Food-Storage Friendly Jelly Fruit Snacks!

Inspired by This Recipe at Six Sister's Stuff.

Kids LOVE fruit snacks! But they are so full of preservatives and yuck! They are also not very shelf stable. Don't worry! A Healthy version of these delicious snacks are very easy to make at home with shelf stable ingredients!

You Will Need:

Ingredients:

3 Envelopes unflavored gelatin

1/3 Cup Juice, Thrive Drink Mix (Or 1/3 C Water + other flavoring)

Honey, Stevia, or other sweetener (Optional)

Cornstarch (Optional)

Molds

Method:

Combine juice, sweetener, and gelatin in sauce pan over medium heat. Stir until well dissolved. Spoon warm gelatin mixture into molds. Allow to sit (does NOT need refrigeration) at least 20 minutes. Turn jelly snacks out of molds. Dust with cornstarch to prevent snacks from sticking together.

Food Storage friendly Homemade 'Speghetti Os'

Who doesn't love comfort foods like Spaghetti O's? I want my food storage full of delicious comfort foods. In hard times, when our bodies may already be under stress, the last thing I want to feed my family is less than yummy foods. Food can be very healing and comforting. But, unfortunately many 'comfort foods' are full of preservatives and junk! The solution? Easy homemade alternatives! You and your kiddos will love this delicious and much more nutritious and cost effective alternative to store bought pasta and sauce!

This recipe is truly so easy its nearly criminal!

You will need

 1 cup small pasta (You could also use homemade a sprouted or sourdoughs pasta)

2 tbs Olive Oil

2 Garlic Cloves

1 tbs Thrive Bell Peppers

1 Pinch crushed red pepper

1 1/2 + 2C water 

(Plus water for cooking pasta)

2/3 + 1 tbs C Thrive Tomato Powder

1/2 C Magic Mix

1 tbs Stevia or Raw Brown Sugar or Sugar

Seasoning to Taste

1 C shredded cheese (optional)

Method:

Cook your pasta according to package instructions. While your past is cooking, In another pan, Add Olive oil, Bell Peppers, Crushed Pepper and garlic. Cook over medium heat about 30 second or until fragrant. In a bowl, Mix 2/3C tomato powder with 2c water. (To make tomato sauce) Add this to your pan. Add 1 heaping tbs tomato powder. Add magic Mix, remaining water, stevia and seasonings. You may need a whisk to fully incorporate magic mix. Stir over medium heat. For thinner soup, use less magic mix, for thicker, use more. When all ingredients are mixed well, simmer on low for about 10 min. You may also add 1 C of shredded Cheese stir until melted. Drain pasta. Stir Pasta into sauce and serve. (If some in your family like their's more soupy than others, you can place pasta into bowls and ladle desired amount of sauce onto noodles.)

 This recipe freezes great! You can double the recipe and freeze into portion sizes to be reheated on the stove!

I'm thinking of trying to make this into an all-in-one mix! I'll let you know how it turn out!

~Happy Eating~

The Home Store & Tawny's Chicken Enchiladas

For me, my Home Store is all about saving me time and money while allowing me to feed my family healthier meals. Fuel Prices are insane. So, if I have to go to town to buy an item for a recipe, I am not saving time or money. By keeping shelf stable foods in my pantry, I am able to try lots of new recipes without needing special trips for specific items.

I have learned, you MUST be adaptive in your cooking. It is not just about following a recipe. It's about looking at what *you* have available and making it work. Adjust your recipes. Make them work for your family's taste. Make it fit your budget. Use what you already have in your kitchen. This can be an art & practice makes perfect. I started playing around with the idea of 'adaptive recipes' when I was in High School and cooked dinner for our family most week nights. I turned everything into a casserole. Some were amazing. Some were 'experiments'. Either way, my family got tired of casseroles! ;) The point is, use what you have. Don't have Cream of Chicken soup? Use Cream of Mushroom or make your own condensed soup with Magic Mix. Don't have sour cream? Try cream cheese or Thrive Sour Cream powder. Sometimes cream is a good substitute. Be flexible. That is what the Home Store is all about!

Last night I was hungry for some chicken enchiladas! I haven't been grocery shopping in over a month. We have been super busy helping my mom out and visiting the hospital. I was determined to cook with what I already had in my kitchen and home store. I looked over my mom's enchilada recipe. I looked at a recipe from my dear friend Rena. With these recipes in mind, I started scouting my kitchen for ingredients. I am posting my recipe bellow. Feel free to spice it up a bit! We have some who love spicy and those who don't so I always offer Taco Sauce & Jalapeno Peppers on the side. Chopped Jalapenos or green Chilli Peppers would be amazing in the sauce! Yummy! Adjust the recipe to whatever you have on hand!!

Tawny's Chicken Enchilada

Filling:

1 cup Thrive Chicken TVP

1/2 cup Thrive Freeze Dried Chicken

1/4 cup Thrive Bell Peppers

1/2 cup Thrive Onions (Freeze Dried or dehydrated)

2 Tablespoons Chopped Garlic

1/2 Large Onion (chopped)

3 Cups Water

Sauce

1 cup Magic Mix

1 chicken bullion cube

3/4 cup Water

1 cup Thrive Instant Milk (prepared)

1/2 cup Sour Cream

1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Seasoning to Taste

 Tortillas

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Chicken enchilada Filling:

Start by bring your water to a boil. Add Chicken TVP, Freeze Dried Chicken, bell peppers, onion, and garlic. Allow to boil until all Thrive items are reconstituted and fresh onion becomes soft. Add Salt and Pepper to taste.

Sauce:

Prepare Magic Mix as if you are making a condensed soup substitute: in medium sauce pan, bring water to boil. Add bullion cube to make 'broth'. Over low heat, slowly add in magic mix and stir continuously. Mix will become very thick. Season to taste. (You may replace this with one can condensed soup) Over low Heat, combine milk to 'condensed soup' mixture. continuously stirring, add sour cream. Add in cheese. continue to stir until well combined. Season to taste.

Preparation:

Warm corn tortillas in oil. Fill tortillas with chicken filling mixture and cheese. Roll and place in casserole dish. Repeat until dish is full. Pour sauce over rolled tortillas. Using a spoon, spread sauce making sure all tortillas are well covered. sprinkle cheese and bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until sauce begins to bubble. Serve warm.

If you have extra Chicken mixture left, save it for quesadillas the next day! Yummy!

Chicken Filling

Sauce

Fill The Tortillas with Goodies

Ready for Sauce

Time For The Oven

All Done

Eat Up

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