Representing the men in the family...

Hi,
My beautiful wife Trish has assigned me the task of writing about the Thrive instant powdered milk. I think it's because I'm the chief consumer of dairy in the family. She isn't much of a recreational milk drinker, but I guzzle the stuff. We really should invest in a milk cow, but because I don't have time for care, feeding, and milking of the animal, and because the neighbors would likely complain, that's not happening anytime soon.

In the meantime, I have found that Thrive milk is really close to store-bought. I have tried whey powder, soy milk, and almond milk. I actually enjoy drinking them all to some degree, and some quite a lot. Powdered milk is another story. I haven't tried them all, but those I have don't even work with chocolate - they are relegated to pancakes. There are rumors about powdered milk brands available that are close to the real thing - I just haven't experienced any until we got the Thrive Instant Milk. It's great being able to skip a trip to the store just to get milk. The Thrive powder mixes up well with cold water (1 and a 1/3 cup into 2 quarts water) and is ready to drink.

I am a fan, and most telling of all, the boys drink it without ever asking if it's "real" milk or homemade. Until the next time Trish needs me to write her blog for her,
Rob

Easy Spinach Pasta

Have I mentioned that I really like to make easy dinners? I found a recipe for Spinach Shells on the Shelf Reliance website, it sounded super easy so I thought I'd try it out. I had recently ordered a can of Thrive freeze dried spinach and was excited to use it. Are you wondering what a can of freeze dried spinach looks like? Here's a picture for you -

I know that looks like a lot of spinach but this will stay fresh for 2 years. I didn't have shell pasta so I used macaroni noodles. I honestly didn't really measure anything so the amounts in the recipe are estimates and completely flexible. I pretty much just got all the cans I needed out of my pantry and shook some of each in while the macaroni was cooking. It's not the prettiest meal ever and I was worried how my family would like it, but they surprising all loved it! Even though it's not very pretty I'll still show you a picture. I've since started adding Thrive Mixed Bell Peppers which gives a little more color but it's not shown in this picture.

Easy Spinach Pasta Dinner
3 cups macaroni
1 cup Thrive FD chopped Chicken
1 cup Thrive FD spinach
1 cup Thrive FD celery
1/2 cup Thrive mixed bell peppers
onion salt
garlic powder
3 Tbsp Thrive Butter Powder (or 3T butter and omit hot water)
3 Tbsp hot water
4 Tbsp cream cheese
parmesan cheese

In a medium saucepan boil 2 quarts water. Add the pasta, chicken, spinach, celery and peppers. Boil until the pasta is ready. Drain and return to the pan on low heat. Mix the butter powder with the hot water and add to the pasta with the cream cheese, garlic powder and onion salt. Mix until the cream cheese is melted and everything is heated through. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.