Woohoo! We're rearranging things to make this course easier to follow.

Some changes you'll notice as we make progress:

• Baby steps 0, 1, and 2 will be reorganized into a 31 day (or 31 itty bitty baby step) plan. All of this is phase 1. (We're working on a better title than Phase 1, so chime in with any ideas!)
• Baby step 3 is now phase 2. This is where you build up a 3-month supply of ingredients by working backwards from your list of go-to meals.
• Baby steps 4, 5, and 6 are now phase 3. This is where you invest in your food future (bulk purchases, ways to produce food, storage, equipment, etc), test shelf-stable swaps, and start building your 6-12 month pantry.
• Baby step 7 is now phase 4!
  
  
  

You'll see these updates roll out over the coming weeks, starting with one week of phase 1 at a time. For now you'll also still see the old info for baby steps 0, 1, and 2. When we begin rearranging steps 3-7 into phases 2-4 we'll let you know!

It's Back-to-School time for many, so we can expect schedules to shift, individually-wrapped snacks to go on sale, and summer to slip away quickly.

Return to your 7's for lunches and snacks so that you're prepared to fill lunchboxes and have after-school snacks each week.

If you don't have kids in the house, can this back-to-school moment help motivate you to pack your lunch (or prep your lunch if you work from home) more frequently?

Back-To-School Sales

Thrive Life has three big sales each year (Spring Sale, Back-to-School Sale, and Black Friday Sale) so I'm eager to get my eyes on what will be discounted for this event. When I get the Back to School Sale flyer, I'll post it here. Until then, I went back and looked at what items were deeply discounted in 2024 and here's what I hope to see return to the sale flyer:

• Sauces: Espagnole and Veloute are classic French sauces, and these powders can help quickly pull together a meal. I prefer to make my own beginning with a simple roux then adding milk or broth, but it sure is nice to have these freeze-dried sauces on the shelf for when I'm in a pinch. These don't often go on sale.
• Breakfasts: Try keeping a couple of these instant meal pouches in your kitchen for those days that you need breakfast in a hurry. With three servings in each, these gmo-free pouches can help get the day started. If you want to round out the meal more, add a chia pudding jar to the breakfast skillet or some quick-cooking frozen sausage links to the sweeter breakfast like oatmeal or granola.
• Fruit: Whatever fruits are deeply discounted will get added to my cart. I feel like I could never have enough freeze-dried fruit. It's great right out of the can, added to trail mix/oatmeal/overnight oats/chia pudding, and baked into a cobbler/crisp/pie. Yum!

The best deals go fast, and it's super common for items to sell out. Consultants, like me, get early access, so if you're considering joining me in sharing Thrive Life then it's a great time to go ahead and invest the $40 to get started. That's all it takes to become a consultant and get the opportunity to earn commissions and free groceries.

In the grocery stores you'll see individually-wrapped snacks, juice pouches, and other lunchbox items go on special. If you eat these items, especially if they're on your 7s, stock up as much as you can within your space and budget (always checking expiration dates and deciding how much you'll surely use before that date).