Fun Food Hacks with THRIVE Life!: Flavoring Plain Yogurt

I love to eat huge spoonfuls of plain yogurt right out of the container! said no one (that I know of), ever.

Plain yogurt has long been a curiosity for me, honestly.  I can remember one instance in my childhood when I tasted it and thought, "What a waste of yogurt!"  I mean, seriously?  What's the point?

My opinion of plain yogurt isn't quite so negative anymore.  If nothing else, age does give you wisdom ;).  But I still wouldn't eat plain yogurt out of the container by itself.

How do I use plain yogurt these days?  Mainly as a sour cream substitute (it's a healthier option!).  However, the other day, I needed some for a clean eating recipe.  I think it was a brownie recipe that looked really good.

Now, so you don't call me a hypocrite in a few moments, let me divulge this not-so-secret fact:  I am not on a clean eating diet.  I love the idea of it.  But I'm not quite that disciplined.  I have, however, been trying to make some better choices here and there with the sweet snacks I choose.  And for a few weeks, I was being particularly strict about refined sugars in order to show myself that I can choose to go without any (or as much) refined sugars in my desserts.  So, there's the background on that and why I was making a clean eating brownie recipe.  (In case you wondered, I believe this particular brownie recipe was a single-serve microwave one, and it was not good.)

But, back to the fun food hack :)!

So I had this mostly-full container of Plain Greek Yogurt.  I used it in place of sour cream for Chicken Divan (that helped get rid of a lot of it).  But -- and this never happens -- I actually had some real sour cream in the fridge that needed using too!  So generally, for our Mexican food, the real sour cream won out.  Leaving me with a lot of plain Greek yogurt to figure out what do to with.

It just so happened I had also bought some single-serve Greek Yogurts as well.  And one night, for my snack, I had an orange creme one.  As I sat here at this computer, enjoying that little 5.3 ounce yogurt, I had an epiphany:  THRIVE Orange Bliss drink mix + plain Greek yogurt =(?) Orange Bliss Greek Yogurt!  I had to give it a try!

So I did.  And you know what?  I may just start buying a whole lot more Plain Greek Yogurt!

So you can watch and see how easy this is:



And then you can check out the nutritional comparisons!  One thing I want to mention is that you actually get fewer calories, less fat, MORE protein, and added vitamins for an equal serving by doing this little hack!  And if you use Greek yogurt, as I did, you get a snack that is packed with protein!

And here's the (super easy) recipe:

1 cup plain yogurt (I used Greek)
2 tablespoons THRIVE Orange Bliss drink mix

Mix well and let sit 10 to 20 minutes for sugar to dissolve.  Enjoy!

In fact, we'll be enjoying this as a part of our afternoon snack while we celebrate National Greek Yogurt Day today!  Here's to healthy banana splits!

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!

Summer Lime Bars

So even though I don't produce enough milk to sustain the life of my babies, I do produce enough that I can eat something that upsets their tummies...  And with our little guy, one of those things, I'm pretty sure, is chocolate.  Heavy Sigh!  Chocolate is one of my favorite food groups ;).  It's how I like to satiate my sweet cravings.

So I had to find a new way to do that -- and one of my other favorite things is lemon-y and lime-y stuff.  So I started thinking about lemon bars...  Which led me to thinking about lime bars -- with THRIVE Summer Limeade!  So I gave it a go!  And it was a success.  The flavor of these bars was wonderful!  I did get a little distracted while they were baking, so they came out a little darker than I wanted.  And I opted not to add food coloring, so they don't look lime-y.  But they are!  And they are oh-so-good!

Here's how I did it!

SUMMER LIME BARS
For the Crust:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup THRIVE Butter Powder + 2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup white sugar*
2 cups all-purpose flour*
For the lime layer:
2 eggs
2 tablespoons THRIVE Whole Egg Powder + 1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups white sugar*
1/4 cup all-purpose flour*
2 tablespoons THRIVE Summer Limeade powder + 2 tablespoons water
THRIVE Powdered Sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, THRIVE Powdered Butter Powder plus water, 2 cups flour, and 1/2 cup sugar.  Press into the bottom of a greased 9x13-inch pan.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden.

In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour.  Whisk in the eggs, THRIVE Whole Egg Powder plus water, and THRIVE Summer Limeade plus water.  (I recommend using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer on high speed to fully blend the egg powder).  Pour over the baked crust.

