Saturday, October 29, 2011

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.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

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!






Thursday, October 20, 2011

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.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

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!


Thursday, October 6, 2011

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.