January 2014 - Thrive Life Specials

Looking over the January specials my first thought was, “Oh good! The spinach is on sale!” I've determined that after the holidays and at least two viruses visiting our home in the past month I’m in desperate need of a simple way to detox. I've been looking over recipes for two Detox Smoothies that require spinach. The first one calls for the use of a pear…easier than coring a pear would be to use a handful or so of the THRIVE Pears, also on special this month. (I’m not going to lie; I like the idea of upping my magnesium with the pumpkins seeds, too.) The second recipe will be the easiest for me to pull off. One trip past the grocery store and I’ll have the cucumber, everything else is on my shelf: THRIVE Strawberries, THRIVE Bananas, THRIVE Instant Milk, and of course THRIVE Chopped Spinach. (No, I don’t keep ground flax seed on hand, but I figure I can’t go too wrong using a little flax seed oil.) The best part is if I chop all the freeze dried ingredients before I add the cucumbers or liquid, it should blend to smooth consistency really easily! I’m excited to start the New Year doing something great for me!

January’s Q-pon is for the Seasonings Variety 9-pack. Loaded with nine of the tastiest seasonings, most of which are freeze dried, the 9-pack is a good deal even without this month’s price reduction. Inside find, one each:
Salad Seasoning Blend (my favorite)
Oregano
Parsley
Peppercorn
Italian Seasoning Blend (another favorite)
Cilantro
Chives (can’t live without ‘em)
Chef’s Choice (*swoon*)
Basil
To learn what Chef Todd has in mind for January’s specially priced food items check out this month’s feature recipes, then watch him put them together during the Thrive It Up Broadcast, January 14^th at 7 pm MST.
The Potato Chunks and Roast Beef reminded me that it had been awhile since I’d made Beef Stew, so I made some tonight. This time I remembered to write the portions down as I made it so I could share it with you.
THRIVE Beef Stew (Or Not)1 ½ parts THRIVE Beef TVP or 2 Parts THRIVE Roast Beef
2 parts THRIVE Potato Chunks
½ part THRIVE Celery
½ part THRIVE Carrot Dices
1 part THRIVE Chopped Onions
12+ parts water - add more as desired (I like mine really thick, so not so much water for me.)
½ teaspoon THRIVE Beef Bouillon (Vegetarian and Gluten Free) for each cup of water used.

For added thickness add Potato Flakes, or like me, add Garlic Powder (you can never have too much garlic). Heat it up! Dry ingredients will expand to about twice the initial measured amount.
Serve topped with a bit of THRIVE Shredded Cheddar Cheese. Yummy!

Now onto some more serious business, earlier this week this video was posted in one of my Facebook groups.

It turned my stomach to think just how far away my family is, from being prepared to leave in a hurry. So I went looking for ways to fix that problem. I now know how to move myself forward and hope if you’re not adequately prepared you’ll find an option that best suits you here, too.
I’m a paper person; I like to hold a hard copy. I’m also a color person, so I like the idea of a binder with a bright cover. These printables from BYU Women’s Conference fit my needs best:
Lists of the items that in an emergency would need to be gathered together in a hurry on Binder Pages with Binder Covers in pink, yellow , and blue. I’m sure I’ll also borrow some ideas for putting my Important Documents together from another Thrive Life consultant, Misty Marsh.
Though it isn’t a good fit for me, one woman posted on SugarDoodle.net, “What I did is I scanned all of my info in:
-Family SSN#'s and Birth Certs
-All insurance info (life, car, home, medical)
-All account info and numbers
-I made a spread sheet of all accounts (bank, credit card, mortgage, student loan, etc. - whatever I paid monthly or used for banking) and put all account numbers, any web addresses, account user names and passwords, and phone numbers on the sheet
-I put copies of all investment information and retirement plan papers
-I copied front and backs of all credit cards
-I copied baby record books and immunizations for both of my boys
-I copied all home purchase info - deeds, titles, purchase docs
-I copied Temple Recommends, Voter registrations, donor cards, and a family picture
-I copied car titles and drivers licenses and I copied all home bills (gas, electric, phone, etc.)

“I scanned this in and then burned about 4 or 5 of these disks.  I gave one to my parents, one to my in-laws, one to my sister in law (who would probably end up with my children if something happened to us).  I did say to only use it in the case of emergency.  I have a couple of copies.  I have a copy on my husband's computer and one on mine.  I feel pretty safe that someone could get our stuff together with all of this in one place - especially my husband if something happened to me.  Eventually I want to get a fire-safe safe to put this disk in, but for now there are copies throughout the United States, so we should be good.”

I love that she was thinking about having multiple copies “just in case”. That’s what preparedness is all about, preparing for that “just in case" emergency.

Here’s to the beginning of a new year that’s sure to be filled with opportunities to reach our preparedness goals! I’d love to help you reach yours, contact me if I can.