The Blog
The Orbit Report 📰
Dispatches from Sara Jane Shelvock, CEO — bowling alley chaos, Hawkeye football, family life at light speed, and the occasional freeze-dried science experiment.57 missions logged and counting.
2026-11-10
The Store Is Live. Here Is What It Actually Took.
The Torus Coffee Company store is open on the public internet. Here is the honest version of what that took, and what happens now.
Read post →
2026-11-09
Iowa Winter Storms: The Carbon Monoxide Risk Is Higher Than the Cold
Iowa rates ice storms as especially dangerous because they bring down power lines. When the heat goes out, how people try to stay warm causes more harm than the cold.
Read post →
2026-11-02
A 72-Hour Kit Isn't Three Days of Meals — It's a Weight Problem
Most people build an emergency kit around what's filling. The real constraint is roughly 1,500-2,000 calories a day in something you can carry.
Read post →
2026-10-26
Why Freeze-Dried Candy Shatters Instead of Chewing (And Why It Tastes Stronger)
Freeze-dried candy is arguably a misnomer - most candy has almost no freezable water. The process is closer to vacuum puffing.
Read post →
2026-10-19
The Hawkeye Wave: 70,000 People Turn Their Backs on the Field on Purpose
At the end of the first quarter of every Iowa home game, the whole stadium turns away from the action and waves at a children's hospital.
Read post →
2026-10-14
Freeze-Dried Soup: How To Do It Right
Broth-based soups are the fastest thing you can freeze dry and the easiest to ruin. Depth, time, and the snap test are what separate a bowl you want to eat from a bowl you eat because you made it.
Read post →
2026-10-13
Freeze-Dried Yogurt Drops: A Science Lesson
The one thing freeze drying is uniquely good at is preserving the living cultures in yogurt. Whether those cultures survive is a function of formulation and moisture, not magic.
Read post →
2026-10-12
The Downtown Des Moines Farmers' Market: 305 Vendors, 12 Blocks, 50+ Years
Central Iowa's market runs Saturdays May through October in the Historic Court District.
Read post →
2026-10-12
Freeze-Dried Eggs: The Boring Superfood
Eggs are the most expensive and most perishable thing in most kitchens. Freeze drying turns a two-week protein into a twenty-year one, and the math on that is not subtle.
Read post →
2026-10-11
Does Freeze-Drying Coffee Hurt the Caffeine?
The short answer is no, and the reason is more interesting than the answer. Caffeine is thermally stable, which means neither freezing nor drying touches it in any way you would notice.
Read post →
2026-10-10
Freeze-Dried Fruit and Nutrients: What the Numbers Say
Freeze-drying keeps 90 to 95 percent of vitamin C. Air drying keeps 20 to 50. That gap is the whole argument, and there is one honest caveat underneath it that I want to put in writing.
Read post →
2026-10-05
Humidity Is the One Thing That Ruins Freeze-Dried Food
Freeze-dried food lasts decades in the right conditions and goes soft in an afternoon in the wrong ones.
Read post →
2026-09-28
Astronauts Ate Freeze-Dried Food First: The NASA Origin Story
Freeze-drying wasn't invented for camping. It was developed to feed astronauts, and zero gravity shaped the entire technology.
Read post →
2026-09-21
Does Freeze-Drying Destroy Nutrients? What the Studies Actually Found
Freeze-drying preserves most nutrients better than any other drying method - but 'most' is not 'all,' and the exceptions matter.
Read post →
2026-09-14
Can You Rehydrate Freeze-Dried Food With Cold Water? Yes — Here's How
You don't need boiling water to rehydrate freeze-dried food. Cold soaking works, takes longer, and has real trade-offs.
Read post →
2026-09-07
The 2025 Hawkeyes Season: 9-4, Four Losses by 15 Points, and a Bowl Win
Iowa finished 2025 at 9-4 with a ReliaQuest Bowl win over Vanderbilt.
Read post →
2026-08-31
Why Freeze-Dried Food Weighs Almost Nothing (The Simple Math)
A freeze-dried meal can weigh a quarter of what its ingredients weighed. That's not marketing - it's arithmetic.
Read post →
2026-08-24
84 New Foods, One Very Loud Week: A Look at the 2026 Iowa State Fair
The 2026 Iowa State Fair ran August 13-23 with 84 new foods, over a million visitors, and a strawberry obsession.
