We’re gearing up for another great THRIVE Live broadcast tomorrow! Click here for details on the broadcast or to watch last month’s broadcast. This month Chef Todd will be showing us how to make some delicious soups and biscuits. After the broadcast you can sample Chef Todd’s cooking, ask him your questions about cooking with THRIVE, and see if you’ve won one of our giveaways. And this month, one of our giveaways will be especially for those who follow us online or through Twitter! You do not have to be present at the broadcast to win.

You will be entered to win a product featured by Chef Todd in the broadcast if you do any of these things:

• Subscribe to our Facebook page, blog, or Twitter
• Share a link about the broadcast through facebook or post it on your own blog
• Tweet or link using these hashtags: #shelfreliance, #thrivefoods, or #thrivelive

About THRIVE Live Cooking Broadcasts

True to their name, these cooking broadcasts are live—you can watch them as they happen via lour live stream, look at the recipes, and even try cooking them up yourself while you watch! THRIVE Live broadcasts bring Chef Todd right into your home, demonstrating brand-new THRIVE recipes that he’s developed specifically to be quick, easy, and delicious. With his firecracker personality and expert knowledge, Chef Todd proves that with our array of THRIVE products, the possibilities are truly endless—when you have a Home Store full of versatile and long-lasting THRIVE foods, your recipes are limited only by your imagination, rather than time or the availability of foods. As you watch THRIVE ingredients turn into delicious meals in minutes in front of your eyes, it’s easy to see that THRIVE truly does what it claims—it simplifies your life.

Tune in the last Wednesday of every month to see what Chef Todd’s cooked up especially for you! Or come in to the THRIVE Kitchen at our American Fork headquarters to be part of the live studio audience and watch Chef Todd work his magic in person!

Hello, fellow lovers of convenient, affordable, and time-saving food storage and emergency supplies! I’m Suzie Q, and I’ll be posting my ideas, tips, and insights about building a thriving lifestyle regularly here on the Shelf Reliance blog. For my maiden post, I’d like to share my thoughts on the inspiration for my blog name—the Q. To me, this is one of the most appealing aspects of Shelf Reliance. They’re transforming the way we think about food storage by bringing the grocery store into our own homes with the Q.

Maybe some people find grocery shopping soothing. I’m sure there are people out there who really enjoy it. I, however, am not one of those people. The last thing I want to do after working all day is trek to the grocery store, try to remember all the items on the list I invariably left at home, and have to wait in line and then haul my groceries to my car and back into the house—and that’s all before I can even start to think about what I’m actually going to make for dinner! I like that the Q cuts out all these unnecessary steps—with THRIVE foods I already know I’m getting food that’s in many cases more nutritious and has fewer preservatives than store-bought food, so I don’t have to spend time puzzling over labels at the store, and it’s easy to order on my Q. And if I’m not sure what I need, instead of wandering the aisles I just use the online THRIVE Planner to find the types and amounts of food I’ll need for my specific family.

Don't you hate having to pore over products in the store for the best nutrition and pricing?

The groceries are shipped to the doorstep every month, so I can keep my Home Store stocked without having to run to the store every other day to replace whatever I’ve run out of. This way I can spend that time cooking food I’ll actually want to eat, rather than having to throw something together as quickly as possible because by this point I’m so hungry I can’t see straight, much less prepare a gourmet meal. And one of the great things about the THRIVE foods I get on the Q is that they’re already prepared—cleaned, peeled, sliced, chopped, etc.—so I can put together a nice meal fairly quickly. 

My other constant concern with food is money. Like most people, I have a certain budget to stick to. It’s easy to fit the Q into my budget because it lets me choose how much I want to invest each month. I can just reallocate part of my current grocery budget to Q items I know I’ll need every month. This means fewer trips to the grocery store, which translates into more money in my pocket because I don’t have to use as much gas and I don’t have a chance to make needless impulse buys at the store. These might sound like fairly insignificant savings, but they really add up over the months! I like this video from Chef Todd about the Q and Home Store because he hits on some other ways the convenience of the Q and having a Home Store can save you time and money that you might not think of at first.

