THRIVE Instant Black Beans

Over the last couple of months, I have been using the THRIVE Instant Beans more and more!  And I have raved about how much I love them to my husband as well as a few friends.  Which made me think maybe I should do a little product high-light! 

Because, seriously, these beans are so awesome.

When I first heard about the instant beans, I was really skeptical.  I only bought some (they were the Pinto beans), because they were the Q-Pon item, and I wanted to cook with the Q-Pon.  Plus, I'd also had a friend ask me what they were like, and I didn't know.  So the best way to find out was to use them!  And now I plan to pretty much change from keeping regular dry beans to having the THRIVE Instant Beans.  And here's why:

1.  They are just like canned beans in how quickly and easily they can be used.  You scoop them out of the can and throw them into the soup or whatever is cooking, and they are ready-to-eat in 15 to 20 minutes. 
2.  I don't have to soak them, rinse them, or simmer them for 4 hours before using (this is obviously linked to #1).
3.  They are just as convenient as canned beans with non of the sodium!  Check out the label here.
4.  They do not taste different (this was my main concern before I tried them) and don't have a different texture or anything like that.  You'd never know they were instant beans.
5.  As with pretty much all the other THRIVE Life products, they have an amazing shelf-life!  Sealed, they will last for 25 years.  Once opened, it's recommended they be used within 1 year.  

The truth is, now that I know the awesomeness of these beans, I look at my huge bucket of 25 pounds of regular black beans and give a big sigh.  Because in order to use them, I'm going to have to go through the rinsing and soaking and boiling process.  I'm not saying I'm not grateful to have them.  I just wish I'd have realized how wonderful THRIVE Instant Beans were back when I bought them.  Because I would surely have opted for the instant!

The one difference I noted was the amount of Calcium and Iron in the dry versus the instant.  In both cases, the dry beans have more.  I do not know if they will lose that nutritional value in the cooking process, though, since they pretty much have to be cooked to be consumed.

This is what the Instant Black Beans look like inside the can, before being rehydrated. 

I have used these beans in soups and even used them for Black Bean Burgers!  I just think they are amazing :).  And even better?  The Instant Black Beans are on sale this month!  If you're interested in learning more or placing an order to have these in your home store, you can contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com or visit my website:  www.thrivelife.com/THRIVEingNilla.

Happy THRIVEing!

Product Highlight: THRIVE Seasoned Chicken Slices

Happy June y'all!  It's a new month!  Which means there's a new Q-Pon item -- and a lot of other great new specials out this month!  And I'm super-excited about several of them, including the new THRIVE Summer Limeade and the return of the THRIVE Summer Lemonade!  Those two drink mixes do not have added sweeteners, meaning you can add the sweetener of your choice in the amount of your choice!  How fabulous is that!?!

But today I wanted to focus on the THRIVE Seasoned Chicken Slices, because I think they are a phenomenal item -- and I want to share why!

1.  I love, love, love when I can avoid handling raw chicken.  Especially when I'm pregnant, as it is highly recommended that pregnant women don't handle raw meats without gloves.  And let's be serious... how annoying is it to have to stop what I'm doing to don a pair of gloves so I can handle raw chicken!?!  Talk about adding time to my meal prep!  Ugh!  THRIVE Seasoned Chicken Slices are pre-cooked and freeze-dried, so they are ready for me to use quickly and without having to handle raw meat!

2.  Because they come pre-cooked and ready to use, and because they are a high-quality product, they already have the fat trimmed off!  I am obsessive about cutting the fat off my chicken (which is why it takes me extra time to use raw chicken), so this is a huge bonus for me!

3.  As mentioned a bit in both previous points, this saves me time!  The chicken is already cooked!  It needs to be re-hydrated, but that can be done while I'm prepping other ingredients and requires almost no hands-on time from me!

And you don't just have to take my word for the awesomeness of this product!  Here's what one of my customers had to say about how THRIVE Chicken Slices came through for her!

"I forgot to thaw chicken for the recipe I was planning to make for dinner tonight...  But then I remembered my THRIVE Chicken Slices and dinner was saved!" -- Julie S.

Those are good moments -- when I see how THRIVE Life has helped others the way it helps me!

