Thrive Life Consultant Kit Recipe Reviews

At convention in March Shelf Reliance launched a new starter kit.  One of the main changes is that the sample items that comes in the kit are a complete mix in one single pantry can (instead of the old pouches where each ingredient came in its own pouch).   I’ve had a chance to try all of the new items and wanted to pass on my review of them. 

Thrive Chicken Salad

What is different?  The chicken salad is not cooked, water is added and then you wait for it to absorb.  The water is not drained off and it requires 1 ½ hours of refrigeration.  It also includes Dijon mustard.

My opinion:  I like the addition of the Dijon mustard.  The flavor of the chicken salad is a little better when the chicken salad is not cooked and drained BUT I’ve made this a couple of times and each time I had a few pieces of chicken that were not rehydrated fully and were quite chewy.  I found the not quite rehydrated chicken to be pretty yucky.

I’ll continue to make the chicken salad according to the old directions but with the addition of the Dijon mustard.

Here is the old recipe for the chicken salad.  When I make this for parties I only make half.   I serve it on crackers or small rolls.

Thrive Chicken Salad (the new recipe)

2½ c. THRIVE Chopped Chicken

½ c. THRIVE Chopped Onions
¾ c. THRIVE Celery

2 c. water

¾ c. mayonnaise

1 tbsp. Dijon mustard

½ tsp. Iodized Salt

¼ tsp. THRIVE Peppercorn Seasoning Blend

½ tsp. THRIVE Chef’s Choice Seasoning Blend

Combine the chicken, onions, celery, and water; stir well and place in refrigerator for 10 minutes. In a medium size bowl, mix remaining ingredients until well incorporated. Mix chicken mixture into mayonnaise mixture without draining. Salad may be slightly runny, but will thicken. Refrigerate for 1½ hours and stir before serving.

Thrive Chicken Salad (the old recipe)

1 ½ cups Thrive freeze-dried chicken

½ cup Thrive celery

1/3 cup Thrive onion

3 cups water

½ cup mayonnaise

Salt and pepper

Combine chicken, celery, onion and water in a sauce pan over high heat. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low and simmer until reconstituted (about 10 minutes). Put the mixture into a colander and let the water drain for about 10 minutes. Make sure to get all excess water out. Set aside in the refrigerator until cool.

Combine the cooled chicken mixture with mayonnaise. Season the chicken mixture with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon onto bread or crackers.

Chipotle Corn Chowder

What’s different: This is a brand new recipe created by Chef Todd.  I’ve made it both from the pantry can and from the recipe.  It is a mildly spicy and demos well.  The chowder cooks in just a few minutes.

My opinion: My family really likes the chipotle corn chowder.  My only problem with it is it is pretty intensive to make from scratch.  The ingredient list is long and it uses almost an entire pantry can of Béchamel sauce (2 out of the 3 cups).   The chipotle corn chowder is retail $13.59 and party price $9.99 per pantry can.  The bechamel sauce is $retail $10.00 and Q club 9.89.  So since you are using so much of the béchamel in the soup I think cost wise it is better to buy the can of chipotle corn chowder instead of the individual ingredients. 

I’ll continue to make this for my family and at parties but I’ll buy it by the pantry can instead of making it from scratch. 

Thrive Life Chipotle Corn Chowder Recipe

2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. garlic

⅓ c. THRIVE Chopped Onions (FD)

¾ c. THRIVE Potato Dices (FD)

6 c. water

1 tsp. THRIVE Chicken Bouillon

¼ c. THRIVE Celery (FD)

¼ c. THRIVE Green Chili Peppers (FD)

¾ tsp. THRIVE Chef's Choice

Seasoning Blend

1 tsp. THRIVE Iodized Salt

1 tsp. THRIVE White Sugar

½ tsp. chili powder

½ tsp. cumin

¼ tsp. chipotle powder (or 1 tsp.

chili powder)

½ tsp. onion powder

2 c. THRIVE Sweet Corn (FD)

½ c. THRIVE Red Bell Peppers (FD)

1 tbsp. THRIVE Cilantro (FD)

1 c. cream

1 tbsp. lime juice

2 c. THRIVE Béchamel sauce mix, dry

Sweat the butter and garlic together in a saucepan. Add onions, potatoes, 2 cups water, bouillon, celery, chilies, and all seasonings except cilantro. Bring to a simmer for 2–3 minutes. Add remaining water and all other ingredients. Bring to a simmer and cook until thick. Serving Idea: Top with tortilla chips and sour cream.

Thrive Life Golden Cornbread

What’s new:  Nothing it is the same recipe.   

My Opinion: This sweet cornbread is a hit at parties.  I often serve it with raspberry honey butter.  I like to make it at the hosts home (mix all the dry ingredients and just add the water when you get there).  It makes the host home smell wonderful and served warm with honey butter the corn bread is amazing.

Golden Cornbread Recipe

1 c. THRIVE Cornmeal

⅔ c. THRIVE White Sugar

1 c. THRIVE White Flour

½ c. THRIVE Butter Powder

2 tbsp. THRIVE Powdered Milk

2 tbsp. THRIVE Whole Eggs

1 tsp. THRIVE Baking Powder

½ tsp. THRIVE Iodized Salt

1½ c. water

Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk until fully mixed. Add in water and stir until lumps are gone. Bake in greased 8×8 pan at 375⁰F for 30–35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool for 15–20 minutes before serving.

Thrive Life Garden Fresh Salsa

What’s new:  This is a completely new recipe developed by Chef Todd

My Opinion:  I really like this recipe.  I’ve made it quite a few times at parties, for may family at events.  It is my favorite non-dry item to sample at expos.  You can make it on the spot and keep it on ice and just serve a tiny bit with a chip to each person.  It always is a hit. 

Garden Fresh Salsa Recipe

2¼ c. THRIVE Tomato Dices

½ c. THRIVE Sweet Corn (FD)

⅓ c. THRIVE Chopped Onions (FD)

½ c. ⅓ c. THRIVE Red Bell Peppers (FD)

¼ c. THRIVE Cilantro (FD)

¼ tsp. THRIVE Iodized Salt

1½ tbsp. lime juice

½ tsp. cumin

1 tbsp. Cholula hot sauce

1¾ c. water

Mix all ingredients together and stir well to combine. Best if refrigerated for 2–3 hours before serving.

Thrive Life Simple Peach Smoothie

What’s new:  The old smoothie recipe had mangoes and blackberries.  I never really liked it because the blackberries have a lot of seeds and unless you have a super awesome blender then you end up with lots of seeds in the smoothie.

My opinion:  One thing I liked better in the old recipe is that it did not have any yogurt.  The new recipe contains yogurt bites with I think come across very strong in the smoothie.  I don’t really love the strong taste of the yogurt in the smoothie so I usually leave it out.    I always think serving the smoothie at a party is a little iffy.  Many hosts have very subpar blenders and it is difficult to get the ice crushed and everything blended correctly unless you have a decent blender.  I don’t like to take my blender with me to parties (it is just one more thing to carry).

Simply Peach Smoothie Recipe

½ c. THRIVE Instant Milk powder

½ c. THRIVE Simply Peach drink mix

2 tbsp. THRIVE White Sugar (optional)

1¾ c. THRIVE Peach Slices (FD)

½ c. THRIVE Vanilla Yogurt Bites (FD)

½ c. THRIVE Strawberries (FD)

2 c. ice

2 c. cold water

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.