I descovered Thrive food at the Great Lakes Emergency Preparedness Expo. My husband was on a mission for solar panels so we went along for the ride.
My children were immediately drawn to the samples of the dried pineapple and strawberries that Mike and Michelle Decker were handing out. I knew that we had a winner! They were kind enough to provide some Freeze Dried Snackies and Pantry Cans for my family to review.
Coming from a lady who has had many MRE’s, the chili and fruit samples that we tried that day tasted AMAZING.I wanted to test Thrive ingredients on one of my family staple meals to replace the “fresh” ingredients. I didn’t tell them what I was doing. Sneaky, sneaky right?
I will be reviewing 2 different aspects: 1) Survival use and 2) Everyday use.
I actually received a snackie pack of freeze-dried strawberries in addition to the 4 seen above. I got a video of my daughter trying them for the first time then she ran off. I never imagined my youngest eating the WHOLE package before I could get to her…I had to HIDE the rest of them long enough to take pictures.
One of the aspects of Thrive that SHOULD NOT BE IGNORED is their variety of freeze-dried fruits. Most of the other emergency food supplies that WE have found are Vitamin C deficient. Thrive offsets that weakness. Vitamin C is vital to overall well-being, maintaining a healthy immune system and deprivation can lead to depression, fatigue or, scurvy.
We tried the following snackies: Apples (seen below), Strawberries, Peaches (package), Vanilla yogurt, and Carrot Fruit Crisps (seen below). My family is a fan of dried fruit so we ate the fruit straight out of the container. If dried fruit is not your preference, they can be reconstituted with water. It’s very easy.
We enjoyed all of them, but my kiddos liked the peaches the least. They were very thick and the texture was off for them. This is one snackie that we will rehydrate in the future, simply based on our personal preference for slimy peaches.
The Fuji Apples and Carrot Fruit Crisps were delicious! They made a convenient and healthy snack for the kiddos to take to school. The Vanilla Yogurt Bites were MY favorite. I am a yogurt junky and these melt in your mouth with a jolt of flavor.
They were also easily made into a yummy fruit mix. I added the yogurt bites as well as raisins. Keep it in an airtight container and consume sooner than later. Moisture in the air can make the yogurt bites a little “soggy”. We learned this the hard way. My daughter left the bag of yogurt bites completely open when she put it away, thank goodness there wasn’t much left to be ruined!
The snackies that we received were all NON-GMO and Certified Gluten-Free. I realize that in a survival setting, these perks are trivial, but it is good to consider for everyday use.
From a survival perspective, these packages are air tight! I have no doubt that they can maintain their expected shelf life. The downside is that the packaging is TOO sturdy. I could not use the tab to open the package with my fingers. I had to use scissors or my husband to open these packages, both of which may not always be available.
Next, I used the Pantry Cans in one of our family favorite dinners. I keep most of these ingredients as a staple in my home. I replaced some of the ingredients with Thrive ingredients to see if my family would notice.
Here is the Recipe:
Canned Black Beans (Replaced with reconstituted Thrive Black Beans)
Canned Corn (Replaced with reconstituted Thrive Corn)
I jar of Mild Salsa
1 Teaspoon of Chili
1/2 Cup of Brown Sugar
Shredded Chedder Cheese to taste (replaced with reconstituted Thrive cheese)
Tortillas
Butter
How to cook it using Thrive:
First step is reconstituting the black beans, corn and cheese. It’s amazing how easy it is!
Add water. Approximately 1.5 hours and you have this!
Can you tell the difference between Thrive beans and “fresh” canned beans?
The Thrive beans are on the right. I was very impressed with the outcome. After a few more hours and it may have been impossible to tell. It looks delicious for having a 25-year shelf life! I don’t even want to think about what the black beans on the left would look like after 25 years. Below is a picture of the dehydrated corn. It doesn’t look bad does it? It’s crunchy and pretty tasty as it is in the picture. 
Over medium heat, cook all but the last 3 ingredients together until they are soft and warm. While the mixture is cooking, drain the reconstituted cheese.
Once the mixture is warmed through, melt butter in a skillet. Toast the tortilla , add the rehydrated cheese and bean/corn mixture, lastly another tortilla.
That’s it! Serve with more salsa and sour cream.
I will admit that there was a difference in smell while I was making the meal. If there is any difference in taste, it is very subtle. For everyday use, it is practical and cost-effective. The Pantry Cans are good for up to one year after they are opened. As a survival product, Thrive Pantry Cans are fantastic. They are easy to open and most cans have a shelf life of 25 years.
If you are on the market for a survival product as well as an everyday use product, Thrive Pantry Cans are the way to go. Stock up for winter or stock up for the next camping trip and while you are stocking up know that 5% of Thrive’s profits are donated to end world hunger.
This post is sponsored by Thrive Life. All opinions are my own.