Here's some information on the THRIVE Chicken Slices:

The Chicken Slices are seasoned, so they do have additional ingredients to chicken.  The ingredients include:  chicken, sodium phosphate, salt and carrageenan.   

Unopened, a can of THRIVE Seasoned Chicken Slices will store for 1 year and maintain its nutrients!

Once opened, it is recommended you use the THRIVE Seasoned Chicken Slices within one year (at 6 to 9 months is optimal for freshness).

Here are a few posts with recipes in which I used the Seasoned Chicken Slices to offer you ideas for using yours!
Chicken Broccoli Alfredo
Chicken Asparagus Pasta
Chicken, Broccoli, Macaroni, and Cheese Skillet Meal
Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad

It occurs to me that all of those recipes are pasta recipes!  Too funny!  But our family likes pasta a lot, so that's not really surprising to me.  However, I have also used these chicken strips in a crock pot white chicken chili (unfortunately I was not on top of taking pictures and documenting it that day...) and some BBQ Sliders -- which I totally documented and will be posting later this month! 

With the THRIVE Seasoned Chicken Slices as the June 2015 Q-Pon item, it's a great time to stock up!  The #10 can has a retail value of $58.99, but during June, you can get them for $44.29!  If you are a Q Club member, you can simply add your THRIVE Chicken Slices to your Q for June!  If you aren't a Q Club member, you can contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com and I'll help you place your order!  You really don't want to miss out on this great price!

Happy THRIVEing!

Product Highlight: THRIVE Sour Cream Powder

I'm one of those people who almost never has sour cream in the refrigerator.  For one thing, when I do buy it for a specific recipe, about half of the container almost always ends up growing mold.  And getting tossed.  Which irks me a lot.  But for another thing, and I don't even understand how this happens, but it almost always does (or rather, did)...  When I make my grocery shopping list and need sour cream for something, that is the one ingredient I seem to forget to write on my list.  It has happened multiple times. 

One time, in my pre-THRIVE days, I was so desperate, I started calling people within walking distance of my house to see if they had any I could borrow (in an effort not to make a special trip and waste gas).  Well, my mom just so happened to have some, but it was a rigamarole to get it, since she was at work and I had to get to the hidden house key, etc.  All of this with an infant in tow. 

So yes...  Sour cream is one of those things in my house-hold.  And when I learned I could get THRIVE Sour Cream Powder...  Well, I knew that was going to be stocked in my home store permanently!  I can't even tell you how many times it's saved the day.  I love it. 

So I figured I'd feature it today, so I can tell you all about THRIVE Sour Cream Powder -- why I love it and just a few tips from my own experiences.

Shelf Life:  THRIVE Sour Cream Powder can sit on your shelf unopened for 10 years.  That is awesome.  Once you open it, you'll want to use it within 1 year, though, to make sure it has maintained it's original nutrients and such.  (This is all under ideal circumstances, of course.  If you live in a place of higher humidity, the opened shelf-life may decrease somewhat.)  Because we do not use sour cream frequently in our household (hence the fresh stuff always going bad when I managed to have it), I find that a pantry can size is perfect for us.  However, it is also available in the #10 can size, if you find that you use sour cream frequently.

Ingredients:  Sour cream powder (cream, cultures, & lactic acid), Cultured nonfat milk solids, & citric acid. CERTIFIED GLUTEN FREE.  It is also pasteurized.


Tips:  When I make the THRIVE Sour Cream Powder into Sour Cream for use on Taco Salad or something similar, I tend to add the water a little at a time to get a consistency I like.  I don't necessarily follow the measurements on the can.  When I am mixing it in with other things, though, I do follow their suggestions for ratio.  Such is the case when I use it for Chicken Divan.  I would also suggest, if you plan to use it as a topping (like fresh sour cream), that you refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes (but preferably overnight), as this will help thicken it more and be more like what you are expecting.

Caution:  If you think of this as something you would mistake for fresh sour cream, you will be disappointed.  It is different.  My husband says it has more of a buttermilk flavor to it than sour cream flavor.  And it isn't' quite as creamy (especially if you don't refrigerate it).  However, many people have made it to use as a spread -- like cream cheese -- and love it that way. 

