THRIVE Review and Giveaway!

This is a really long review! Hang onto your hats, the giveaway details are at the very end!

As Hannah explained a couple weeks ago, Shelf Reliance has changed their business model and are now working through individual consultants. You should know that how Shelf Reliance is set up, it's always cheaper to order through a consultant than through the official website. The consultants have access to special deals and discounts. We're lucky enough to have another Shelf Reliance consultant, Fran, hosting today's review and giveaway.

Fran sent me some of Shelf Reliance's freeze dried food line "THRIVE" to give a test run. She gave me the Taco TVP, which she says is her family's favorite.

This was my first experience with TVP (textured vegetable protein), and I have to admit, I was a little nervous.


Fran told me to put the Taco TVP in a pot, add some freeze dried onions, and bell peppers and fill it up with water according to the package directions.

You bring it to a boil, then let it simmer on the stovetop for a little while.


Fran also gave me a package of macaroons to try.


Equally easy, I added water, let it sit for a minute, and then scooped it onto and cookie sheet and baked them until they turned golden brown on the tops.


My verdict?


The Taco TVP tasted really good. Surprisingly good. It reminds me of tacos that you can get at Taco Bell (Mountain Man's favorite). Everyone at the table (my kids, Mountain Man, and a few other guests) liked it enough to have seconds. My meat picky daughter (she only likes beef) took one bite and exclaimed "it tastes just like hamburger!" and ate it all up.

Would I eat it again? Yes, I think so. It tasted good, but more important, it was SO fast and easy. One pot meal--made in less than 20 minutes. I would have loved to have had this on hand during my 1st trimester, when it was so hard to cook anything because I was so sick. This would also be great to have for those really busy days when you walk in the door at 5pm and need to have dinner on the table by 5:30.


Onto the macaroons: these were also delicious and believe it or not, tasted JUST like the real thing, and incredibly easy. If I had my druthers, I would have dipped half of them in melted chocolate, but the general consensus at the table was they were delicious, and they were gobbled up instantly.

Overall this is my food storage-y opinion. I don't think you should have a food storage based completely off of freeze dried food unless you have an unlimited supply of water AND you eat it on a regular basis so your family is used to it and is comfortable with it. The best food storage is what you regularly eat!

On the other hand, I think THRIVE offers so many great options as additions to your home food storage. Special things like dried cheese, sour cream, eggs, that you wouldn't be able to have otherwise. Am I going to start adding some freeze dried foods to my food supply? Yes, definitely as part of my rotating 3 month supply, because I can see myself actually using them to feed my family regular meals. On a side note, I am also going to stock up on powdered eggs...then I can eat cookie dough without being afraid of getting salmonella poisoning.

Thanks Fran for letting me try these foods! Check out Fran's store here

Fran is offering Safely Gathered In readers a mixed package of some of THRIVE's best sellers, valued at $50!

To be entered into the drawing, leave a comment and let us know what your favorite food (that you can't live without) is. Mine is cereal and milk. A very tricky food storage meal...since I don't love the taste of powdered milk. Guess I need a cow.

Giveaway will run until Sunday (May 29th) at midnight, Eastern. One comment per person please. Winner will be announced Monday.

Those of you who get this post via email need to come to the actual post on the website to leave a comment to be entered into the giveaway, email responses cannot be considered entries. Thanks!


***Disclaimer: Although I received the THRIVE samples for free, the opinions are my own.

Whew. That was a long post...is anyone still here?

Mountain House Review/Giveaway!!

Several weeks ago, Mountain House contacted us to see if we would be willing to review some of their products here on the blog.  Of course, we were more than happy oblige and they sent us a box of some of their best selling freeze-dried foods. (I'll share some pictures in our post announcing the giveaway winners.)


If you aren't familiar with Mountain House, here's a brief description straight from their website:


Mountain House, the #1 brand of freeze dried backpacking foods has been the choice of backpackers, hikers, campers, and other outdoor enthusiasts for over 30 years.  When it comes to long term food storage, emergency preparedness and recreational activities like camping, hiking, backpacking and hunting, Mountain House is the #1 choice.  That's because Mountain House has been recognized as the best tasting freeze dried meals.  Mountain House is convenient, easy to prepare and has a long shelf life.


Like I said above, Mountain House sent me some of their best sellers, including: Macaroni & cheese, Vegetable Lasagna, Chicken Teriyaki with rice, Scrambled Eggs with bacon, and Buffalo style chicken, and a few more.  They even sent a freeze dried ice cream sandwich, which I thought tasted great (unfortunately, my kids did too and I only got one bite!).


