On the 11th day of Christmas, we got a new THRIVE product!

That's right! Our true love gave us a brand new product -- Apple Pieces! Different than the regular apple slices or apple chips, THRIVE new Apple Pieces is a mixture of dehydrated fuji and granny smith apples. There's no skin, and they are slightly smaller than the regular THRIVE apple chips. Shelf life is 25 years unopened, and 18 months once opened. You can snack on them right out of the can, or reconstitute in water.

These are one of the most cost effective ways to get fruit in your long term food storage. And while these won't arrive by Christmas, they will be a great way to start off your new year, that much closer to your preparedness or healthier eating goals. So don't wait. Order a bunch today!

On the 9th day of Christmas

Fleece Sleeping bags. Woohoo!

With a temperature rating of 50°F, this fleece sleeping bag is great for home, summer, or warm-weather camping. This sleeping bag features durable, warm fabric with an all around zipper. If more room is needed, two bags can be zipped together.
Features:

• Measures 72" x 29" when zipped 
• Provides warmth and durability 
• All around two-way zipper allows two bags to be zipped together 
• Great for home, summer camping, or travel
• Machine washable
• Temperature rating of 50°F
• Mesh carry/storage bag included

Order yours by visiting http://www.whitneyhemsath.shelfreliance.com/holiday-sale before noon (MST) on Thursday Dec. 15th. Orders placed before December 17th will arrive by Christmas. Happy Holidays!

Eight mills a-grinding.... and a partridge in a pear tree!

Day 8 of the 12 days of Christmas sale brings you this great hand crank wheat grinder!

If you don't have a generator to power your electric grinders, you want to be sure you have a manual grain mill on hand for emergency needs. Some of the great features include:

* Sturdy and compact
* Cone shaped burrs are self-aligning
* Smooth, even milling
* Creates 1/2 cup of fine flour per minute
* Create grains at a fraction of the cost of store-bought
* Stores easily in drawers, cupboards, and other small spaces
* Adjustable texture settings
* Stainless steel construction

To order yours, simply go to http://www.whitneyhemsath.shelfreliance.com/holiday-sale and order yours before noon (MST) today. All orders placed before the 17th should arrive before Christmas, so don't delay!

On the 7th day of Christmas

Day 7 bring us an awesome knife for your camping and emergency needs. This Survival knife is a must have for survival situations or 72 hour kit, it has a 6” polished steel saw tooth blade and bottle opener on back edge and can be used as a signal mirror. It has a high impact ABS hollow handle that contains the following essentials: matches with striking pad, wire ring saw, fish hooks and lead shot, nylon line for fishing and needles. It also comes with a watertight screw on cap with a liquid filled compass. Sheath with sharpening stone are also included.

Remember this price is valid only until noon (MST) on Tuesday the 13th.

So go to http://www.whitneyhemsath.shelfreliance.com/holiday-sale and order yours now!

On the 6th day of Christmas

Sorry for not posting day 5's sale. Hopefully you were still able to go check it out. Remember, the items and the prices change at noon each day, and you can always see the current deal (and order it) right on my website - http://www.whitneyhemsath.shelfreliance.com/holiday-sale,

For a few more hours, you can get this great item for the stockings of your loved ones.

  Dynamo Radio AM/FM, NEVER change batteries
•  3 Bulb LED Flash Light
•  I minute of cranking will burn light for up to 90 minutes
•  Crank Handle folds into back completely out of the way
•  Radio Antenna for improved reception
•  Siren for emergencies
•  Charges Cell Phones
•  Head Phone Outlet (Headphone not included)

What a practical item for camping, emergencies, blackouts, 72 hour kits, etc. Don't miss out on yours - buy one today before noon MST!

On the fourth day of Christmas

Day Four of the holiday sale brings you this awesome backpack for only $22.49. To order yours, go to http://www.whitneyhemsath.shelfreliance.com/holiday-sale  and order before noon (MST) on Saturday December 10th.

The K-Cliffs deluxe hiking backpack is perfect for any outdoor adventurer. Features include easily adjustable shoulder and waist straps, lumbar support, hood compartment, an extra-large main compartment, two mesh side pockets, and a small front zippered compartment. This backpack has space to hold your camping and hiking needs. Use this deluxe backpack on hiking trips or to hold your automobile, first aid, or emergency kit supplies.
Features:

• Easy adjustable shoulder and waist straps 
• Includes a hood compartment 
• Extra large main compartment 
• Two mesh side pockets 
• Constructed of heavy-duty material

On the third day of Christmas...

Day of three of the 12 days of Christmas sale brings you this 2 person tent for only $22.39.

•    Easy to assemble 2 pole dome design
•    Quick clip system makes attaching the tent to the supports poles a breeze
•    Ring and in locks each pole security to the corners
•    Mesh sunroof for stargazing
•    Perfect for warm summer nights in the backyard or background
•    6’6”x5’6”x48”
•    4lbs 10oz
•    Forest Tan

This deal will only last until 12pm MST on Friday Dec 9th, so order yours quickly by going to http://www.whitneyhemsath.shelfreliance.com/holiday-sale.

Try and stay warm and have a great weekend. Don't forget to check back daily for more sale items!

On the second day of Christmas...

