30 Days of THRIVE - Bread Pudding

Hello Everyone!! Who is ready for another awesome 30 days of THRIVE Dish??? ME TOO!!!

This time I wanted to do something that my family absolutely LOVES!!!

Do you remember that yummy homemade bread that we made just a couple weeks ago? Well this is a great way to make the best of that bread. Especially if you have little ones in your home, the bread bag does not always get closed, am I right? So what do you do with stale bread? MMMM.....one of my very favorite things....make bread pudding! This is so simple, and very flexible. It can be sweet, or savory, or you could make it into a meal by adding some chicken and veggies!

We are going with a sweet version today! Here is what you are gonna need:
***Word of Warning: This recipe is only a ratio based recipe. This will depend on your bread and
             how much you have to use. The good news is that you really can't go wrong!***
Bread (broken up into chunks)
Whole Egg Powder (I start out with about 6 eggs equivalent once prepared)
Instant Milk (I use about 1/2 as much milk as eggs)
Butter Powder (about 1 Tablespoon)
Add in your favorite spices (I use cinnamon and nutmeg)
A splash of vanilla

The key to making this great is to mix all of your wet ingredients, and then slowly add in the bread pieces. You want the bread to be wet, but no dripping. Once you get all the bread mixed in, spray (I use coconut oil) the pan you will be cooking in. I love to make them in muffin tins! The kids love them and it makes them easy for the hubby to take with him to eat on the way to work!
Bake @ 375 degrees for about 20 mins (you want them to still be soft to the touch, but not squishy)

While those are baking, you are gonna want to mix up this yummy syrup to put over the top. Trust me....you will not miss maple syrup after you taste this yummy stuff!!

Buttermilk Syrup  (origional recipe and tutorial can be found here @ Our Best Bites)

3/4 Cup buttermilk (Here is a tutorial on making your own buttermilk from THRIVE)
1 1/2 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup real butter
2 Tbsp Honey (prepared)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine buttermilk, sugar, butter, honey, and baking soda in a LARGE pot. (pot needs to be much larger than your ingredients because this will expand!)
Bring ingredients to a boil and reduce heat to low (you want to see small bubbles). Cook, stirring very frequently, for 8-9 minutes. (you can cook it for less time and it is more syrup like and less caramel like...up to you!)

Remove from heat and add vanilla.

Let sit for a few mintues so that you do not burn yourself....because I promise you will not be able to contain yourself after the first bite. Give it a good stir! Enjoy!!

Mama Mondays - Flourishing Family

Ok....So I know that I promised everyone an amazing STIR FRY recipe today....but I changed my mind. Here is why. I got to visit with my family this weekend and it reminded me what I LOVE about being a part of a flourishing family! I am gonna start a series every 3rd Monday of the month all about good family recipes! What I remember the most about growing up in my family, is that we homemade most of our food. All of my friends were jealous every time they came over and mom was making homemade bread!!! MMMMMM!!!!!! The whole neighborhood smelled good!

It got me thinking, bread is something that as kids we really depended on for a staple in our diets. No matter how many times my mom made it....and she made it pretty often, we were always excited to eat it!!! I remember that my mom could get us to try anything new, as long as it was accompanied by her yummy bread!!!

Now that I am grown and have my own little family, I love getting to provide the same thing for my family. We love making our own bread! We know exactly what is in it and that it is healthy! So today I am gonna show you just how easy it is to make your own delicious bread! You are excited right?!

Here is what you will need:

4 Tablespoons THRIVE White Sugar

4 Tablespoons Yeast

4 C. Warm Water

4 C. Warm THRIVE Milk

2/3 C. Oil (I love coconut oil!)

3 Tablespoons THRIVE Salt

18 C THRIVE Flour (I use a mixture of

whole wheat and white flour, but you can

 use any type of flour that you like...this is

easily adapted to gluten free with THRIVE rice flour)

 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Combine Sugar, yeast and warm water. Let sit for 15 minutes covered with a towel.

Combine milk, oil, salt, and 8 cups of your flour in a separate bowl. Add yeast mixture. Reserve 2 cups of flour to knead with. Slowly add the remainder of your flour.

Grease your pans and set aside.  

