I’ve been developing and writing recipes for the outdoors for a long time. Over the years I have tried nearly every company that makes freeze-dried food and found from really good to the saddest items every created. One thing hard to find is smaller quantities, that are quality and packaged well. I tried out Thrive Life awhile back and was hooked on the quality and overall fast shipping. As with all freeze-dried producers they have been hit hard due to high sales, so sometimes things can be out of stock, but they work hard to get more ready. I ended up becoming a consultant because I buy a lot for both pantry, use in outdoor recipe development, and for our prepping. I liked it that….and I have yet to find anything from them that contends with the worst meal I’ve ever (tried) to eat. The peaches I have to hide from our kids, because they will eat the entire can in one sitting.
Every month Thrive Life offers a ‘delivery pack’ at a good discount off of retail prices (often 30% off). The packs are a way to affordably buy more freeze-dried goods for your pantry as backups to fresh food. Or your prep shelter. Either or both 😉 And hey, winter is here. Where we live, on an island, we lost power 4 times in fall already, and for multiple days each time. We eat freeze-dried food every time, using TrailCooking recipes. No suffering for us. Today the cold snap in the PNW still carries on….and I opened up a can of dry milk as I was out of fresh – I was making a loaf of bread, and I wanted a morning frappe. It was nice to be able to walk downstairs and get one off the rack. And not have to face frozen over vehicles, ice covered road out front and shortages in the stores due to no trucks coming onto the island right now. Even if I wanted to risk my car, I wouldn’t even know if they’d have milk at the small store 2 miles away.
(In January these awesome racks are going to come with a $100 credit you get in February!) The racks hold #10 (family) cans, pantry cans and canned goods. All you need to assemble is a dead blow hammer or mallet. I saw them as an investment to keep my house tidier.
December’s pack includes Red Bell Pepper, Corn, Chicken Slices, Raspberries, Scrambled Egg Mix (it can be used as eggs in recipes as a bonus), Instant Milk, and Onions. All are the ‘Pantry Can’ size, which are perfect for hiking season and pantry yse. You will use up the can quickly, where as the large #10 Family Cans can be hard to get through quickly unless you eat the same stuff over and over.
The pack sells retail at $138.21, or if you do the Monthly Delivery Service, it is discounted at $117.48. Shipping is included and is usually quite fast via UPS. It ships from Utah. The monthly packs are discounted by 15% for retail, and 30% for monthly signups. I do the monthly delivery because it helps build our long-term food storage up, most packs offered are under $120, so easy to budget, so you can build up stock.
To check it out, click here and go to Shop, then December Specials, and then December Specials Pack. The December Special ends on the 31st (you can see what is going to be offered for January as well).
Want a recipe I developed using chicken? This recipe was done for cooking on the trail, but can be made for a quick lunch in your kitchen!
T-Day Dinner
Pack in a quart freezer bag for FBC, a sandwich bag for one pot:
- 1 cup instant rice
- ½ cup freeze-dried chicken
- ¼ cup freeze-dried celery
- 2 Tbsp dried cranberries
- 1 Tbsp minced dried onion
- 1½ tsp chicken boullion powder (lower sodium if desired)
FBC Method:
Place freezer bag in a FBC Cozy or similar item, add in 1¾ cups boiled water. Stir well, seal tightly and let sit 15 minutes. Stir again and eat.
One Pot Method:
Bring 1¾ cups water to a boil in a small pot. Add in dry ingredients, stir well. Place lid on, turn off stove. In cool temperature, or at altitude, put pot in a pot cozy. Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes. Stir and eat.
Serves 1 large appetite to 2 smaller ones.
~Sarah
FTC Disclaimer:
We are a Thrive Life consultant, and make an affiliate bonus on sales. Having said that, we love Thrive Life products and feel they are one of the best in the freeze-dried food industry.