Now until 12pm (MST) on Thursday Dec 8th, you can get your true love, or any one else on your list, this great stocking stuffer at a steal of a price. Today's 12 days of Christmas sale item is:

 Survival tips packaged in a playful and popular format-a card deck
· Practical information drawn from the Emergency Survival and First Aid pocket guides, both Mountaineers Books' bestsellers
· Written by an outdoorsman and physician
· Water-resistant card stock

When heading into the outdoors, you chose multipurpose gear whenever possible -- bonus points for equipment that's both functional and fun. You can't do better than The Don't Die Out There Deck, a compact deck of playing cards that tucks easily into any backpack or pocket. From construction of emergency shelters and evacuation techniques to how to care for someone with a fracture or construct a solar still, your poker hand contains basic survival tips that could prove lifesaving! The Don't Die Out There Deck makes a great gift for anyone who spends time in the outdoors.

Topics are organized by card suit-Diamonds: survival essentials, signals, locating your position, and shelters; Spades: assessing the situation, water, fire, food, and evacuation techniques; Hearts: basic first aid, hypothermia, frostbite, heat illness, and sprains and dislocations; Clubs: CPR, head and spine injuries, fractures, bites and stings, and evacuating the injured

What a great stocking stuffer or addition to your 72 hr kit.

Go to http://whitneyhemsath.shelfreliance.com/holiday-sale to order,

or contact me directly at 714-682-7562 to place your order for you.

12 days of Christmas

Shelf Reliance just announced a 12 days of Christmas Sale that started today at noon (MST). Starting today, they will have a new item each day at a very special sale price that will only last until noon the following day. These items make great gifts, so order a few and get that Christmas list checked off. To order, you can either contact me (714)683-7562 and have me place the order for you, or you can order directly from my website. Just go to: http://whitneyhemsath.shelfreliance.com/holiday-sale. Whenever you order on-line, make sure it says "Whitney Hemsath Store" in the top right corner of your screen. If it has another consultant's name up there, please let me know before you place the order.

And without further ado, today's item is:

This 24 oz. water filtration bottle provides clean drinking water on the go and is the perfect gift or stocking stuffer for the active outdoors man on your list. It is also a terrific addition to any 72 hour kit. It filters up to 100 gallons of drinking water. Designed for travel, camping, and active lifestyles this bottle comes with its own handy tote for attaching to other bags or luggage. A water filtration bottle is essential for emergencies, earthquakes, floods, fires and other catastrophes.

Features:

• Removes offensive tastes, odors, chlorine, silt, sand, and sediment
• Filters up to 100 gallons of water
• Removes harmful microscopic pathogens such as Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Viruses and other cysts and spores
• Comes with a carrying tote
• Keeps dissolved solids such as Aluminum, Asbestos, Cadmium, Chromium, Copper, Lead, Mercury

So order yours before noon tomorrow before the sale price is gone. If you have any questions, just let me know!

December Sale Items and Freeze Dried Celery review!

Thank you and congrats to everyone who ordered through the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale. It was a huge success, and lots of people got some amazing deals. If you're bummed you didn't get a chance to order, have no fear, there are still savings to be had. A new month means new monthly sale items, and here's a link to view all the December Sale Prices. Remember to contact me to place you order and ensure the low prices you see on the sales sheet.

Among the items on sale this month are the new Freeze Dried Zucchini, Freeze Dried Chicken and Roast Beef (those are the actual meats, not the TVPs), Brownie Mix, Butter Powder, Gluten free Quinoa, and one of my personal favorite items, FREEZE DRIED CELERY!

Here's why I love my THRIVE Freeze Dried Celery:


• It's pre-washed and cut so I can just throw in a scoop and go. Adding veggies to my dinners is so easy, I am doing it more often now than I ever did before I found THRIVE.
• FD Celery comes finely diced, so even my picky eaters have a hard time picking it out.

Thrive FD Celery, FD Onions and carrots, straight from can, shown to scale.

• When I had a recipe that calls for celery, I used to just omit it, because I wasn't going to spend the money buying a whole bunch at the store, only to use 1-2 stalks and have the rest go rubbery in my fridge before I could get to it. But THRIVE FD Celery lasts 25 years in an un-opened can, and up to TWO YEARS once I've opened the can. So I just use what I need, put the lid back on, and know it will still be good next time I need it. No more celery being wasted in the Hemsath home!

• The bright green color perks up any meal.

Thrive FD Celery on the left. Dark gross green celery from canned soup on right.

Here are just a few things I've cooked with my FD Celery before.



Chicken Corn Chowder

 


Chicken Salad - photo from the THRIVE cookbook, which recipe I use and love

  

Beef Stroganoff - No, I don't have an actual photo of the meal. But our plates did look pretty much like this afterwards. It was quick, easy, and delicious.



Gluten free Chicken pot pie filling...



...that I baked inside a loaf of whole wheat bread dough.

There are so many meals that FD Celery goes wonderfully in. And for the month of December, a #10 can is only $21.49. So contact me today to order yours.

Sweet Potato Balls with homemade sweet potato orange syrup

I hope you all had a very wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was great, and we are excited for more fun holiday times ahead as the season rolls along. Just a reminder that the Black Friday deals from Shelf Reliance started this morning, and last through the end of the day on the 28th. The prices are the lowest sale prices I've seen, so you really don't want to miss out. Freeze-dried food, shelving, cookbooks, and even consultant start up kits are on sale (if you have ever wanted to become a consultant, its the best time to do so!).  Food storage makes GREAT Christmas gifts, very practical and appreciated in this economy. So look over the Thanksgiving Sale Prices, and then contact me to get your order placed before the sale ends.

In honor of Thanksgiving, I thought I would share with you a recipe I created and took to our family gathering. Now, we had about 50 people there, so I made a pretty big batch. This will make about 35 sweet potato balls, so you may want to halve the recipe to fit your needs.

