Goulash

Here is another recipe that's been in my family for generations. My kids LOVE this. It's basically a "healthier" version of Hamburger Helper. My husband always asks me to make a TON of it so he can eat it for lunch at work every day. Enjoy!

Goulash:

4 cups THRIVE Macaroni

1/2 cup THRIVE Red & Green Bell Peppers (or 1 fresh bell pepper)

1/4 cup THRIVE Freeze Dried Onions (or 1/2 fresh onion)

2 cups Tomato Sauce (or 1/4 cup THRIVE Tomato Powder + 2 1/4 cups water)

Salt & Pepper to taste

2 1/2 cups THRIVE Freeze Dried Ground Beef (or 1 lb. ground beef)

If you're using Freeze Dried foods, rehydrate your peppers, onions, & ground beef in water for 10 minutes.

If using fresh, cook your ground beef, peppers, & onions in a saute pan until done.

Drain, & add tomato sauce. Boil your macaroni until tender & drain.

Mix everything together & add salt & pepper to taste. It's SO EASY & you will have a nice warm, comforting dinner to fill your family up with. YUM.

If you'd like to purchase any of the ingredients listed in this recipe, comment below or visit my website: dani.shelfreliance.com

Chicken Chili Chowder

This is another family favorite in our house. I've had this recipe for so many years that I don't even remember where I got it. I've added things to it over the years & it is now the soup my kids request on cold days. And you want to know the best part? Now I don't have to run to the store if I'm out of veggies because I can just pull them from out of my food storage. Wahoo! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. (You can substitute fresh or canned for any of these ingredients)

Chicken Chili Chowder:

1 pound Turkey Bacon, diced (or use 1 1/2 cups THRIVE Bacon TVP)

1 cup THRIVE Carrots

1/2 cup THRIVE Freeze Dried Onions

1 can of diced Green Chilies

1 Serrano Pepper, seeded & diced

1 teaspoon Cumin

3 cloves of Garlic, pressed

4 cups Chicken Broth (4 cups water + 4 teaspoons THRIVE Chicken Bouillon)

3 cups THRIVE Potato Chunks (or 5 fresh potatoes peeled & diced)

THRIVE Iodized Salt to taste

4 Chicken Breasts, diced & cooked (or 1 1/2 cups THRIVE Freeze Dried Chicken)

1/4 cup THRIVE White Flour

2 1/2 cups Milk (or 2 1/2 cups water + 1/3 cup THRIVE Instant Milk)

2 cups THRIVE Cheddar Cheese

2/3 cup Green Onions, sliced

First thing you want to do is cook your chicken (if you're using fresh.) Sprinkle it with some salt & pepper & saute it in a frying pan with a little bit of oil. If using our wonderful Freeze Dried Chicken, just soak it in water for 10 minutes & drain. Season with salt & pepper & Voila! you're done! Set aside.

Next cook that bacon until it's nice & crispy in your soup pot. Then set it aside with your chicken. I love the Bacon TVP, but I'm just a total sucker for fresh turkey bacon. I can't get enough of it & if you've never tried it, GO OUT & BUY SOME! You'll never go back to the other stuff. It's better for you & has a LOT more flavor! If you're using the Bacon TVP, just set aside because it doesn't need to cook. EASY!

Now get your veggies ready! When using our veggies, there's no peeling or chopping at all! Simply measure & pour. (Cooking doesn't get much easier than this!) If you're using fresh, peel & cut up all your veggies for the soup.

A small warning about Serrano Peppers. You may want to wear gloves when seeding & chopping these puppies. They may be small, but they have a punch! I wasn't wearing gloves & I wound up wiping my poor little 2 year old boy's dirty mouth with my finger & he started screaming because it burned him. I never even thought about it. The rest of my kids got a kick out of licking my fingers to see who could keep a straight face the longest without getting a drink of water. They're hilarious. These add just the right spice to the soup.

Start off by stir frying your onions, carrots, chilies, peppers, garlic, & cumin in the leftover bacon grease. Cook for about 5 minutes or until your onions are translucent. Add your chicken broth & deglaze your pot.

Add your potatoes & salt, bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, & simmer for 15 minutes.

Add your chicken & cook an additional 10 minutes. Combine flour & milk to make a smooth paste. Add it to the soup mixture & stir until thick (about 5 minutes.) Remove from heat. Stir in bacon & cheese until melted.

When you finish you want to see if a wooden spoon will stand straight up in your chowder. I like my chowders THICK & YUMMY. If your spoon stands up by itself, you know it's going to be DELICIOUS!

Serve hot with sliced green onions on top. Enjoy!

If you are interested in purchasing any of the ingredients used in this recipe, comment below or visit my website:

dani.shelfreliance.com

Chicken Lo Mein

The other night I had some fresh veggies I needed to use up before they went bad, so I decided to whip up a yummy oriental dish. I found some Lo Mein noodles in my pantry & some chicken in my freezer & went to work. I had some onions, celery, & mushrooms to quickly use, but then I started thinking about some of my freeze dried veggies.

"I wonder how they stir fry. . . "

Well, you know me, I tried it out because it sounded fun. Plus veggies make your food SO colorful & delicious so why not?