Read post →
2026-07-20
Freeze-Dried Meals for Camping: What's Actually Worth Knowing
Freeze-dried camping meals weigh 20-30% of their original ingredients. Water is still the heaviest thing you carry.
Read post →
2026-07-13
Why Freeze-Dried Skittles Taste Completely Different (And Why That's Fine)
Freeze-dried Skittles crunch instead of chew, and the flavor hits harder. That's not a defect - it's what removing the water does to candy.
Read post →
2026-07-06
How Long Do Freeze-Dried Snacks Actually Last?
Shelf life ranges from 1-2 years for grocery store fruit to 25-30 years for #10 cans. The packaging and storage matter more than the food.
Read post →
2026-06-29
Freeze-Dried vs. Dehydrated: What's the Actual Difference?
Freeze-drying removes 98-99% of moisture; dehydrating removes 80-95%. Same food, very different result.
Read post →
2026-05-24
Memorial Day Weekend and the First Car Trip of the Summer
The first long drive of the year is where the snack system gets tested for real. Here is what I pack, what I stopped packing, and why the cooler is a trap.
Read post →
2026-05-17
We Finally Bought Green Coffee, and Here Is What I Got Wrong
The first green coffee order arrived and it was not the order I thought I was placing. Here is the math I should have done first, and what I would tell anyone starting a coffee company this month.
Read post →
2026-05-10
The Farmers Market Season Opens This Week
Opening day is the best day of the market year and nobody treats it that way. Here is what I look for in the first hour, and why I buy the ugly produce.
Read post →
2026-05-03
Mother's Day Is Coming, and No, She Does Not Want Another Mug
The gift question comes up every May and the answer is never another mug. Here is what I have actually given, what worked, and the one thing I would tell someone buying for their own mother.
Read post →
2026-04-26
Where the Machine Actually Goes: Freeze-Drying in a Small Kitchen
Nobody warns you that the hard part is not the freeze-dryer. It is the freezer space, the outlet, and the noise. Here is what I would do differently.
Read post →
2026-04-19
Reading a Freeze-Dried Label: What No Additives Does and Does Not Tell You
No additives is a real claim and a narrow one. Here is what it covers, what it quietly does not, and the four things I actually look for on a bag.
Read post →
2026-04-12
The Powder Drawer: What to Do With a Batch That Crumbles
Some batches come out as dust instead of pieces. That is not a failure, it is a different ingredient. Here is everything the powder drawer is actually for.
Read post →
2026-04-05
Allergens in a Home Freeze-Dryer: What Cross-Contact Actually Means
If someone in your house has a food allergy, the freeze-dryer is a shared surface like any other. Here is what actually transfers, what does not, and the rules I use.
Read post →
2026-03-15
When Spring Arrives Like it Owes You Money
Hail at the bowling alley, league night chaos, and a spring that showed up loud, angry, and absolutely not apologizing for it.
Read post →2026-03-15
When Spring Arrives Like it Owes You Money
Hail at the bowling alley, league night chaos, and a spring that showed up loud, angry, and absolutely not apologizing for it.
Read post →2026-03-15
The 30-Week Gap: Why I Stopped Writing and Started Again
I looked at the blog and the last post was thirty weeks old. Nobody made me stop. I just stopped. Here is what actually happened, and why it is starting again.
Read post →2026-03-08
Cleaning Out the Freezer Without Throwing Food Away
Everyone cleans the freezer by pitching things they cannot identify. There is a better order to do it in, and it saves most of what you were about to throw out.
Read post →2026-03-01
March in Iowa: The Month That Cannot Decide
Sixty degrees on Tuesday, snow on Friday, and your pantry quietly absorbing the difference. March is the month that tests every container you own.
Read post →2026-02-22
Water Activity, Explained With a Bag of Chips
Two foods can be five percent water and behave completely differently on a shelf. The number that decides it is not on either label, and once you know it your pantry makes sense.
Read post →2026-02-15
What a Power Outage Actually Spoils, and What It Does Not
An ice storm takes the power for two days and you stand in front of an open fridge guessing. Here is the real rule, and it is more forgiving than the panic suggests.
Read post →2026-02-08
Why Your Coffee Tastes Different in Winter
Same beans, same grinder, same method, and it tastes flatter than it did in September. Nothing is wrong with you and nothing is wrong with the coffee. It is the water.
Read post →2026-02-01
The February Thaw, and Why Your Pantry Should Not Care
Iowa gets a false spring almost every February. The roads turn to soup, the basement smells like a wet dog, and everything dry in your kitchen starts quietly losing the fight.
