Homemade Cheeze-it Cracker Recipe Review

While I was looking into which Mac & Cheese recipe to make, my oldest saw this video and insisted we try it out.

So, this afternoon we made some cheese crisps, or homemade cheese-it crackers.

The recipe is really quite simple.

Mix flour, cheese blend, salt, baking soda with oil and enough water to get it all stuck together, roll it out and cut it up. Bake and enjoy!

Don't they look pretty good?

Cheddar Cheese Crisps

1 1/4 c. Flour

1/2 c. THRIVE Cheese Blend

1/8 t. Baking Soda

1/4 t. Salt

2 T. Veg. Oil

1/2 c. water

Preheat oven to 350F. 

Sift together dry ingredients. 

Add oil and stir. 

Add the water 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together.

Roll dough out on a well floured surface until ~1/8" thick.

Transfer to greased baking sheet and cut into small squares with pizza cutter or knife. Spread them out, prick the tops and sprinkle with salt. 

Bake for 10 - 15 mins or until golden brown.

This recipe gets a thumbs up!

August Q-pon - THRIVE Elbow Macaroni

THRIVE Elbow Macaroni is the August Q-pon.

They must have known that I need some encouragement to try the Cheese Blend as Mac & Cheese.

This is one of a few items that are available at the LDS Canneries. 

The Cannery always has lower prices than Shelf Reliance because they run strictly off operational cost from what I understand. They don't operate for profit. So I buy a lot of things from there.

This Q-pon make SR's price slightly more competitive, but still higher. 

So why am I planning on ordering a case of Macaroni anyways?

Because Shelf Reliance is very concerned about quality, taste & shelf-life, so their cans are double coated to protect the food. 

I am buying a case of macaroni to add to my long term food storage so if/when the *stuff hits the fan, I know I will have one good case of macaroni to feed my family.

I have heard one or two people tell me they opened a can of something from the cannery after it had been stored for 20+ years and it tasted kind of like metal. I haven't heard that from others, so I don't think it's a big deal, just something to think about. Of course, this is another good argument for rotating your food and eating what you store. Well, I'm still buying their things, so take it or leave it.

Regardless, with Shelf Reliance, and their 100% gaurantee, you know you'll be getting good stuff that's meant to last and meant to be eaten.

Elbow Macaroni

#10 Can Q-pon $6.89

Case (6 cans) Q-pon $36.66

And the best part, you don't even need a Q-pon (coupon, get it?)! You just need me! 

Email me anytime!

Costco Sale - Food & Water Package

Costco carries a Food & Water Package, Complete 3 month, 2 person supply with 55-gallon water storage system. 

It's on sale for $999.99 after $400 off through August 8th.

Yeah, I can beat that! 

It's on sale through consultants for $945.29. And I am offering the same deal I mentioned before to anyone who orders this, 10% back in free product! 

What a deal!

Here are the details:

Food and Water Package

• 4,251 total servings
• Foods are contained in 96 #10 (gallon size) cans
• Over 2000 calories per person/day for up to three months
• Ideal for a 3 Month, 2 Person supply

Grains/Starch

•     6 Hard White Winter Wheat
•     4 Potato Chunks
•     6 Elbow Macaroni
•     6 Six Grain Pancake Mix
•     3 Cornmeal
•     3 Quick Oats
•     6 Instant White Rice

Fruits/Veggies

•     6 Sweet Corn – Freeze Dried
•     6 Green Peas – Freeze Dried
•     3 Broccoli – Freeze Dried
•     3 Raspberries – Freeze Dried
•     2 Strawberries – Freeze Dried
•     6 Apple Chips
•     3 Carrot Dices
•     3 Mixed Bell Pepper
•     3 Potato Beads

Dairy/Cheese

•     6 Non-Fat Powdered Milk
•     4 Chocolate Drink Mix
•     2 Cheddar Blend

Meats/Beans

•     2 Bacon TVP
•     2 Beef TVP
•     2 Chicken TVP
•     2 Taco TVP
•     2 Pinto Beans
•     2 Black Beans
•     Kidney Beans
•     Whole Eggs

    THRIVE Orange Drink

Water Storage & Tools:

•     Deluxe Wheat Grinder
•     55 Gallon Water Container
•     Water Pump - (45" long, 3" wide) Hose (47" long, 1"wide)
•     Sturdy Bung Wrench
•     Water Treatment Solution

  Contact me before the 8th to take advantage of this deal.

THRIVE Powdered Cheese Blend

The THRIVE Macaroni & Cheese powder was recently discontinued. I heard lots of people say that everyone just liked the Cheese Blend so much better anyway. 

So, I thought I better try it out.

I admit, I am kind of a Mac & Cheese snob. I only buy the name brand! 

Then, I saw the recipe for Macaroni & Cheese in the new THRIVE cookbook, and thought maybe I should try it. My family likes macaroni, so should we ever fall into an emergency situation, it would be nice to still have that on our menu. The boxes are great, but you can only stock so many of those with the short expiration date.

THRIVE on the other hand, has a superb shelf-life! So, I can store macaroni for years, and cheese blend for years, 15 actually. But does it taste any good?

I decided to open a small can of powdered cheese blend and sprinkle it on the kids popcorn like I had heard others do. They loved it! 

Test 1-Pass.

Last night I actually mixed some up with hot water to make a cheese sauce for broccoli. I thought it was pretty good! 

Test 2-Pass.

This is my next test... making macaroni & cheese... 

Stay tuned for the results of this recipe!

I'm still working myself up to it! :)

Costco Sale - 1-year Supply for 4

As a consultant, I can always beat Costco's price. They carry a 1-year, 4 person Supply Freeze-dried and Dehydrated food for $3499.99 but it's on sale this week. And you can take advantage of it. This same package is on sale through consultants for $2848.99! So, the savings are pretty impressive!  