Pour dough out onto a floured surface and knead only a few times. (I usually only knead until I can handle the dough quickly without is being sticky) Form into loaves that are roughly ½ the height of your pan.

Put your dough into your pans and sit them on top of the stove. Cover with a towel and allow them to rise to double their size.

Bake @ 425 degrees for 10 minutes

Turn the oven down to 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Pull them out of the oven and rub them with butter right away. Let them cool then enjoy!!!

Simple Right!!! It will be a big hit...Promise!!!

 

Anytime we make homemade bread....we have to mix up some of this little gem!

THRIVE Butter

THRIVE Honey crystals

Cinnamon

It tastes like the stuff you get at Texas Roadhouse or Chuck-A-Rama!!! I LOVE it!!!

Happy Monday!!!

 

Mama Mondays - Healthy Mama Series

Good Morning Mamas!

I am so glad that you are joining us again this Monday! Today is an exciting one because I will be introducing another series as a part of Mama Mondays! This is something that I am really passionate about and something I have personally struggled with. Being a Healthy Mama!!!

I will be adding great tips, tricks, and recipes to help you throughout your pregnancy and again while breastfeeding! Tune in every 2nd Monday of the month!

Perhaps a little back story would help you understand why I care so much about healthy mamas!!!

When I was pregnant with Noah (He was a pleasant surprise FYI), I was waist deep in a very intensive Diagnostic Medical Sonography Degree. It required that I work 40 hr week at my clinical internship site (which was 45 minutes from home), and put in about 30 more hours of study, assignment time, just to stay afloat!! I was not an overachiever my any means! I was highly stressed and worn out! This did not make ideal conditions for a pregnancy. Once I started thinking about it, most moms now have to deal with less than ideal conditions while pregnant these days. So what can we do to make sure that we stay as healthy as possible? Let me tell you what I did.....

#1 Drink TONS of water!!!

While pregnant or nursing water is vital! You need plenty of water to keep you babies amniotic fluid at a good level as well as to clean the fluid. It is also very important for your own body. You are giving up so much to help that little one grow, your body needs the water to maintain its cells and critical functions, like the kidneys.

#2 Take some time for exercise!

I really loved to stretch while I was pregnant. You can find prenatal yoga and mediation videos everywhere!! This really helps to relieve some stress and help many fluids in your body to circulate much better!! Deep breaths and pamper those muscles!!! This can also help blood circulation and prevent varicose veins if done regularly.

#3 Plan to succeed!!! Plan Snacks & Meals!!!!

Make sure that you have a great eating plan. If you have a plan and take time to prepare your meals and snacks, you are giving yourself a head start. You are less likely to choose something that will will set you back. Healthy snacks and meals are essential to give your body the right fuel to keep you energized and grow that cute little baby! Here is some of my best advice....

Eat a really good breakfast! Make sure that you have a great protein source and that you add in some veggies!!! This gives you the best head start! MY favorite is to make an egg, veggie, and cheese omelet! Take your THRIVE Scrambled egg mix and create a "bed" for your favorite veggies and cheese. My favorite veggies are THRIVE Green Chile, THRIVE Asparagus, THRIVE Spinach, THRIVE Onions, and THRIVE Red and Green Bell peppers! I usually top it with just a little THRIVE Cheddar Cheese. Add some THRIVE Instant Milk and some THRIVE Quick Oatmeal to boost breast milk production!

Make sure that you plan some healthy snacks! One of my favorite snacks in the morning is an assortment of Yogurt bites and fruit and nuts! This ensures that you get a little protein! Add in any of your favorite THRIVE yogurt bites and favorite THRIVE fruits to some almonds and you are good to go! For a snack towards the afternoon (this is usually when most people begin to crave the sweets!) I love to add in something with a crunch! I LOVE the THRIVE Corn! It is almost like eating popcorn, but a little sweeter to satisfy my sweet tooth!

Make sure that your lunch is packed with good stuff! I love a great chicken salad with some fruit! Combine some of our THRIVE Superstars for a great lunch! Chicken, Onion, Celery, Apples or grapes, and some red or green bell peppers make an amazing chicken salad!