Read post →
2026-01-05
New Year, Zombie Preparedness, a Hawkeye Miracle
A zombie apocalypse kit with a 1.5-mile walkie-talkie range, a Hawkeye bowl game miracle, and cosmic bowling on New Year's Eve.
Read post →2026-01-05
New Year, Zombie Preparedness, a Hawkeye Miracle
A zombie apocalypse kit with a 1.5-mile walkie-talkie range, a Hawkeye bowl game miracle, and cosmic bowling on New Year's Eve.
Read post →
2026-01-04
Freeze-Dried Herbs: Where the Magic Actually Is
Most drying methods destroy the volatile compounds that make basil taste like basil. Freeze drying does not, and that single difference makes it the only method worth using on delicate herbs.
Read post →
2025-12-23
Christmas Week in the Life of an Iowa Mom
Izzy had her bday party at Colonial Lanes this last Saturday 12/20! She turned 9 years old. The whole family was there bowling. It was a lot of fun. Good thing I have been prac…
Read post →
2025-12-15
The Night the Bowling Balls Chose Violence
The Iowa Hawkeyes Women’s basketball team lost barely to their inner state rival Iowa State Cyclones 74-69. So very very sad… On the Iowa State team they had this girl #25 who play…
Read post →
2025-12-08
Snow Days, Santa Plans & the December Crunch
The Iowa men’s basketball team lost to Michigan State 71-52, but won the 2nd game of this week against Maryland 83-64.
Read post →
2025-12-01
Snowstorms, Sledding, Hawkeyes Glory & Thanksgiving Chaos
Thanksgiving. We could not wait for the awesome food I was going to cook. So we cooked it on Wednesday.
Read post →
2025-11-24
Thanksgiving Prep, Product Push & Pre-Holiday Hustle
Iowa Hawkeyes football game against Michigan St. 20-17.
Read post →
2025-11-02
Deer Sightings, DIY Disasters & The Fall of Sober October
The Orbit Report: No Football, Just Feelings
Read post →
2025-10-26
Bowling Alley Chaos, Busch Light Legends & One Sneaky Husband at the Hawkeye Game
Husband worked the Minnesota vs. Iowa game. He met a guy that had been working for CBS for a long time as a camera man. He was really nice and friendly. The camera man loves coll…
Read post →
2025-10-19
Haunted Statues, Flea Markets & Full Production Mode
I got a story for you. This last week, a crazy guy at the bar at Colonial lanes on this last Thursday night right before closing. My boss had to call the police to come help him.…
Read post →
2025-10-12
Flea Market Finds, Fall Flavors & Freeze-Dryer Frenzy
Watching our neighbor’s dog named Wyatt and taking him to the park this last week to run around.
Read post →
2025-09-27
Neapolitan Orbit Cream Crunch Launch and Iowa Hawkeyes Heartbreak
Big cosmic news: we launched a brand-new snack into the universe—Neapolitan Orbit Cream Crunch! 🚀🍦 Think freeze-dried ice cream sandwiches blasted into orbit. Chocolate, vanilla, s…
Read post →
2025-09-20
Hawkeye Saturdays, Snack Prep & Small-Town Nights
Welcome back to another week in my little Iowa orbit, where life is equal parts chaos, comedy, and freeze-dried snacks. Let’s start with the big news: I survived my first SOLO bart…
Read post →
2025-09-15
Freeze-Dried 101, School Chaos & the First Weeks of Fall
🌀 ORBIT REPORT “Bowling, Hawkeyes, and a Busy Week in Iowa City” This past week has been a whirlwind here in Iowa City. Between working out, starting my new job, cheering on the Ha…
Read post →
2025-09-09
Iowa Hawkeyes Loss, Scary Movies & Parenting Chaos
Welcome back to my little life in Iowa blog. This past week had it all — scary movies, football heartbreak, and parenting chaos wrapped up in one orbit. First up, I went to see the…
Read post →
2025-09-02
From School Chaos to Korean BBQ
This past week felt like re-entry from orbit: my kids went back to school last Monday, which means mornings are now fueled by equal parts coffee and controlled chaos. Lunchboxes pa…
Read post →
2025-06-18
Casting Lines & Crunchy Bites: A Morning at Lake McBride
Miles, poles, and Orbit Cream Crunch — Bryon caught a fish, and I caught the story of a summer that started with a bang. The Orbit Report: a funny look at a Midwest spring that arrived like it owed us something.
Read post →