THRIVE Express Review

THRIVE Express Product Review:  Thanks to everyone who attended out team tasting last week.  We had a great time.  The reviews below are the opinions of those present.  We tasted each food and then discussed what we thought. 

I thought I had taken photos of everything, but it looks like I missed a few. Sorry. 

We rated them based on a 1-5 scale. 1 being the worst and 5 the best. 

Baked Potato Cheese Soup:   Rating  3.  Good.  Thick and creamy potato soup.  I wanted to see more stuff in it. 

Broccoli Cheese Soup:   Rating 3.   Good.  A little buttery.  Cooks up quickly.  Could have had more broccoli in it.

Chili Lime Chicken Rice-Side:  Rating:  3  Would be great as the base for taco salad or burritos.  Includes wild rice which gives it a different texture, a little springy.

Creamy Beef and Noodles: Rating 2  Not a favorite.  Very seasoned.   Would not recommend.

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup:  Rating 4.5  Tastes good.  A little runny.  The chicken is in small pieces.  The noodles are spiral noodles, which is different but good.

Creamy Garden Vegetable Chowder:  Rating:  2  Very good. Lots of fresh tasting veggies.  Thick creamy sauce.  Does not hold well.

Hearty Chili with Beans: Rating 3  Takes a long time to cook compared to the other THRIVE express meals.   Makes a nice chili. Comes with Freeze Dried Cheese to sprinkle on the top.

Loaded Scalloped Potatoes—Side Rating:  5  Super Tasty.  Cheesy and creamy.  Our favorite THRIVE Express

Pasta Carbonara:  Rating 5   Very good. The sauce was a little runny.  Includes, freeze dried potatoes, tomatoes, onions bacon. 

Southwest Style Chicken and Rice:  Rating: 3   Spicy.  Would make a decent filling for a burrito. 

Wild Rice Pilaf:  Rating 3.5 Nice.  Good favor, a nice mix.  Not very exciting. 

Garden Fresh Vegetable Pasta:  Rating 2 Not so good.  Would not recommend.  

New Product Review: Instant Milk, Scrambled Egg Mix, Egg White Powder, 10 Grain Pancake Mix

Product Review:  Thanks to everyone who attended out team tasting last week.  We had a great time.  The reviews below are the opinions of those present.  We tasted each food and then discussed what we thought. 

Instant Milk:  Love it.  Tastes like milk from the grocery store.  No after taste.  Thick and fresh.  The best  powdered milk ever.

Scrambled Egg Mix:  Tastes like McDonald's Eggs.  Texture is fluffy not quite like fresh scrambled eggs.  Good not perfect.

Egg White Powder: Good product.  Use twice as much as the label says.  Make meringue, angel food cake, etc.  Recommend purchasing in pantry cans as you use so little product it would be difficult to make it through a #10 can before the 1 year open shelf life is up.

Whole Eggs:  Works great in baking.  The new eggs don’t have the anti-caking agent that in other eggs makes it difficult to make good cakes (especially from a cake mix). 

10 Grain Pancake Mix:  Awesome.  Pancakes are tasty, ingredient list is short.  The 10 whole grains that are ground fine.   Best whole grain pancake mix ever.

Recipes and Tips

Egg White Powder:

Tips:

·         I find that I need twice as much egg white powder as it says on the can.  When converting a recipe from fresh egg whites to powdered egg whites I always double the amount of powdered. 

·         Egg white powder has been pasteurized so it is safe to eat without cooking.  This makes it great for recipes where the egg whites have not been cooked.  (think marshmallows, eggnog, etc)

Strawberry Lemonade Meringues
Makes: 28 2-inch cookies

3 large egg whites (2 Tablespoons Egg White Powder, plus ¼ cup water)
1 package (3 ounces) Strawberry Jell-O
1/4 cup caster sugar (to make your own put regular granulated sugar in the blender or food processor until finely ground)
1/4 cup freeze dried strawberries
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

Zest from 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 200°F.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mat.

Grind freeze dried strawberries and sugar in a food processor until powdery. Set aside.