 

At dinner time it is important to pay attention to your balance between the carbs and proteins! You growing baby needs good proteins and veggies to carry you through the night. One of my favorite go to dinners is a stir fry! You get tons of protein and veggies in! Check back next Monday for my THRIVE Sizzle! Stir Fry recipe!!!

Last but not least, make sure that you are treating yourself! One of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to be healthy is that they feel like you have to completely cut out all the "Bad" things! NOT!!! If you love ice cream....eat a little ice cream!! The trick is, only eat a true serving size!!

#4 Perhaps the most important, Get good Sleep!

Getting enough sleep is so important when pregnant or nursing and probably the hardest to come by! Try and help yourself by winding down about 30 minutes before bed by doing some stretches and rubbing your feet. Use some lotion and really try to calm yourself down.

 

Try to remember that in order to take care of your growing little ones, you have to take care of yourself! Once you start you will love it!!  

THRIVE Instant Milk Wins Hands Down

If you are trying to decide between Instant Milk and Non-Instant Milk, there are enough alternatives out there to make your head spin.  Really....everyone and their brother has an opinion out there of who is best but very few people have actually tried all that is offered.  Shelf Reliance always strives to be the best but we're biased on thinking we have the best product so we wanted to make sure others agree.

This is the recording of a blind taste test of our milk with all others that are out there.  To make it a completely fair test, we even included store bought milk in the mix to see how we compare to the best competition of all.  Can you guess the results???

Yep, we were #1!  Even before store bought milk....booya!

If you'd like to try it today, email me at ShelfRelianceMom@gmail.com today to request a sample from my home.  Disclaimer, this is from my home.  We are not a GF household so please take that into consideration when asking for this milk.

To order milk for your home store you can go to my discount site.  Click on the picture for direct links:

THRIVE Instant Milk

Chocolate Drink Mix

Powdered Milk Cookbook

Non-Instant Milk Alternative

To follow me and receive blog updates, sales info and more tips, you can subscribe to my emails here. Thanks for stopping by!

Tiffany Daumueller

Independent Consultant and Director at Shelf Reliance/ THRIVE Foods

Shelf Reliance Mom Blog | Online Shelf Reliance Discount Store | Facebook |  Shelf Reliance Specials Mailing List| 575-323-1132 | Become a Shelf Reliance Consultant

If you like this post, you make also like these posts:

Why I love THRIVE Instant Milk, Stretching Your Dollar: The Wonders of Buttermilk, Food Storage isn't Necessarily Perfect, But it's Perfectly Necessary, Homemade Cream of ? Soup

Click here to learn more about our buckets.

Just getting started on the food storage journey?

Tips: Buying in bulk always saves you more.  One bucket is the price of 6 cans but it holds 8 cans.  That's like getting 33% free :) 

Also, tomorrow I'll be posting some excellent cookbooks and recipe websites I'd recommend.

Newly Released Products...more details to follow soon!

I will be sure to have a more formal post with pictures and links to the website as they become available, but I wanted to write a brief post of what's in store for you with Shelf Reliance in only a brief couple of weeks.

Chef Todd Leonard has created 12 - yes 12 new just-add-water dishes that are absolutely fantatic.  We got to sample each one of them today.  I will post about my favorites in 2 days.  Trust me, you won't want to miss these meals, most of which cook in under 15 minutes!

We also released a brand new pancake mix (now don't you worry, the 6 grain pancake mix will still be on the menu :) as well as eggs that are ready to scramble.  Woohoo!  Are you a health nut who doesn't eat regular eggs?  Guess what.....egg whites are on the way to the rescue.  Isn't that fantastic?

Plus, if you thought our Instant milk was fabulous already, it just got better.  Shelf Reliance revamped the milk and had a blind taste test and our Instant Milk actually tested HIGHER (ie Better Tasting in rank) than regular milk from the store!  It is also fortified with Vitamins A and D so you know you are getting just what you need for your family.

Plus, great news on a package with further details to come.  It is the new THRIVE Smart Start Pack.  This is a new program to help you jump start the Q with a recipe book, monthly meal plans and food (including each of the new entrees) to get you started on your families preparedness journey.