Bake for an additional 15 minutes in the preheated oven.  The bars will firm up as they cool.  Once cooled, sprinkled with THRIVE Powdered Sugar.

*Denotes other ingredients available through THRIVE Life.

I love the THRIVE Summer Limeade.  It is so versatile!  I'm excited about using it in a variety of ways in the months ahead :)!  But it's a seasonal item, so if you want to grab some, you should do it soon!  You can shop at my website: THRIVEingNilla.thrivelife.com/THRIVEingNilla or you can contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com!

Happy THRIVEing!

Sparkling Summertime Limeade

One of the newest products from THRIVE Life is the Summertime Limeade!  It is amazing!  It comes with almost no sugar added, so you are able to sweeten it to your liking -- and with whatever sweetener you prefer!

I decided to try out the recipe on the Limeade can using sparkling water instead of regular water.  It was a total hit!  In fact, my husband, who had previously said to me that he wasn't crazy about limeade, said "that was really good limeade!" after tasting it.  I call that a win!

When I made it to enjoy with our dinner, I only made a couple servings, so below is the recipe for one serving. 

SPARKLING SUMMER LIMEADE
1 teaspoon THRIVE Summer Limeade
2 tablespoons sugar
8 ounces sparkling water

Add all ingredients to a glass and stir until limeade and sugar are dissolved.

Raspberry-Peach Rolls with a Simply Peach Glaze

So I'd had thoughts of this recipe brewing in my head for some time.  And since I took advantage of the Big Deal Sale we had this month, I finally got my THRIVE Peaches to make it happen!  I had reservations, as this fell under the category of "Hila experimenting in the kitchen" and I'm still a tad new at the whole experimentation game (I do love to follow a recipe!).  But after talking over my idea with my husband and getting his advice...  I decided it was worth a try.  And unless it turned out like charcoal, we'd be eating it!  Can't let those delicious THRIVE Peaches and THRIVE Raspberries go to waste!

Good news!  It wasn't charcoal!  Even better news:  It was a total success!  My husband had 3 big ones.  And is now down for a morning nap ;).

I'll do a step-by-step with pictures at the bottom, but sometimes I know people just want the recipe and I usually hate scrolling through the long version when I'm looking at other people's recipes ;).  So here is the recipe (I am not responsible for making up the dough recipe, though I did THRIVE-alize it a bit.  The original dough recipe can be found here.  But I did develop the "innards" of this ;)).

RASPBERRY-PEACH ROLLS with a SIMPLY PEACH GLAZE

Dough:
1 cup THRIVE Instant Milk (prepared)
1/3 cup butter
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 cup white sugar*
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour* (plus more for kneading)
1 teaspoon salt*
3 THRIVE Whole Eggs (3 tablespoons egg powder + 6 tablespoons water)

Filling:
2 cups THRIVE Peaches
1/4 cup THRIVE Raspberries
1/3 cup white sugar*

Glaze:
1 cup THRIVE Powdered Sugar
2 tablespoons THRIVE Simply Peach drink mix
3 tablespoons THRIVE Instant Milk (prepared)

For the dough:  Heat milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until it barely bubbles.  Remove from heat and melt butter in milk.  Allow to cool until lukewarm.  Pour into large mixing bowl and add yeast.  Mix and allow yeast to dissolve in milk and butter mixture.  Add sugar, 3 cups of flour, salt, and eggs.  Mix until well-blended.  Add remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough pulls into a ball.  Turn dough out on floured surface and knead until smooth and supple, adding flour as necessary (this was about another 1/4 cup or so for me).  Oil a large bowl and put dough into bowl, turning to coat with oil.  Cover with a damp towel and allow to rise until doubled in size (anywhere from 1 to 2 hours, depending on temperatures).  Turn dough out onto a clean, dry surface and roll dough out to approximately 11x14-inch rectangle. 

For the filling:  Place peaches and raspberries in a blender or food processor and process until powdered.  Pour into a small bowl and add 1/3 cup sugar.  Stir to mix all ingredients together.

For the glaze (I recommend making this while the rolls are cooking):  Add all ingredients (powdered sugar, Simply Peach, and prepared milk) together in a bowl and whisk until a glaze forms.  Set aside until rolls are done baking.

