Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Friday, March 29, 2013
THRIVE Instant Milk vs Powdered Milk
THRIVE Instant Milk vs Powdered Milk
Thanks Misty for the break down
THRIVE Life sells two different types of milk. One is the Instant milk and the other is the Non-fat Milk Instant Milk is used for drinking, in my opinion it takes like 1% or skim milk while the other is used for cooking. One thing to note is that most people think the powdered milk is much less expensive. This is because it costs less per #10 can. However, a #10 can of Instant Milk makes 5 Gallons. A #10 can of Powdered Milk only makes 3.5 gallons. The powdered milk is actually only about $0.05 less per gallon. Use the chart below to see the other differences:
Instant Milk Powdered Non-fat Milk
.
| Best Use | Drinking or Baking | Baking | |
.
| Ingredients | Non-Fat Milk | Whey, Non-fat milk, Oil, Corn Syrup, Soy | |
.
| Sodium per serving | 110 grams | 140 grams | |
.
| Sugars per serving | 12 grams | 15 grams | |
.
| Vitamins | Vitamins A, C, & D Plus Calcium | Vitamins A & D Plus Calcium | |
.
| Shelf Life | 25 years sealed & 2 years opened | 25 years sealed & 2 years opened | |
.
| Appearance | A bit more grainy | A bit less grainy | |
.
| Mixing | Dissolves instantly in cold water | Must be mixed vigorously in warm or hot water | |
.
| Taste | Just like fresh milk (SERIOUSLY!) | Good, but different from fresh milk | |
.
| #10 can = ? | 5-6 Gallons | 3.5-4 Gallons | |
.
| Cost per #10 Can | More Expensive | Less Expensive | |
.
| Cost per Gallon | About Equal | About Equal |
Freeze Dried vs. Dehydrated
What is the difference between freeze dried and dehydrated foods?
I know some people don’t even realize that there is a difference. It is very important to understand the difference, especially if you are promoting these items to your customer. Both are great options to add to your food storage or home store, but they are used in different ways. A lot of people will dehydrate food at home with some type of counter top dehydrator or they may use their oven. But freeze drying is a process at the moment that the average home owner can't afford. For example, freeze dried products can be used in your own recipes and taste just like the fresh product. However, they are more expensive because of this greater versatility. While dehydrated food actually changes the produce, like grapes to raisins or plums to prunes. Use the chart below to help you as you decide which type of food to invest in for your family. Remember, it doesn’t have to be all one or the other. I have both in my food storage. Thank you to Misty for the breakdown...
Freeze Dried Dehydrated
.
| Process | The product is frozen, then placed under vacuum which allows the water in the product to vaporize without passing through the liquid state. About 98% of the water is removed. | The product is heated and water is removed through evaporation. It is impossible to remove all the water. About 25% of the water remains. |
.
| Shelf Life | Very long (20-30 years) because of the lack of water left. | Shorter (1-8 years) because there is always some water left in the product. |
.
| Additives | None | Sugar, salt, or other preservatives are usually needed. |
.
| Nutrition | Retains all nutrients | More nutrients (up to 50%) are lost because of the heat applied during the process |
.
| Color, taste, texture? | Color, taste and texture are all very similar to the original product. Without hydration, they are dry and can be crushed to a powder. | Most dehydrated foods look and taste different from the fresh product. |
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Monday, February 18, 2013
Food Rotation System - Ready Racks
Shelf Reliance - Food Rotation System - Ready Racks
This is one of Food Rotation System that Shelf Reliance offers, this is a Ready Rack. They come in different configurations, but this is the one I purchased last month. Why this one you ask.....? This one was on the January specials, that is why. I orginally bought this one to take to expos, but after its arrival, I keep coming up with reasons not too. Like it will be really hard to move, how will it fit in my van along with my other products, will I have to take it apart and then put it back together at the expo...no way....uhmmm how many reasons can I come up with. My husband isn't buying any of them as of yet...he knows my alter motive. Just to keep it for my self, forget dragging it back and forth to expo's, I want to put it in place and use it for my food storage.
The only problem with the shelf right now, is it is sitting in the middle of my family room until the arguement gets resolved between my husband and myself. I want to move it downstairs with all my food preps "home store products" and of course he wants to somewhat dismantle so it is ready for the expo's. It has been 3 weeks, at least I am using it to hold all my cans of THRIVE food, just not located in a very good spot (not really easy to move while sweeping the floor).
Okay here is the info from the company....
