Meal Kits!

 Freezer Cooking Revamped!!

School is in full swing. This mean we are all lacking one important thing.. TIME!

I am a BIG fan of once-a-month cooking (OMAC, Freezer cooking, it goes by many names!). I love being able to pull something from my freezer and know that it is wholesome and healthy and a great meal for my family! I also love how EASY it is! At the end of a long day, I just do NOT have the time or energy to prepare a healthy meal, but I am determined to save my family time and money with out sacrificing health. OMAC was my solution. However, through many hard lessons, I have learned that the freezer can much to easily come unplugged, or go out. The freezer isn't really a stable place to store my 'investment' of prepared meals for my family. 

My Friends, I have found a better solution!! The 'Meal Kit'! A shelf stable, healthy, prepared meal!! Think boxed meal (You know, of the 'helper' variety!) Only MUCH MUCH cheaper and MUCH MUCH more healthy!! You can make a meal kit out of just about any recipe. And Meal Kits are Shelf Stable!! No more worrying about thawing dinner or lost assets in a broken Freezer!!

This week I was measuring out ingredients and putting them in my bread machine. This task always seems SO TEDIOUS to me! (Tedious enough to make me stare longingly at bread machine mixes at the grocery store) I decided I would long for bread machine mixes no more! I measured all my ingredients (except yeast) and put in Ziploc baggies and printed a label! Instant bread machine bread mix!! I simple add my water, dump the mix, add yeast, and push go! I save my baggies to reuse so there is no waste! I love it!! 

My 'bread machine bread mix' idea inspired me to start preparing lots of goodies and meal ideas! I now have 'condensed soup mix' (made with magic mix) ready for adding water (saves a ton on canned condensed soup!) I even have meals ready to go into my crock pot! I love how easy 'meal kits' have made making Greek Spinach!In a small bag I have the rice, spinach, and seasonings ready to be poured into boiling water and olive oil! When the rice is fluffy I add a can of tomatoes (housed along side the smaller bag in the larger bag)! Simple and easy!

On a busy day, I grab a couple bags from the pantry, add water, heat and eat! This could not get any better!

Best of all, I will NEVER spend an entire day cooking again! But we will have great food the is ready to heat and eat!

Prepared in 1 hour: 1 can Magic Mix, 1 Can Helper Mix, 7 White-Wheat Mixes, 4 Corn Bread mixes, 2 'cans' condensed soup mix, 1 Cowboy Bean Mix, 4 Greek Spinach Mixes, 2 Noodle Helper Mixes (Including Beef TVP), 1 Pioneer Chili Mix, 2 Creamy Chicken Soup Mixes, And More

To Make Meal Kit:

• Pick a few of your family's favorite recipes

• Replace perishable ingredients Thrive Ingredients (Eggs, Milk, ect)

• You May wish to consider replacing canned vegetables with Thrive Freeze Dried Vegetable to make dish more nutritious

• You May wish to replace meat in dish with TVP or Freeze Dried meats

• Place ingredients in Ziploc bags, empty Thrive cans, Mason jars or other storage containers

include preparation instructions

You now have meal kits ready to go!

Enjoy!

Recipe: Homemade 'Helper' Recipe

We love easy around here. And we have all been brain washed into believing those boxed 'helper' recipes are as easy as it gets.

With a whopping 110 Calories in the mix alone and a lengthy list of unhealthy ingredients and preservative, there must be a better way!

Making homemade hamburger helper could not be easier!! You make up a basic 'mix' and add noodles and meat as you see fit. You could easily layer noodles, mix and spice into mason jars to give as gifts or as a quick meal. With options such as freeze dried meats or TVP, quick 'helper' style meals have never been easier!!

Homemade 'Helper' Mix

• 1 1/4 tsp. black pepper


• 1 Tbs. garlic powder


• 2 Tbs. dried parsley


• 1/3 cup Thrive Freeze Dried Onion


• 1 Tbs. salt


• 1 2/3 cup Thrive Powdered milk


• 3 1/2 Tbs. Thrive beef bouillon

Mix this all up and store in a glass jar or other sealed container.

Use 1/2 cup for each pound of ground meat.

The Nutrition Info for this basic mix comes to about the following: 41 Calories, less than 1g of fat
Basic Preparation:

• 1 pound meat (Thrive Freeze Dried Beef, Thrive Beef TVP, or seasoned browned ground beef)


• 1/2 cup of  'helper' mix (above)


• 1 to 2 cups noodles (elbow macaroni for example)


• 1 1/2 to 3 cups water

Stir in meat, dry mix, then add 2 cups hot water and 2 cups noodles. You can add more or less water and noodles, proportionately, depending on much you need to stretch that pound of beef. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer, cover, and cook until noodles are tender, about 20 minutes.

This Recipe is easily adaptable to what you have on hand and what you are hungry for. Looking for a cheese burger? Add Thrive Cheese Blend or Shredded Cheddar Cheese. Throw in some Bacon TVP for a bacon Cheese burger! With Thrive Freeze Dried vegetables, its easy to add corn, green beans, or other yummy veggies to your helper meal. Just dd them when you add the noodles. Looking for a comfort food: Instead of macaroni, add 2-3 cups very thinly sliced potatoes. Simmer 20-30 minutes until potatoes are tender. Uncover and simmer until liquid has evaporated.

This recipe is easily adapted to your families dietary needs. Use whole grain pasta. Or gluten Free Pasta. Season and adjust the recipe to your needs and taste.

When you do the math this recipe is an incredible money saver!! You could easily take the $2 or so it takes to buy one preboxed 'helper' meal and buy enough pasta to make this recipe 2-3 times! The 'Helper' Mix cost about $2 to make & makes about 6 servings, so this mix is going to cost you about $.30 per serving!

With this mix you are going to save time. You can easily customize it to what you have. You are going to save shelf space, all those 'helper' boxes take quite a bit of room. You are going to save money, preboxed foods are expensive, and you are going to save your family's health.

Ready to start making your mix? Go to my online store to get the very best in freeze dried and shelf stable foods. Contact me about making the most of your 'home store', or book a 'make a mix' party and share this and other great mixes with your friends while earning free products!

 

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