Q-Pon Cooking: September 2015: Sweet Corn -- Chicken Taco Soup

To wrap up September's Q-Pon Cooking with the popular and delicious THRIVE Sweet Corn, I made some Chicken Taco Soup!  Fall is really starting to be in the air around here and the leaves are turning the beautiful reds, oranges, and browns.  So why not make some soup!?!  I actually developed this recipe on my own, based on a crock pot recipe I used to always make.  The problem with that crock pot recipe is that it used almost all canned ingredients, and my husband always told me that it was too salty.  So after he ate this one and I asked him his opinion, he said it was a lot less salty than usual!  I told him it was because I used all my THRIVE ingredients and made up the recipe myself :)!  I was kind of excited about that!  Truth is, THRIVE has helped me become more adventurous in the kitchen, and I love it!

So here's my chicken taco soup (which I threw in the crock pot at about noon, and it was ready at 1!)  The beauty of this is that you don't even have to use the crock pot!  I simply did, because both kids were down for a nap, so that meant I could get everything in the crock pot and heating and didn't have to worry about it when the kids were both awake!  But it can easily be thrown into a saucepan on the stove and brought to a boil, then reduced to simmer for 20 minutes and it'd be done!

CHICKEN TACO SOUP
1/2 cup THRIVE Instant Pinto Beans
1/4 cup THRIVE Sliced Onion
3/4 cup THRIVE Sweet Corn
1/2 cup THRIVE Instant Black Beans
2 tablespoons THRIVE Green Chilis
3/4 cup THRIVE Chopped Chicken
3 teaspoons THRIVE Chicken Boullion
1 teaspoon taco seasoning
1 10-ounce can Rotel
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
5 cups water

Add all ingredients to crock pot and cook on low 4 to 5 hours.  Serve with your favorite toppings and tortilla chips! 

*Alternately, you can add all ingredients to a saucepan, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer 20 minutes.

This was awesome, and I will make it again!  It can even be a jar meal!

There are only a couple days left to get the THRIVE Sweet Corn at Q-Pon price!  Contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com if you're interested in learning more!!

Happy THRIVEing!

Throw & Go Vegetable Beef Soup

I've said it before, and I'll say it again:  one of my favorite things about THRIVE Life is how it helps me save time -- or have a good, healthy meal easily when I don't have any time.  Or when I have very little motivation to make dinner :).  (And I accept that as the way it is when I could deliver a baby any day!)

Well, Tuesday was one of those days.  I'd had a doctor's appointment, hit up Costco, the bank and Target, washed some laundry, took care of a toddler, took the toddler to the library to get new books...  And by dinner-time, I didn't have any meat thawed, and I really didn't feel like doing anything much.  It was quite tempting to go through a drive-thru while out at the library!

But I knew that wasn't the best option for us.  And so I convinced myself to come home and figure out something fast and easy with all my delicious THRIVE!

And I came up with this "Throw & Go Vegetable Beef Soup!"  And I liked it!  The THRIVE Ground Beef may be my new favorite item!!!

Seriously, I just threw a bunch of stuff in a pot, brought it to a boil, reduced to simmer and let it simmer 15 minutes.  I thawed out some french bread I'd made and frozen earlier.  And dinner was done!  Here's how I did it (but just realize you can adapt to your likes and preferences with THRIVE Life!)

THROW AND GO VEGETABLE BEEF SOUP
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons THRIVE Chopped Onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons THRIVE Celery
3 tablespoons THRIVE Carrot Dices
1/4 cup THRIVE Green Peas
1/4 cup THRIVE Mushrooms
1/4 cup THRIVE Asparagus
1 teaspoon THRIVE Chicken Bouillon
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce*
1 14-ounce can chicken broth*
2 cups water
1/2 cup THRIVE Ground Beef

Heat oil in a saucepan/pot over medium heat.  Add onion and saute 30 seconds.  Pour in tomato sauce, broth, water.  Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer and allow to cook 15 minutes. 

*Denotes other ingredients available through THRIVE Life.

I enjoyed the flavor in this soup and I could really taste the beef flavor, even after only 15 minutes!  I thought this was awesome for a no-plan meal :).  And I loved that I got all my veggies in and in such variety!  The only thing I'll do differently in the future is add either some macaroni or potato chunks.  But that'll be just as simple with THRIVE Life :)!

I love my home store!

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!

Meals in a Jar Open House Sneak Peek!

Some of you are aware that my friend and I will be holding a Meals in a Jar Open House at the end of the month!  There are going to be some fabulous "jar meals" there, and you won't want to miss out on the opportunity to see what THRIVE Life can do to simplify your life on the crazy busy days!  We will be vacuum sealing these jars, making them shelf-stable for 5 years!  That's just awesome!