Ready Racks by Shelf Reliance provide the ultimate storage capacity for all of your emergency supplies and food storage cans. By combining our patented first-in-first-out can rotation rows with pull-out drawers, we have provided you with flexibility to store your emergency preparedness supplies, bulky food items, and food storage cans in one organized, convenient space.
Each Ready Rack also comes with four hooks so you can hang your 72-hour kit backpacks right on your system. When it comes to emergency preparedness and food storage organization, Shelf Reliance Ready Racks simply can’t be beat.
This system will hold up to 238 soup size cans and up to 66 medium size cans.
Dimensions
Height: 72"
Width: 36.5"
Depth: 24.5"
Height: 72"
Width: 36.5"
Depth: 24.5"
Note: Due to the unique tooling of our drawer systems, 6” of space will remain at the back of each drawer. Although the frame of our drawers measures 36”x24,” the base of each drawer has the capacity to hold an area of 32” wide x17.5”deep.
To view assembly instructions for all of our Food Rotation Systems, please visit this link: FRS Assembly Instructions* Ready Racks combine the convenience can rotation and organization with flexibility of storing bulkier food items and emergency supplies
* 4 hooks included
* Additional options allow you to customize your system to fit your specific needs
* First in first out technology and drawer sliders allow you to fit your system flush against virtually any solid surface
* Will hold up to 238 soup size cans and up to 66 medium size cans
www.logicalprepping.com logicalprepping@yahoo.com www.logicalprepping.blogspot.com www.facebook.com/logicalprepping
Friday, February 15, 2013
Fruit Snacks
By Lindsey Mote – Thrive blogger
Let’s
examine some fruit snacks, shall we?
On the left
we have the contents of 2 bags of Sunkist snacks. These “fruit” snacks contain ingredients like
corn syrup, modified corn starch, dextrose, sodium citrate, malic acid, mineral
oil, carnauba wax, colors red 40, yellow 5, blue 1 and beeswax. I guess they can call them “fruit snacks”
because they roughly resemble some shapes that might be considered
fruit-like. The orange ones look like
orange wedges, the blue ones look like pineapple, the purple ones look like
cherries, and the green and yellow ones look like blobs. They pretty much all taste the same. There are 8 pieces in each package(less than
¼ cup), totaling 80 calories of pure sugar junk. I paid $2.69 for a box of 10 packages, 8
ounces total. This equals out to be
about $0.34 per ounce.
On the right
we have THRIVE freeze dried fruits.
Clockwise from the top are strawberries, mandarin oranges, raspberries,
pineapple, blackberries, bananas, and blueberries in the middle. They contain absolutely zero added
ingredients – no salt, no sugar, no additives, no preservatives. They are shaped like fruit, they smell like
fruit, and they taste like fruit!
You could
probably make 10 packages of these real
fruit snacks in about five minutes, with as much of each fruit as your
child would like. You might even be able
to sneak in a few veggies! There is a
quite a large weight vs. volume discrepancy because the THRIVE fruits are
freeze dried, so it is difficult to do an accurate price comparison. Just for the heck of it, I filled a Sunkist
“fruit” snacks bag with THRIVE fruits, then weighed it and did the math. It cost me $0.23 to fill that tiny little bag
with REAL berries.
Which fruit
snacks would you rather pack in your child’s lunch box?
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Homemade baby food with THRIVE
I wish I would have found THRIVE food a lot sooner.
Gabor is almost 3, he will be 3 in March. When Gabor was born, I decided that I was going to make all his baby food. No commercial baby food, I didn't want him to be ingesting all the added chemicals and preservatives found in those products. Like most mother's, I was scared about Autism and other medical conditions, but mostly Autism... Not knowing for sure what the cause of Autism is or some of the other medical conditions that seem to becoming more prevalent these days. So I began the process or buying organic foods or growing our own food and then steaming, puree and freezing them into portion size for Gabor. Besides all the work, the only problem was when it was time to travel with him. Transporting frozen baby food wasn't always the easiest or most convenient.
So now at the age of 2 1/2 almost 3, I find THRIVE food. Thrive food is part of the company of Shelf Reliance. After doing months of research, I decide that THRIVE food is a good fit for my family. Most of their foods is chemical and preservative free. Sometime in the next month, they are launching their Organic line. They have just been waiting on the paper work to clear government guidelines. THRIVE food is picked at the peak of ripeness and freeze dried or dehydrated. They carry a wide variety of foods ....fruits, veggies, meat, TVP, and of course the basics.
Baby food.......
