Thrive Sweet Potato Pie recipe

I know that lots of people enjoy sweet potato items for the holidays.  This is a great demo video showing how to use the convenience of freeze-dried foods to make a classic sweet potato pie!  What I love about it is that this recipe is easily "healthified"!  My version of this recipe follows the video.  You can easily print the recipe using the Print Friendly button!




Healthier Sweet Potato Pie

Base:

1 1/2 cups Thrive Sweet Potatoes (rehydrated with water)
1/3 cup coconut sugar
half teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons Thrive whole egg powder + 4 tablespoons water

Topping:
1/3 cup coconut sugar
half cup whole wheat flour
half cup chopped pecans
quarter-cup melted butter
quarter-cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Combine the base ingredients with mixer until nicely mixed and fluffy.  Pour into greased 8x8 casserole dish.

Mix topping ingredients together and sprinkle evenly over the base.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until lightly browned on top.

Raw Almonds and more

For the past few years I have made raw almonds, walnuts, and cashews available through the store, and many of you have enjoyed being able to get good prices on these items without having to buy a huge amount at once.  However, it seems that every year I run into problems with the supplier being able to provide the products in a timely manner, some orders end up waiting for months on end, and it becomes chaotic in my home trying to divide up a thousand pounds of products and ship out huge, heavy boxes of these items.  Due to these issues and the current needs of my own family, I have decided not to offer the raw nuts through my store this year.   I would, however, like to point you in the direction of the best place I know for you to get raw nuts and many other high-quality items that will support your family's health goals into the new year.  Click on over to Green Smoothie Girl's big Group Buy and see what she has to offer.  I think you will be impressed.

Yes, the minimum amounts for some of the products may be a lot.  Consider teaming up with your local friends and family members to see if anyone wants to split an order with you!  You may find that you can get really good prices on a manageable amount of pantry goods this way.  :)

10/11/12 Sale!

With a special date like 10/11/12, how could I miss the opportunity to create a special sale?!  :)

So, from now until the end of 10/11/12, please enjoy the following special $10, $11, and $12 items:

Bee Strong--reg. price $14, on sale for $12

Bone Ami--reg. price $12, on sale for $10

Mineral Blast--reg. price $12, on sale for $10

Odorless Garlic--reg. price $15, on sale for $12

Liquid Chlorophyll--reg. price $13, on sale for $11

Vitex--reg. price $13, on sale for $11

Thoughts on PMS, the cyclical nature of women, and respect

It never fails that when I talk about any of the products that help with hormones or fatigue, there are women eagerly wanting to buy some.  Recently one of my friends purchased some of the new liquid B-12 because of how tired she feels, particularly during PMS.  Her comments got me thinking about these issues, and I had some thoughts I wanted to share, and I hope to open up a conversation about these things.

Some women have it worse than others.  It isn't nice to spend a week or 10 days a month (or more) feeling like you hate people, want to quit life, or crying and feeling miserable.  Hormones that are out-of-whack can sure make like feel harder than it really is.  I'm all for taking some vitamins to help me feel less homicidal one week a month.  LOL

However, I also have an intuition about this:  We are cyclical creatures, ladies.  We are not, by nature, made to be "even-steven" every day of our lives.  We are created to live out our childbearing years on a rollercoaster, of sorts.  Should we always be at war with this?  Is there a way we can make peace and accept this and allow it to nourish us?

I get it.  We live in a go, Go, GO! world.  Most of us are busier than we'd ideally like to be.  Most of us give and give to our families and our friends and our jobs and our social obligations, leaving ourselves in the dust.

I get it.  Nobody cares if you've got cramps or need a nap or are crying at commercials.  They all NEED you, and so you stuff it all down, or set it aside, and carry on.  I have been a mother for 20 years and have six children.  I know.  I know.  I know.

You can take some vitamins or supplements to help you not feel quite-so-strongly that you want to -smack- somebody.  You can eat some extra chocolate, too.  But what if you anticipated each cycle and made space for what your very nature is communicating to you month after month, year after year?  What if instead of fighting what your body is asking for, you choose to surrender, and see what happens?

