Thrive Six Grain Pancake Mix

Easy to Make Pancakes that are Fluffy and Tasty

THRIVE Six Grain Pancake Mix

The Six Grain Pancake Mix from THRIVE has a great shelf life of 10 years and mixes up easily with just water to provide a delicious breakfast.  This mix re-constitutes well and can easily be stirred after adding water with just a fork.  The pancakes cook up fluffy and golden on the griddle.  The six grain mix includes red wheat flakes, white wheat flakes, barley flakes, rye flakes, rolled oats, and ground sunflower seeds to provide a really great tasting pancake.  Check out our video review below for more information and to see how easily the pancakes mix together and how good they look!

Freeze Dried Ground Beef!

Easy to Prepare, High in Protein and Tastes Good

Honeyville Farms Freeze Dried Ground Beef

The Honeyville Farms Ranchers Cut Freeze Dried Ground Beef is a good tasting product and represents a great value.  The ground beef in the Honeyville Farms Ground Beef primarily consists of larger crumbles of ground beef with some smaller powder as well.  The only ingredients in the product are ground beef and salt.  The ground beef is fully cooked with salt and then freeze dried.  This results in a high quality product.   What I really liked about the Honeyville ground beef is that to me it tasted like really low fat ground beef that I have eaten.  It is also really easy to re-hydrate.  It only took 5 minutes in boiling water to reconstitute fully.  Just soak and then drain off the excesses water.  The meat comes out nicely reconsistuted and tender.

We decided to make soft tacos with the freeze dried ground beef.  We also used the Honeyville Freeze Dried Cheddar Cheese as a topping for the soft tacos.  Food storage has come a long way!  Freeze Dried Meat and Cheese.........I never thought I would see the day.

We made homemade whole wheat tortillas from scratch and grew our own lettuce.  This helped us to feel we were making a meal centered in self sufficiency.

The soft tacos tasted great and primarily came from our food storage!

Barley Beef Soup

Hearty and Delicious Wintertime Soup

Barley Beef Soup

I love soups and stews and I look forward to cooler weather to be able to fully enjoy them.  Barley Beef soup is a hearty soup that the whole family can enjoy.  You can prepare it using different vegetable combinations for variety or to please the picky eaters in your household.  You can easily prepare this meal with fresh vegetables and meat, or you can use freeze dried vegetables or meat.

Pearled barley is great for soups and stews because it cooks more quickly than hulled barley and provides a delicious flavor and texture to soups.  The barley also helps to provide additional fiber and nutrients.  Here is a delicious recipe that my wife uses:

Barley Beef Soup

1 Cup Chopped Cooked Beef (or brown stew meat first)

2 Carrots Chopped

2 Celery Stalks Chopped

1/2 Large Onion Chopped

1 Small Red Potato Chopped

1/2 Can Diced Tomatoes

1 Cup Pearled Barley

16 Cups Water

2 oz Haco Soup Base (Vegetable or Beef)

1 Tablespoon Real Salt

If using raw meat, brown the stew meat in a tablespoon of oil.  Combine ingredients in pan and bring to a boil.  Stir periodically.  After soup comes to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook for 1 hour.  The vegetables should now be fully cooked and the barley soft and robust in size and texture.  Serve with fresh bread or rolls.

EVOO

Olive Oil of Superior Quality

Bragg Organic Extra Virgin First Cold Pressed

Many individuals know Bragg by their wonderful Liquid Aminos, while others recognize Bragg as the bottler of the highest quality of olive oil out on the market.  Bragg Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil is as good as it gets because it is certified organic, is extra virgin in quality and is first cold pressed.  Bragg Olive Oil comes from organically grown Kalamata olives.  This olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fats and antioxidants.

Olive Oil Sealed in a Can for Maximum Shelf Life

Supremo Italiano Extra Virgin First Cold Pressed Olive Oil

Supremo Italiano is the grower and distributor of a high quality Extra Virgin, First Cold Pressed Olive Oil.  The oil is packaged in an air tight square can, which also protects against light.  These cans last at least 18 months, but in many cases the oil can be good for 5 or more years sealed in this manner.

Try either of these oils  in this delicious Balsamic Dressing Recipe:

1 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar

2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard

1/2 teaspoon Real Salt

1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder (Optional)

Stir together the mustard and vinegar.  Add this mixture into a jar of olive oil.  Sprinkle in the salt (and garlic powder) and stir well.  Keep unused portion refrigerated.

Sour Cream Powder Product Review

When you need the "Zing" of Sour Cream

Sour Cream Powder is a surprisingly versatile product.  It can obviously be used in normal applications for sour cream, such as soups, beef stroganoff, baked potato toppings, Mexican Food topping, etc.  However, you can often substitute it in recipes that call for milk, buttermilk or cream.  It adds a tangy flavor to recipes.  When using as a topping, you mix the appropriate powder and water as directed and then chill.  When using in a recipe you can reconstitute first, or you can add in the appropriate amount of powder and water as you add in the dry and wet ingredients.  While Sour Cream Powder may be seen as a food storage luxury, it is a great compliment to many of the foods you store and often a dairy substitute.  Here are a few ways to try it:

Add a small amount of reconstituted sour cream to your bread and roll dough.  This provides a sharper flavor.

Add in a couple of tablespoons of reconstituted sour cream to your beans just after they are finished cooking.  It is delicious!

Make your own home-made ranch dip or ranch dressing.  You can make it healthy and MSG free.

Use as a thickener for soups or cassroles.  The extra cream and sharpness can really get the attention of children.

We have put together a brief video on how to reconstitue Sour Cream Powder.  You can see how nicely it mixes up and how well it sets up.  Hope you enjoy!

Ultra Gel

Ultra Gel - The Ultimate Thickener

Ultra Gel is really the ultimate thickener.  While most thickeners work fairly well with heat, they really tend to clump up when added to cold items.  However, Ultra Gel is amazing in that it can be added hot or cold!  Ultra Gel is a food starch made from waxy maize and is great for a myriad of applications. 

Here is how easy it is to thicken gravy:

Add in a few tablespoons of Ultra Gel

Stir in with a wisk, and shortly thereafter you have picture perfect gravy.

When you make sauces with Ultra Gel, they don't separate like when you use traditional corn starch.  Ultra Gel helps to stabilize low-fat products such as salad dressings, add body to low sugar foods, such as jams, and allow other sweeteners to be used in a wide variety of foods.  Even if you do have some lumping, you can usually stir out the lumps.  If not, add a bit more liquid and keep stirring.  As with most products, you do have to add in slowly for the most part, but to enjoy lump free sauces and gravies, there really is only one choice:  Ultra Gel.