Beans for Dessert? Do the Butter Swap!

If you are someone who doesn't like to buy your beans and can them yourself then, Beans are on a crazy good sale this month!

How many times have I heard, “Well, I don't store beans because I don't like them?” To them I say, I used to be in your boat, but I learned to not only like them, I love them. Taco Soup, Southwestern Chili Beans and "regular" chili. I can name a handful of delectable delightful soups. I also love it in my Mexican foods like burritos, tacos  But what else can you do with beans?

Nutritional go-to tip that I love: You can substitute ½ the butter called for in a recipe for well-mashed beans. If a recipe calls for 1 cup of butter, you would use ½ c (1 stick) of butter and ½ c of mushed white (northern or navy) beans. Note: you can also use pinto, they just have a stronger taste that is a little more difficult to mask or if you are making a chocolate dish like Devil's Food Cake or Brownies you can use black beans...just don't tell the eaters beforehand- or after for that matter- or they will say that they spot the difference in taste.

I first learned this from an LDS (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint) online cookbook, but quickly discounted that it must taste horrible so I didn't believe it and didn't give it another thought. Next, odes to Deals to Meals. I have been in love with most of her recipes for a little over 2 years now and saw that she had a cookie recipe that called for beans to which I gawked and said, seriously? She is going to make me put beans in my cookies....blah. I'm cool with switching out applesauce for oil, but she suggested that I put beans in my white chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. I bravely trusted her suggestion and went boldly to my food processer and dumped some beans in thinking of how awful it would taste. I added it to the dough and decided I had to try the dough before I could precede. Yes, I am one of those cookie dough eaters, I'll own up to it. The thing I won't own up to is how much dough I ate! I couldn't believe how bad it didn't taste, no, how amazing it did taste. I was sold. I went forth boldly and began adding this trick into much of my cooking. Tips I've learned: I only do ½ as a substitute. If I were living strictly on food storage, of course I'd be willing to go all in, but I do notice that things are drier if I go all bean-y. Not only is this cheaper (come on, the cost of butter is $3/lb right now!) but it is also tons healthier. Just this one little switch saves you * 665 calories and a whopping 91.5 grams of fat per ½ c substituted in a recipe, not to mention that it adds almost 10 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber. If your recipe made 2 dozen cookies that would mean you cut the cookies calories down by about 25 calories per cookie and 4 grams of fat.  Is that not the coolest trick to think about?  If you like sweets but need to cut down on your fat intake... there you go!  Now you don't have to fill your freezer with as much butter and that alone should put a smile on your face :P

On another note, Deals to Meals also has another bean recipe that my family loves, non-desserty. It is her Black Bean Enchiladas. Enjoy!


To read about other products that are currently on sale through November, they include Raspberries, Beans, Sour Cream Powder, Yogurt 6 pack, Bacon TVP, Sugar, Potato Chunks, Instant Rice and Maceroni.


Prices are 16% off for online customers or 20% off for Q Customers.  Not on the Q?  Check it out.

Pinto Beans Retail $11.69 Online Customers 10.29 Q Club Members 9.99
Kidney Beans Retail $13.59 Online Customers 11.99 Q Club Members 11.59
Black Beans Retail $14.39 Online Customers 12.69 Q Club Members 12.29

* Info retrieved from www.fatsecret.com

1/2 c Butter 814 calories 92 g fat

1/2 c Beans 149 1/2 g fat 9.65 g protein 6 g fiber

Meals in Minutes: Taco Soup

Ever gone camping and wished that you had something light weight, quick and easy for dinner that was filling, not greasy and inexpensive....hey me too!  Are you a mom or dad without a whole lot of time to throw dinner together and wish that you could have something healthy and tasty that could be waiting for you in your pantry when dinner time approaches?  I have been reading Dinner is in the Jar by Kathy Clark and making changes to these recipes that make it a little more user friendly for my family.  For example, if I was supposed to be soaking beans overnight and then start simmering them for 2 hours before dinner, it wouldn't have helped me as much as if I had beans that were ready to go.  That is why I LOVE Shelf Reliance Instant Beans.  This first recipe I am posting for you is one that taste's absolutely fabulous and can actually be done in about 20 minutes.  Because you don't have to pre-soak the beans, everything can go in the same bag.  This makes it all the more tempting to rig up 10 bags at once (ok, maybe more like 4) so you have future dinners set and ready to go. Thank you to Kathy Clark who got the seasonings perfect on this one.  Hope you like the Shelf Reliance doctored soup. My husband said I, "have full permission to make this soup again and again."  Basically his way of saying he loves it!  Also, since Taco TVP is the Qpon item of the month, I thought it convenient to include a recipe which would taste great with Taco TVP.

Something else I should mention is that I typically don't put my food in Jars.  I prefer to use those for when I can beans, chicken, meat or veggies so I use mylar bags for my "Meals in Minutes".  To learn more about mylar and oxygen absorbers, this is where I bought mine. These are also very convenient for when you are camping.  Mylar bags are also reusable so you can just trim the top off to open then save them for the next time you fill bags.  I put an oxygen absorber in my bags to keep the product fresh and crisp.  If you are making a meal that you are going to be eating soon  (like in a couple of days) you can use a freezer bag with a good zip lock and it should work just fine.



