on hand -- and they were all dry ingredients! -- I made my cornbread mix Saturday night, put it in an airtight container, and just added water on Sunday!

The results?

Delicious!

GOLDEN CORNBREAD
1 cup THRIVE Cornmeal
2/3 cup white sugar*
1 cup white flour*
1/2 cup THRIVE Butter Powder
2 tablespoons powdered milk*
2 tablespoons THRIVE Whole Egg Powder
1 teaspoon baking powder*
1/2 teaspoon salt*
1 1/2 cup water (to add when ready to prepare)

Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk until completely combined.

To prepare:  Preheat oven to 375.  Grease an 8x8 baking pan.  Add 1 1/2 cups water to dry ingredients and whisk together until batter is smooth.  Pour into greased pan.  Bake 30 to 35 minutes.  Allow to cool 15 minutes before serving.

*Denotes other ingredients available through THRIVE Life.

This cornbread was delicious!  I love that it can be prepared ahead of time and all I have to do is add water!  This makes for a great gift -- just add a pound of THRIVE Express Hearty Chili with Beans!  It's also great for once-a-month cooking, though I would recommend having it sealed pretty well in that case.  And even if you just know you're going to have a busy day the next day and you want your meal to be hassle-free, this is a great option for a side dish!  Prep it early and have it waiting for water, baking and eating!

Below is a picture of the mix I made Saturday night.  I just put the lid on that bowl and let it sit and wait for me until Sunday evening :).

And here's a close-up of the deliciousness!

Would you love to have ingredients on-hand to make your own mixes?  THRIVE is full of those handy ingredients!  Contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com and I'll help you get what you need!

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!?!

Cooking with the Q-Pon: Instant Milk: Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

This month, the Q-Pon item is THRIVE Instant Milk!  I have to say, it's not very challenging to find ways to use the Q-Pon item this month ;).  But I have been able to use it several times in a variety of ways.  Today I'll share two recipes -- the second one is a bonus because I forgot to take a picture :/.

So today, my munchkin and I enjoyed a Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie as a mid-morning snack :).  And it was delicious!

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER BANANA SMOOTHIE
1 cup frozen banana, sliced
1 cup water
3 tablespoons THRIVE Instant Milk powder
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/2 tablespoon sugar

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend on high until smooth.  Enjoy!

The bonus recipe is a little twist on Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole.  I didn't have Swiss cheese, so I switched it to Cheddar, and I thought it was great.  As it happened...  I did have regular milk in the refrigerator when I was making this, but only whole milk -- and only enough for my munchkin to get through Sunday (and we weren't going to go to the store before Monday...).  So I turned to my THRIVE Instant Milk powder!!!  Very convenient to have on hand for the 2 cups called for in the recipe!

So here's the recipe

CHICKEN CORDON BLEU CASSEROLE (SORT OF)
3 cups egg noodles (or elbow macaroni*), uncooked
2 cups milk (2 cups water + 6 tablespoons THRIVE Instant Milk powder)
1 pound chopped cooked chicken*
1 10-ounce can cream of chicken soup
1 cup chopped, cooked ham*
1 cup Cheddar cheese*, shredded (recipe calls for Swiss, but I only had Cheddar)

Spread noodles evenly in a 9x13 pan.  Pour milk and water over noodles.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.  Spread chicken, soup, ham, and cheese over noodles.  Cover tightly with foil.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 55 minutes.

*Denotes ingredients also available through THRIVE Life.

This recipe can also be made ahead and frozen after you cover tightly with foil :).  A great make-ahead meal!

I only wish I'd remembered to take a picture.  Boo!

Make Ahead Monday: Baking Powder Biscuits

I have neglected this blog for far too long!  I promise my reason is a good one:  I'm growing another human.  And as a result, I have been exhausted and feeling kind of yuck many afternoons.  So I have become re-acquainted with the advice to new moms:  sleep when the baby sleeps!  Only, in this case, my baby is now a toddler.  Nonetheless, I nap when she naps.  Which means I get very little done.  Today I'm trying to play catch-up!

And what better way than to show you how you can have some Baking Powder Biscuits just hanging out in  your pantry, waiting for water to be added! 

To be honest, I didn't have these made ahead this time.  However, they include all powder ingredients (and can be made with 100% THRIVE Life ingredients!), so they totally work well as a make-ahead recipe.  And even if only saving me 5 minutes of time...  Sometimes those 5 minutes are golden moments.  And I know myself (especially these days)...  If I know I can just add water -- not dirty a bunch of extra dishes -- well, I'm sold! 

So here's how you make these biscuits:

1/4 cup THRIVE Shortening Powder
2 cups all-purpose flour (or whole wheat flour -- I use 1 cup of each)*
1 tablespoon sugar*, if desired
3 teaspoons baking powder*
1 teaspoon salt*
3 tablespoons THRIVE Instant Milk powder

Either layer all ingredients in a jar, or mix all ingredients in a large bowl and then transfer to a jar and seal.  Use within 1 month.

*Denotes ingredients also available through THRIVE Life.

When you are ready to prepare:  Add 1 cup to 1 1/4 cup water (depending on whether you want drop biscuits or cut-out biscuits -- more water for drop biscuits).  Bake at 450 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.

I usually make the drop biscuit recipe (because it's faster).  However, as was true today, I'm often making the biscuit(s) for a dish called Tomato Biscuit & Cheese, which I got from my mother-in-law.  It's especially awesome for that summer harvest of tomatoes!  (Our tomato plants were a little ambitious this year, so we actually got 3 littles off our plant this past week, and I was able to use those plus a huge store-bought one).  Anyway, I say all that because, when I'm making the biscuit for that...  I make only one huge rectangular biscuit.  Again, because it's faster :).

