What I learned from Melaleuca

A little while ago I met a man selling Melaleuca.  I have been really interested in nontoxic cleaners and have heard really good things about the cleaners that Melaleuca sells.  I agreed to meet with John and to learn more. 

I was very clear about what I wanted

1.      A nontoxic counter top spray that my kids could use an not poison them.

2.     A nontoxic stain remover that would work on the sharpie markers my children have gone crazy with all over my walls.

That is it.  I did not want to build a Melaleuca business nor did I care about this history or culture.

Instead of helping me find the product I wanted and was prepared to buy he wasted an hour of my time telling me things I did not care about, and in the end he was so worried about me signing up for the monthly ship plan that I did not buy anything.

I could have been a great customer.  But instead I’m not a customer at all.

I think sometimes I made the same mistakes John made. 

So what did I learn about being a Shelf Reliance Consultant?

     

      1.      Listen to the customer. 

The easiest way to do this is to ask your customers what they want.  At a home party try opening the party by asking the guests “Why did you come tonight?  What interests you most about food storage and emergency preparedness?”   And at the end of the party ask them “What product are you most interested in?”    

But don’t just ask. Listen to what they say.  It is important.  If they are interested in emergency generators it really don’t matter how much you talk about water filters.  They still won’t care.

    

      2.      Give enough information to spark interest.

Sometimes I have been guilty of “vomiting up information” on party guests.   If you have too, remember that it is better to mention something briefly and let the customer ask you a follow up question. 

For example when talking about the  business opportunity I often say

“Shelf Reliance has been good to me.  I am now making more than I did at my full time job.  If you or anyone you know might be interested I’d be happy to talk to you about it.” 

That way those that are interested are a little more interested and those that aren’t don’t have to listen to all the details about being a consultant. 

      3.      STOP TALKING—give yourself a time limit and stick to it.  About 6 months ago I cut my party presentation from 1 hour to about 15 minutes.  Guess what?  Guest love it. 

I talk very briefly about the products we are sampling, the Q,  hosting party, and being a consultant.  And then I let them chat, look at the catalog and ask questions.  I make recommendations, and everyone likes it.  If you are talking nonstop for an entire hour.  It is time to change. 

No one wants to listen to you that much.  Try making your presentation more interactive.  If the info is not essential than cut it out. 

This is supposed to be fun.  It is after all called a party.  Lighten up.  Tell a Joke, be yourself, but be your fun self. 

Party Recipe: Food Storage Sugar Cookies

I love cookies.  I have been attempting to make an awesome sugar cookie with only food storage ingredients for a long time (okay about 2 years).  I wanted these cookies to be soft and flavorful, to be just as good as cookies made from fresh ingredients.  I’m finally satisfied.  These cookies are soft, and delicious.  But the best part is they are just as easy to make as the originals. 

Tips for Success:

• When baking with shortening powder remember that cookies won’t brown as quickly as when using fresh shortening or butter.  So take them out of the oven before they are brown.  You want them to be set but not browned.
• These cookies puff a little more than sugar cookies normally do.  Even so I still like to roll them thick.   Sometimes when these cookies are removed from the oven too early they fall a little bit.  No worries, you are going to frost them right?  The moral of the story is to watch them carefully so you remove them from the oven when they are cooked but not overdone. 

Best Ever Food Storage Soft Sugar Cookies 
2 c. sugar
3 cups shortening powder plus  ¾ cup water-whisk together with a fork
3 eggs  (3 tablespoons powdered eggs plus 6 tablespoons water)
1 c. milk (3 tablespoons powdered milk plus 1 cup water)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. almond extract
About 7 or 8 c, flour

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer cream together sugar, and shortening.
2. Add egg, milk, and almond extract. Mix to combine.
3. Add salt, soda, and baking powder. Mix to combine
4. Add flour to make a soft dough.
5. Roll out a little on the thick side.  Bake at 350° for 8 to 10 min.

Food Storage Butter Cream Frosting

 ¾ cup butter powder 

1/2 cup shortening powder

¼ cup water

3 cups powdered sugar

2 Tbsp. corn syrup

2 tsp. milk

Mix butter powder, shortening powder and water with hand mixer until creamy.  Gradually add powdered sugar. Beat until smooth. Add corn syrup and milk. Beat until smooth.

24 Oz Scoop and Ready Rack

24 Oz Scoop

 ID number 33516  Q Club Price $7.445

Web:  http://homeparties.shelfreliance.com/24-oz-scoop.html

I’ve actually been looking for some scoops to use in my bulk food storage for a while.  I really like this one.    It is lovely, very solid construction and a good size. 