As with so many things, your tastes have a lot to do with how you will feel about this product.  For me, it has been a meal-saver, gas-saver, and time-saver!  I love the product, and plan to use it in place of fresh sour cream pretty much exclusively.  My next attempt will be to do some baking with it!  Using it in baking is actually one of the top suggestions for this product!

But if you're interested in seeing how I've already used it in my daily life, here are a few recipe links for you :)!

Chicken Divan
Jar Meal: Sausage Zuppa Toscana
Taco Soup (as a topping)

If you'd like to have some THRIVE Sour Cream Powder in your home store, contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com or head over to my website (www.thrivelife.com/THRIVEingNilla) and place your order in a few easy steps!

Happy THRIVEing!

Food Rotation Systems: The Cupboard Cansolidator

I know I focus a lot on the foods available through THRIVE Life on this blog.  And that's because they are awesome on so many levels!

But THRIVE Life is so much more than their amazing food line!  In fact, the very first product introduced by the company (when they were known as Shelf Reliance) was the food rotation system!  You've seen these in the canned soup aisle in most grocery stores -- and you know you think they're cool :).

And, after all...  Don't you want a convenient, central place to store all the awesome foods in your home store?  With the food rotation systems, you have a great spot to store all your canned goods (both THRIVE Life foods as well as other canned goods) which not only stores it all for you, but also helps you rotate your food to make sure you use the oldest first!!!

I received this Cupboard Cansolidator yesterday from a friend!  Naturally I had to put it together :).  The picture above is put together according to the directions.  This Cansolidator is designed to fit right into your cabinet, automatically providing you with room to store all your canned goods in an organized and efficient way!  In the pictures below, the cansolidator is purposefully incomplete (because I lack enough pieces to construct it the wrong way ;)) with the intent to show you how the Cansolidators can be stacked to give you even more room!

If you're trying to get your kitchen organized, you definitely want to check out the Food Rotation System options available to you!  There's no better way to keep all your cans organized!

Contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com to get yours today!

What to Store?: Vegetables

Part of being prepared in our family includes having a home store of long-lasting, great-tasting foods!  As I have mentioned in this blog before, we choose become prepared in this way because we follow the counsel of a living prophet; counsel we believe comes from the Lord.  We believe having a store of food can be beneficial for our family in many circumstances, including job loss, long-term inability to work, and possible disaster or emergency situations.  Or perhaps a home store may help this upcoming winter if there is a freak snow-storm where you live and you get stuck at home for a week or two!  The truth is, life is full of surprises.  For that reason, we believe in being prepared and following the counsel we've received.

And guess what!?!  Winter is coming!  So now's a good time to start stocking up just in case ;)!

So then the question becomes:  what do I store?

I'd like to take a moment to share something amazing about my mother-in-law, which she shared with me right before her THRIVE Party a couple weeks ago.  She has known times in the past in which her family used their food storage because my father-in-law was temporarily out of work.  Apparently they would sometimes be asked, "How do you eat with him not working?"  (The question was asking if their meals were different.)  The answer, because of her diligence in making sure they had a home store, was, "We eat the same as we did when he was working."  This is the benefit of a home store.  Because she had taken the time and put for the effort to build up her own family's home store -- with foods they ate on a regular basis -- they were able to continue eating as they always had (with the exception of some desserts).  I have to say, I really admire my mother-in-law for her wisdom and her diligence and determination to be prepared.  She is an example of the blessing a home store can be to a family facing financial difficulties, whatever those may be.

So again, the question is, what do I store?  And the answer is:  Store what you eat!  If you're family does not spend every day eating rice and beans, you probably want to store other alternatives.  I'm not saying rice and beans are not a good thing to have in storage!  They are a great thing to include in your storage -- and THRIVE Life can help you there!  But, though you can survive eating them every day, your family may not enjoy it so much.  And that's why I love THRIVE Life!  So much variety is available through THRIVE Life!  With THRIVE Life, if my family ever faces financial difficulties (or others that require the use of our food store), I don't just want to survive... I want to THRIVE!

Therefore, because my family doesn't only eat beans and rice day in and day out, I want to make sure I am storing other things.  One of the things my family eats (and which I feel are very important that we always continue eating) is vegetables!

Did you know that the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) recommends that adults have 2 to 4 servings of vegetables each day?