I started by using my THRIVE Sweet Potatoes. Remember, this item is being discontinued at the end of the year, so if you want some, let me know and we can get you stocked up.

So here's what you'll need to make the Sweet Potato Balls.

6 cups THRIVE Sweet Potatoes
12 cups water
1/2 cup melted butter
6 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
25 large marshmallows
2 1/2 cups crushed cornflakes
********
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
zest of 1/2 a medium orange
3 Tbsp melted butter

Bring 3 quarts (12 cups) of water to boil in a large pot. Once boiling, add 6 cups sweet potatoes. Return to a boil and cook about 15 minutes or until tender. Strain the potatoes out of the water, but do not discard the water. When I did this, I had 9-10 cups of cooked sweet potatoes, and about 1 3/4 cups of starchy sweet potato water.

To make the balls, either puree the potatoes in a blender/food processor, or whip them with a hand mixer. My blender died half way through the puree process (it's been on its deathbed for a while), so I had to finish up with the hand mixer in a large bowl. I still had a few small chunks, but that's fine. THRIVE makes the dices pretty small to begin with, so this part of the recipe is pretty forgiving.

In a large bowl, add 1/2 cup melted butter, 6 Tbsp brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp salt to the sweet potatoes and mix until thoroughly combined. Set aside.

Take your big marshmallows and tear them in half.

Take a scoop of sweet potato mixture and form it around the marshmallow piece to form a ball about 3" in diameter. Do your best to get the marshmallow as centered in the middle as you can, but don't stress about it. Just as long as the marshmallow is completely surrounded by potato filling.

Then you'll roll the ball in the crushed cornflakes and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. These won't melt or expand at all, so you can space them fairly close together. Repeat until all your balls are done. You should have about 35.  You'll notice there's about 15 marshmallow pieces left over. Fear not, it's all part of the plan!

Now, on to the syrup. Yum! Pour your starch water into a sauce pan (you should have about 1 3/4 cup of starch water).

Add 1/3 cup white sugar, 1/3 cup brown sugar and the orange zest. Mix well and turn on high heat. Once it starts boiling, you'll really need to stir it constantly for 15 minutes. The first 6-7 minutes of rapid boiling will look like you're just stirring lots of fast boiling orange bubbles.

But stick with it because around the 7-9 minute mark, the magic happens! It will start to thicken and darken into a lovely deep burnt orange colored syrup. You can reduce the heat a little at this point, but keep stirring for the full 15 minutes. Once its thickened, add 3 Tbsp of butter and stir until all melted and combined. (The butter improves the consistency for pouring over the balls).

Now you can spoon the warm syrup over the top of the balls. You should have enough syrup to cover about 20 of them. Bake in a preheated oven at 325 for 40 minutes. For the last 20 minutes, place the 15 marshmallow pieces on top of the 15 non-syrup covered balls and continue baking. When you're done you'll have a fun twist on an old classic Thanksgiving recipe, with a traditional topping as well as a more elegant topping, to please everyone in your crowd.

When these bake, the marshmallow melts and soaks up into the surrounding sweet potato, leaving a little bit of an empty cavity. If it's too close to the side, your ball may break open when baking and have some marshmallow ooze out, with some minor imploding. But have no fear. Like I said before, its a pretty forgiving recipe. When this happen to a few of mine, I just scooped it up with the spatula, pinched the two ends together, and it held its shape as a ball again.

Also, if you have little ones at home, consider saving aside some cooked sweet potato dices for soft finger foods that are bound to make your baby happy. They sure made a smile appear on my little Evan's face.

Remember, if you want to order sweet potatoes or any other item (like our Thanksgiving sale items!) just call me at 714-683-7562 or e-mail me at: ThriveWithHemsath@gmail.com. Have a great holiday weekend!

Shelf Reliance Black Friday Deals - 4 days to save BIG!!!

Happy Thanksgiving! In the spirit of the season, Shelf Reliance is giving us all something to be grateful for - their thanksgiving sale with prices up to 50% off retail value!

There are tons of food items on sale, for example: freeze-dried peaches and rasberries, pancake mix, cornmeal, tons of veggies, beans, tvps, milk, macaroon mix, seriously tons of items. Take a look at the link below for the flyer with all the details.

They also have Black Friday sales on their Cansolidators, Harvest food storage rotation racks, non-electric wheat grinder, THRIVE cookbook, Emergency kits and more. Whether you're looking for the perfect Christmas gift, or to get a jump start on your New Year's Resolution to be more prepared, eat healthier, or get more organized, Shelf Reliance's 4 day Thanksgiving sale is the perfect answer.

To see everything on sale and the great low prices, look at the Thanksgiving Sale flyer.

Also, if you have ever wanted to become a consultant and earn extra income on your own schedule, all while building your own home store, now is the time to enroll because their consultant starter kits are even on sale! Talk to me if you have questions about enrolling as a consultant.

The sale goes from Nov 25th-Nov 28th. Once you know what you want to order, call me (714-683-7562) or e-mail me (ThriveWithHemsath@gmail.com) and we'll get it taken care of. I can even take your order this week before the sale starts, and will wait to place it until prices go into effect, if that works better for your busy holiday schedule.