I recommend this product to customers when they purchase buckets.  If you are going to have a bucket of something you need a scoop for that bucket. 

I LOVE it and I’m going to buy one for each of the products I buy in buckets. 

Ready Rack (2 large Row, 2 Drawer)

ID number 19946

Q Club Price:  $274.99. 

Web:  http://homeparties.shelfreliance.com/ready-rack-2-large-row-2-drawer.html

This is a good shelf.  You can purchase it in a bunch of different configurations.  Large or small rollers, etc.  You can see all the variations on the price list. 

The ready rack has a problem.  It is a nightmare to put together.  No really it is darn near impossible.  I’ve had one at my house for a couple of months and 3 different adults have tried to put it up.  Needless to say it is a pain.  So I wanted to pass on my advice in case you buy one or you sell one be sure to NOT follow the directions and put the drawers in first.  It is not possible to put them in after the rollers are in.    With that said it is a great shelf if you are looking to store some foods that don’t come in number 10 cans or are looking for a place to store your emergency preparedness supplies. 

Shelf Reliance is aware that the directions are lacking and are working on updating them.  But in the meantime be sure to let any customers know the trick to putting it together.

Pantry Challenge Update

 

 

The month is officially half over and I fell like the pantry challenge is going well.   We had a few bumps in the road (while I was out of town my husband broke down and bought a bunch of cold cereal, something I never buy) but I’m pleased with our progress.  

At the start of the month I wanted to focus on 4 things.  Here is how we are doing on those things.

•    Getting Organized. 

Pantry is Organized.  Yeah!  And the best part it only cost me $12.00 for the boxes and I had the fabric, paper, and ribbon.  

Before

After

My pantry space is a non-traditional.  Instead of a walk in pantry a I have a large deep cupboard.  My biggest problem was things tend to get lost at the back

After looking around for good containers I ended up a Shelf Reliance Cansolidator to organize my canned goods and bankers boxes and a  to organize all of the loose things that were floating around.   

The Cansolidator that I have is one of my favorite things.  The Christmas after I was married my Mom gave me come can rotators that I used for years.  They were a nightmare to set up, but they did get the job done.  A while ago I won a Cansolidator Pantry Plus and I LOVE it.  It is easy to set up, easy to use, easy to change.  It is the large size and hold 60 cans which for me is enough to have in my kitchen.  I keep everything else in my cold storage.

Banker’s boxes are inexpensive and sturdy.  I use them for everything. 

I was hoping that I could get 3 boxes across but my shelves are a little too small for that.  I decided to line up my kitchen appliances down the middle of the boxes on each shelf, and I am really liking it.  (Yes I do have a lot of appliances.) 

 I wanted them to be “cute” so cut up some fabric (dark canvas works best, I used canvas that I bought at Wal-Mart) and used spray adhesive to affix it.  After letting it air out for a while, the spray adhesive is super stinky and should be used outdoors.  I printed out some labels and tied them on with ribbon.  The entire project took me 3 hours and I am really happy with how it turned out. 

Freezer has been cleaned out and organized.  Yeah!  It is still lacking a in the meat department.  As I organized it I realized that I am totally out of Chicken, hamburger, and freezer meals.   But on the upside I do have a lot of freezer jam and frozen fruit cocktail.  I thought I was out of booth.

•  Creating menus that my kids will like and that focus on foods that we already have on hand.

Since I have been focusing on what my kids like to eat I have had a lot less complaining at dinner time.   Each week when I plan the menu for the week I asked each person what they want to have AND if we have the ingredients to make it than we have it.   My daughter really like spaghetti and meatballs so we have had them twice already, although I would not normally it so frequently, it has made my kids happier at dinner time.

•   Lowering my food budget.    So far we have spent $184.02 on groceries.  Since that includes the grocery shopping for this week, I feel pretty good about that.  Usually I spend $100 per week.  So for three weeks we have saved $115.98.  So far so good.   Our largest purchase by far is on produce.   We eat a lot of produce, I purchase it at the grocery sore and each month I participate once or twice in the Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op.   If you are unfamiliar with Bountiful Baskets it is a food coop that focus on fruits and veggies, and has a few add ons each week.  We love the 9 grain organic bread so I buy 10 loafs at a time and freeze most of it.

This is what we got in our basket this week. 

•  Evaluate my food storage.   What I have learned so far.

1.     We need to store more soup.   My daughter wants to eat Progresso Italian Wedding Meatball soup every day for lunch.  When Progresso is on sale it is less than $1 per can.  This is a good deal since three of us eat one can.  