Taco Soup
Bag Ingredients:
1 c THRIVE Instant Red Beans
1 c THRIVE Instant Pinto Beans
1 1/2 c  THRIVE Freeze Dried Ground Beef THRIVE Beef TVP, or 3/4 c THRIVE Taco TVP (you can substitute 1 lb ground beef instead of THRIVE meat)
1 c THRIVE Freeze Dried corn
2 T THRIVE Mixed Bell Peppers
2 T THRIVE Chopped Onions
1/4 c ranch dressing mix (about 1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch Powder)
2 T chili powder
1 t garlic powder
1/4 t THRIVE oregano
1/2 t paprika
2 t cumin
1 t seasoning salt
1/8 t ground black pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper

Additional Ingredients:
9 c water
2 cans of diced tomatoes (2 1/2 c THRIVE Tomato Dices w/1 c water)

Optional toppings: (I've used THRIVE cheese & sour cream or just regular stuff from the grocery market.  Depends on if you are in a situation with refrigeration or not!)
cheese
sour cream
tortilla chips


Directions:
Bring water to a boil then turn off the heat and immediately add all of the other ingredients from the bag and cover the pot.  Let all of the ingredients sit for 5 minutes to begin rehydrating.  Add tomatoes, recover, then bring to a simmer allowing it to simmer for another 10-15 minutes.   Top individual bowls with shredded cheese, sour cream and crushed tortilla chips.


If you live in the Denver area or somewhere close by and would like to attend one of my Meals-in-Minutes group nights and store up a bunch of dinners for your family, contact me at Tiffany@HelpingFamiliesThrive.com. If you'd like to search the Shelf Reliance website and get the guaranteed best pricing available without having to use a coupon, you can visit www.helpingfamilies.thrivelife.com/home.

Cheapest Prices of the Summer! 4th of July THRIVE Sale

This sale has ended, but better ones are on the way...click here to view the current Deals and Promotions and newly released products.  To automatically be notified of new sales, you can sign up for the blog email or email me directly at TiffsTreasures (at) gmail (dot) com to receive a discount password onto the Shelf Reliance site.

For the 30 Days of Faves my final favorite is the sales.  Maybe that's cheating...but I love them.  They do a special sale for their Q Club Members each month, typically they have a large special seasonal sale, and sometimes they have sales on specific packages that are just incredible.  For the next 5 days, it is the best sale of the summer for the 4th of July THRIVE Sale.  If you like the sales you see on this page, then you will really like it when go to the product.  It will take an additional discount off of the product because you will be on my consultant website rather than the general website.

My favorite product being showcased on this sale are the Instant Beans.  I love these because they've already been presoaked and partially cooked to where they only take 15 minutes to cook in your favorite dish.  That means even if you haven't planned a dinner, you can add these, a couple veggies and meats and you have yourself a homemade stew in minutes. They are WONDERFUL!  They can still be used in a crockpot, cook some up for a side dish, make some to go with taco salad, bean burritos....so good.


Other exciting parts of the sale:

Have you been interested in becoming a consultant? The packages are now being offered at the cheapest price I've ever seen for the company.  The basic package is going for only $159 now through July 5th! If you go to the sale landing page, it will show you the package discounts of up to 20%.

Introducing THRIVE cookbooks, ice cream, instant beans and YOGURT!!!

     Introducing the new, long-awaited and requested THRIVE cookbook!  This awesome vibrant colored photo cookbook will be available to all home party customers starting March 1st. It has an index by type of food so if you're wondering what to do with your tomato powder, raspberries or corn... you're all set.  It will be 24.99, but if you are one of my customers, I would love to sell it to you at a much greater discount as long as my supplies last.  If you are once of my home party customers, I can sell it to you for 20% off, if you are a Q customer, I can sell it to you for 40% off.... you do the math ;) It's a great deal.  Write me at TiffsTreasures@gmail.com if you are interested.

  

      Appparently many of you belong to the Shelf Reliance Blog or are friends of Shelf Reliance on Facebook because the new products they have released for the final days of February have sure peaked a TON of interest.  If you would like to purchase these, you have to let me know so I can add you to a "Party" because they are only available for home party customers until next month.  As you can see, they are a couple dollars cheaper per can today and tomorrow, then the prices go up in March.  I will post the March pricelist in a couple of days so you can adjust your Qs for whatever deals are best for you.

Thanks!

  Today and Tomorrow          Starting Tuesday, March 1stBlueberry Yogurt  #10 - 31.78   33.69
                      Pantry - 11.98        13.39
Orange Yogurt #10     - 32.89    34.89
                    Pantry  -  13.00        14.59
Passionfruit Yogurt #10 - 28.81 30.49
                    Pantry    - 11.38        12.79
Pomegranite Yogurt #10 - 28.81   30.49
                     Pantry    -  11.38        12.79
Strawberry Yogurt #10  -  28.81  30.49
                     Pantry    -  11.38        12.79
Vanilla Yogurt #10       -   31.70    33.59
                      Pantry -    13.00        14.59
Beans that cook in 20 minutes:
Instant Black Beans #10   -  11.64  12.39
                               Pantry- 5.69        6.39
Instant Pinto Beans #10    -   11.21  11.89
                               Pantry 5.35          5.99
Instant Red Beans #10    11.21        11.89
                             Pantry 5.35            5.99

Ice Cream Sandwiches #10 - 22.94 24.29
                                Pantry 10.79       12.09
Chocolate Ice Cream Bars #10 24.59 22.19
                                Pantry   9.60          10.79

     Just to answer questions ahead of time, the beans are instant because they cook in only 20 MINUTES!!! The ice cream is made to eat in its Freeze Dried state and the yogurt can go both ways and is cheaper than Name brand baby yogurt bites so you could make a little "baby trail mix" with them by mixing yogurt bits and fruit pieces. The great thing about them is adults can't stop eating them either.  The staff at Shelf Reliance really outdid themselves with all of the wonderful flavors they've come up with.  Pomegranite is my personal favorite.  If you would like to try some, let me know!


Hope you're having a fantastic weekend!!!