For more details on how to get on this Smart Start system, you can email me at TiffsTreasures@gmail.com or call me 575-621-0274.  With this system, it is easier to get your family started on the road towards preparedness and healthy eating habits TODAY.  Bye bye McDonalds, hello instant gourmet!

Light and Easy Alfredo Pasta

I had my beautiful niece, Lauren, visiting me from Virginia this summer (I miss her and so do my kids:( wiping away tears) and we did some cooking when she'd come over to my house a couple of times a week. Did I mention I miss her.. I wish I'd had money to buy a Cube-our deal to get her to stay and watch my children, forever... okay back on topic.


We were on a mission to make something that can bring so much comfort to the soul but that has a bad reputation for all of the grease puddles, healthier. I am delighted to tell you that we found a recipe that we LOVE that only has ½ T of oil. Some of the fat is made up in Parmesan Cheese, but its a much healthier fat- woohoo! Next step, BEG Shelf Reliance to start making Freeze Dried Garlic and Parsley, yum!
Not cooking with food storage? Skip down to the bottom.


Printable Recipe THRIVE recipe on page 1, non-THRIVE on page 2


Light and Easy Alfredo Sauce
Prep Time:25-35 minutes(depending on how long you leave it in the oven) Serves:6-8
Ingredients:
½ T Extra Virgin Olive Oil                     1 T THRIVE Chicken Bouillon
1 T garlic                                               3 T Flour
½ T THRIVE onions                           1 t salt
3 c water                                                ¼ t black pepper
5 T THRIVE Instant Milk powder      Dried Parsley
½ c grated Parmesan Cheese

1. Saute garlic garlic, onions, and EVOO until golden brown in large non-stick pan.
   
2. In a small saucepan, stir together water, milk powder, bouillon, flour, salt and pepper. Stir until smooth and thick.
   
3. Add milk mixture to the sauteed garlic mixture and continue to cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sauce is thick.
   
4. Stir in the Parmesan cheese then sprinkle with parsley and your done!
   

Want to make of meal of it? Let's do it!
This sauce works well with all sorts of noodles. We started with a campanelle noodle, but also tried egg noodles. If using store bought noodles, cook up a full package. If using THRIVE noodles, you have spaghetti, macaroni , and egg noodles to choose from.


Alfredo Pasta Casserole
Ingredients:
1 package of pasta or 6 c THRIVE egg noodles       1 c THRIVE FD Spinach or FD Broccoli
2 c THRIVE FD Chicken                                        1 recipe Light and Easy Alfredo Sauce
¼ c cold water                                                        1 c THRIVE FD Mozzerella Cheese

1. Begin boiling water to cook noodles.
   
2. Saute garlic garlic, onions, and EVOO until golden brown in large non-stick pan.
   
3. Add noodles to water to be boiled.
   
4. In another small saucepan, stir together water, milk powder, bouillon, flour, salt and pepper. Stir until smooth and thick.
   
5. Add milk mixture to the sauteed garlic mixture and continue to cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sauce is thick. Stir in the Parmesan cheese then sprinkle with parsley.
   
6. Place Mozzerella Cheese on a plate and spread the cheese flat. Pour ¼ c cold water on top of cheese and allow to soak up water. Place FD Spinach (or FD Broccoli) with FD Chicken in your 9x13 casserole dish.
   
7. Before draining your noodles, reserve 1 c water and pour it on your veggies and chicken. If there is a lot of excess water, you can add more veggie in. Drain noodles and rinse with cold water so they don't get too soft.
   
8. Pour your noodles in a 9x13 pan and mix around with the veggies and chicken. Coat noodle mixture evenly with Alfredo Sauce and stir. Sprinkle Mozzarella cheese over the rest of your dish.
   
9. Cook at 350 about 10 minutes or until cheese is slightly melted and crisp.\
   -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
   
   Don’t have THRIVE?  You can still make this dish, you’ll just need to make sure you have precooked chicken and veggies.
   Light and Easy Alfredo Sauce
   Ingredients:
   ½ T Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 T Chicken Bouillon
   1 T garlic 3 T Flour
   ½ T dried onions 1 t salt
   3 c milk ¼ t black pepper
   ½ c grated Parmesan Cheese Dried Parsley
   1. Saute garlic garlic, onions, and EVOO until golden brown in large non-stick pan.
   2. In a small saucepan, stir together milk, bouillon, flour, salt and pepper. Stir until smooth and thick.
   3. Add milk mixture to the sauteed garlic mixture and continue to cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sauce is thick.
   4. Stir in the Parmesan cheese then sprinkle with parsley and your done!
   