That's a lot of vegetables!  And THRIVE Life has an amazing selection of freeze-dried and dehydrated options for vegetables! 

One very helpful thing about THRIVE Life products is that they are labeled with the number of servings in each can.  This can help you determine how much of each THRIVE Vegetable you need for your family!

My family loves to eat the THRIVE Sweet Corn, THRIVE Green Peas, and the THRIVE Asparagus right out of the can as snacks!  (I even like to eat the THRIVE Cauliflower and the THRIVE Celery from the can too!)

Another amazing aspect to the THRIVE Life Vegetables is their long shelf-life!  Most of the vegetables will last 20 to 25 years unopened, and 1 year after they've been opened!  That's a phenomenal shelf-life!  Plus, there are no added preservatives to keep them lasting so long!  Imagine the peace of mind that comes knowing you have the vegetables you need to keep your family healthy for years to come!

In addition to tasting great and helping us know we have vegetables that will last a long time for our food store, theses vegetables save me a ton of time in my everyday cooking!  I am constantly using the THRIVE Celery in my soups, chicken salad, and other dishes.  Tonight I'll be making a chicken asparagus pasta!  The vegetables arrive at my door washed and chopped, leaving me the small task of scooping them out and adding them to the pan! 

If you'd like to try some THRIVE Vegetables and start building your vegetable home store, you can even start by ordering the Vegetable Variety Pack.  This pack offers THRIVE Life's best-selling, most popular vegetable items!  Truly a great, easy, and convenient way to start building your home store!

Do you have a favorite THRIVE Life vegetable?  Share yours in the comments!

And if you're interested in getting started with the Vegetable Variety Pack or any other THRIVE Life awesomeness, contact me at THRIVEingNilla@gmail.com and we'll get you going!

THRIVE Mushroom Pieces

One of my very first THRIVE purchases after becoming a consultant was the THRIVE Mushroom Pieces.  And here's why:

• I love mushrooms.  A lot.
• I add mushrooms to many of my dishes:  soups, pizza, stir fry vegetables, pasta sauces
• I am grossed out by slimy mushrooms -- and by week 2, my fresh mushrooms are usually slimy :(...
•  So I either have to deal with the slimy mushrooms...  Or waste money and throw them away and go without mushrooms.

Ergo...  THRIVE Mushroom Pieces came with my very first Q shipment!

Do I still purchase fresh mushrooms at the store?  Yes, I do!  But in a much smaller quantity -- and I use them in dinners almost immediately.  Because I really love the taste of fresh mushrooms in my stir fry vegetables.

But my awesome THRIVE Mushroom Pieces are sitting right there waiting for me to use in all my other mushroom-needing dishes!  And I love that!  They have now replaced my use of store-bought canned mushrooms completely.  And my dishes now have less sodium when I do that, thanks to THRIVE!

Did you know canned mushrooms have around 15% of the daily recommended allowance of sodium just in one serving!?!  This is because preservatives, such as salt, are added to the product to give it a longer shelf-life.

But not so with THRIVE!  THRIVE Life's Freeze Dried Mushroom Pieces are just that:  mushrooms!  No added sodium or other preservatives!  And still an amazing shelf life of one year (once opened) and 25 years unopened!!

I love that I can return and return to this can multiple times over months, scoop out what I need, add it to my dish, and close the can until the next time!  This means no more slimy mushrooms.  And no more waste!

So, in a nutshell, here is why I love love love my THRIVE Mushroom Pieces:

• Awesome shelf-life which means my mushrooms don't go slimy and don't get thrown away...  And I'm not left without mushrooms in my dish!
• No added sodium to preserve!  They are just freeze-dried mushrooms!
• So convenient and so easy to use!  No need to wash or slice!  Just scoop and dump!
• Rehydrating (which I do when I use them for pizza) is super fast and easy...  But for soups, I don't rehydrate!  I just throw them in the pot!

I have used them on pizza, in pasta dishes (both white sauce and red sauce dishes), and in a variety of soups. These mushrooms truly are among my favorite THRIVE Life products, and they will be a part of my home store from here on out!

How do you use THRIVE Mushroom Pieces?  Post in the comments below!

Happy THRIVEing!