Yes the reason for this blog. Take the freeze dried product and place in a food processor or grinder or blender until powder. Once you have a powder, place in a airtight container. When time to feed your baby, place the desired amount in a bowl and add water to the desired consistency. Instant baby food! No more STEAMING, No more PUREE, and No more FREEZING. And talk about convenience, just throw the container in your diaper bag.....add water .....oh don't forget the spoon. Its time to feed! No more glass jars (to worry about breaking), no more worries about storing in the fridge once opened. And the possibilities of recipes....whatever combination of fruits and/or veggies or meat that you come up with.....
Oh and don't forget the toddlers, older kids or even us adults.....the freeze dried products are great snacks....straight out of the can. Later I will post a comparison done by another consultant on commercial fruit snacks as compared to ours.
My website is
www.logicalprepping.com
or email me at
logicalprepping@yahoo.com
Click here to order THRIVE FD Peaches
Click here to order THRIVE fruits
Click here to order any THRIVE food - veggies, meats, etc...
Gabor is almost 3, he will be 3 in March. When Gabor was born, I decided that I was going to make all his baby food. No commercial baby food, I didn't want him to be ingesting all the added chemicals and preservatives found in those products. Like most mother's, I was scared about Autism and other medical conditions, but mostly Autism... Not knowing for sure what the cause of Autism is or some of the other medical conditions that seem to becoming more prevalent these days. So I began the process or buying organic foods or growing our own food and then steaming, puree and freezing them into portion size for Gabor. Besides all the work, the only problem was when it was time to travel with him. Transporting frozen baby food wasn't always the easiest or most convenient.
So now at the age of 2 1/2 almost 3, I find THRIVE food. Thrive food is part of the company of Shelf Reliance. After doing months of research, I decide that THRIVE food is a good fit for my family. Most of their foods is chemical and preservative free. Sometime in the next month, they are launching their Organic line. They have just been waiting on the paper work to clear government guidelines. THRIVE food is picked at the peak of ripeness and freeze dried or dehydrated. They carry a wide variety of foods ....fruits, veggies, meat, TVP, and of course the basics.
Baby food.......
Yes the reason for this blog. Take the freeze dried product and place in a food processor or grinder or blender until powder. Once you have a powder, place in a airtight container. When time to feed your baby, place the desired amount in a bowl and add water to the desired consistency. Instant baby food! No more STEAMING, No more PUREE, and No more FREEZING. And talk about convenience, just throw the container in your diaper bag.....add water .....oh don't forget the spoon. Its time to feed! No more glass jars (to worry about breaking), no more worries about storing in the fridge once opened. And the possibilities of recipes....whatever combination of fruits and/or veggies or meat that you come up with.....
Oh and don't forget the toddlers, older kids or even us adults.....the freeze dried products are great snacks....straight out of the can. Later I will post a comparison done by another consultant on commercial fruit snacks as compared to ours.
My website is
www.logicalprepping.com
or email me at
logicalprepping@yahoo.com
Homemade Baby Food Recipes
Remember the 4 day wait rule !!!
Stage 1:
4 months to 6 months
(these foods should be thin and runny and are foods that are the lowest on the allergy scale and are also more easily digested.
These include:
Fruits – apples, avocados, apricots, bananas, mango, nectarines , peaches, papaya, pears, plums, prunes & pumpkins
Veggies – Green beans, carrots, peas, sweet potato & squash
Grains – rice, oatmeal, barley
Stage 2:
Is for babies 8 months and older or babies at 6month old who began to eat solid foods
This stage if softly mashed or cut into fine bits….fruits, veggies, meats, pasta and dairy such as yogurt and cheeses.
Some ideas or combinations of food to try, only after trying your child on each food separate first….Remember the 4 day wait rule, before introducing a new food.
Apple/pear
Apple/peach/banana
Peach/mango
Blueberry/apple
Blueberry/peach
Garden vegetable combo/delight: Green beans, peas, zucchini, potato and carrots
Peas & carrots
Meats recommendation is usually around 8 months in the US, but again check with your physician.
Chicken puree
Remember, always consult with your pediatrician regarding introducing solid foods to your baby and the possibility of food allergies.
All you need is a THRIVE product - Coffee grinder, food processor or blender - container with lid to place powder in - some water
Pantry Can of THRIVE FD Peaches
Placed a few pieces in grinder (as you can tell I have already been grinding ...was making peach flavored butter.)
Grinding the peaches to powder
My 2 1/2 year old wanting to grind
Gabor (2 1/2 yrs old) eating peaches while I make the baby food
THRIVE FD Peaches turned to powder
add water to the desired consistency
THRIVE Homemade Baby food....Yummm
Click here to order THRIVE fruits
Click here to order any THRIVE food - veggies, meats, etc...