Again, happy holidays and I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Reconstituting with steam - an experiment

I love steamed veggies. They taste better than boiled (in my opinion) and they keep more nutrients. So here's some nutrition 101 info for you: The different vitamins and minerals found in fruits and veggies are what give them their color. The general rule is: the richer and deeper the color, the more nutrition it gives you. Perfect example: iceberg lettuce vs. spinach. Iceberg is such a light shade of green, it's almost white on many leaves. Not a lot of nutritional value. Spinach on the other hand is a rich dark green -- leaves, stems, all of it. You guessed it;  that rich, dark green color means it's packed with nutrients. So much so, spinach is considered a "super food". Now, when you boil veggies and drain off the water, you'll notice that the water you drain off is not clear, but rather colored according to whatever you were boiling. So really, when you drain off the color, you're draining off the nutrients. But with steaming, veggies aren't surrounded by water that leeches off their nutrients, so they retain more nutritional value.

Okay, the food science lesson is over. Now on to the science experiment. I wanted to try the FD Broccoli and Cauliflower, and I wanted to steam them in order to reconstitute them. So I got my big pot boiling, placed the steamer insert on it and threw in a few handfuls of veggies. Here's what the Freeze Dried Broccoli and Cauliflower look like straight from the can.

I popped on the lid, and walked away for a few minutes. When I came back to check on it, here is what I found:

The heat cooked the dry product faster than the moisture could reconstitute it. The more I think about it, the more sense it makes: Steaming veggies provides little moisture, but high heat, which heats cooks veggies by heating the moisture in the veggies themselves. Since Freeze Dried veggies have no moisture in themselves, if you cook them, the dry portions will burn quickly.

So the result: DO NOT STEAM YOUR VEGGIES AS A MEANS OF RECONSTITUTION.

So how DO you reconstitute your THRIVE veggies?

You can boil them or let them sit in hot water for 3-5 minutes, or let them sit in cold water, but plan on it taking quite a while longer. This is what Shelf Reliance recommends. Personally, if I'm putting them in a dish that's already cooking, (like my Pot pie filling, or my lentil chili) I just throw them in and let them boil with the rest of the recipe. If I am going to use them separately, like in my mini quiches or on top of pizzas, I just put them in a Tupperware with hot water and let them sit for a few minutes. Here's the great news: when I let them sit in hot water for a few minutes and then drain it off, I typically find that I am not draining off too much water, nor too much color. Because it's freeze dried, it doesn't take long to reconstitute, so there's not much time for the heat of the water to take away any nutrition. I did a second batch of the veggies by throwing them into the boiling water I had used under my steamer. After a few minutes, I drained off the water (practically no color lost), and here's what the FD Broccoli and Cauliflower look like, correctly reconstituted.

I've pureed these in a soup, used them with baked potatoes, and topped them with great cheese sauce (cheese blend and magic mix) that people seemed to love. So I give the Broccoli and Cauliflower an A++, as long as you follow the instructions and reconstitute correctly.

Tropical Morning Muffins

So first of all, I have to do a special shout out to fellow consultant Lindsey Mote. She has an AMAZING blog with tons of great recipes I've been trying lately. One such recipe is her Tropical Morning Muffin Recipe. I've tweaked it a little to my personal tastes, but to see her original recipe, pictures, suggestions, visit her blog. 

This recipe is great because it is moist and healthy with lots of fruits, not a lot of sugar, and NO OIL OR BUTTER! I have tried it with all white flour, and again with all whole wheat flour. I must admit, this was my first time making anything with all whole wheat flour, and it was a bit much for me. There wasn't enough sweetness to balance out the grain for my taste. That said,  the people who usually eat whole wheat everything said they loved them, and my toddler still loved them and they were a life saver of a breakfast before our 8 am church on Sunday morning. I will personally only use all white, or half wheat/half white flour from now on, but let your health and taste preferences be your guide.

The best part of this recipe, aside from the taste, is that you can put everything in a jar and give it as a gift! I raffled one away at a party I did recently, and it was a hit. I have been using the pre-portioned individually sealed apple sauce containers that you can buy for your kid's lunch, because it's the right amount of sauce, and it rests at the top of the jar perfectly, still allowing me to fit on the lid and band to close the jar up. But since Shelf Reliance has just come out with applesauce powder, as soon as I get mine, I plan to use that in this recipe instead. I'll post an update once that happens.

If you want to make this recipe for yourself, just dump everything in a bowl, add 1 cup water, mix and let it rest while you preheat your oven to 350. Grease your muffin tins (1 batch yields 12 regular or 36 mini muffins). Spoon  the batter into the tins, and bake at 350 for 15-22 minutes, depending on the size of your muffin.

If you want to give it as a gift, use a wide mouth quart jar (the taller ones), and start layering items in the order listed below, with flour first and apple sauce last. Add a cute bow, e-mail me for a copy of the label to include, stick it on, and voila! Your thanksgiving hostess will love it, and your gift will ensure you are invited back for many a turkey in years to come.

So without further ado, here's the recipe for my version of Lindsey's Tropical Morning Muffins:

1c Thrive White Flour (or Whole Wheat Flour)
1/4c Thrive Brown Sugar
1T Thrive Whole Egg Powder
1t Thrive Baking Powder
1/4t Thrive Baking Soda
1/4t Thrive Salt
1/4c Thrive Maroon Cookie Mix
1/2c Thrive Pineapple Chunks
1/4c Thrive Mangoes
1/4c Thrive Banana Slices

1/2 cup of applesauce (in sealed container).

Just add 1 cup of water, mix it all together, bake in greased tins at 350 for 15-22 minutes, and enjoy!

Nov. 3rd - New Items Now Available for Ordering!