The Q works for me because I can work grocery shopping into my schedule and budget, not the other way around. So why do you use the Q? Post a comment below to let us know!

Over the next few weeks we’ll be highlighting the product that started it all—the Food Rotation System (FRS). These shelving systems were Shelf Reliance’s first product, invented to satisfy an urgent need in the food storage industry for shelving that helps rather than hinders storage. If you have food storage, you know storing it can be a nightmare. It’s hard to keep large quantities of food organized, and the new food you buy gets put in front, pushing older cans to the back where they grow older still. The FRS completely revolutionizes the way you store cans, with rotating can tracks that roll the first cans you put in right to the front. With an FRS, you can reduce spoilage and waste by rotating through your food and keeping your cans accessible.

Every FRS is completely customizable so that you can choose the exact size of each can track, allowing you to store anything from tiny tuna cans to large #10 THRIVE cans. We understand that no two storage spaces are the same, so the FRS comes in four widths, four heights, and two depths to optimize any existing storage space. We’ve even put an FRS planner on our website that allows you to input the specifics of your storage space and then suggests the FRS that will work best in your space. With its patented first-in-first-out rotation technology and complete customizability, the FRS is unlike any other shelving on the market. Watch this link to see what Jason Budge, one of our founders, has to say about FRS.

Let us know why you love FRS by leaving a comment below. Stay tuned as we highlight great FRS products like Ready Racks, Cansolidators, and Under the Bed FRS systems in following weeks.

Happy Father’s Day to all the wonderful fathers all over the world. We love you and appreciate all you do to keep us safe, strong, and happy.

Congratulations, David. You are truly an inspirational father and husband.

Husband and Father, First and Forever

I know this contest is for fathers, and mine was wonderful; however, I would like to tell you about my husband who is the father of my four children. In March of 2010 we decided that we would take a Cruise to Alaska for our anniversary. We had everything planned and even had our first payment already paid. Then, in April I found a lump in my right breast. It was cancerous. I was devastated! I did not know what was going to happen and did not know if we would be able to go on our trip. I ended up needing a lumpectomy and I also went through chemo and radiation. During this time my sweet husband kept our house clean, made meals, and worked a full-time job.

During this time a friend told me her husband left her when she had her cancer, so one day I asked my husband when he was going to leave me. He gave me a strange look and asked what I was talking about. I told him about my friend and he took me in his arms and told me that our marriage is forever and that just because one of us gets sick doesn’t mean we give up. We stand by each other no matter what.

He has been by my side through thick and thin and has been my caregiver through all of this. We did get to go on the cruise even though it was right in the middle of my treatments. Fortunately, the doctor thought it would do me good to get away. My relationship with my husband has gone from good to the best ever. He is my life and I don’t know where I would be without him.

Congratulations David, you win an Urban Road Warrior Automobile Emergency Kit!

Congratulations to our winners, Michelle K. and her mother, Julie.

Thank you for taking the time to share your incredible stories. We had many wonderful stories to choose from. Reading about each mother was truly inspiring. Happy Mother’s Day!

My Mother

By Michelle K.

Throughout my entire life my mother has been my hero. In my eyes, my mother is more successful than anybody could ever be. She’s raised 5 children, helping 3 more along the same path, all while holding onto the nurturing aspect that a mother has when her children are in need. My sister is in a wheel chair and has needed special care and attention all her entire life. My mother has been able to care for her all while helping all the other kids do their homework and develop into the people we are today.