One of the meals attendees can make is my Italian Bowtie Pasta! It includes the following THRIVE Life ingredients:

THRIVE Sausage Crumbles
THRIVE Vegetarian Chicken Bouillon
THRIVE Chopped Onions
THRIVE Tomato Powder
THRIVE Rainbow Farfalle Pasta

A few other dried herbs finish off the delicious meal in a jar (oregano, thyme, and basil), and oila!  You'll have a quick and easy go-to meal that is way healthier than going through a drive-thru -- and cheaper too!  This particular meal is $9 a jar, and will make 8 1-cup servings -- which comes to only $1.13 per serving!

So if you're interested in trying out this meal in a jar -- or one of the others we'll have available for you to make, stop by the Sunn Fjord Condominiums Clubhouse on March 31st between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. and make one to take home! 

Contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com if you need directions or more information!

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!?!

Cauliflower Cheese Soup

Fall is a great time for soup.  Soup of all kinds!  I love soup (and truthfully, because I do love it so, I often make it in the middle of summer too ;)...).  One reason I love soups is that it is a great way for me to get my vegetables!

And this delicious soup is no exception!  In fact, it's base is cauliflower, so you know you're getting your veggies in this one!  I got this recipe from the THRIVE Cookbook.  I'd been excited to try it out for some time now :).  And it did not disappoint!  The only ingredient I lacked was the carrots...  I neither had fresh carrots or THRIVE carrots.  Clearly, I need to get some THRIVE Carrots into my home store -- because I really wouldn't have minded having even more veggies in the soup!  But even so, it was delicious...  And I know I'll be trying it again in the not-too-distant future.  With carrots!  Below is the recipe as I made it :).

CAULIFLOWER CHEESE SOUP
2 cups THRIVE Cauliflower
1/4 cup THRIVE Chopped Onions

1/3 cup THRIVE Celery
4 cups chicken broth*
2 cups whole milk
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese*
salt* and pepper to taste
THRIVE Green Onions for garnish, optional

Combine cauliflower, onions, celery, and broth in a saucepan.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer and simmer for 30 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.

Transfer soup to a blender and puree.  ***Please use caution in this step!  I'll show you why shortly!

Return mixture to stove top and blend in milk, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, and cheese.  Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with extra cheese and THRIVE Green Onions, if desired.

Here's the THRIVE Cookbook!  I love this thing!  And I'm looking forward to trying many more recipes from it :).

And so, here's the story about the pureeing in a blender...  So, the soup is hot hot hot when you're putting it in the blender to puree.  And if you seal the blender...  Well, the heat creates a pressure build-up.  So there I was, holding down the lid and I pressed "blend."  The result was fast -- and not fun.  The pressure pushed the lid up, and out spewed boiling soup all over my arm.  And all over the counter top and floor, etc.  I have some lovely burns from the incident.  So, while I whole-heartedly recommend this delicious soup...  I do not recommend following my lead on the whole blender part.  Take it slow and maybe leave a little pressure release somewhere...

Otherwise, make this soup!  It's yummy -- and a great way to get a bunch of veggies!  And, if you use vegetable broth instead of chicken, this could probably be vegetarian too!  (I'm not sure about the Worcestershire sauce though.... I think it has anchovies ;)).

Happy THRIVEing!!

Cooking with the Q-Pon: Instant Pinto Beans: Taco Soup

Well, after a crazy week (plus) of not living in our own home...  We're back!  Which means I can get my THRIVE on a bit more again :)!

And, being that today was Wednesday, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to start cooking with October's Q-Pon item: THRIVE Instant Pinto Beans!!  I made a version of this soup by Chef Todd.  I used the recipe as my guide and changed it up a bit to suit what I had on hand!  Here's how I made it:

TACO SOUP
3/4 pound ground beef*
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup THRIVE Chopped Onions
1 1/2 cup THRIVE Instant Pinto Beans
1/2 cup THRIVE Sweet Corn
1 1/2 cups diced tomatoes* (I used ones I'd diced and frozen from our garden, but a can would work too)
4-ounce can diced green chilies*
8-ounce can tomato sauce*
2 tablespoons THRIVE Seasonings: Cilantro
2 beef bouillon cubes*
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
7 cups water

Optional toppings:
tortilla chips
sour cream (I used THRIVE Sour Cream Powder!)
shredded cheese*

Brown beef.  Add garlic and saute about 30 seconds.  Add all remaining ingredients (not including toppings).  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 10 to 20 minutes. 

Add desired toppings.  Enjoy!

*Denotes other ingredients available through THRIVE Life!

I thought this was tasty!  A perfect dinner for a chilly, rainy Pacific Northwest evening!

THRIVE Sausage Crumbles + A Recipe!