Here is my challenge to you:  For your next couple of cycles, be mindful of how you feel and when you feel it.  Take notes if you need to.  Download the P Tracker app for your phone and make notes in there.  Notice when you feel energetic and full of ideas.  Notice when you feel tired and need naps.  Notice when the cramps come and you want to just curl up and rest quietly.  Notice what is really coming out when you feel angry or upset.  (Maybe you aren't crazy!  Maybe, just maybe, it is true stuff coming up at a time when you do not have the reserves available to ignore it.  Maybe it is stuff you should deal with later in the month.)  Take note of how you think and how you feel, and after a couple cycles you will probably start to see a trend.  From there, start to plan to take care of yourself by honoring these stages of your cycle.

When the time comes that you need a nap, make time for it, and thank your body for helping you to take a much-needed and well-deserved rest.

When the time comes that your body is crampy and sore, don't automatically silence it with a pill and keep forcing your way through life.  Try to take time to nurture yourself as kindly and sweetly as you nurture everyone else that you love in your life.

When the time comes that you feel quiet and want to curl up with a book and stay at home, try to give yourself that space.  Get your cozy blanket, a box of tissues, and read and laugh or cry or whatever you feel like doing, and just accept yourself at that point.

It does us no good to only find ourselves acceptable when we are energetic, At Your Service, prettied up, cheerful, and thin.  Ladies--you are more than all of that.  It is time to accept yourself in all of your womanliness, including the times that ask us to pull away and take time for ourselves.  Honor it.

Superdad Vitamins on Sale!

It's no secret that our Supermom and Superdad vitamins are some of the best multi-vitamins you can get.  Not only do you get a full complement of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients, but a bunch of green superfoods like spirulina, barley grass, chlorella, and wheat grass as well!  Most high quality vitamins like these will cost you an arm and a leg, so I am very pleased to have such a great product to offer you at such an affordable price!

Right now you can order the Superdad 180 tablets or 180 vcaps at a great sale price.  Unfortunately the supplier has had to raise prices, so after this sale ends on October 12 we will have to increase ours as well.  Until then, take advantage of the opportunity to stock up while you can save a bundle!  Sale prices are in effect through October 12, 2012.

One Day Sale Starts NOW! (October 1)

So this past week's sale has gone so well that I sold out of all of the Berry Well that I had in stock, so now I'll be getting more in stock, probably by the end of the week.  As I was thinking about what to offer for sale next week, including a NEW PRODUCT, I knew what I needed to do:

Since there is already a bit of a wait for the new shipment of Berry Well, I can give you one more day to take advantage of that great sale price PLUS get to take advantage of a bunch of other sale items on Monday October 1, only!  Due to the week I have going on and the wait on new stock, most orders probably will not ship until Friday or next Monday, so this is really for those of you that have some flexibility on when your order arrives.  Unlike my usual habit of personally emailing you if there will be a delay on shipping your order, just know that there will be, but nothing too extreme.  :)  If your weeks fly by as fast as mine do, you will be into next week and opening your box of goodies from Supermom before you have time to think about it!

Here are the sale items that you can order til Monday, October 1 at 9pm Eastern time:

NEW!  Liquid B-12 vitamins!  This is something I have been eagerly awaiting and am so excited to be able to offer to you.  Wonderful for your brain, your heart, and YES indeedy--your ENERGY levels!  Oh how I love B-12, and you will too!  Introductory special priceMonday only.

Vitex with Dong Quai:  Your husband will appreciate it when you regularly take your Vitex!  PMS will cease to cause you to feel the extreme grouchiness and other miserable (for you and everybody else!) symptoms that plague so many women.  Stock up now before you go another cycle without it.  

Superkids Liquid Multivitamins--now in glass bottles!  We love these yummy-tasting vitamins for kids.  They are full of all the good stuff you want in a multi-vitamin, but without all of the junk (aspartame, corn syrup, sugar, MSG...) that are found in so many other types. Stock up price Monday only--just $15.99 per bottle!

Supermom vitamins are on sale too!  Both the 180 tabs and the 240 vcaps have had a price increase at the supplier level, so later this week both of those prices will have to be adjusted in our store.  The 240 vcaps are available here for our usual price of $33 until later in the week when we have to set the regular price at $36.00.  Get the 180 tabs on sale for just $28.50 Monday only.  Regular price will be increasing to $39.50 later this week.  Be sure to click here for the Supermom 180 tabs.

And of course don't forget the Berry Well!  You can still order it at the sale price on Monday as well.  

We still have some Sweet Leaf Stevia on clearance, so add some of those items into your order as well. 

I hope you enjoy this One Day Sale! 

Fall Sale!