The new fruits and veggies, and all the new emergency supply items are now available for ordering! Hooray! To see a list of the 30 new products, click here.  To place and order and get the best pricing, just contact me.

The November specials are also available for ordering, and for those on the Q, your November Q-pon is for the gluten free Cornmeal.  To order, simply add the cornmeal to your November Q Shipment and the low price will show in your Q. If you're not on the Q and want to have your food storage shipped to you on a monthly basis, within a budget you set, just contact me and we'll get you set up right away. If we set your Q up before Thanksgiving, you will qualify for free Platinum level membership, which means in addition to Q-pons like these each month, you'll also get recipes, reward points for free products, and occasional free gifts sent to you. So what are you waiting for?

Brand new items - so exciting!

So Shelf Reliance just announced over 30 new items that will be on sale effective November 3rd. To see the full listing of items and prices, click here. There are five new  fruits and veggies to replace the ones they are discontinuing, including Freeze Dried Green Bell Peppers, FD Tomato dices, FD Zucchini, Applesauce
Powder, and FD Red Grapes. 

There's also a great new under the bed rotation rack for #10 cans, and tons of emergency items, including a way cool generator, baking pans for the Sun Oven, and so much more. 

They've also announced what the November Specials will be. The October Specials are currently in effect until November 1st, then these specials will kick in. Raspberries, orange yogurt, potato chunks.. lots of good stuff. To get a sneak peek at the November specials, click here.

Additionally, all their pantry cans will be available in 10 packs, AND they are offering bucket sizes of Instant Milk, Powdered Milk, Chicken TVP and Beef TVP. All effective November 3rd.

So take a look at all the new items and new specials, and let me know what you want to order so I can get you the lowest price.

Monthly Specials and disconitnued items

Hello friends. Shelf Reliance has changed the way they do their special deals lately. Instead of seasonal specials, they are now doing monthly specials. I have added a link to the monthly specials ad under the "Links to Help You Thrive" section at the top of the right margin of this blog. I will update that link each month so you know what deals are going on. There's still a few days left to order the October Specials, which are pictured below, so if you're interested, contact me and let me know ASAP so I can get that order placed for you. (The deals are all for #10 cans).

Also, Shelf Reliance has announced that they will be discontinuing the following items.

• Freeze Dried Mandarins - effective immediately. Unstable crop productions have limited supply, so to ensure they can fulfill orders already placed, they are no longer taking any orders for the Mandarins. They will hopefully bring this item back when possible, and will keep us posted.

Effective December 31st, 2011 no more orders will be taken for these four items (and orders will only be filled as long as current supplies last).

• Dehydrated Banana Chips
• Dehydrated Pineapple
• Dehydrated Mixed Bell Peppers
• Dehydrated Sweet Potatoes

Personally, I'm pretty bummed about the bell peppers, so I'm stocking up. On the upside though, they did say they have a few new fruits and vegetables they are adding to the line up in early November. So as soon as they release what those are, I will let you know.

So there's your updates. See the October Specials below, and like I said, if you want to get in on any of those deals, just let me know by Monday the 31st. Thanks!

Package sale and a Zumbathon!

I have been rounding up all kinds of AWESOME recipes that I can't wait to try out and show you. It might be a few days until my next recipe post though, because I am going to be busy preparing for my vendor booth at a ZUMBATHON this Saturday. for those of you who don't know what Zumba is, its the latest craze in cardio dance. It's the Jazzercise of this generation. Lots of Latin dance moves, but there are some swing, belly dance, hip hop, etc as well. It's so much fun, and such a good workout. This Zumbathon is a fundraiser to benefit a great Zumba instructor and young mother named Valerie, who is fighting cancer. So anyone who is in the East Valley area, please come to the Zumbathon. Cost is $10 pre-sale or $15 at the door. Daycare is provided, for $2 a child (not per hour, just $2 for the whole time!). There will be $2 raffle tickets, (I'm raffling off some THRIVE food!) and it is going to be a great time. Here's the specific info:

Saturday Oct. 22nd

10am-1pm

Barney Family Sports Complex

22050 E. Queen Creek Rd

Queen Creek, AZ 85142

So if you're coming to the Zumbathon, please stop by and see me in the back. I'll be the one doing the cha-cha with my freeze-dried veggies.

Meanwhile, if you want to order your own THRIVE food so you can make some of the great recipes I've posted (and will get back into posting for next week!), Shelf Reliance has a fantastic deal going on right now.

It's the three month food and water package (Catalog ID #25357). The cost is $945.19 (regularly $1326.99) plus tax and shipping. (If you order, we can set you up as the host for an on-line party and get you another $94 in free product) It will be on sale through November 14th. Package contents include the following #10 cans:

• 6 Hard White Winter Wheat
• 4 Potato Chunks
• 6 Elbow Macaroni
• 6 Six Grain Pancake Mix
• 3 Cornmeal
• 3 Quick Oats
• 6 Instant White Rice
• 6 Sweet Corn
• 6 Green Peas
• 3 Broccoli – Freeze Dried
• 3 Raspberries – Freeze Dried
• 2 Strawberries – Freeze Dried
• 6 Apple Chips
• 3 Carrot Dices
• 3 Mixed Bell Pepper
• 3 Potato Beads
• 6 Non-Fat Powdered Milk
• 4 Chocolate Drink Mix
• 2 Cheddar Blend
• 2 Bacon TVP
• 2 Beef TVP
• 2 Chicken TVP
• 2 Taco TVP
• 2 Pinto Beans
• 2 Black Beans
• Kidney Beans
• Whole Eggs
• THRIVE™ Orange Drink
• Deluxe Wheat Grinder
• 55 Gallon Water Container
• Water Pump
• Bung Wrench - doubles as a gas shutoff tool
• Water Treatment Solution

As you can see, this package has a good variety of some of the top THRIVE items. If you are interested in ordering one, and getting the additional $94 in free product, contact me at ThriveWithHemsath@gmail.com so I can set it all up for you.

