Short-Term Food Storage Basics: Part 1 – Getting Started
December 12, 2022
3 Comments
A beginner’s guide to short-term food storage and the differences between short-term and long-term food storage.
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February 2023 Thrive Life Food Storage Specials
WHAT YOU WANT TO KNOW BEFORE FILLING YOUR DELIVERY CART THIS MONTH
Beware: You’re going to see some repeats this month.
This isn’t a bad thing, especially if you really wanted to get some milk during the New Year’s sale but didn’t have the budget for it. This sale isn’t quite as good as 50% off, but A discount is better than NO discount.
**This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on a link and make a purchase, I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
1
Fuji Apples
These truly make a great snack for any time. Super convenient to toss in a lunch box or just munch straight out of the can standing in your kitchen.
Just beware, if you’re not going to eat them pretty quick (like within a couple to a few weeks) or if the lid isn’t secure, they will get kind of chewy.
You can add Fuji Apple slices to your food storage HERE.
For more details, including cost per serving, check out this post.
2
Instant Milk
This is your second chance! Snag some of the BEST milk powder while you can get a discount.
If you want to hear more of my thoughts on this instant milk powder, just go read this post.
Click here if you want to add Thrive Life milk to your food storage.
3
Banana Slices
These are super flavorful. I don’t love them, but I don’t hate them. It really will depend on how ripe you like your bananas – I prefer a banana with some green still, so these are a teeny bit too ripe for me.
My daughter, on the other hand, can’t get enough of these! So it really just depends on your preference.
One more thing to note, these are not chip crunchy. You’ll still get a bit of crisp, but it’s more airy. The classic banana chips that you’re probably thinking of are dehydrated – these are freeze dried!
If you’re ready to purchase these freeze dried banana slices, click here.
4
Sweet Corn
I’m really happy any time I get to share my love for this corn. It’s seriously one of my favorite snacks. I think you’ll love it, too. I love it so much that it made the list of my top 12 favorite foods from Thrive Life.
To see the details on Thrive Life freeze dried corn, like serving size, how I use it, etc, click here.
5
Chopped Onions
Have you ever given someone freeze dried food for a gift?
No? Well, I sure have. No lie – I give cases of these chopped onions as gifts. I’ve been told it’s life-changing.
Never cry over chopping onions again. I use these almost daily when cooking.
Read more about why this is the #1 thing I recommend from Thrive Life.
6
Ground Beef
Meat that can sit on a shelf for 25 years? Sounds made up, right? Nope! It’s real!
Use it just like you would in any recipe you’d normally put ground beef in. Cool, huh?
Its appearance does resemble dog food, I’m not gonna lie. But once you have it cooked up and browned and in a meal, your kids won’t know what it looked like coming out of the can, I promise.
As far as taste: I can tell a difference from fresh meat. I am hyper-sensitive to reheated or precooked meat, so that makes sense that I can taste the difference when I use this. It has the same vibe as hamburger that you’ve cooked and either frozen or refrigerated, and then reheated. Which makes sense; afterall, this hamburger is COOKED! (Which means, yes! You can eat it right out of the can for some protein if that’s your style – nothin’ raw about it!)
7
Instant Refried Beans
I have tried these and they’re totally fine; it’s hard to mess up refried beans.
So the reason I don’t store these isn’t because they’re gross. It’s just because it’s not an economical way to store refried beans.
Without boring you too terribly much with all the ins and outs of short-term food storage, I will just say this: A can of refried beans from the store is about $1, maybe $2. Let’s be generous and say one pantry can of these refried beans is equivalent to 3 store-bought cans of refried beans from the store. That’s $3-$6 worth of beans (that are ready to dump out of the can – no prep needed), and you’ll pay $11.35 for it in this form from Thrive. That’s anywhere from double to quadruple the price.
So it all comes down to shelf life. These Instant Refried Beans do have a shelf life of 25 years, which is pretty awesome. But cans of refried beans that come from the grocery store usually have about a year-ish shelf life. So I’d rather store a year’s supply of cans from the grocery store than a year’s supply from Thrive.
The catch is, I have to rotate my store-bought cans. All the time.
With Thrive, I can set them and forget them (for 25 years).
I have a can rotator, and I am used to using this method with all the canned foods I use on a regular basis, so this is a no-brainer for me.
If you know you are not going to be good at always keeping a bunch of cans of refried beans from the grocery store in the pantry, and/or you’re going to be horrible at rotating them, then by all means, get the refried beans from Thrive!
I just wanted to be transparent about why I’m going to pass on the beans.
Click here to add instant refried beans to your food storage.
8
Instant White Rice
Cooks up just like any other instant rice and tastes great! I don’t know about your family, but we go through A LOT of rice – I would hate to be without such a popular staple.
However, I apply the same logic to rice as I do to the refried beans. Rice has a really decent shelf life, just in the packaging it comes in from the store. Minute Rice in a box is a heck of a lot cheaper than this Thrive Instant White Rice. So…I store Minute Rice in a box, and I rotate through it as I use it.
Having said that, this rice is super delicious and super fast to cook!
If you have questions:
PLEASE send me an email! Don’t delay getting started on your food storage just because something is confusing. I am here to help. If something is confusing to you, or even if you have questions about a previous order, PLEASE ASK!
melanie@planforawesome.com
Quick Ordering Reminders:
Related Posts:
Long Term Food Storage Basics: What you need to Know to Get Started
November 21, 2022
6 Comments
Answers to some of your most asked questions about long-term food storage, including the difference between dehydrated and freeze dried food.
My top 12 Freeze Dried Foods from Thrive Life
August 15, 2022
19 Comments
While every family’s food storage needs are a little different, every family needs food storage. These 12 items are my top favorites – most of them I even use on a regular basis when I’m out of the grocery store version.