I was thinking of all my fellow hard-working moms out there, and decided to have a nice fall sale on some of my favorite products for energy and family health!  These sale prices will be in effect through Sunday.  Check these out:

Bee Strong--Our most popular product!  On Sale this week!

Bee Strong is the most popular supplement I sell, because it gives a natural boost of energy and wellness that is absolutely wonderful!  Combined with Berry Well you get an even bigger boost, which is why I recommend these products to every busy mom and dad I know.  :)  

Berry Well--on sale now!

For a long time I have felt lacking in energy, and about one step away from getting sick, even though I tried to eat healthy and exercise. Awhile ago I decided to try Berry Well and Bee Strong to see if they would help at all. Within a day I was buzzing around the house feeling great, full of energy, and tackling tons of projects! My health and energy have continued to be wonderful as I've taken these products, and I've had very noticeable lack of energy on the days when I've forgotten to take these. So, I am so enthusiastic about these products that I am now offering them to you!

Never fear the flu or other illnesses when you keep Berry Well on hand! Each ingredient in this pleasantly fruity syrup holds its own against flu, colds, and a swarm of bacterial and viral infections. Berry Well is a practically miraculous combination of:

• Luscious, purple elderberries (first used long ago by Native Americans) that provide anthocyanins. The anti-viral powers of these immune system enhancers attack many strains of influenza A and B—without the side effects or complications of a flu shot.

• Raw honey sweetens the mixture with more than just good taste. It delivers a rich supply of live enzymes required to help body systems fight colds and respiratory infections of all kinds.

• Bee propolis and Echinacea root extract—both considered powerful, natural antibiotics.

• Raw apple cider vinegar, a folk remedy celebrated for its use against a long list of ailments, increases your body’s alkalinity. (Although today’s diets tend to make us more acidic, an alkaline body is safer from cancer and other diseases.) And the potassium in raw vinegar helps cells fight bacteria and viruses.

Take it regularly if you feel that your health needs the boost, or when you first feel sick.

Omega Balance 3-6-9--You need Omega fatty acids, but probably aren't getting them!  On Sale now.

Omega fatty acids are extremely important to our health, but most of us aren't getting anywhere near enough of them in our everyday diets.

I've known about Omega fatty acids for a long time and have taken them in the past, but usually found that the capsules smelled very fishy, and had the unfortunately side effect of producing fishy burps hours after taking them. Yukk!

So I was so thrilled to find Omega Balance 3-6-9 because it's got all the good stuff we need, and none of the bad stuff that makes us not want to take it!

Omega Balance contains a blend of borage, organic flax seeds, and fish oils. This unique combination provides an excellent source for these extremely important fatty acids!

Alpha linolenic acid, EPA and DHA (Omega-3s), and GLA (an Omega-6), are necessary for the maintenance of cardiovascular, nervous system and skin health. Oleic acid (an Omega-9) has also been shown to promote a healthy vascular system.

Winter Breeze:  When you'll need it is in the middle of the night!  Get it now and have it on hand.  :)

Here's a healthy version of the vapo rub your Mom used to spread on your chest when you were a kid!

While the old vapo rub was made of petroleum products that are harmful to your body, Winter Breeze is made from natural coconut and olive oils, along with beeswax as carriers for camphor, menthol, eucalyptus, wintergreen and tea tree oils. These oils are known for their abilities to clear mucus and help heal upper respiratory and bronchial infections. 

You can also apply Winter Breeze to your feet, where the antibacterial, antifungal oils soak through your skin and into body cells. If this vapor rub is applied regularly at bedtime for several months, foot fungus and cracking should disappear!

This is one of those products that most moms end up needing in the middle of the night. Get yours now and be prepared for those respiratory illnesses that pop up so quickly during the winter months!

Ultra Immune:  Support your immune system and stay healthy this fall and winter!

This is my family's go-to supplement anytime somebody is starting to feel sick.  Ultra Immune is scientifically designed to help support healthy immune function. This potent herbal formula is based on a high quality Elderberry and Olive Leaf extracts and is potentiated by stabilized Allicin from garlic. Ultra Immune includes Allisure®, a clinically-tested, safe and unique form of stabilized Allicin.

Allicin is partly responsible for the strong immune supporting properties in garlic, and has become an increasingly popular way to promote overall wellness.

In addition to Elderberry Extract, Olive Leaf Extract and Allisure®, Oregano Oil and Rosemary Oil have also been added. These two natural compounds have been used extensively to provide sound immune system support.

