My freezer (not the ugly one, the other one) still holds quite a few packages of frozen strawberries from last years picking. Yesterday, we made glasses of Strawberry-Peach Slushies, which are full of a very special (and maybe secret) ingredient that you can’t even taste but offer lots of good vitamins! I had ordered the freeze dried variety of this ingredient from Shelf Reliance, making it super easy and inexpensive to add it to these slushies!
What a great way to get extra nutrition into our kids (and ourselves). And since it was only in the 40’s yesterday at our house, it was also a great way to turn our lips blue. Spring really is coming to Nebraska, right?
What’s one of your favorite snacks to feed your kids that offers lots of nutrition?
I love the secret ingredient! & you are right! You can’t taste it!! =]
We like organic popcorn with butter, salt and pepper.
I used to make grapple sauce for my twins when they were toddlers. That’s green Apple sauce, es spinach blended up with raw apples in my vitamix. They loved it, and so did I.
so you have sparked my curiosity about shelf reliance. Have you used many of their things and are they laura approved? :) It does seem that some of their products would be worth having, especially since my freezer space has diminished in our new place. What are your thoughts?
Here’s a post I wrote a few weeks ago about Shelf Reliance: https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/shelf-reliance-thrive-food-giveaway
I don’t feel great about all of their products, but most I do. I especially love their freeze dried fruits, mushrooms and spinach. These products are new to me, but wow, they save money because you get quite a bit in one can, and they don’t get nasty in the fridge before we use it up! http://www.tracyhomestore.shelfreliance.com/Tracyhomestore
thanks – the fruits and a few of the veggies are the ones I was curious about anyway. So I think I will give them a try. Thanks Laura
I have found North bay Trading to be way less expensive and the exact same product–and they even offer Organics–and they are still cheaper than Shelf Reliance!!
I make http://thedollarholleringhomemaker.blogspot.com/2011/04/strawberry-mango-frozen-lemonade.html and you can put anything in there…nobody is the wiser.
Did you ever order the whole strawberries from them? I recently got a large can and it was filled only 1/2 way. I’m used to cereal and such settling, but I was surprised to see such a small amount in the can. It’s also hard to imagine 22 servings from it.
Try North Bay Trading–you will not be disappointed!
I’ve purchased blueberries, but not strawberries. My blueberries went all the way to the top of the can. What were the ounces specified? Did you at least receive the correct number of ounces that you purchased?
I am sorry Laura–I almost always love the products you refer us to, but North Bay Trading is so much better than Shelf Reliance for a variety of reason–namely price, quality (they offer a lot of Organic produce that is freeze dried), shipping is a flat rate $7 and free over $99, they are a very small “mom and pop” shop, and customer service is great! They send their freeze dried fruit in resealable airtight zip top bags and they stay fresh for 10 years unopened and for 6 months open in the original package–and the bags are FULL! We also tried Honeyville–good,but they are still much more expensive than North Bay Trading. I have found that many of the canned freeze dried fruits and vegetables come only half full–it makes me disappointed when I pay good money only to find the can “half empty”!
I’ve not heard of North Bay Trading, thanks for sharing about it!
Thank you so much for sharing this company! The prices are great and the reviews were wonderful! I can’t wait to try them out!! :)
Dear Dreaming of Spring…Thank you for sharing about this company. I prefer organic hands down. If I’m going to buy food for storage or emergency situations, one’s body needs less chemicals in stressful times not more. We also want to be eating food in emergencies that we’re used to, and I can’t see making a habit out of chemical infused freeze dried food so that I’m used to it. I want to research the health of freeze dried food in general before making any purchases of this type of food, but your recommendation will be a first consideration should I buy freeze dried food. In the mean time, you can dehydrate your own backyard bounty or farmer’s market bounty and vacuum seal it. It too will last for years, you know where it came from, and it cost a lot less! http://www.dehydrate2store.com is a great website that tells you how to do it yourself, how to properly store your dehydrated food with oxygen absorbers, and how to cook with your dehydrated food. I’ve been saving like crazy but finally will have an Excalibur 9 tray dehydrator and a Weston Pro Vacuum sealer to preserve my own food this summer.
I also have to say that any powdered dairy or eggs can be VERY harmful to one’s health because of the oxidized cholesterol, so stay away from those organic or not! Shelf Reliance, and many other food storage companies sell these products. This is a quote from Dr. Mercola’s customer service when I inquired about the safety of powdered milk (eggs are even worse because they have more cholesterol), “It is the heating of the milk which causes the oxidation process. It is the pasteurization process that causes the cross-linking, cyclization, double-bond shifts, fragmentation and polymerization of the cholesterol in milk. Powdered skim milk is amoung the most dangerous sources of oxidized cholesterol whereas raw milk is the ideal form of dairy…The butterfat of commercial milk is homogenized, subjecting it to rancidity. Even worse, butterfat may be removed altogether. Skim milk is sold as a health food, but the truth is that butter-fat is in milk for a reason. Non-fat dried milk is added to 1% and 2% milk. Unlike the cholesterol in fresh milk, which plays a variety of health promoting roles, the cholesterol in non-fat dried milk is oxidized and it is this rancid cholesterol that promotes heart disease.” Here is an article for more reading from Dr. Mercola’s website: http://www.mercola.com/article/milk/no-milk.htm
I totally agree–we raise our own cickens organically for both eggs and meat–and we are very lucky to have organic grass fed beef/milk next door to us!! We only use whole raw organic foods. I couldn’t imagine using freeze dried eggs or milk…ever! It doesn’t even sound appealing. Thanks for the link. i always appreciate more information/wisdom. I glean it from whomever is willing to share!!!
I’ve never tried the freeze-dried variety, but we love putting fresh spinach (a big ol’ handfull) in our smoothies. Plain yogurt, frozen bananas, strawberries, grapes (or whatever’s around), and spinach makes a beautiful green and surprisingly sweet smoothie, no sugar added. Like another poster wrote, I mix cooked pureed veggies in applesauce as well. My little ones love it!
If Spring is coming to Nebraska it will be news to us here in Iowa! *laughs* I was sitting here bundled up in a winter sweater in my house yesterday.
It was nearly 90 degrees in south Louisiana yesterday. My children have asked for 2 weeks if they can swim and are already complaining it is too hot to play outside!
Muffins, smoothies, popcorn, and nuts-n-seeds!
Its 80 here in TN! The garden is sprouting and some of the trees have fruit-yippee!
I made the slushies this weekend and while I had to lock my kids out of the house while I snuck the spinach in, everyone loved it, including me! I sneak veggies into foods whenever I can – as much for me as the kids. I am very picky on textures and there are many I don’t like in the traditional form, like onions and spinach. Sneaking them in things helps me be a better eater too. I will definitely make these again.
Hi. Just wanted to add that you can blend kale, spinach, etc. in a blender with a little water and freeze it in an ice cube tray for quick add-in to a smoothie or Laura’s slushie when you don’t have anything “green” to add from the fridge.
Also, Shoshanna at Bulk Herb Store uses 1-2 TBSP of frozen orange juice concentrate as the sweetener for a whole blender full of smoothie. I have done this and it tastes great plus you get the added vitamins!
Thanks for letting me leave a comment! Your blog is so helful to me as a busy homemaker!