For the rolls:  Sprinkle filling evenly all over rolled-out dough, leaving a 1/2" bare at one "short" edge of the dough.  Brush that bare strip with water.  Beginning with the other short edge, roll tightly all the way and then pinch seams at the wet dough end.  Cut into 12 equal parts (I do this using string or floss, as it prevents flattening) and place into a greased 9x13 pan.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.  In the morning, take rolls out of the refrigerator and allow to set for 30 to 45 minutes (making sure rolls have doubled in size...  You may have to let them sit out longer -- but not too long!  Ours were out a little too long ;), hence the popping out rolls!).  Preheat oven to 375.  Bake loosely covered with foil for 15 minutes.  Remove foil and bake an additional 5 to 10 minutes or until rolls are done.  Drizzle with glaze while still hot.

*Denotes other ingredients available through THRIVE Life.

So here are some step-by-step pictures:

Filling mixture sprinkled over dough rectangle.

Dough rolled up and sealed.

Cut rolls, covered with plastic wrap and ready for the fridge!

After rising and sitting out for a while in the morning (ours sat out a bit too long, so they over-big!).  I almost forgot to take this picture, hence the inside-the-oven picture ;)).

Simply Peach Glaze is ready to go!

The finished product!  So yummy!

One thing I learned is that I'll probably add a little water to the Simply Peach drink mix in a saucepan in the future to melt the sugar crystals in the drink mix.  The glaze was a little grainy from the sugar that didn't melt as I made it above.  So it was just a little learning thing for me ;).  Still tasty, though!  And a delicious treat for a lazy Saturday morning!

If you're interested in enjoying any of these awesome products to make this recipe -- or a million others! -- contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com or visit my website:  www.thrivelife.com/THRIVEingNilla.

Happy THRIVEing!

Quick, Refreshing Drinks!

Today my little munchkin and I had a play-date at a local park.  It was a beautiful day -- and we needed to get out anyway!  My husband is working the awful graveyard shift, so we try to leave the house every morning for a few hours in the interest of allowing him to get some solid sleep.

But that's not really important ;).

So as part of our play-date, we were doing a picnic lunch!  And I decided I wanted to take a quick, refreshing drink to enjoy!  So I played around with my THRIVE Life ingredients and came up with something yummy and fast which blended wonderfully during the hours it waited to be enjoyed!

I just grabbed a pint-size mason jar, tossed in some THRIVE Simply Peach drink mix (2 tablespoons, since that's the recommended amount for one cup water), and then added a small handful of THRIVE Pineapple Chunks and a small handful of THRIVE Raspberries!  Dropped in a couple ice cubes, just to keep it chilled, and then shook it up!  Oh yeah...  And don't forget the water ;).  I filled it with cold water to the neck of the jar -- and then I shook it!

And by lunchtime, the fruits were all nicely rehydrated and had added their wonderful flavors to the peach drink mix.  It was so yum!  And so easy!

And so customizable!  I'm looking forward to trying this with some other combinations in the near future!!!

Interested in adding some of these items to your Home Store?  Contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com!

Lots of THRIVE!

The other day I used a lot of THRIVE to make dinner and dessert!  It was a lot of fun trying new things :).

Pictured above was dinner, drink, and dessert from that day -- and, being that I don't get super motivated these days until after 2 p.m., that's when I started working on all of this!  Definitely couldn't have done that much without my THRIVE!

First up:  drinks!  The truth is, we are mainly water drinkers in my household.  But every once in a while, a yummy fruity drink sounds really appealing.  So I can understand why experts recommend having some juice mixes as part of your home store.  I have used this THRIVE Simply Peach drink mix for a variety of juices as well as putting it into my smoothies.  I needed the juice for the dessert I'd decided to make, so I went ahead and made up a full batch and enjoyed some of the juice with dinner :).  Simply follow the guidelines on the #10 can (2 tablespoons THRIVE Simply Peach to 1 cup water) and oila!   You have a simple, but yummy juice.  It's a real treat for my toddler when she can have juice with dinner.  And she gulps it down fast.

What I love?  IT HAS NO ARTIFICIAL COLORS!  That's such a win, when so many powdered drinks are full of artificial colors!

