Whether your income has decreased or your expenses have increased, you can have fun finding creative ways to save. When it comes to cost-saving entertainment, host a DIY Dine-In Dinner Party. Impress your friends (or your honey) with this do-it-yourself, dine-in dinner party (or date night) menu courtesy of culinary cutie Dave Lieberman, campaign spokesperson for Del Monte “Value without Sacrifice”  and Chef and Author of  The 10 Things You Need to Eat: – a New York Times Bestseller!! You can host a fabulous dinner party without sacrificing value or nutrition.

Appetizer: Spinach and Scallion Dip (perfect with pita chips and veggies)

Entrée: Chicken Cacciatore (an updated classic)

Dessert: Beet Mash Chocolate Cupcakes (super moist and decadent)

• Try this tip from Dave: Swap in canned ingredients! Not only will you save money, you get all the flavor and nutrition with simpler clean up — enjoy your company instead of standing over the sink!

• Another tip: Double the recipes so you have leftovers on hand for quick and easy weeknight meals (instead of reaching for the take out menu!!)

Simple Spinach and Scallion Dip

Ingredients:

• One 13.5 oz. can Del Monte® Leaf Spinach, drained
• One 8 oz. package cream cheese
• 3/4 cup finely chopped scallion
• A few dashes Tabasco
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to combine all of the ingredients in a medium mixing bowl until smooth. Transfer to a serving bowl and dip with crudités or chips.

Makes about 1 pint.

Chicken Cacciatore

Ingredients:

• Two 14.5 oz. cans Del Monte® Original Recipe Stewed Tomatoes, drained
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 20 grinds fresh black pepper
• One 3-4 pound chicken, cut into pieces
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• About 5 ounces button or cremini mushroom, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 3 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, oregano, paprika and pepper. Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour until well coated.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the chicken pieces and brown well on both sides.

Remove the chicken pieces from the pan and set aside.

Add the onions and mushrooms to the hot pan and cook them, stirring often, until soft, about 7 minutes.

Stir in the red wine, tomatoes, and sliced garlic. Add the chicken back into the pan and cover the pan loosely. Reduce the heat to medium and cook 1 hour, until chicken is cooked through and tender.

Makes 4 servings.

Beet Mash Chocolate Cupcakes (or Cake) with Beet Frosting

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes

• One 14.5 oz. can Del Monte® Sliced Beets, drained
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 2 ½ cups granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• ½ cup warm water
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup sweetened cocoa
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt

For the Icing

• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• Approx. ½ a can of Del Monte® Sliced Beets, drained
• 1 pound confectioners sugar

Directions:

For Cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

For Cake: Preheat the oven to 325ºF.

In a small bowl, mash the drained can of beets finely with a potato masher and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, granulated sugar, oil, eggs, and water. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet. Fold in the mashed beets and mix well.

For Cupcakes: Pour the batter into greased cupcake tins. Bake about 15-20 minutes, until set but moist. (Or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean)

For Cake: Pour the batter into a greased 10-inch Bundt pan. Bake about 70 minutes, until set but moist. Let cool, and turn out onto a large serving plate.

Make the Icing: Mash the ½ can of beets finely with a potato masher. Melt 1 stick of butter in a saucepan and add mashed beets. Simmer on very low heat for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, cream the second stick of butter with a mixer in a bowl. Mix in the melted butter and beet mixture until fully incorporated. Gradually beat in the confectioners sugar.

Ice the cupcakes with a thick layer of icing.

The cupcakes and cake serve 12-15.

St. Patrick’s Day is a great day for going green…for the environment, that is. Here’s a St. Patrick’s Day Giveaway from Kohl’s to help you go green.

Ellen DeGeneres, Robert Redford, Will Ferrell, Jennifer Aniston, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Martha Stewart, Tyra Banks, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Tiki Barber, Owen Wilson, and Justin Timberlake tell you how they make a difference to the environment by going green to help you go green too.

Inside The Green Book, find out how you can too:

- Turn your thermostat a degree lower in the winter; if every home in America did it we’d save enough energy to power all the home is Iowa for one whole year!

- Take a shorter shower; if America subtracted just one minute from their daily showers we’d save twice the amount of freshwater withdrawn from the Great Lakes every day!

- Reuse ribbon and wrapping paper; if two-thirds of Americans each saved an arm’s length of ribbon this year, we could tie a bow around the earth!

With wit and authority, authors Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas Kostigen provide hundreds of solutions for all areas of your life, pinpointing the smallest changes that have the biggest impact on the health of our precious planet.

You have 3 choices on how to get a copy of The Green Book:

1. Enter NanaFinds.com giveaway contest sponsored by Kohl’s – just leave a comment below for a chance to win The Green Book for FREE. 4 winners will be randomly chosen on St. Patrick’s Day. Kohl’s will ship the book directly to you.
2. Go to your nearest Kohl’s and buy The Green Book at Kohl’s for $5 of which 100% will be donated to their Care for Kids Foundation.
3. Buy online The Green Book: The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time on Amazon.com for about $10 plus shipping.