My mother shows courage every day by facing the daily tasks that lay ahead. She has unimaginable strength and will power to keep going the same way she has been since the day her first child was born. She always shows joy and pride in her children and their efforts throughout the world. She shows all of us love by providing a stable shoulder to lean on when hardships strike into our lives. She is there when we need an experienced soul to seek guidance from to help us see the path that leads to the future that is best suited to our needs and personalities. Some people have only enough love to share with one person at a time, but my mother is so amazing and passionate about life and love that she has been able to love 9 children as well as her spouse equally.  And most importantly, she even found time to love herself.

It’s impossible to describe how amazing my mother is. Her name is Julie, and I’m proud to call her “Mom.”

Well it’s time to announce some winners for our Chaotic Cupboard Challenge!  We received a lot of great entries for this contest!  It was really hard to decide which 10 to post and even harder to choose our three winners.  So thank you to everyone who participated!  Keep an eye on our newsletter for more opportunities like this to win.

Our third place winner, who gets a free Cansolidator, is Maggie Caviness.  Congratulations Maggie!

Our second place winner, who will receive 2 Cansolidators is Vicki Hearst.  Congratulations Vicki!

And our first place winner who will receive $200 towards any Food Rotation System products or accessories, is . . . ( . . . insert drumroll here . . . ) Whitney Rockwell.  Congratulations Whitney!  (sorry the picture came out smaller)

Our honorable mentions:

Instructions:
For St. Patrick’s Day Shelf Reliance will be doing a Pot of Gold giveaway. One lucky winner will be rewarded with a THRIVE Top Sellers Six Pack, valued at $99.99. If you would like to enter the giveaway all you have to do is copy and paste the sentence below into your Facebook status and hope for the luck of the Irish!

Have a happy St. Patrick’s Day! Check out Shelf Reliance’s great deals at www.shelfreliance.com

After you post that sentence as your facebook status, simply leave us a comment here on this blog post that you did it and you’ll be entered into our giveaway!  (Your comment may not show up here on the blog post for a while after you submit it, but don’t worry, we’ve got it!)

*(If you are a consultant and have your own Shelf Reliance url, you can use that instead of our home page)

Allergen Report – Click on this link for the PDF file of the updated Allergen and GMO report of all our THRIVE foods.  If you or your loved ones have any type of food allergy, this information will be very important.

Here’s the deal — Shelf Reliance will give a $10 gift certificate to anyone who puts a Shelf Reliance button on their blog.  Even if your mom is the only one who reads your blog, you are still eligible to enter the contest.  Every reader counts, so start spreading the word about Shelf Reliance today!

http://www.shelfreliance.com/fan#2

http://www.shelfreliance.com/buttons?___store=default

Go to either of these two pages by clicking on the link, then grab one or more of our buttons, put it on your blog, and let us know by emailing advertising@shelfreliance.com.  Be sure to include your blog’s URL, so that we can check it out.

If you are one of the first 100 people to add a button, we will email the gift certificate to the email you provided.  It’s that easy!

We have just a few rules:

1. Only the first 100 people who respond will get the gift certificate, so hurry!

2. We ask that you leave the button up for at least six months.

3. The button should be in a visible place, like on the top or side of the blog.

4. The button can’t be in a blog post, because then it would only be visible for a few days/hours depending on how frequently you update your blog.

5. Limit one per person.

First of all, we would like to thank the kind folks at foodstoragemadeeasy.net for hosting the giveaway. We got a lot of entries and want to thank all of you for signing up to win.

But enough of that, let’s get to the point! The winner of the Harvest 72″ Food Rotation System is . . . (drum roll please) . . .

Elizabeth Carter!

Congratulations Elizabeth! And thanks again to all of you who signed up to win. As a consolation prize for the rest of you, we’re giving you all a coupon code for an additional 10% off ANY Shelf Reliance Food Rotation System. Whether you want the Harvest, the Pantry, or one of our Cansolidators, use the code FRS10 to get it for cheaper! You can use this code on as many Food Rotation Systems as you’d like, but hurry, it only lasts for two weeks. It will expire on October 15th. Again, the code you need to punch in at checkout is FRS10.