   This sauce works well with all sorts of noodles. We started with a campanelle noodle, but also tried egg noodles. If using store bought noodles, cook up a full package. If using THRIVE noodles I would use 1 lb of noodles which is about 6 cups, you can add more or less if you need to stretch it further or keep it more saucy.
   
   Alfredo Pasta Casserole
   Prep Time: 25-35 minutes (depending on how long you heat it in the oven) Serves 6-8
   Ingredients: 1 recipe Light and Easy Alfredo Sauce
   1 package of pasta or ½  c frozen Spinach, defrosted
   6 c any noodles 2 c Cooked Chicken
   ¼ c cold water 1 c shredded Mozzerella Cheese
   1. Begin boiling water to cook noodles.
   2. Saute garlic garlic, onions, and EVOO until golden brown in large non-stick pan.
   3. Add noodles to water to be boiled.
   4. In another small saucepan, stir together water, milk powder, bouillon, flour, salt and pepper. Stir until smooth and thick.
   5. Add milk mixture to the sauteed garlic mixture and continue to cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sauce is thick. Stir in the Parmesan cheese then sprinkle with parsley.
   6. Place Mozzarella Cheese on a plate and spread the cheese flat. Pour ¼ c cold water on top of cheese and allow to soak up water. Place FD Spinach (or FD Broccoli) with FD Chicken in your 9x13 casserole dish.
   7. Drain your noodlesand rinse with cold water so they don't get too soft.
   8. Pour your noodles in a 9x13 pan and mix around with the veggies and chicken. Coat noodle mixture evenly with Alfredo Sauce and stir. Sprinkle Mozzarella cheese over the rest of your dish.
   9. Cook at 350 about 10 minutes or until cheese is slightly melted and crisp.
   
   
   
   
   I hope Lauren comes back next summer!

Stretching your dollar: The Wonders of Buttermilk

Oh the wonders of church!  A lady from my church taught me this trick when I was telling her I use the old sour your milk trick.  She told me that she feels like this tastes better, so she sticks to the real thing.  I like it either way but in case you like the real deal too, here’s an awesome tip for you. If you are in a pinch and need to know how to make buttermilk just with the powdered milk or regular milk you have on hand, just skip to the bottom!

Printable Recipe

The Wonders of Buttermilk
If you already have store bought buttermilk and prefer the taste of actual buttermilk to that of soured milk, you don’t have to spend lots of time and hard earned money on real buttermilk from the store.

Streching your store bought buttermilk
1 c store bought buttermilk
3 c regular milk (Many people prefer whole because it is creamier, but skim will work)

To stretch your buttermilk, all you will need is 1 container of buttermilk.  (You can usually find an 8 oz container for less than .50 at the store) and 3 cups of regular milk.  Get one of your quart sized canning jars and add the two milks into the jar and allow it to sit on the countertop for 12 hours.  (Some sources say 8-24 hours, but as long as it is sticking to the sides of the jar and looking thicker, you’re in business!)  The way this works is the the cultures that are in the buttermilk (Lactobaccillus according to ehow) ferment with the regular milk making it naturally soured.  

Tips for success: If you don’t have a glass jar, do not despair you can wait until your buttermilk container is nearly empty, then add regular milk to the regular container.  Just remember the 1:3 ratio.  Good news is that this lasts for weeks so you will have plenty of time to make buttermilk pancakes, waffles, buttermilk syrup, banana bread, ranch dressing,.... okay I need to stop because my mouth is watering.
_______________________________________________________________________________

Streching your store bought buttermilk from food storage
What if you don’t have regular milk?  Just mix up some powdered milk to go with it.  If you are using a glass jar as per the example, just fill it with:

4 cups or 1 quart of buttermilk
3 c warm water
½ c + 1 T of powdered milk (9 T if you want to do it the long way ;)
1 c buttermilk

Mix warm water and powdered milk well. Then add buttermilk.  Allow to sit on the counter at least 8 hours (I would probably wait 12 if I had the choice) then refrigerate for up to a couple weeks.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Buttermilk strictly from food storage
If you are living strictly on food storage and don’t have the time, money or desire to go to Walmart and need buttermilk in a pinch, use the good ole’ sour your milk trick.  I use this 99% of the time.