With people of my generation being more active and independent, it will be more difficult to make the transition in our elder years into a supportive living facility or a nursing home. My stepmother is 91 and living in a senior community that provides independent living, supportive living, and nursing facilities so as her needs may change, she will have to make minimal changes nor put us through the stress of deciding what is right for her if it should be in conflict with what she desires. They also provide cleaning services by a cleaning franchise, hair styling salon on the first floor of each “community” along with a bank, postal service, and transportation. She is fortunate to be able to afford to live in a quality senior community. There are many elders that can’t. One way to save this huge expense is to be cared for at home…although it may have costs that you can’t measure in dollars.

My husband’s mother, on the other hand, chose to stay in her home until the end. Because her health was failing, maintaining her quality of life in her home was very important because that was where she wanted to be. Her oldest son was able to move in with her since he was unmarried and retired. It was very difficult for him for he chose not to have a home health care assistant. My husband who is also retired was able to help as much as he could.  But since his brother lived with their mother he was affected much more…he never had a break from it. As their mother’s cognitive functioning decreased, she became more dependent on my brother-in-law which made it more difficult for my husband to help.

My brother-in-law did the shopping, cooking, cleaning, laundry and took care of her grooming needs. He was her companion and her caregiver. When she passed away, he was 54 but he looked 74. Taking care of my mother-in-law for 10 years took so much out of him, it affected his health. He became the one who needed a caregiver to help him recover from an ailing heart condition – a condition that was a long time coming.

As I look forward to 20 years from now, I wonder which I will choose. I must remember that it is important to take my children and husband into consideration when making such choices as to how I want to live out my remaining years. I have a living will but I believe it is important to make the choices on where and how I live out my elder years now while I have my full cognitive abilities.

Where and how do you want to be taken care of in your elder years? Who will take care of you?

I want to move! But where is the best place to live? The weather report tells us to expect another 3 to 6 inches of snow on top of the last two snowfalls we just had within a week of each other! Enough snow already!! Our snowblower’s transmission went on this last snow. We won’t be able to clear a path on our hilly backyard for our small dog, Buddy, but the driveway might be doable.

Between the snow and my posting about doing some home improvements in order to be ready if you want to sell your home this Spring, we are seriously thinking about moving somewhere else…away from SNOW!  Our son suggested we rent out our home and buy a townhouse in a more desirable location.  He said we could hire a property management company such as Glendale property management he saw advertised.

Where are the best places to live?

My response was that before I consider renting or selling, I’d need to know where I’d want to live. So where would I want to move to? That’s a big question that needs researching, and the Internet is a great resource. In my opinion, here are some of the top places to live:

Chico, CA:  Low crime rate; high/low January temperature is 60/40; 2008 Unemployment Rate 8.4%; Average home price $239,000

Peoria, AZ:  Low crime rate; high/low January temperature 60/34; 2008 Unemployment Rate 4.8%; Average home price $168,000

Sun City, AZ:  Low crime rate; high/low January temperature 59/35; 2008 Unemployment Rate 4.8%;  Average home price $130,000

Vacaville, CA:  Low crime rate; high/low January temperature 56/36; 2008 Unemployment Rate 6.9%; Average home price $210,000

How did I pick these best places to live?

My main criteria was low crime, then mild winter weather, affordable housing (compared to NJ’s prices), and an unemployment rate lower than the nation’s average of 10%.

There are so many great places to live. Everyone has their favorite city to visit and their ideal city for settling down and living. Where is your favorite place to live?

Now, if I can only convince my children to move with us….

Winter is definitely here…with two feet of snow outside and more coming, it’s easy to tell. Joking aside, the upside of it all is that as each cold day passes we are getting closer to Spring. With Spring comes increased activity in the housing market. It is the ideal time of the year to begin marketing your home if you wish to sell. With all the talk of the economy slowly improving, the housing market is also expected to improve.

Winter is the best time to begin preparing your home for marketing to potential buyers by starting with indoor home improvements and renovations. You want your house to be as ready as you can so when the pleasant Spring weather arrives, you can work on improving your home’s curb appeal.

My son’s father-in-law wanted to sell his house before winter came this past year. His house needed many home improvements to bring it up to a competitive level. He didn’t have much of a window of time so he researched emergency cash loans to cover most of the costs, knowing he’d get it back and more in the sale price. He was able to get a loan which resulted in making the necessary home improvements.

Before anyone was hired, the family uncluttered the home. My husband and son power washed the house and deck. The above ground pool and old swing set were removed for free by someone who wanted the metal. A trustworthy landscaper was hired to update the landscaping. He was able to give them some money saving ideas on ways they could improve the landscape themselves. My son and his wife cut out overgrown growth that he suggested they remove, fertilized the lawn, planted fall flowers, and treated the walkway, patio, and driveway for weed control. I was able to help by weeding the flower beds. The landscaper did the rest by edging, mulching, and filling in the pool area.

After getting estimates and checking references, my son hired contractors to upgrade the kitchen by replacing cabinets, sink, and appliances. Painters came in and repainted all the rooms for a fresh look. Flooring contractors refinished the hardwood floors. All fixtures were updated and a new washer and dryer were installed along with a new water heater. A cleaning service was hired to clean the house from top to bottom.

The hard work paid off. Our son’s father-in-law sold his home for a great price in just 6 weeks during a time when the market had slowed down tremendously!