Next up:  dinner!  It was one of those "what am I going to make for dinner?" days...  I mean, I had my menu list all planned out -- like I do most pay periods.  But I flat out forgot to pull meat out to thaw.  And this is one of the reasons I love my THRIVE meats.  They are ready to use, even at the last minute.  So I found a recipe on the THRIVE Life website for Chicken Broccoli Alfredo.  You can follow that link and get the original recipe.  You can even make this as a jar meal.  Here's how I did it (with what I had on hand):

CHICKEN BROCCOLI ALFREDO
1 heaping cup shell macaroni
1/2 cup THRIVE Bechamel Sauce
2 tablespoons THRIVE Sour Cream Powder
1 1/2 teaspoon THRIVE Chopped Onions
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning*
1 teaspoon THRIVE Chef's Choice Seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons THRIVE Chicken Bouillon
1 cup THRIVE Seasoned Chicken Slices
1 cup THRIVE Broccoli
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese*

Place all ingredients except Parmesan Cheese in a saucepan with 4 1/2 cups water.  Allow to sit for 10 minutes.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes or until pasta is done, stirring occasionally.  Stir in Parmesan Cheese until melted and incorporated.

*Denotes other ingredients available through THRIVE Life.

So the things I loved about this dish: 
1.  It was all in one pot.
2.  It was easy to throw together.
3.  I didn't have to worry about thawing meat, etc.

But I have to be honest...  I personally didn't especially like this meal.  I think it was the Italian Seasoning.  Granted, I don't have THRIVE Italian Seasoning, so maybe that makes a difference.  But I just didn't enjoy that flavor.  My toddler really didn't like it.  My husband, however, said he didn't think it was bad.  So I guess it's all in personal preference.  But I have to share my true feelings, and those are that I don't plan to make this again.

For some reason, anytime I make pasta, I feel like I need bread to go with it.  Clearly, I did not start my meal-making in time to do a yeast bread.  And even throwing together scratch biscuits seemed like a lot of effort (lazy, huh?).  But then it occurred to me I could do the next best thing!  Sort of scratch biscuits!  I grabbed my Honey Whole Wheat Mix and decided to try making biscuits with it!  A quick glance at the ingredients told me it already had shortening in the mix, along with flour and salt...  Basically I just had to add a leavening agent.  And that was simple enough with baking powder!  So here's my recipe:

HONEY WHOLE WHEAT DROP BICUITS
2 cups THRIVE Honey Whole Wheat Dough Mix
3 teaspoons baking powder*
1 1/4 cups milk*

Place the dough mix into a medium bowl and add baking powder.  Stir well to combine.  Add milk and mix.  Drop by heaping tablespoons onto a greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 450 for 9 minutes.  (I got 9 biscuits.)

*Denotes other ingredients available through THRIVE Life.

You can add less milk if you want to make "cut out" biscuits.  But I like the drop biscuits, because they are fast.

And finally...  What I did for dessert ;).  Which was just a random idea I had, so I ran with it.  And it's also a pretty decent snack for a toddler!  I'm calling them Strawberry Peach Jiggly Squares :).

STRAWBERRY-PEACH JIGGLY SQUARES
4 cups THRIVE Simply Peach, prepared (this is 4 cups water plus 8 tablespoons THRIVE Simply Peach drink mix)
4 packets unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup coarsely chopped THRIVE Strawberry Slices

Bring 3 cups of prepared juice to a boil.  Place one cup of prepared juice in a large bowl.  Sprinkle all 4 packets of gelatin over juice. Allow to sit for a minute.  Pour hot juice into the bowl and stir until all gelatin is dissolved.  Stir in THRIVE Strawberry Slices.  Pour into a 9x13 pan (I usually spray with cooking spray for even easier release later!).  Refrigerate until firm.  Cut into squares.

Again, one thing I really love about this is that there are no artificial colors!  Don't get me wrong, I'm not great at staying away from all the artificial colors.  And who doesn't love Jell-o Jigglers?  But if I can come up with something just as fun and kid-friendly without the fake stuff?  I'm totally in!

Anyway, I had a lot of fun experimenting and playing around and trying new things.  And I just really love how THRIVE Life has often come to the rescue on those days when I am not as prepared as I could be to make dinner ;)!

Happy THRIVEing!  And, as always, contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com with any questions or to place an order to help your meal-times not be a conundrum when you forget to thaw the meat ;)!!!

Mint Chocolate Milkshake

Today was National Mint Chocolate Day.  And anyone who knows me knows I think there are no finer combinations than mint and chocolate.  That taste... it's a beautiful thing.

So, in celebration of this wonderful day (because how could I not celebrate it!?!), I made a mint chocolate milkshake and used my THRIVE Gourmet Hot Cocoa Mix. 