I have to say, I have been so pleasantly surprised by everything I have tried so far.  The textures were great, and every meal is so full of flavor.  All of the foods can be eaten alone, and a handful can also be used as fillings in tortillas, making it an even heartier meal.  


One of the best parts about these packs of food is that they can be prepared right in the bag.  You just rip open the top, add 1-2 cups of boiling water (depending on the directions), and seal the bag up again with the zipper.  Let stand for 8-9 minutes, and it's done!  You can even eat it right out of the bag.  Also, most (if not all) of the pouches had two servings in each pouch.


I definitely recommend Mountain House foods.  In the past, Abbie and I have both warned against completely filling your food storage with freeze-dried foods because, what if you don't have access to clean water?  However, if you are able to store lots of water or have access to clean water, you should consider investing in some of these meals.


But think beyond general food storage -- these babies are perfect for your 72-hour kits!  They are incredibly light weight, and you are already carrying water in your kids so you have that handy.  They are also filling and would provide you with the calories you need.  Check out the Mountain House website because they have entrees, breakfasts, desserts... they even have some vegetarian meals.  I am planning on placing my own order in the future so that we can re-stock our 72-hour kits.


And now, the moment I'm sure you are all waiting for... the giveaway!  Mountain House wants to give TWO of our readers a box of some of their best-selling products.


To enter the giveaway, simply comment on this post (click on the word "comments" at the end of this post.  If you receive our posts via email, you will need to visit our food storage website to make a comment.)


So let us know: what is your biggest food storage challenge?  I know we've asked this before, but I'm always interested to hear what other people are working on, and it gives us great ideas for future posts as well!


One comment per person, please.  The giveaway ends Saturday at midnight EST.  We'll announce the winners next Monday.


Good luck, and thanks to Mountain House for the great giveaway!




**Just a disclaimer - the picture at the top of the post is Mountain House's 7-day food unit.  This is not the giveaway item, it's just a picture of some of their products.  Mountain House is giving away a random assortment of some of their best selling entrees.**

Wheat Storage Made Possible by...

We get lots of questions about how to store food for the 3 month supply. I personally really like storing my grains and things in 5-gallon buckets. But before I knew anything about anything, I thought you could just go to Home Depot and buy buckets and use them. Not so, my friends, they have to be food grade. Plus, the bucket lids are IMPOSSIBLE to get off, (I still use the Home Depot ones for the dog food, I know) So I looked around a little and asked Emergency Essentials about their buckets and gamma lids.

They were kind enough to send me a bucket and lid to try out along with a few other things.

First off, they sent some snapware--airtight containers for food storage. I'm a big fan for two reasons: one, to prevent pests (which the South has in abundance) you ought to keep your food in plastic or glass containers, especially see thru ones so you can check on the food.

And secondly, it looks so much nicer on the table.

What I was really excited about was the bucket though. I got this wheat from the LDS cannery.

25 lbs of white wheat

Emergency Essentials sent me a mylar bag to use with the bucket. The mylar bags are supposed to keep your foods safe from odors and moisture, but all I thought was: "Hey, now I don't have to wash out my bucket each time!"

Also I was thinking because a 25 lb sack of wheat didn't come close to filling up a 6-gallon bucket, I could store two separate types of wheat in one bucket, each in their own mylar sack! Or, call me crazy, but I could mix red wheat and white wheat together and have it all ready for bread making! I know, hold on to your seats, right?

After I filled the bag with wheat, I just rolled down the top of the bag---keeps it even fresher, just in case you weren't going to use your wheat within 30 years, you may be able to stretch it to 31.

So here's the gamma lid. The difference between the gamma lid and the regular lid is this: a bucket lid seals down by pressure. You've all had to hammer a bucket lid down, and then use one of those knifty looking wrenches to pull the lid up without breaking it.

With the gamma lid, you hammer down the ring part of the lid,

and then just screw on the top part of the lid. Getting the same seal, but oh so much easier.

Ta-da! My 3 month supply of wheat, all set.

Whenever I need a little wheat, I pull the bucket out of the pantry, untwist the lid, unroll the bag and scoop out some wheat! Easy peasy.

Emergency Essentials is nice enough to offer Safely Gathered In readers FREE SHIPPING on orders over $30 until the end of July! To use the free shipping, just type "gathered" into the promo code box when checking out---OR just click on this button.

Just in case you wondered, this post was made possible by Emergency Essentials sending me these products. I would have had nothing to write about otherwise. Thanks Emergency Essentials for giving me yet another reason to be excited about wheat.