THRIVE Sausage Crumbles just rocked my socks off this past weekend.  So I think I'll tell you all about it.

I ordered the THRIVE Sausage Crumbles in my Q for August, because they are on special!  Like an amazingly awesome deal type of special.  More than $10 off the regular Party Price! 

So here is why I love them:

1.  I didn't have to squeeze my sausage out of those plastic tubes. And, for that matter, I didn't have to get into said tubes with either scissors or a knife (I find this is always either a messy or difficult step for me -- maybe I'm just sausage-ally challenged, though).

2.  I didn't have to worry about raw pork (again, raw meats make me do extra cleaning in my kitchen to make sure all the germies are gone). Which also means I didn't have to wash my hands a bunch of times (I seriously am obsessive about this).

3.  I didn't have to spend time browning the sausage and getting pork grease splatter everywhere.

4.  Even opened, the Sausage Crumbles in the can are good for a whole year!  (And unopened, they have a shelf-life of 25 years!  A great way to store meat for an unexpected "rainy day!")

5.  As an added bonus, if you feel like just tasting the sausage crumbles right out of the can -- you can! And it's actually really good.

While making the recipe posted below, all I had to do was open the can, scoop out my desired amount of Sausage Crumbles, and pour them into the pot on the stove!  Easy-peasy!

THRIVE Sausage Crumbles are versatile and can be used in many different recipes, such as soups, pastas, and appetizers!  The recipe I'm sharing today is a soup/pasta recipe :).  I loved using the THRIVE Sausage Crumbles in this recipe, and I plan to keep these Sausage Crumbles in my home store!  Definitely a time-saver on so many levels!  One comment I got from my husband about using the THRIVE Sausage Crumbles in this soup is that he felt it had less fat than the times I've made it before with non-THRIVE Sausage.  Less fat is definitely a good thing in my book!  But still all of the flavor :)!

So here's the recipe:

ITALIAN BOWTIE PASTA
1 1/2 cups THRIVE Sausage Crumbles
1/4 cup dehydrated onion*
1 clove garlic, minced
2 8-oz cans tomato sauce*
2 1/2 c. bowtie pasta
2 (14 ounce) cans chicken broth* + 1 1/2 can water
1 tsp dry basil*
1 tsp dry thyme
1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
Saute minced garlic briefly in olive oil. Add water, tomato sauce, onion, basil, thyme, and Worcestershire sauce and stir. Add THRIVE Sausage Crumbles. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 20 to 30 minutes. Add bowtie pasta and continue cooking until pasta is tender (about 15 minutes).

*Denotes ingredients available through THRIVE.

It's delicious! I would never have guessed the sausage had been freeze-dried!

You won't want to miss out on the THRIVE Sausage Crumbles at this great discounted price!  Contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com to place your order today!  And if you order by the 21st, you'll be entered into the drawing for "August Virtual Party Mystery Host"!  

Hearty Vegetable Soup with THRIVE

It was a much cooler day today in Washington!  I always love that :).  One of the menu items I had on my list -- and which I still had sufficient ingredients for, thanks to my THRIVE home store -- was vegetable soup.  I know, I know... It is kind of crazy for me to plan for eating soup in the summer months...  But I love soups, and so does my toddler.  And it's a great way for me to get a lot of veggies.  So I pretty much like to make soup year-round... I just make it less frequently in the summer :).

Anyway, I knew I wanted to make a vegetable soup.  I usually do one with a clear broth, but thought I wanted to change it up, since I would be adding peas and green beans.  I just felt like they do better in a "red" soup.  So I sought one out online.  And I came up with this recipe as my jumping-off point.

So here is how I did it:

2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced*
1/2 cup chopped onion*
1/2 cup THRIVE celery
1 small green pepper, chopped*
1 clove garlic, pressed
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
4 cups water
1 can V8 juice
1/2 cup frozen corn*
1/2 cup THRIVE green peas
1/2 cup THRIVE asparagus
1/2 cup THRIVE green beans
1 chicken bouillon cube*
1 bay leaf
salt, pepper, parsley flakes, thyme, and basil to taste

In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat.  Add carrots, onion, and green pepper and saute until tender, about 8 minutes.  Add minced garlic and stir.  Add water, V8, kidney beans, bouillon cube, THRIVE green peas, THRIVE asparagus, THRIVE green beans, and THRIVE celery and stir.  Add seasonings.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmering; cover and cook 1 hour.

*Denotes ingredients also available through THRIVE.

This recipe definitely helped me get my vegetables for the day!  And it was quick and easy!  Total time making this was 25 minutes, tops.  It could have been less, and will be in the future, once I add green pepper, carrots, and onion to my home store with THRIVE!  I think I could cut the prep time down to 15 minutes!  And that's just awesome!