I even shared it with my husband and toddler.  Rave reviews all around!  So here's how I did it:

MINT CHOCOLATE MILKSHAKE
1 1/4 cups fat-free milk*
6 ice cubes
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon mint extract (depending on your preference)
3 tablespoons THRIVE Gourmet Hot Cocoa Mix
6 Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies
1 1/2 cups vanilla ice cream

Place everything in the blender and blend until it looks like a milkshake :).  Then drink it up!  You can even garnish it with an additional Girl Scout Thin Mint.  But that's not required ;).

*Denotes other ingredients available through THRIVE Life.

So, here's to you, mint and chocolate!  You'll have a special place in my heart forever ;)!

Green Smoothie

So I've been wanting to do green smoothies for a while.  However, I lack a powerful blender, so I've always put it off as a "someday" thing. 

But yesterday I made some really awesome muffins with THRIVE Chopped Spinach in them (I'll be posting that recipe here soon), and I decided I was going to go ahead and try a green smoothie with the spinach, even without a super-awesome blender. 

I'm glad I did. 

I made it up as I went along -- and I'm sure there are ways to make it healthier.  But this was my first attempt, so I'm documenting it, because I -- and my toddler! -- are happy with it.  And now I have the ability to play around with it some more and try new concoctions! 

One really awesome thing was having all my THRIVE fruits to add in, along with the THRIVE Chopped Spinach.  It was easy for me to add a lot of healthy fruits to help make the smoothie more palatable.

So here's my recipe:

GREEN SMOOTHIE
2/3 cup THRIVE Chopped Spinach
2/3 cup THRIVE Pineapple Chunks
1/4 cup THRIVE Peaches
2 tablespoons THRIVE Simply Peach
1/4 cup THRIVE Strawberries
1/3 cup water
1 ripe banana*
1 1/2 cup milk*

Place first 5 ingredients into blender jar and pour water over to help moisten and rehydrate a little.  Add banana and milk.  Blend until well-blended and smooth.  Enjoy!

*Denotes other ingredients available through THRIVE Life.

My goal is to get more vegetables into myself and my toddler.  THRIVE has been helping me immensely in this undertaking.  And while I am looking forward to one day having a more powerful blender to really get everything good and blended down...  I am glad I learned I can make a great-tasting smoothie even right now, with my not-so-powerful blender!

And I'm thrilled I had all these options to add to my very first Green Smoothie, thanks to THRIVE Life!  I mean, what's not to love about all my fruits (and veggies) already ready to use -- washed, sliced, and waiting for me to scoop!  Total time saver!

If you'd like to make your own green smoothies quickly and easily with THRIVE, contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com, and I'll help you get started!

THRIVE Gourmet Hot Cocoa

We have officially had our first frost here in Western Washington.  (And actually, we've probably had 4 or 5 days at or below freezing!)  I have heard tell that this has been true for pretty much all of the United States -- I know Alabama has had quite the unseasonable cold snap, of below freezing weather!  And that kind of cold weather just puts me in the mood for some chocolatey goodness -- some hot chocolatey goodness!

So last night, we opened up our THRIVE Gourmet Hot Cocoa, and we indulged!  Oh my goodness was this ever rich and creamy!  (Honestly, I think it was a little too rich when made according to package directions...  So I'm cutting back on the hot chocolate mix in the future -- still delicious and makes it last even longer :)).

This really is a lovely hot chocolate.  It has amazing flavor, and if you really like your hot chocolate to be rich, then by all means -- prepare it according to THRIVE Life's directions:

2 1/2 tablespoons THRIVE Gourmet Hot Cocoa
3/4 cup hot water

Put THRIVE Gourmet Hot Cocoa into a mug; add hot water.  Stir and enjoy!

If, on the other hand, you enjoy your hot chocolate a little less rich (but still delicious!), I recommend 1 1/2 tablespoons to 3/4 cup hot water.  I actually doubled the recipe this morning... :). 

And because it's chilly....  I'll probably be having another mugful later this evening.  Yum!

THRIVE Gourmet Hot Cocoa has a shelf life of 5 years unopened (1 year opened), so it's a great addition to your home store!

The THRIVE Gourmet Hot Cocoa won't be around for long!  It's one of their seasonal items.  So if you want to have some of this chocolatey goodness to enjoy, get your orders in soon!  You can contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com to place your order if you don't have a Q.  Or, if you have a Q, simply add the hot chocolate to your Q, and it'll ship with your next order!