Creamy Beef sauce and our giveaway winner...

The winner of our giveaway who will be receiving a free pouch of THRIVE freeze-dried Strawberries is.... Gina B. of San Tan Valley. Congratulations!

But if you didn't win, (or didn't enter) the giveaway, you can still be a winner with this recipe for creamy beef sauce using the magic mix I blogged about last time.

Creamy Beef Sauce
1/4 cup magic mix
1/2 cup - 3/4 cup water
2 tsp Beef Bouillon (THRIVE sells a great one)
1/2 tsp dried Parsley

Whisk together the magic mix, seasonings, and water in a saucepan. I started with 1/2 cup water, and like I've mentioned before with the magic mix, it thickens beautifully while it cooks. However, the sauce was done before the Salisbury steaks were, so the sauce thickened even more as it cooled. It was a little too thick for what I wanted, so I just added an extra 1/4 cup water, turned the heat on again, and it worked great. Magic mix is very forgiving that way.  So adjust the water according to your preference.

For dinner, we made some Salisbury steaks, topped them with a blanket of caramelized onions, and then this creamy beef sauce. Way better than just a brown gravy. This sauce TOTALLY made the meal. Thanks again THRIVE for making this magic mix sauce possible!

Magic Mix and White Sauce 101

We are long overdue for a recipe post, and today we're getting one of my favorites. Before I jump right into it though, let me remind you that there's only 4 days left to enter the FREE giveaway, and so far only 2 people have entered. So give Stephanie and Jennie a run for their money (that's just an expression...it is really FREE to enter) by visiting the GIVEAWAY Post and getting yourself entered! Remember you must leave a separate comment for each entry.

And now for our recipe. I am a big fan of the basic white sauce (also known as a Roux sauce for the more culinary-inclined).  To make a basic white sauce:

1. Add equal parts melted fat (shortening, butter, oil, etc) and flour in a sauce pan. This will form a roux, essentially a ball of flour and fat.
2. Slowly add milk and the roux dissolves into your liquid, thickening the liquid. (Don't add the milk all at once or you're more likely to get lumps).
3. Continue adding milk (or other liquid) until the sauce is at your desired consistency.
4. Add other ingredients and seasonings to turn into whatever dish you're working on.

Simple enough, and oh so versatile. I use this in making all my cream soups (chicken corn chowder, cream of cauliflower/broccoli, etc), in making my pot pie gravy filling, my cheese sauce for mac and cheese, and I know you can make custards and other desserts with it as well. So this is one tool you definitely want in your cooking arsenal. And the best news is, you can do it COMPLETELY with food storage! THRIVE sells butter powder, powdered milk, and flour. Everything you need to make your basic white sauce. Just add water and away you go. Now, this isn't a Whitney Hemsath original idea... it's been around for quite a while under the name of "Magic Mix".  But thanks to THRIVE, you can make your own Magic Mix at home.

Here is the basic ratio for Magic Mix:

1 part THRIVE butter powder
1 part THRIVE flour
2 parts THRIVE powdered milk (Non-Instant)

Many people love to mix up the above ingredients into a big batch of Magic Mix, keep it in their pantry, and then use it as needed in their favorite recipes. If you do that, I suggest 1 cup butter powder, 1 cup flour, 2 cups powdered milk. You'll wind up with 4 cups of Magic mix to use in your favorite recipes.

If you've pre-made your magic mix, for a white sauce you'll simply need 1 part magic mix to 2 parts water. Whisk them together in a sauce pan, removing all lumps, and it will thicken as it cooks.

If you don't have magic mix in bulk and want just a single serving white sauce recipe, here you go:
1 Tbsp THRIVE butter powder
1 Tbsp THRIVE flour
2 Tbsp THRIVE powdered milk (Non-Instant)
1/2 cup water.

Mix the dry ingredients in a saucepan with a whisk. Whisk in water, and cook over medium heat. Sauce will thicken as it cooks, and this will yield about 1/2 cup of white sauce. I love this recipe for white sauce. I added my liquid all at once, it only took about 15 seconds of whisking to get rid of any lumps, and in 3-4 minutes it was thick and warm and wonderfully done. I made it today for lunch, and decided to add:

• 1 Tbsp light cream cheese
• 1 Tbsp Parmesan
• 1.5 Tbsp THRIVE FD Spinach
• Garlic Salt to taste

Cooked it in the pan till the cream cheese was melted and the spinach had reconstituted. Poured it on top of some leftover noodles, and here was my lunch. The sauce could probably have served two people, but I love me some alfredo, so I ate it all myself. I will probably add more Parmesan next time, because everything tastes better with more cheese. But it was yummy and very filling as is.

More "magic mix" recipes to come in the future, so order your Butter Powder and Powdered Milk now by visiting www.WhitneyHemsath.ShelfReliance.com or by contacting me directly for the lowest prices.

Time for a GIVEAWAY!!!

