Mexican Tamale Casserole from Shelf Reliance

Tonight, I made dinner from the Thrive Foods cookbook. The ingredients I used are shown above. Cornmeal, vegetable oil, diced tomatoes, enchilada sauce and Mexican cheese were all things I had in my pantry. Then I used freeze-dried corn and onions and powdered milk, eggs and taco-flavored textured vegetable protein (TVP).

The benefit of having these foods (those shown in the THRIVE cans above) is that they have a long shelf-life. Unopened, most can last for 25 years. Once opened, they usually have a 2-year shelf life. Eggs are an exception and have a shorter shelf-life of 5 years and 6 months. The amazing thing about these powdered eggs is that a pantry can (the size you see in the photo) has the equivalent of 60 eggs and a #10 can has the equivalent of 236 eggs. Imagine not running out of eggs when you're baking because you always have a can on hand! And there's no risk of salmonella!

Here's the casserole as it came out of the oven.

And here, it's ready to eat! I added a dollop of sour cream (also available as a powdered item in a long-life can) and some chopped scallions and parsley! We loved it and it made enough for at least 6 servings! It's also very filling and completely vegetarian!

For more information on these products or how to start your home store, go to www.lesliegreen.shelfreliance.com. My contact information is available on that page.