And don't forget!  Only two more days until the Big Black Friday Specials are announced!  So be on the lookout for my email!  And Happy THRIVEing!

Berry Banana Smoothie

I know I post a lot of smoothie recipes!  I can't help it!  I love them.  And with THRIVE on-hand, I always have what I need to whip up a delicious one -- and it can be different every time!  Plus, I don't have to spend time washing or slicing!  (The banana gets frozen already sliced :).)

I feel like I hit pay-dirt with this recipe, though.  My niece helped me create this one by telling what she thought should go in it, and I decided on amounts :).

BERRY BANANA SMOOTHIE
1 cup frozen sliced banana (about 1 banana)
3 tablespoons THRIVE Instant Milk Powder
1 cup water
1/2 cup strawberry yogurt
1 tablespoon THRIVE Simply Peach Drink
1/3 cup THRIVE Raspberries
1/3 cup THRIVE Strawberries

Place all ingredients in a blender (water last) and blend until smooth.  Takes me no more than 2 minutes!

I served this smoothie up at a THRIVE Party last night and had several people tell me they really enjoyed it!  So I say it's a keeper :)!

Happy Friday -- and Happy THRIVEing!!

Peachy Strawberry Smoothie

Today my wonderful sister-in-law hosted a THRIVE party!  It was lots of fun, and I got to meet some great ladies!  I loved that they had so many questions and were so interactive and involved in the whole event.  It makes for a great time!

One lady discovered that her young son -- who she says is her picky eater -- loved the fruits and veggies for snacks!

Another lady is excited about all the gluten-free options THRIVE offers, because of her husband's diet restrictions! 

I'm always excited when THRIVE Life can help other people in a variety of ways -- just as it has helped me!

As part of the party, we enjoyed a Peachy Strawberry Smoothie :).  Due to Nilla error (that would be me...), the smoothie at the party wasn't as awesome as the practice one I made at home.  The first time I made it, I forgot to add the THRIVE Simply Peach Drink Mix!  So I made a second batch -- and didn't blend it long enough (I so need one of those awesome high-powered blenders!  I obviously don't know how to work one!) so there was more ice chunks than I would have preferred :/...  But when I made it at home, I really enjoyed it -- even without any banana (and you know I love my bananas in my smoothies!)

So here it is: 

PEACHY STRAWBERRY SMOOTHIE
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 cup THRIVE strawberry yogurt bites
1 tablespoon THRIVE Simply Peach drink mix
1/2 cup THRIVE strawberries
1 tablespoon milk*
1 1/2 cup ice

Combine all ingredients except ice and let rehydrate 3 to 5 minutes.  Add ice and blend until smooth.

And as for my less-than-stellar ability to actually make it well at the party...  Well, you live and you learn!  I'll be better prepared next time :).

Raspberry Peach Lemonade

One of my friends and I take turns fixing dinner for each other's families every other week.  We call it Marvelous Monday Meals.  It's a time of trying new things, eating great food, and having awesome visiting time.  This past week, I was in charge of dinner (she brought dessert); and, though a drink isn't always on the menu, I decided I wanted to have something special as a beverage.

We are mainly water drinkers in our home, so I don't have much in the way of beverage selection.  But I did have all my THRIVE host benefits!  And I had ordered the THRIVE Simply Peach Drink Mix.  I decided to open up that can and see what I could do!

So all of the #10 cans of THRIVE Foods come with a recipe printed on them!  How awesome is that?  It's a great way to start using your THRIVE in daily cooking, because you have a recipe right in front of you, showing you how to use that product.  The recipe on the THRIVE Simply Peach Drink Mix is for Peach Lemonade.  It sounded great, and I had all the ingredients.  But then I started thinking, "Maybe I could take this a step further and make it mine a little bit."

So I decided to make it Raspberry Peach Lemonade.  Here's how I did it:

RASPBERRY PEACH LEMONADE
1/2 cup sugar*
1/2 cup THRIVE Simply Peach drink mix
1/2 cup THRIVE raspberries
6 cups water
1 cup lemon juice

In one cup of water, rehydrate the raspberries for about 5 minutes.

Place sugar, THRIVE Simply Peach drink mix, rehydrated raspberries, and the 1 cup of raspberry water into a sauce pan. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until everything is dissolved. Strain into a pitcher (to remove raspberry seeds). Add 1 cup lemon juice and mix well. Add additional 5 cups water and mix. Refrigerate until ready to drink.

*Denotes other ingredients available through THRIVE.