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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April Thrive Life Food Storage Specials
If you’re new around here, Welcome! I am here to help you grow your food storage in a way that feels uncomplicated and helps you build a supply of food your family will actually want to eat! Each month, I’m sharing what’s on sale from my favorite freeze dried foods company. If you want to know why I love Thrive Life or explore other options, you can check out this blog post.
Now let’s get to the April Thrive Life monthly specials for 2024. I see a few favorites on the flyer, and I’m confident you’ll find some things to add to your long-term food storage.
**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
Pulled Pork - 40% off
Shelf Life - 25 years
**Pulled Pork has an OVERSTOCK banner on it, which means a can may be 1 or 2 years into its 25-year shelf life already.
GET. THIS.
This is such a great way to add some protein to your food storage and it is a definite crowd pleaser. It tastes great and is so quick and easy! My entire family loves this.
Add freeze dried pulled pork to your order now.
**Note: this is one of 4 items that Thrive offers, that has a shorter shelf life than 1 year after opening. You should use the pulled pork within one month of opening the can.
2
Green Chili Peppers - 35% off
Shelf Life - 25 years
** Green Chili Peppers have an OVERSTOCK banner on them, which means they may be 1 or 2 years into their 25-year shelf life already.
Such an easy way to add flavor to your meal and super quick to reconstitute. I don’t use them a ton, but I do like having them in my food storage when a recipe calls for them!
Click here to add freeze dried green chili peppers to your order this month.
3
Fuji Apples - 35% off
Shelf Life - 25 years
**Fuji Apples has an OVERSTOCK banner on them, which means they may be 1 or 2 years into their 25-year shelf life already.
Honestly, you can’t go wrong with pure apple slices. Crunchy and full of flavor, they’re great to pack in school lunches or to just grab a handful to snack on. In fact, I like these apple slices so much they earned a spot on my top 12 freeze dried favorites list.
However, I will say…I think I like the cinnamon apple slices even better! It’s a toss up…
4
Sausage Crumbles - 35% off
Shelf Life - 25 years
**Sausage Crumbles has an OVERSTOCK banner on it, which means it may be 1 or 2 years into the 25-year shelf life already.
This is one of my favorite meats from Thrive Life! It is DELICIOUS!
I don’t cook much with sausage, but when I do, I have no hesitation using this. Just like ground beef, I recommend browning the sausage crumbles before adding them to a meal.
Click here if you’re ready to add these sausage crumbles to your food storage.
5
Chopped Spinach - 30% off
Shelf Life - 25 years
I wish I had some words for you here, but this just isn’t something that’s in my regular rotation so I haven’t tried it.
6
Mashed Potatoes - 25% off
Shelf Life - 25 years
Honestly, these aren’t my favorite. There. I said it. They kind of taste like cardboard.
If you want to try Thrive Life’s mashed potatoes, click here.
7
Sour Cream Powder - 25% off
Shelf Life - 25 years
I don’t use this very often, but when I do, I’m so glad I have it! I have 3 recipes that I use sour cream in, and I would really wish I had this in my food storage if I weren’t able to get fresh sour cream!
It does have a strong flavor, so I usually add less of this than what my recipe calls for.
I love having the sour cream powder in my pantry so much that it made the cut for my top 12 items I keep in my food storage.
Click here if you want to add sour cream powder to your order.
8
Instant Brown Rice - 25% off
Shelf Life - 25 years
I made this and it was great!
However, I can’t stomach paying this much for rice when I can get it from the store for a fraction of the price. Normal brown rice in a bag stays good for 6 months and you can make it last longer by using mylar bags or buckets. So to me, this isn’t worth the price.
If you’d like to add Instant Brown Rice to your food storage, click here.
*Because of the oils in brown rice, the shelf life is much shorter than white rice. The shelf life of this Instant Brown Rice is 7 years unopened.
9
Meal Packets - 25-35% off
Shelf Life - 20 years
While I don’t keep a whole lot of ready-to-go meals in my food storage, I do have some. They add variety, and are also a quick dinner option – just like I need those now when times are normal, I will want those options when times are tough, too.
We also have ready-to-eat meals in our 72-hour kits. Just note that you do need boiling water to cook them, so if you are going to put some of these in your 72-hour kits, make sure you have a way to boil water. I talk about some options to keep in your 72-hour kits in this post and also in this post about power outages.
I enlisted my family in a taste test of all 3 of these, and here are the results:
1 – The Chicken Spinach Alfredo (20-year shelf life) was our favorite. It was actually pretty good! And me, being the chicken snob that I am, was pleasantly surprised – I loved it! I will definitely be ordering a 10-pack at this price!
2 – The Creamy Mashed Potato Bowl (20-year shelf life) took second place. This one was just kind of a weird concept of mashed potatoes with all the random stuff mixed in. But it was pretty good. No one liked the peas – they seemed a little undercooked. But everything else was good.
3 – The Vegetable Pasta Primavera (20-year shelf life) was definitely just meh. None of us would choose to eat it again.
**The Vegetable Pasta Primavera and Chicken Spinach Alfredo do have an OVERSTOCK banner, which means they may be 1 or 2 years into their 20-year shelf life already.
10
Instant Milk - 50% off
Shelf Life - 25 years
**Instant Milk has an OVERSTOCK banner on it, which means it may be 1 or 2 years into its 25-year shelf life already.
This stuff is GREAT! Unless my kids see me mixing it up, they can’t tell the difference.
I definitely think this is one staple everyone should have in their food storage. (Well, I guess if your family is dairy-free it wouldn’t make sense. But, everyone else should have some.) Even if no one drinks it by the glass in your household, I bet you have a handful of recipes that call for milk (like mac & cheese).
This used to be the only milk I recommended storing, but now there’s a really closer runner-up. I promise honesty, so here it is: the LDS Home Storage Center has upgraded their milk and it is really good! It’s cheaper than Thrive’s milk, so I’ll link it here for ya.
If you want to stick with Thrive’s, 50% off is a screamin’ deal. I cannot recommend this milk enough.
If you want to know more about this milk, including cost per serving, go read this post.
If you’re ready to add this instant milk to your order, click here.
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
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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
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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.