*** Update as of 9/28/11 - Any previously attempted comments have not posted. I apologize for the inconvenience.  I have fixed the issues, and comments are publishing now, but unfortunately, if you tried to enter before, even if it seemed it went through, it didn't and you need to enter again. To give everyone enough time to enter, I'm extending the deadline until October 10th. Thanks for understanding, and good luck to all who enter.***

Woohoo! I've reached 1,000 hits on my blog, which means it's time for a giveaway. I've got a pouch of Freeze Dried Strawberries for the lucky winner.

 There are a few ways you can get an entry. And if you use all five ways, you can get up to five entries.

1- Post a comment on my blog about which THRIVE item you love the most and why. If you haven't tried any of the items yet, you can post about which item you are most interested in trying and why.

2- Get a friend to join either my blog as a follower or my facebook group. Leave a comment as to who you referred and if they joined the blog or the group.

3-Place an order for any Shelf Reliance Products (or sign up for the Q) through me as a consultant. Leave a comment stating that you ordered.

4- Leave a comment with a recipe your family enjoys that contains ingredients that could potentially be substituted with THRIVE foods. (check out the digital catalog link in the top right corner of this blog for a list of THRIVE foods)

5- Post a link to my blog and some positive recommendations on your own facebook profile or blog for your friends to see. Leave a comment stating which you did and what your blog address or facebook name is so I can go check it out.

*       *      *      *      *

So there you have it. Five ways to earn up to five entries. You have until the end of the month to get your entries in. Please leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry. I will be using random.org to generate the winner and each comment will be assigned its own number. I will be selecting the winner October 1st. Good luck everyone!

FREE GIVEAWAY TAKE 2- TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES RESOLVED

Okay friends. I thought it was pretty weird that I was offering to give away free stuff, and no one was bothering to enter the giveaway. Then I heard from a few of you that you had tried to enter, and something was going wrong with the comments publishing to the site. Thanks to my great friend Jennie (she has a wonderful recipe blog, http://mommyskitchencreations.blogspot.com/), the problem has been resolved. Comments are now showing up!

So what this means is if you have previously tried to enter, even if it says it published, it didn't. So you will need to leave a new comment in order to get your shot at winning. And remember, you can leave one comment per each of the 5 ways to enter. I apologize for the inconvenience. To allow everyone more time, I am going to extend the deadline to October 10th.  Just to recap, here are the ways to enter:

1- Post a comment on my blog about which THRIVE item you love the most and why. If you haven't tried any of the items yet, you can post about which item you are most interested in trying and why.

2- Get a friend to join either my blog as a follower or my facebook group. Leave a comment as to who you referred and if they joined the blog or the group.

3-Place an order for any Shelf Reliance Products (or sign up for the Q) through me as a consultant. Leave a comment stating that you ordered.

4- Leave a comment with a recipe your family enjoys that contains ingredients that could potentially be substituted with THRIVE foods. (check out the digital catalog link in the top right corner of this blog for a list of THRIVE foods)

5- Post a link to my blog and some positive recommendations on your own facebook profile or blog for your friends to see. Leave a comment stating which you did and what your blog address or facebook name is so I can go check it

And the winner will receive a FREE Pouch of FD Strawberries. So enter away. Sorry again for my technical expertise. Good luck to everyone entering!

Get Platinum Membership FREE - Month of September only

I have posted in the past about the wonderful Q program that Shelf Reliance offers. For those of you who haven't read about it yet, the Q program is where you can have the system help you create a balance food storage plan based on your family size, for a duration of your choosing, and all the items and quantities in the plan are fully customizable. Then, instead of paying for the plan all at once, you simply reallocate a portion of your normal grocery budget to buy your THRIVE foods, and whatever monthly budget you choose, the system will select items (or you can do it manually) to send to you each month, making sure that with tax and shipping, you never go over the budget that YOU determined. It's a great way to build your home store over time. And the food comes Fed-Ex straight to your door. It truly is a wonderful program.

Now all of the above is just the basic Q level of membership. But if you are the Platinum level of membership, you get all that plus some really amazing perks. Before I list off all the perks, let me just say that while the Platinum level normally has a sign up and annual renewal fee, ANYONE who lets me sign them up for the Q in the month of September, NO MATTER WHAT THEIR MONTHLY BUDGET IS, will qualify for Platinum membership FREE FOR LIFE. No sign up fees, no renewal fees, nothing. Just the perks. And here's what some of those perks are:

You'll notice that occasionally they send gifts. Here's an example of the gift Platinum members received recently. It's an adjustable measuring spoon, set of measuring cups, and a strainer. All for free, just to say thanks for being a Platinum member.

 

You'll also notice it says you get occasional Q-pons. Each month there is a special deal on a particular item that only Q members qualify for, and we receive this Q-pon emailed directly to us. People ordering through parties can't get this deal. In was Taco TVP in July and Elbow Macaroni in August. Right now it's FD Mushrooms.  I love getting bonus deals! 

We also get occasional shipping discounts, and special recipes,  such as the one below that was e-mailed out in August.

The last perk is my personal favorite: REWARD POINTS!!! For every dollar you spend on your Q as a platinum member, you earn 1 point. 500 points gets you $15 in free product. FREE FOOD! Who doesn't love that?

Normally, you'd have to pay for a sign up or renewal fee to get these benefits, but this month, I can secure those benefits for ANYONE who signs up for the Q, no matter how big or small their budget is, all for FREE. And that is free, for life. No renewal fees, ever. Just additional benefits. So if you're interested in getting set up on the Q or learning more about, just let me know.