You could actually use the freeze dried mushrooms, onions, & celery for this as well, but I needed to use up the fresh stuff quickly so maybe next time I'll get to play with those ingredients. For this recipe you can exchange any of the freeze dried veggies for fresh. It's a great way to clean out what's left in the crisper, then use whatever else you want from your THRIVE pantry.

(I LOVE HAVING FRESH VEGGIES ON HAND AT ALL TIMES, especially when I don't have to chop them myself.)

Quick & Easy Chicken Lo Mein:

1 cup THRIVE Freeze Dried Celery

1 cup THRIVE Freeze Dried Onion

1 cup THRIVE Freeze Dried Mushrooms

1/4 cup THRIVE Carrots

3/4 cup THRIVE Freeze Dried Peas

1 cup THRIVE Freeze Dried Corn

3 Chicken Breasts, diced

~ (& sprinkled with Black & White Pepper, Garlic Salt, Ginger, & THRIVE Iodized Salt)

2 cups Chicken Broth (2 teaspoons THRIVE Chicken Bouillon + 2 cups Water)

Lo Mein Noodles (in the Asian section of the supermarket)

1/4 cup Soy Sauce

1/8 teaspoon White Pepper

1/8 teaspoon Ginger

The first thing you want to do is sprinkle the diced chicken with black pepper, white pepper, garlic salt, ginger, & salt. This is all done to taste. I LOVE flavors & spices so I DROWN my chicken in spices. I especially love the white pepper because it has a little more zing than black.

Stir fry the chicken in a little oil or butter until you get a nice sear on all the pieces. Set aside.

In the same pan stir fry ALL YOUR VEGGIES in some butter or oil. The butter/oil will help rehydrated your veggies. They won't be FULLY rehydrated, but stir fry them about 5 minutes until the smells all mesh together & they start to brown a little bit.

Add the prepared chicken broth & deglaze the bottom of the pan. Simmer the veggies & broth for 5 more minutes (this REALLY rehydrates those veggies deliciously!)

Meanwhile, cook your noodles according to the package instructions. I LOVE Lo Mein noodles.

Add the soy sauce, white pepper, & ginger. (I used 1/4 teaspoon white pepper, but it was quite spicy. We love spicy in our house, but it's definitely too hot for some people).

Mix the cornstarch & water in a bowl. Keep stirring until it becomes liquid. Add the mixture to the veggie mixture.

As soon as the mixture starts to boil, the cornstarch will kick in & the entire thing will thicken. It will have a similar consistency as that at an Asian restaurant. Once, your sauce is thick, add your chicken & simmer until the entire dish is nice & warm.

Drain your noodles. Serve the chicken & veggie mixture over your Lo Mein Noodles. Voila! Quick & Easy Chicken Lo Mein.

If you are interested in purchasing any of the these wonderful PRE-CHOPPED veggies, leave a comment below or go to my website:

dani.shelfreliance.com

Potato Salad (with dehydrated potato chunks)

Seriously, who DOESN'T love a good POTATO SALAD. My family LOVES potato salad, but I despise making it. Why?

Because I HATE PEELING POTATOES!!!

My kids were begging for a fresh bowl the other day & I cringed thinking about peeling all those potatoes when I had an "A-HA" moment. The potato chunks are

ALREADY PEELED & SLICED!

Whoa! I almost fell over I was SO excited. I didn't know how it would turn out, but I didn't care because I DIDN'T have to PEEL POTATOES.

So I grabbed my classic potato salad ingredients & went to work. Here's my recipe for yummy potato salad:

3 cups THRIVE Potato Chunks

1/2 cup THRIVE Freeze Dried Onions

1 1/2 cups Diced Dill Pickles (the BEST part in my opinion)

Pickle Juice (from the jar)

7 Hard Boiled Eggs

1/2 cup Mayo

1/4 cup Ranch Dressing

1/8 cup Mustard

1 teaspoon THRIVE Iodized Salt

1 teaspoon Black Pepper

The first thing you're going to do is boil the potatoes for about 20 minutes just like you would for fresh potatoes. You just don't have to peel or dice them yourself. (aka HEAVEN)

Drain them & put them in a BIG BOWL (this makes a HUGE batch for potlucks & things like that so get a BIG bowl). Then open your pickle jar & dump the juice INTO the potatoes. You want just enough to cover them, (see picture below) then refrigerate them for about an hour to an hour & a half.

While they get cold in the fridge, cut up your pickles & boil your eggs etc. However,

I DO NOT RECOMMEND DROPPING YOUR PICKLE JAR

on the floor when you're trying to put it away.

Have you ever tried sweeping/mopping/picking up pickles & glass

ALL AT THE SAME TIME?

Again, I DO NOT recommend it.

After your potatoes are cool (& your pickle mess is cleaned up) go ahead & drain the pickle juice & add the rest of the ingredients. Mix it well & you're ready to eat some of the best potato salad you've ever had. And the best part? You DIDN'T HAVE TO PEEL POTATOES.

Enjoy!

If you're interested in purchasing some of these AWESOME

pre-peeled & pre-diced

potatoes, leave a comment below or visit my website:

dani.shelfreliance.com