Getting Well

Earlier this year I shared that I've been working with a naturopath in order to solve the mystery of why I wasn't really experiencing a high level of health/wellness even when I was putting forth a lot of effort to eat really well and exercise.  She had several observations and suggestions for me, all of which centered around the idea that my thyroid, adrenals, and parasympathetic nervous system needed a lot more support.  All of that made sense to me, so I got started on some Standard Process supplements (some thyroid support and some iodine and something else I can't remember right now), tried to follow the lifestyle suggestions for helping burnt-out adrenals to heal (everything from no sugar and no caffeine --easy because I don't caffeinate-- to no stress  --hahahaha-- and going to bed early and sleeping in til 9am --again double, triple, and quadruple HA to all of that).  She also suggested that I start going to a specific chiropractor that uses the activator method and has the type of thinking process and approach that she felt was going to really benefit me.

The kicker to the chiropractor was that he is an hour away from me.  And he is out-of-network for my insurance.  And he would want to see me multiple times a week for quite some time.

Can you hear my groans???

And of course, there is nobody else that does his special brand of what he does anywhere closer.  (only one other one in the state, in fact)

Well, I was told to do this in April.  But then we started taking some of our kids to brain training 5 days a week (2 hour minimum chunk of our day each time we go) I didn't think it was possible to fit in anything else.  But by the end of July I had decided that somewhere in all of this crazy, busy life, my health had to be supported as well.  After all, just about everything runs on Mom Power around here, in one way or another.  Looking toward the upcoming school year and many exciting but challenging possibilities for the year, I wanted to be experiencing a much higher degree of energy, health, and vitality.  So off to the new chiropractor I went.

It has now been probably 6 weeks or so since I began.  It has not been easy to scrape the time for this out of my schedule.  But you know what?  It's helping!!  My terrible lower back problems are fading off into the distance more and more each week.

I used to be just about crippled every time I would get out of bed in the morning.  It would take me about an hour of getting going in the morning before I felt like my back could do things like bend over to unload the dishwasher, bend over to tie my shoes, carry laundry, etc.  There have been times when I have wondered how I would even get myself and all the kids out of the house safely if there was ever a fire or emergency at night if my husband wasn't home.  (yes, these are the things I think about)

Now almost every day I wake up without any back pain or weakness.  I am regularly hauling around laundry right from the time I wake up, with no problems at all!  Not that I had big dreams of slinging laundry from dawn til dusk for my whole life, but it is really great to have so much more of my back strength working!

The other great thing is that I really think my parasympathetic nervous system thing is improving too.  I used to be tired a lot.  My body could not recover from exercise or exertion very well.  Where all the "other people" would exercise and then sing praises of their increased energy and wonderful mental clarity, I would never, ever get that.  I would just feel zapped, hungry, and needing a nap.  (I didn't have time to take the naps, mind you, I just wished I could!)  Exercise had become such a zapper for me, hijacking whatever energy I had for the entire day's supply, that eventually I just took exercise off my list because I couldn't spare the energy for it and still homeschool my boys and run the rest of my life as well!  (Yes, I gained back all the weight I had lost from all of my exercise diligence, but at least I didn't feel as awful and I could manage my life fairly well.)

Since getting into the chiropractic care, I have had one really interesting and consistent improvement, and that is that my body is waking up early almost every day.  I've not ever been an early riser by nature.  My default preference (if I could live like a teenager) would be to stay up late and sleep in every day.  Of course, The Life of Supermom cannot accomodate this option most of the time.  It has just been really, really, REALLY nice to have my body rest and then wake up and say, "OK, I'm good.  Let's go get some of this stuff done!" With all of the many, many things that I have going and that I'd like to have going, this is a big, big blessing!

I don't know if I can count on this early-riser thing to keep going, but I'm very pleased with it for what it has been.  See?  Today I woke up at 5:30, and now YOU get to read this blog post!  ;)

Supermom's Ten Tasty Zucchini Recipes

Nobody needs 101 zucchini recipes to wade through. You know you’d only end up wasting a ton of time and ingredients in search of a few decent ones that you’d actually want to have again.

Over the years my family has grown zucchini in our garden over and over again, and it’s always the same: After a few hot days in June or July, every flat surface of the house is covered with zucchini, and other than zucchini bread, I have no idea what else to do with it.

Sure, I’ve tried a few recipes here and there, but usually my kids didn’t like it, and it felt like a waste. Are there any *good* recipes for zucchini out there?