Butermilk: Yields 1 cup
1 c warm water
1 t white vinegar or lemon juice
3 T powdered milk

Mix ingredients together and allow to sit for 5 minutes then add to the recipe in place of buttermilk. Voila!

Tips for success: For those of you with lactose intolerance, this trick works great with Moo’s Milk (a milk alternative).

This is the consistency you are hoping to achieve.  As you can 

see it is thick enough to stick to the edges. It should look kind of viscous.   Now that I have a gallon of buttermilk, I can't wait to see what recipes everyone throws at me!

This link had some information on making buttermilk from raw milk over a period of days. Although that would not be a regular thing for me, its a good thing to know if you are living in a long term emergency food situation. Interesting.

Thanks for stopping by!


Question of the Day:
What recipes do you use buttermilk in?

Be sure to try this out in Brianna's Mini Corndog Recipe!


Did you see the details on the next Giveaway?

Blueberries- you won't even have to throw half of the case away!

Day 8 of the 30 Days of Faves

Confession time:  I was one of those crazy people who'd wait until blueberries went on sale one day out of the year in our town.  I would buy 20+ packages, go home and wash them all.  Then I would spend the next 2 days laying them out on cookie sheets in my freezer to make sure they were frozen individually (not in clumps).  Finally I would bag them up in a bunch of freezer bags so they didn't get freezer burn over the next year.  Each time, I'd sit back and say, wow what a deal....but now I have no freezer space!  Enter Freeze-Dried Blueberries.  I love that I can have the fresh flavor of blueberries, with all of the nutrition of the ones I froze, with the convenience of having it not take up my freezer!  We use ours all of the time for breakfast foods in our household and I will be posting some of the reasons why today and tomorrow.

One of my most popular recipes that includes blueberries is the Granola with Freeze-Dried Fruit.  Its similar to the one Shelf Reliance makes, but tweeked slightly. I have even had multiple people ask, can I pay you to make this for me?  Unfortunately, no....but you can make your own for super cheap!  It works great as a breakfast cereal, sprinkled on yogurt or as a treat on ice cream.

Now we're going to connect the post from the past 3 days with this new recipe:

Classic French Toast w/ Blueberry Syrup

1 Loaf of any bread, I use the 100% Whole Wheat Bread recipe I shared

6 T eggs

4 T instant milk

1 1/2 c warm water

1/2 t cinnamon

Add egg powder, instant milk and warm water in an 8x8 dish.  Mix well with a fork.  Add cinnamon. Dip slices of bread quickly on both sides.  Cook French Toast on a preheated skillet until slightly browned on both sides.

Blueberry Syrup

3/4 c blueberries

1 c hot water

1/4 c sugar

Put blueberries and hot water in blender and allow to rehydrate for 5 minutes.  Blend on low for 30 seconds.  Empty into a saucepan and add the sugar and simmer until breakfast is ready.

Vanilla Whipped Topping  (From the Shelf Reliance Website)

• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1⁄2 c thrive powdered sugar
• 1⁄2 c thrive instant milk, prepared and chilled
• 1⁄2 c ice water
• Combine ice water and powdered milk in bowl and beat for 10 minutes. Add powdered sugar and vanilla, continue to beat until thoroughly blended. Chill.
• 
  *This works best in a stand mixer with whip beaters. If mixture begins to fall, beat again.

Not a blueberry person?  Growing up as a kid, my mom would spread a little bit of butter on ours then sprinkle powdered sugar on top.  I believe that the butter powder recipe on the can calls for equal parts powder and water, but I like to put a little extra powder in it. (Usually about double)  You can actually make it as thick as you'd like, the texture is about like margarine, but tastes just like butter but with a lot less fat.