The Saving Dinner website is a pretty neat thing, as it works for us. There are times when I need somebody else to decide for me what we'll have that week. I want some new dishes in the mix. I want variety. A while ago I got a coupon for the site and bought a menu mailer ebook. It has a whole season's worth of menus. The way it is laid out makes life even simpler. Every week there are six meals. The first page is the Master Shopping List. Just print it out, cross off everything you already have, and shop from the rest of the list. Each ingredient is cross-referenced to which meal it belongs with, to make substitutions easier. The recipes are simple and easy, with nutritional information worked out.

I let my fingers walk through that ebook this week and the first meal I worked with was a huge success. As most of my recipes, I studied it and then took it a different way. My variation on the Asian Spinach Salad follows.

You'll need: a bag of spinach greens
a couple of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cooked and chopped
some honey-roasted peanuts
a bottle of sesame-ginger marinade (or your favorite asian-type salad dressing)


Into a large, lidded container (I used an entree-sized gladware-type container) put two handfuls of spinach. Toss in the chicken, about two tablespoons of the sauce, snap on the lid and shake to coat. Lay a fresh handful of the spinach on your plate, then a portion of the sauced spinach-chicken mixture (this is so that if there's too much sauce, the spinach doesn't drown in it). Top with the nuts.

It was incredibly easy and my husband loved it immediately. Makes it a winner in my book!

A side-benefit of the saving dinner menus is that with the detailed menu planning you can save a lot of money at the store. We all know that to save money, shop from a list and avoid impulse items. How much simpler is it when the majority of the list comes pre-made with healthy recipes that you don't have to think too-much about ahead of time. Plus, you get away from the trap of the same 7 rotating meals. It's Monday? Must be meatloaf night. Tuesday? Sloppy Joes.