Product Review: Freeze Dried Mushrooms

The 5 day sale is officially over. Congrats to everyone who got their orders in on time to take advantage of those great savings. There are still plenty of other deals going on right now, and all the current prices are found in the Fall Price list, which link is available on the right hand side of this blog under "Links to help you thrive".

One of the great deals right now, especially for Platinum Q Club members, are the Freeze-dried Mushrooms. They are this month's Q-pon, and for Q members, they are only $15.37. For everyone else who places a one time order through me, they are only $18.49. (To learn more about joining the Q club, just send me an e-mail or leave a comment on this post).

Now, let me preface this by saying that personally, I hate mushrooms. So this review is not on the food itself, because in my opinion, mushrooms, whether fresh or freeze-dried, are still a fungus and I don't care for them at all. Now, that being said, some people, such as my sweet hubby, LOVE mushrooms. But poor fungus-lovin' guy never gets to eat them, because I never buy them. Sure, I could buy a pack and only put some in half the recipe, but then the rest of the pack would go bad before we got to use it. Not to mention, I would have to wash and cut the mushrooms, and given the whole fungus thing, that's never gonna happen.

I saw THRIVE had some freeze dried Mushroom Pieces, however, and sympathetically ordered a big can for my hubby. They come pre-washed and cut, and since they will last 18 months in an OPENED can, I can use as little an amount as I want without worrying the rest will go bad and I'll have wasted my money.

Now my hubby gets to enjoy his mushrooms, and I get to enjoy putting a smile on my hubby's face without having to do much at all. Here's just how little I had to do the other night.

Get a microwave-safe dish and fill it with water. Stick it in the microwave for 2 minutes. Scoop out desired amount of mushrooms from the can, stir them into the hot water, put the lid on, let rest for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, drain off the water and here's what you get. He could have eaten them plain like this, but during those 5 minutes, I had been caramelizing some onions, so I pulled out half of the onions for me and threw these mushrooms in with his half to saute and pick up a bit of that caramelized flavor.

Then I threw them on his burger with some Swiss cheese and A1 sauce. Just look at that picture. You can bet it made him happy. So thank you THRIVE, yet again, for bringing smiles to my home.

Hurry before the prices go up!

If you have ever thought about placing an order, NOW is the time to do it. Not only do you get the extra 5% savings on all food and shelves if you order before the end of the day on Monday September 5th, but if you wait until September 6th, the new fall prices are kicking in. I've had a chance to pre-view the fall price list, and I can tell you that while a few things are going down from their summer price (still won't be as good a deal as the extra 5% off sale), and many are staying the same, there are still quite a few prices that are going up. The price of food is on the rise EVERYWHERE, and I can't say that Shelf Reliance is an exception to that rule. But what I can say is that the food you buy now through Shelf Reliance will last you years and years, which makes it a GREAT investment. Buy your long term food storage now, because as the price of food increases, so does the value of your investment. And you're not only buying a food investment, you're buying peace of mind as well. Whatever emergency comes, you'll be able to take care of your family.

To make the wisest investment, place your order before the end of the day on Monday September 5th and take advantage of the lowest prices before the sale ends. Here's a link again to the current sale prices:

http://www.shelfreliance.com/pdf/parties/09-01-2011-5-Day-Sale-Price-List2.pdf

I will be out and about on Monday, so please utilize my cell phone (714-683-7562) and leave me a message if you need to place your order, or if you want to let me know that you e-mailed your order to me at ThriveWithHemsath@gmail.com.

Grand Opening 5 Day Sale - EVERYTHING'S on sale (including new gluten free grains!)

Shelf Reliance just opened a new facility today in American Fork, UT, and to celebrate, they've discounted ALL their food and shelving units. These prices are only valid through September 5th, so if you've been thinking about ordering, now's the time to do it! These sale prices are on top of the regular Q club discounted price. Have a look and make a list of what you've been wanting to order, then give me a call (714-683-7562) or shoot me an e-mail (ThriveWithHemsath@gmail.com) and we'll get that order placed before the sale ends.

Here's the price list - the very last column is your 5 day sale price, so that's the one to pay attention to: http://www.shelfreliance.com/pdf/parties/09-01-2011-5-Day-Sale-Price-List.pdf

Also in conjunction with the Grand Opening, Shelf Reliance has come out with some new products they're releasing, including new drink mixes, GLUTEN FREE grains, and a brand new Food Rotation System that fits under the bed.

Drink Mixes

All drink mixes come in pouch, pantry can and #10 can sizes. They are vitamin fortified with natural flavoring and sweeteners. Price quoted is the 5 day sale price for a #10 can.

• Fruit Punch Performance - $17.99
• Mango Passion - $20.99
• Melon Berry Burst - $20.89
• Orange Bliss - $17.79
• Orchard Apple - $17.59
• Simply Peach - $16.89

Gluten Free Grains

All gluten free products will be available in buckets, #10 cans, pantry cans, and pouches (cornmeal does not come in a pouch). Price quoted is the 5 day sale price for a #10 can.

• Quinoa - $24.69
• Amaranth - $11.00
• Millet - $9.39
• Rice Flour - $7.39
• Cornmeal - $7.40

And last, but certainly  not least, is the Harvest Under the Bed food rotation unit. At 36" wide, 24.5" deep and only 10.5" tall, this shelving unit is designed to rotate Pantry size or smaller cans, even in the smallest nook you have. This is perfect for everyone who doesn't think they have any space to store their food storage. For the next five days, it's on sale for only $75.99.

So hurry and place your order before these great deals end! If you have any questions at all, don't hesitate to ask!