Not to mention, anyone who orders this package will receive $285 in free products as a bonus from me! The free product is not an offer from Shelf Reliance, that's an offer from me personally.

If you do the math, this comes out to less than $240/month for a family of 4! This includes 336 cans OR 56 cases! It's a basic package, which means it provides 1,200 calories/person/day. So, if you know you or your family will need more than that, the $285 in free products can help add to it. 


Last time they did a package like this on sale it sold out pretty fast. 
So, if you are interested, let me know!

One Year, 4 Person Freeze Dried and Dehydrated Food Package Contents

Grains

• 6 Six Grain Pancake Mix
• 6 Germade
• 6 Quick Oats
• 6 Nine Grain Cracked Cereal
• 36 Hard White Winter Wheat
• 6 White flour
• 9 Whole Wheat Flour
• 6 Cornmeal
• 6 Elbow Macaroni
• 18 Instant Rice
• 8 White Rice

Proteins & Beans

• 3 Taco (TVP)
• 6 Bacon (TVP)
• 6 Beef (TVP)

• 3 Sausage (TVP)
• 3 Sloppy Joe (TVP)
• 6 Chicken (TVP)
• 3 Ham (TVP)
• 6 Lentils
• 6 Pearled Barley
• 12 Black Beans
• 6 Kidney Beans
• 14 Pinto Beans
• 6 Whole Egg Powder

Dairy

• 6 Chocolate Drink Mix
• 24 Powdered Milk
• 6 Mac & Cheese Powder

Fruit

• 2 Pineapple – FD
• 4 Raspberries – FD
• 1 Blackberries – FD
• 1 Blueberries – FD
• 4 Sliced Apples
• 6 Strawberries – FD
• 4 Apple Chips
• 2 Banana Chips

Vegetables

• 16 Potato Chunks
• 6 Sweet Corn – FD
• 2 Broccoli – FD
• 2 Carrot Dices
• 6 Green Peas – FD
• 3 Split Green Peas
• 2 Onions Chopped – FD
• 2 Onions Chopped
• 4 Sweet Potato
• 6 Mixed Bell Peppers

Basics

• 6 Orange Drink
• 4 Peach Drink
• 6 Apple Drink
• 2 Bouillon Beef
• 2 Bouillon Chicken
• 1 Baking Powder
• 1 Iodized Salt
• 2 Brown Sugar
• 4 White Sugar

Dessert

• 6 Fudge Brownies

Cinnamon Roll Recipe Review

Cinnamon Rolls

I have been wanting to make my own cinnamon rolls for a long time. It's just so easy to buy them already made, but as usual, I read the ingredients and "nutrition" facts and wonder why I let my family eat them. They just taste so good! So, I wanted to make some myself that tasted good but didn't make me feel so guilty for eating!

So, I got out my new THRIVE cookbook and saw the recipe for cinnamon rolls that included fruit. Sounded like a winner to me. My daughter and I got our aprons on and got to work making Sunday dinner, er, Cinnamon Rolls! :)

Well, my yeast was old, so they didn't rise quite as much as they should have, and I think I didn't add enough flour because the dough was still pretty sticky... but we forged ahead. We used raspberries, and though my "rolls" looked more like giant cookies, they tasted great!

I tried so hard to stick to the recipe, but as usual ended up cutting down the butter and sugar that you layer on and they still tasted great! 

I give this one a thumbs up!

Recipe Review - Sort of

I thought I would start out with an easy recipe. 

Blueberry muffins with streusel topping.

Easy enough. 

Except that I just polished off my open can of blueberries and vowed not to open any more cans of fruit until we had finished the oranges, and pineapple, and peaches, and you get the idea. 

So, my daughter agreed that strawberry muffins sounded just as good. My changes made below in bold.

I thought they tasted great. I reduced the sugar some, and think I could have reduced it even more! I know these are healthier than package mixes and this recipe could be easily adjusted to make all different kinds of muffins! All in all, I give it a thumbs up, even if I didn't exactly follow the directions! :)

Muffin Ingredients

• 3 c thrive freeze dried blueberries strawberries
  
• 1/2 c butter powder
• 1 1/4 c thrive white sugar
• 2 Tablespoons thrive whole eggs, prepared powder
  
• 2 c thrive white flour 50/50 with whole wheat flour
• 2 t thrive baking powder
• 1⁄2 t thrive iodized salt
• 1⁄2 c thrive powdered milk, reconstituted powder
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1 c water (approx.)

Streusel Ingredients

• 1/4 c butter powder
• 1/2 1/3 c thrive white sugar
• 1/2 c Oatmeal
  
• 1/3 1/4 c thrive white flour  whole wheat flour
• 1/4 c water (approx.)

Instructions

* Place the FRUIT in a bowl and pour hot tap water over them to barely cover. Leave to sit for 10 minutes or until reconstituted, stirring occasionally, and then drain the water.
* While FRUIT are rehydrating, add butter POWDER , MILK POWDER, EGG POWDER and white sugar to a mixing bowl. ADD 1/2 C. WATER AND VANILLA. Cream together until smooth.
* Combine 2 c flour, baking powder, and salt, then stir into creamed mixture. ADD REMAINING WATER TILL GOOD MUFFIN CONSISTENCY. Fold in drained FRUIT.
* Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. In a small bowl, combine sugar, OATMEAL, BUTTER POWDER and flour. ADD ENOUGH WATER TO MOISTEN until crumbly. Sprinkle over muffins.
* Bake muffins at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Serve muffins warm.

Yields 18 muffins