Well, this year I decided to find out. My mission: Develop just ten *really good* and healthy recipes. And they couldn’t all be variations of zucchini bread.

My test kitchen was fired up for most of June and July. It was *much* harder than I expected! Eventually persistence prevailed and I found ten that I am really pleased with.

This collection includes great zucchini recipes for lunch, dinner, snacks, and desserts! We have a fabulous soup, a knock-your-socks-off grilled sandwich (it’s true!), a yummy casserole, two great cookie recipes, a chocolate cake recipe that will soothe your chocolate cravings with compromising your health goals, as well as one delicious zucchini bread recipe and a couple muffin recipes, and more. I also share my best tips on freezing your abundant supply of zucchini so that you can enjoy it year-round!

Better yet: every recipe is healthified! For the baked goods you will be using whole wheat flour and nutritious and delicious coconut sugar. (It’s not weird. You’ll love it. I promise.) Every recipe is vegetarian-friendly. All of these recipes use healthy, natural ingredients that will do your body good.

This is the ebook that will make you look forward to zucchini season and enjoy using it all year long! Available for instant download.  Priced super cheap, so everybody can enjoy it!

Clickety-click to buy it now!

How to Use Thrive freeze-dried cheese

Since some of the cheese is on sale this month I thought some of you would want to know how to use it.  Here's a video from the company that shows how to do it for best results.


 
See all Thrive Foods posts here.

Breakfast Salad?

This is the first that I've heard of a breakfast salad being "all the rage."  Have you heard of it?  Maybe it's just something that's raging in places where people normally eat Weetbix.  ;)  Go check it out and tell me what you think.  Would you want to try breakfast salad?  Have you heard of this phenomenon?  Am I the last to know about this?!

(Personally, I do not think it looks appealing, but I am going to have to sleuth this out some more and see what else I can find.  I very much love my morning smoothies, as you know, and since I put spinach or greens into it, plus now add chia seeds, I feel quite good about it.  There's something about a cool, refreshing, and sweet glass of smoothie in the morning that seems so -right- to me.  ;)  )

Saturday Spotlight: Freeze-Dried Cauliflower

I love this quick video that shows easy ways to use the freeze-dried cauliflower.  You can grind up any of these fruits or veggies in a coffee grinder or food processor or blender and add them to just about anything.  Such an easy way to add more good stuff to what your family likes to eat!

It's Finally READY!

FINALLY!  It's done.  Go check it out here.  If you would like to save yourself some time in the kitchen while also feeding your family good, nutritious food, you are going to love this.  Use coupon code "bloggylove" to take 50% off. (just because I love ya)

Homemade Ketchup

This recipe for making homemade ketchup looks easy and interesting!  The full ingredients and instructions are here.  I am thinking about trying it, using regular apple cider vinegar, and making it in the crock pot instead of on the stove top.

Will you try it?  Let me know how it goes!

August Monthly Specials from Thrive Foods

The monthly specials for August have been released!  You will notice in this PDF document that there is a regular retail price, a website price, and then the lowest price is the club price.  You can take advantage of the Q club pricing only when you order through me this month (or if you are already a Q customer), or if I help you get set up with your very own Q.  When you see up a Q with me this month I will have an extra gift for you!  (What's a Q?)

Sale items:

Celery (freeze-dried) regularly $25.29, sale price $21.09 on the website, or $20.29 through me (read why I love it here)
Green Beans (freeze-dried)  regularly $15.99, sale price $13.39 on the website, or $12.79 through me
Potato Chunks (dehydrated) regularly $12.89, sale price $10.79 on the website, or $10.39 through me
Colby Cheese (freeze-dried) regularly $49.19, sale price $41.09 on the website, or $39.39 through me
Monterey Jack Cheese (Freeze-dried) regular $47.29, sale on website is $39.39, just $37.89 through me
Peach Slices (freeze-dried) regularly $30.79, sale on website is $25.69, or just $24.69 through me
Roast Beef (freeze-dried) regularly $53.29, sale on website is $44.39, or just $42.69 through me
Instant White Rice regularly $11.19, sale on website is $9.39, or just $8.99 through me

Q club members can also get the Thrive freeze-dried whole strawberries for just $16.29 this month (regularly $21.69)  You can get a deeper discount for buying a case of 6, as well.

There are several more items on the PDF document, so be sure to check that out as well.