Dinner Diva
Simplify Your Meals
By: Leanne Ely
In our pursuit for saving money, we find ourselves scouring the world and the web for ways to cut corners and expenses. And nowhere is that more apparent than in our weekly quest to feed the family.
We kill ourselves searching high and low for coupons. We seek out the bargains, willingly investing our gas and time to get the lowest prices, even if it means a big drive. We’re saving a lot of money, we say to ourselves.
But what about the concept of simplifying? It seems to me that we humans have this tendency to overcomplicate things and make it harder than it has to be. It’s good to save money—especially when it comes to your grocery budget, don’t get me wrong. But at some point, there needs to be a line drawn in the sand. It needs to make sense, not just cents!
I was thinking about this idea of simplifying while I enjoyed my wonderful breakfast this morning. It wasn’t fancy, but it was simple. Two lovely eggs, basted to my liking on top of a bed of lightly sautéed garlicky spinach. Very satisfying, very inexpensive and no huge Madison Avenue ad campaign behind any of that food, no coupons, no nothing and yet it cost me less than a dollar to have breakfast.
The take away lesson here is that real food doesn’t usually have a lot of hoopla and fanfare telling you it’s there. Packages of dried beans and bunches of fresh broccoli aren’t advertised on TV. You won’t see any cartoon characters on anything in the produce department of your grocery store, nor will you see celebrity endorsements for grass fed beef or wild fish. Think about that.
And while you’re thinking, here’s a recipe using simple, easy to find, healthy ingredients. Enjoy!
Crock-Nutty Chicken
Serves 6
1/3 cup peanut butter
6 tablespoons soy sauce–divided
3 1/2 teaspoons onion — minced
2 cloves garlic — pressed
several drops tabasco
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 tablespoon butter — melted
2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons corn starch
Mix peanut butter, 3 tablespoons of the soy sauce, onion, garlic, tabasco and ginger.
Spread peanut butter mixture inside of each chicken breast halves piece. Fold in half; close with small skewer or toothpick. Place in crockpot. In a bowl, mix remaining 3 tablespoons soy sauce with honey, butter and broth and pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours.
Remove chicken from crockpot and keep warm. Transfer remaining cooking liquid to a saucepan and heat to a boil. In a small bowl, dissolve cornstarch in small amount of cold water and stir into sauce. Cook for about 5 minutes or until sauce thickens nicely. Serve with sauce spooned over the top of chicken. Don’t forget to remove toothpicks before serving!
Per Serving: 478 Calories; 14g Fat; 40g Protein; 16g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 98mg Cholesterol; 1497mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 5 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 1 1/2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS: Brown rice or quinoa, a spinach salad and some baby carrots.
Online Fundraising Program Provides Higher Profits with Less Effort
Last week we talked about Saving Dinner Fundraising hitting the road to meet with PTO leaders across the U.S. One feature of the program that really stood out to groups eager to sign up was that the entire fundraiser could be handled online. What this means is that less time and effort is required by you parents volunteering to help with your children’s fundraisers. Whether you are helping out a sports team, cheerleading squad, scout troop, church, or school, we know the last thing you want is to have to spend a lot of effort on the fundraisers. You are busy enough as it is, and that is why the all-online Saving Dinner Fundraising program was such a hit at the expos.
With this unique online program, you will NOT see the following:
• Sending your kids out door-to-door selling products
• Collecting payments on purchases of products
• Delivering products after purchase
• Storing inventory of pre-ordered products
Saving Dinner Fundraising handles everything online. You sign up and create your fundraising page. A Saving Dinner Fundraising specialist then helps you develop a fundraising strategy involving custom emails to send out to the supporters of the program. Further, you can promote your page through sharing on social websites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and more. We know how much time you spend on those sites, why not earn a little money for a cause while you are at it!
Finally, with no physical products and no delivery costs, the Saving Dinner Fundraising program is able to offer groups 50% profit on everything sold (profit % for most fundraisers is much less). And, you are selling great Saving Dinner menu-planning products, something you can actually use! So the next time you have to participate in the selection of a group fundraiser, suggest our program and introduce Saving Dinner to your friends. You’ll be the hero!
Would you like more information on this fantastic program? Fill out this FORM and a Saving Dinner Fundraising specialist will be in touch!
