Product Highlight: Freeze Dried Corn

A Review: My thoughts about Freeze Dried Corn

I LOVE it!  This was the very first THRIVE Food product my kids and I tried.  When the kids first saw it at my Mom’s house, they whined up a storm:

That looks GROSS!  It is so UGLY!

And truth be told, it is a bit ugly dry:

But we have this saying in our house.  You know the book “Green Eggs and Ham?”  Well, we’ve used it to teach our kids that you should try EVERYTHING at least once no matter what it looks like.  So, when our kids are faced with a new (and ugly) food, we just have to teasingly say “Green Eggs and Ham kiddo!” and they will usually try it (albeit with a grumpy face).

So, I said “Green Eggs and Ham guys!” and my boys and I all tried it.  One of the boys (I can’t remember which one now), looked up at me and said: “Mom, you were teasing us!  This is CANDY!”  Then he proceeded to grab a whole handful.

Since that time, anything that comes to our house in a THRIVE can is called “candy.”  We get strawberry candy and asparagus candy and even butter candy (though the aren’t allowed to eat that one out of the can!)

So, when I say that I love the corn, I really do mean it.  It is fantastic dry and hydrated.  It tastes nothing like canned corn.  It is much more like fresh corn on the cob, only you don’t have to get it all off the cob yourself.  It is incredibly sweet!  But that isn’t because of any sugar that’s been added.  In fact, it has no additives at all….it is 100% fresh corn that has just had the water removed.

How to Hydrate it:

The corn can be used in soups, casseroles and stews, but it is also fantastic all by itself as a side dish.  We eat it weekly this way.

To hydrate it, add about equal amounts corn and warm or hot water to a bowl.  As you can see, the corn will float to the top.  Just make sure you stir it around real quick every 2-3 minutes.  It takes about 10-15 minutes to completely hydrate depending on how hot your water is:

You can see that the corn will start “soaking up” a lot of that water.  Here it is about half way:

And completely hydrated:

Once it is completely hydrated, I drain the remaining water and return the corn to the bowl.  Sometimes we eat it just as is, and sometime I sprinkle some butter powder over it to make a fantastic sweet buttered corn!  Yum!

 Helpful Info / Conversions:

I store and use THRIVE Sweet Corn. As such, everything else I mention below will be about THRIVE Sweet Corn. Conversion: Each #10 can contains about 12 cups of dry corn.  It expands a bit when you add the water, but not much.  I probably get about 14-15 cups (hydrated) out of a #10 can. Price vs grocery store? If you compare it to canned corn, it is about $0.30-$0.50 more per 15 oz can. It is about the same price as frozen corn. See current pricing here.   *Current through July ‘13. Sizes Available: Pantry Can: About 2.5 cups by volume dry or the equivalent of two 15 oz cans of corn at the grocery store once hydrated. #10 Can: About 12 cups by volume dry or the equivalent of about ten 15 oz cans of corn at the grocery store once hydrated. Case: Six #10 cans (or about 60 15 oz cans). Save an additional 5% when you purchase it in a case Find All Sizes Here Shelf Life: 25 years unopened and 18 months opened.

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