Product review.....Pineapple
Product review - THRIVE Pineapple FD
| Thrive Pineapple Fd is one of the first products that I tried from Shelf Reliance THRIVE foods. I was amazed at the taste of the product straight out of the can Click here to order FD Pineapple from Shelf Reliance  |
| At first glance, I thought no way this could possibly taste good. Its freeze dried, and everything that I have ever tasted in the past that was freeze dried was awful. Being a bit leary, I popped a small morsel into my mouth. Without a second thought, I reached for another pieced. Yum. I could definitely do FD Pineapple. Now the true test, getting my husband to try this product. My husband, Brian is very particular about food. (but I can't blame him, he has had food poisoning many times while growing up....all before we meet, so don't even think it was from me..... and has been in the military for over 20 years and was use to eating MRE's). He immediately stated, "he had no interest in trying freeze dried food." After me giving him that look, it took a small piece and decided it wasn't too bad. I quickly noticed he reached for another piece, so I knew FD Pineapple was a definite for our "home store". Okay now for the funny part of the story, my 22 year old son walked in and immediately reached into the can and grabbed a piece. Zach is usually willing to try almost anything. Zach stated, "not bad." I closed the lid on the #10 size can (for those of you who don't know what a #10 can is...it is a gallon size can) and placed it in the pantry. The next morning, I awoke to 3 young adults (22 year old's) throwing the empty can away. Yes, they ate the entire can of FD Pineapple! All three commented that they tasted really good, as they backed out of the kitchen. I'm still not sure if they were backing out of the kitchen because they were waiting for me to yell at them for eating the entire contents of the can or for the empty bottle I found along with the empty can. (I knew they were up to something because they never throw away any empty containers....mt. dew cans, take out containers or dirty dishes etc......yes, I know I must have failed my motherly duties with Zach and his friends for picking up/cleaning up....believe me I am taking a different approach with my younger son.) As for the empty bottle, what can I say they all are 22 years old and they weren't out driving. (Thank god for that) . I did inform them, that they ruined my breakfast plans, I was planning on waffles with pineapple topping on them. So now I would have to fix blueberry waffles instead, I think I heard a sigh of relief from them. (Uhmmm, a sigh, I am not mad or a sigh thank goodness no more pineapple. Even though there was 3 of them, that is still a lot of pineapple.) As for the blueberries that will be another product review, so check back. Plus I will add more comments about FD Pineapple when I start cooking with it. www.logicalprepping.com logicalprepping@yahoo.com Here is the SR instructions for rehydrations and the nutritional values |
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Why I joined Shelf Reliance and THRIVE food
Hello.
Welcome to my blog. My name is Kim Dickerson. I am a military wife and mother of 2 wonderful sons ages 2 and 22. (Yes, you read correctly my sons are 20 years apart in age. It has been a major life changing event starting over after 20 years, but it has been a blessed one.)
For 2013, I made a New Year’s resolution to become a better Mother, Wife and Friend and to make sure my family is better prepared for whatever the world may throw at us. After making this resolution, I began to wonder how I could possibly fulfill this resolution. After much thought Shelf Reliance came to mind with Thrive food and being a consultant, I had actually researched Shelf Reliance and Thrive about 6+ months ago. Being a Thrive Consultant, I feel this could help me in all areas. One as a mother, I will be able to provide my family with healthy foods. Two as a wife, my husband will enjoy the food but also he will enjoy the benefit of saving money. Saving money, you ask…..yes. I won’t be wasting food by throwing it out for spoiling vegetables in the fridge or freezer burned meat in the freezer and also building up our own food store from my benefits as a Thrive Consultant. And for outside family and friends they will get the benefit of learning about and enjoying Shelf Reliance and Thrive food. Last but certainly not the least important is being prepared for whatever the world may throw at us, I am somewhat use to this predicament. As I mentioned above, I am a military wife, my husband is Air Force Reserve, being a military wife comes with its own set of unforeseen circumstances that always seems to throw a curve ball at me whenever my husband is deployed. But with the peace of mind that I will be building up our home store with healthy long lasting food and survival gear from Shelf Reliance that is one less thing I will have to worry about for my family’s future.
The idea of using dehydrated food is not a new idea for me. I have been dehydrating food for years. I was raised by my grandparents who had a 2 acre garden; we canned everything. We enjoyed the fresh veggies all summer long and the canned food the rest of the year. Later dehydrating also became of part of that food storage. So home storage is not a new idea for me or my family but with Shelf Reliance and Thrive Food, we will have the benefit of longer lasting food.
www.logicalprepping.com
logicalprepping@yahoo.com
www.logicalprepping.com
logicalprepping@yahoo.com
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