So in case you're interested in trying out the Tomato Biscuit & Cheese recipe, here it is:

8 biscuits (or one large rectangular biscuit)
8 slices tomato (or enough to cover the rectangle)
1/2 to 3/4 cup cottage cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise
salt, pepper, oregano, and basil to taste
1 to 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Place the biscuit(s) on a baking sheet.  Cover with one tomato slice.  Sprinkle tomato slice with salt, pepper, basil, and oregano.

In a small bowl, mix together cottage cheese and mayonnaise.  Spoon over seasoned tomato slices.  Sprinkle shredded Cheddar cheese over cottage cheese mixture.

Bake at 450 until cheese is melted and tomato is hot.

I don't know why, but there is something really satisfying for me about this dish.  And it's an easy one to throw together -- especially if you have made-ahead biscuit mix!

By the way, the THRIVE Instant Milk is the Q-Pon item for this month!  It's a great time to stock up on your milk supply.  I love that we can get powdered milk :).  I think it's an important part of food storage!  Contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com if you want to stock up!

Party Food!

Tonight I had the opportunity to do a party for my friend Christina.  I find that I am still learning a lot as I continue in this adventure of being a consultant for THRIVE Life.  I am grateful for the opportunity to learn and grow and expand my horizons!

I've found that I love to share food with guests at the parties.  And today, I shared 3 different things:

Berry Banana Smoothie
Chicken Salad with crackers
Quad Chocolate Cookies

I've shared the recipes for the smoothie and the cookies before, so if you click those links, you'll be able to visit those recipes (they are yum!).  In fact, the smoothie recipe is even available on the new THRIVE Life recipe site, because I submitted it to them!  It's kind of exciting ;)!

So tonight I will share the awesome chicken salad recipe!  It's so easy to throw together, and the ladies at the party tonight were impressed with just how easy and fast it was!  So here it is:

CHICKEN SALAD
2 1/2 cups THRIVE Chopped Chicken
1/2 cup THRIVE Chopped Onion
3/4 cup THRIVE Celery
2 cups water
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt*
1/4 teaspoon pepper*

Combine the chicken, onions, celery, and water; stir well and place in refrigerator 10 minutes.  In a medium size bowl, mix remaining ingredients until well incorporated.  Mix chicken mixture into mayonnaise mixture without draining.  Salad may be slightly runny, but will thicken.  Refrigerate for 1 1/2 hours and stir before serving.

*Denotes other ingredients available through THRIVE Life.

When I make this recipe, I just mix everything together in a bowl and refrigerate it 1 1/2 hours.  It works just fine :).  No need to dirty extra bowls ;)!

And you could totally make the chicken salad mix (meaning the chicken, celery, onions, and seasoning) ahead of time and put in a jar -- then take it to work or have it for a ready-to-fix lunch or snack for a busy day!

If you are interested in any of the awesome THRIVE Life products to help you make these delicious recipes, just contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com!

Make-Ahead Monday: Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies

Once-a-month cooking is very popular these days among many moms...  It's a great way to prepare a bunch of meals, freeze them, and then have them ready for preparing and eating with little to no effort on the day of! 

So I got to thinking:  what if THRIVE could help women in this way too!  But instead of freezing the meals, the THRIVE ingredients can be stored in jars!  Then, on a particularly busy day, you pull out a jar -- and just add water!

Super time-saver!

Thanks to the new THRIVE Vanilla Extract Powder, I was able to "make ahead" a batch of butterscotch oatmeal cookies!  Then, when I had to take something for a potluck baby shower, I grabbed my mix, added some water, and baked!  Super simple -- and they came out tasty too!

So here's how I did it:

BUTTERSCOTCH OATMEAL COOKIES
2/3 cup all-purpose flour*
1/2 teaspoon baking soda*
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon*
1/4 teaspoon salt*
1/2 cup THRIVE Butter Powder
1 tablespoon THRIVE Whole Egg Powder (equivalent to 1 egg)
1/2 teaspoon THRIVE Vanilla Extract Powder
1/3 cup packed brown sugar*
1/3 cup granulated sugar*
3/4 cup butterscotch chips*
1 1/2 cups quick oats*

Using a funnel, layer ingredients in a quart-size mason jar. (I put the chips on top). You may have to jostle the jar a bit to make everything fit.

To make the cookies: Pour contents of jar into mixing bowl with about 1/3 cup water. Mix well. Add extra water a teaspoon at a time if the dough looks too dry, blending well after each addition, until cookie dough consistency is reached. Drop by spoonfuls on greased baking sheet.  Bake at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on pan for 1 minute then move to wire rack to finish cooling.

*Denotes ingredients also available through THRIVE.

These have passed the toddler test, the 5-year-old test, and the adult test ;).

Now, if you seal these properly and use an oxygen absorber, they can wait on the shelf for you for about 3 months.  If you don't (as I didn't), I would recommend you use it within 3 to 4 weeks of preparing the jar.  

I was really glad to have had these waiting for me to use yesterday evening.  Church was over at 4, but we got home after 4:30.  I had a family to feed (including nieces) and had to figure out what to make to take to the baby shower potluck.  These were definitely a nice treat -- one less thing for me to worry about :)!  And a great quick-fix solution!

THRIVE Vanilla Extract Powder is only available through consultants, so if you want to be able to make some "make ahead" cookies and have the ingredients that will help you, contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com!

Happy THRIVEing!