Place the egg white powder and water in a large bowl and with an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat on medium until frothy.

CAREFULLY and SLOWLY sprinkle in the Jell-O, and strawberry mixture into the bowl in a slow, steady stream. Turn mixer on high and continue to beat until the egg whites are stiff and shiny, about 5 minutes.   Add lemon juice by drizzling it town the side of the bowl.  Turn off mixer and fold in lemon zest until just combined.  Your meringue should now look and have the same consistency as frosting.   

Drop meringue onto lined baking sheet by the spoon full or for a more festive look.  Scrape the meringue into a pastry bag fitted with a medium star tip and pipe the cookies onto the lined baking sheets.  Shape into a “Hershey’s kiss”. 

Bake the meringues until they are firm, about 2 hours. Turn off the oven and leave them in there overnight.

Sariah’s Easy Fruit Syrup

Use the fruit powder to make syrup for your pancakes, waffles or crepes. I love doing triple berry, I will mix raspberry, blackberry, and strawberry. 

 1 cup of fruit powder

 1 cup of sugar

 1 cup of water

Cook on medium low for about 15 minutes.  Run through a sieve if needed.

*Other options are pineapple/mango/peach, its tropical syrup.

Aloha Chicken Salad with Pina Colada Dressing

My mom is an amazing cook.  Recently she has been making this amazing salad.   It was inspired by a salad a  Zupas.  This salad is perfect for a holiday party. Feel free to substitute fresh lettuce from your garden, freeze dried chicken, pineapple and oranges from your pantry for a food storage salad. 

Aloha Chicken Salad with Pina Colada Dressing

3 romaine lettuce hearts, chopped

2 large cans mandarin oranges, drained

1 large can pineapple tidbits, drained

1 red onion, diced

1 1/2 cups tortilla strips

3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

3-4 chicken breasts, cooked, cooled & cubed

toasted coconut, optional

Toss all of the ingredients together in a large bowl or layer on a platter.  Serve with Pina Colada Vinaigrette dressing.

PINA COLADA VINAIGRETTE

1/2 cup plus 2 TBSP sugar

1/3 cup mr. & mrs. T's pina colada drink mix

1/3 cup rice or apple cider vinegar- rice will make it more mild or 

apple cider will make it stronger tasting

1/2 tsp. ginger powder

1 tsp. dry mustard

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/4 cup vegetable oil

In a blender combine all ingredients except the oil.  Blend well until light & frothy.  With the blender still on, slowly add oil in a steady stream.  Keep blending until the dressing is emulsified & thickened.  

Adoption: Amy and Jordan

A few years ago a friend of mine was in the process of adopting.  She told me that most adoptions happen because someone know someone who know someone.   She ended up adopting a baby through someone her hair dresser knew.  (Who would have guessed?)  I know Amy and Jordan and you know me and you just might know someone who might like to place a baby with this super fun couple. 


Let me tell you about Amy and Jordan. 

About 3 years ago when we bought our house we noticed an old farmhouse that was in terrible shape down the street from us.  (Does this photo look like the house is in bad condition? Because believe me it was)

We were soon excited to notice that someone was fixing up the house.  “What a HUGE undertaking” I thought.  We patiently watches the progress as this rundown house was turned into a super cute home. 


First the house was gutted then then slowing the walls came back up, flooring, roofing, siding, a new porch were all exciting improvements.   After the house was livable again Amy and Jordan moved in. The house is beautiful. 

.   
The renovation of their house is, to me, symbolic of the couple who made the transformation take place.  Amy and Jordan, have had hard times (including 2 deployments for Jordan in Iraq) but they have worked hard and built a beautiful family with just the two of them. 




They play together.

They worship the Lord together.

 They are sometimes a little bit crazy.

They make it through hard times

And they are going to be amazing parents.

And now they are ready to take the next step in building their family, they are ready to adopt a child.



 
Take a  few minutes and read through their adoption profile and then keep them in mind.  


Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.  If you run across anyone who is interested in placing a baby with them, please share their profile.