2.     We need to store more ready to eat foods and freezer meals.  I seem to go in waves and we currently have nothing easy to pull out of the freezer.  I’ve been wishing for a frozen pizza, cheese ravioli, ham fried rice, pot stickers and egg rolls.   My kids have been wishing for mini hamburgers.   It looks like this week I'll be making some freezer meals.

3.  We have a LOT of jam.  I love to make jam and sometimes I get a little carried away.  Okay it is totally out of control but delicious.  

Best Ever Food Storage Soft Sugar Cookies from Shortening Powder

I love cookies.  You might have noticed because I post cookie recipes all the time.  I have been attempting to make an awesome sugar cookie with only food storage ingredients for a long time (okay about 2 years).  I wanted these cookies to be soft and flavorful, to be just as good as cookies made from fresh ingredients.  I’m finally satisfied.  These cookies are soft, and delicious.  But the best part is they are just as easy to make as the originals. 

Tips for Success:

• When baking with shortening powder remember that cookies won’t brown as quickly as when using fresh shortening or butter.  So take them out of the oven before they are brown.  You want them to be set but not browned.
• These cookies puff a little more than sugar cookies normally do.  Even so I still like to roll them thick.   Sometimes when these cookies are removed from the oven too early they fall a little bit.  No worries, you are going to frost them right?  The moral of the story is to watch them carefully so you remove them from the oven when they are cooked but not overdone. 

Best Ever Food Storage Soft Sugar Cookies 
2 c. sugar
3 cups shortening powder plus  ¾ cup water-whisk together with a fork
3 eggs  (3 tablespoons powdered eggs plus 6 tablespoons water)
1 c. milk (3 tablespoons powdered milk plus 1 cup water)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. almond extract
About 7 or 8 c, flour

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer cream together sugar, and shortening.
2. Add egg, milk, and almond extract. Mix to combine.
3. Add salt, soda, and baking powder. Mix to combine
4. Add flour to make a soft dough.
5. Roll out a little on the thick side.  Bake at 350° for 8 to 10 min.

Food Storage Butter Cream Frosting

 ¾ cup butter powder 

1/2 cup shortening powder

¼ cup water

3 cups powdered sugar

2 Tbsp. corn syrup

2 tsp. milk

Mix butter powder, shortening powder and water with hand mixer until creamy.  Gradually add powdered sugar. Beat until smooth. Add corn syrup and milk. Beat until smooth.

Where do I put my food storage? Look Up

When you live in a small home finding a place for your food storage can be tricky.  It is especially tricky if you are without a basement or other area designed for food storage.  One of my favorite ways is to look up.  There is a lot of storage room in your home above things.   

This family had to get a little creative on where to put their food storage. 

Their laundry room is right next to their kitchen (I wish mine was too) and it is a great big room but the kitchen doesn't have a ton of cabinets or a pantry.

Space is limited and so they have 2 Harvests Rotating Shelves (not pictured) in the laundry room, and they have added shelves above the washer and dryer to hold food storage.    By utilizing the space above the washer and dryer they are able to drastically increase their storage space. 

It is generally recommended that you keep your food storage out of areas that have a lot of moisture in them.  The humidity can corrode cans or cause them to leek.  Humidity can also increase the speed that calories and vitamins will degrade over time.  But if the laundry room is the only place you have to store your food storage than it is the only place.

This room has a couple of things going for it.  First it is a very large room.  Second it is kept well ventilated.   These two things thing  work in their favor and make this a reasonable place to store long term food storage.

Tips on Storing your Food Storage in the Laundry Room:

Be sure to keep the area ventilated—Install exhausts fans and use them.

Regularly check your cans for any signs of rust.

Rotate foods more frequently.  The shelf life of foods stored outside the recommended conditions will be diminished.  So if you are storing foods in really hot (above 75 degrees) or moist conditions the shelf life will be diminished. 

If you look up can you find underutilized storage space in your home? 

Brown Sugar Sour Cream Fruit Dip

This is one of my favorite recipes.  I have posted about it before but I have changed it a little and I like it so much more. 

This easy dip reminds me of cheesecake.  But I feel virtuous when I eat it because it has very little fat, and I dip fruit in it so it must be healthy. Right?

Sour Cream and Brown Sugar Fruit Dip
1 cup THRIVE sour cream powder
1/4 cups plus 2 Tablespoons hot water
2 tablespoons THRIVE brown sugar, plus a little extra for garnish
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

Mix sour cream, water, brown sugar, lemon juice and vanilla extract together. Let stand in refrigerator for flavors to combine (at least an hour or two or even better overnight). Garnish with a sprinkling of brown sugar.  Serve with fresh fruit such as apples or strawberries.