Freeze Dried Meal Review: Thrive Creamy Mashed Potato Bowl.

One evening got away from me this week as my husband and I were working on some house projects. He was finishing installing disk lights in the spare room and I was patching holes in the kitchen ceiling from a light upgrade. Time flew by and before I knew what had happened, it was 10 minutes to 6 and dinner hadn't even been started. The toddler was asking for snacks and the 7-month-old wanted to eat through my shirt. I was suddenly overwhelmed. I don't know where to start or who to start with. It feels like there is definitely not enough time to make food, fill bellies, breast feed, as well as provide a solid food option for the infant and get kids to the bath around 7. In a bit of a panic, I ran to the pantry only to see shelves of time-consuming ingredients when all I wanted to see was a warm home cooked meal prepped and plated. Then I remembered I had a box of Thrive freeze dried meals I had been meaning to try. It was the perfect night.

I purchased a few different meals to try and selected the "Creamy Mashed Potato Bowl" for the night's meal. The "Creamy Mashed Potato Bowl" includes chicken, corn, peas, carrots, cheese, sour cream, and potatoes. First thing I should note is the retail price when I bought this was $13.99 plus tax. $14 seems very reasonable to me because it has a shelf life of 20 years, I don't use them every night, and it only took 10 minutes to prepare! In hungry situations, like my situation, I would pay anything for dinner to be ready.

The directions are on the back of the package and are very easy to read and follow.

The directions say to pour it into a medium size container, but you could use the original bag if you were backpacking or traveling. I used a medium Pyrex bowl because it had a lid, then measured out 2 1/4 cups water. I just used hot water from my Keurig for convenience instead of heating water on the stove.

I stirred in the water and put on the lid to wait for 10 minutes while the food absorbed the water.

This is what it looked like after being refreshed with water. I decided to pair it with some fresh lettuce and broccoli that we already had chopped in the fridge.

The potatoes were seasoned well, and it was savory and delicious. The vegetables were great and tasted like I had just cooked them fresh. The carrots seemed to be cooked in their own separate seasoning, but it was a good combo. I don't know if I should have let it sit longer than 10 minutes, or if I should have added a little more water, because some of the chicken needed just a touch more water. I did not measure my water very meticulously because I was rushing to get dinner made so maybe I didn't add enough. Regardless, it was delicious. The meal felt complete and the warm, and the savory potatoes were good with the cool, crunchy veggies. There were no leftovers after dinner.

The package says it has 3 servings. With two adults and a 2-year-old eating, we were all fed. I would definitely have this for a family dinner again. It only took maybe 15 minutes if you count the time it took for the water to heat up. I was super pleased and relieved.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a speedy meal. It has veggies, protein, and good flavor and only took me 10 minutes to rehydrate. The only tip I would offer is to measure your water correctly, so you have enough to rehydrate. Give it a try and comment if you enjoyed it as much as we did.