Don’t Just Survive—THRIVE!

Have you ever shopped at the pink shack at one end of town only to find that you (literally) missed the boat and they’re all out of eggs and butter, then hiked over to the other end to the blue shack to find that all they have left is a limited selection of canned goods and some frozen mystery meat? Unless you’ve been to Staniel Cay in the Bahamas, chances are that you just got in your car and went to the local grocery and found whatever you needed. But if you do relate to the island shopping experience, you just accept that it’s part of the “adventure” and you’ll be substituting canned for fresh ‘till the boat comes in. For the landlubbers, all it takes to mimic the island grocery is a flood, hurricane or a big snowstorm—the shelves are wiped clean in just a few hours and won’t be restocked for many days. Unless you store large amounts of whole grains or canned goods, you’re going to be up a creek without breakfast, lunch or dinner!

Unless you are a serious “Prepper,” you have only a few days’ worth of few stored in your home, and what you have is probably frozen, dried or canned. I recently discovered that a friend of mine here in the Keys has a pantry full of freeze dried whole foods and when she brought some samples to Homeschool PE, I was amazed at the taste and freshness of food that has a shelf life of 25 years (unopened)! Amanda showed me the Shelf Reliance catalogue full of THRIVE Foods and when I found out she actually sells it, I decided to host a party in the marina so the other boaters around here could share my excitement at finding “the missing link” in our provisioning chain.

We carry about 200 pounds of grain on Take Two, which we grind in small batches (Oat Groats, 7-Grain Mix, Hard Red/White Wheat Berries for bread, and Soft Wheat Berries for pancakes, tortillas, and other baking). When we take long trips, we cram the freezer full of quality meats, and the auxiliary fridge full of dairy items and fresh produce and the canned goods locker full of beans, fruits and veggies. In addition, we carry dried fruits, beans, milk, pasta and rice. It doesn’t take long for things like eggs and milk to run out, and fresh produce doesn’t make it past week two. And boy, do I hate eating out of cans. Aside from sodium content, taste, and nutrient loss, there’s the worry of toxins in the cans or can linings themselves. And then you have cans filling up the trash. So how do we make sure we get good protein and enough fruits and veggies for long-term travel? That was a real problem, until now! We just put together a big Shelf Reliance order so we can try a little of everything, then slowly replace all our canned goods with freeze-dried THRIVE food.

The party at the Tiki was a great success. We sampled food straight from the cans—freeze dried strawberries, pineapple, bananas, sweet corn and vanilla yogurt bites. We served some easy recipes using freeze-dried ingredients, like spinach dip and chicken salad. We even cooked up a warm dish (wild rice with mushrooms and chicken) and served a dessert (granola dessert bar with berry compote). The products are well-labeled, color-coded, and easy to use. But it’s the taste that sells—one bite and you’re hooked. I have done some experiments on my own and discovered that freeze dried eggs make a great mayonnaise (who knew?) and work well as a substitute in recipes when you run out of the real thing. I made some crepes this morning for breakfast that were a revelation!

Whether, like Amanda, you live in a place with seasonal storms and “one road in and one road out,” or, like me, you live on a boat and need to carry your own grocery store with you, or maybe you love to camp and want to pack convenient and easy meals—I think you too might get excited about THRIVE foods. Right now, since I had the party this past week, if you want to give freeze dried a try, you can take advantage of event pricing until the end of February. I would encourage you to go to the website
www.amandab.shelfreliance.com and take a look at the catalogue. If you like what you see, you can order by calling Amanda (use the Contact Us form to request her #) and just mention that Tanya sent you her way.

Why just survive when you can THRIVE? Ten reasons to give it a try:

1. Lightweight and Easy to Store
2. Long Shelf Life
3. Whole Foods with Unadulterated Ingredients
4. Nutrient Retention
5. Great, Fresh Taste
6. No Toxic Can-Linings
7. Convenient and Easy to Use in Recipes
8. Shop From Home and Ship to Your Door
9. Cost Effectiveness and Reduced Waste
10. Go Shopping In Your Own Pantry for Fresh-Tasting Ingredients like Meat, Produce, and Dairy (Never run out of eggs again!)