Dismantle Your Tastefully Simple Shrine!

What is a Tastefully Simple shrine, you might ask?  Say you've been to a Tastefully Simple party, or three.  You try all of the delicious products, you place a large order, the products come in, you put them in your cupboard.......and you never use them.  I've had many party guests say, "Oh, I have a box of that product in my cabinets from the last party I went to".  Some guests say they don't know what to do with the products they bought.  As a consultant, this makes me sad, because first, I want you all to enjoy our awesome foods, and second, this means I'm not providing you with enough resources to use our products.  So, my goal is to remedy this situation.  I am challenging YOU to use your Tastefully Simple products!

If you have a Tastefully Simple "shrine", I want you to pick an item, any item.  Bonus points if it's the oldest Tastefully Simple item in your cabinets.  I want you to post a comment to this blog naming your item, and I will give you FIVE suggestions on how to use that item.

So, for example, say you have the Pomegranate Chipotle Sauce, which is one of our standard line items.  You may have sampled it at a party and liked the taste, but once you ordered it, you weren't sure what to use it on.  So, here's some suggestions:

1. Brush it onto the outside of a pork tenderloin before roasting or grilling. If you grill, brush with marinade each time you flip the meat over and you'll end up with a delicious glaze.
2. For a unique salad, combine 3 Tbsp. Pomegranate Chipotle sauce with 3 Tbsp. white wine vinegar and 2 Tbsp. olive oil to make a sweet and spicy vinaigrette dressing. Toss with torn greens and sliced peaches or mango; sprinkle with crumbled Gorgonzola cheese and pine nuts or pecans.
3. Brush over bacon-wrapped cubed chicken breast; secure with a toothpick. Bake at 350˚ for 30 minutes or until bacon is crisp and chicken is cooked to create a delicious appetizer!
4. For an even easier appetizer, spoon over cream cheese; serve with crackers.
5. Make easy pulled pork sandwiches with pork roast and Pomegranate Chipotle sauce in your slow cooker.

So, what products have you purchased but aren't using?  Post in the comments and I'll help you dismantle your Tastefully Simple shrine.

The Many Ways to Party With Tastefully Simple

While Tastefully Simple does focus on delicious and easy to prepare foods, it's the party that makes Tastefully Simple awesome!  We make it easy to get your friends together for food and fun, and to earn free and discounted Tastefully Simple products for yourself.  But the in-house tasting party isn't the only way to enjoy the benefits of hosting.  There are three types of parties that I organize for my customers.

1. The Tasting Party - This is the standard party: invite some friends, buy some drinks, and I give you delicious Tastefully Simple products to make.  Your friends come over, and we "eat our way through the catalog".  A tasting party usually runs about 2 hours from start to finish, although I've had some shorter and some longer.  I currently book parties in Central Massachusetts, with a few exceptions.  Tasting parties are a great way to get your friends together, and are awesome for people who love to entertain.
2. The Catalog Party - This type of party involves showing the catalog to your friends and family and gathering orders.  This can be done with paper catalogs/order forms, online catalog/ordering, or a combination of both.  Usually a catalog party is held open for 1-2 weeks.  You can be anywhere in the US and have a catalog party with me!  Catalog parties are great for people who have a lot of friends who love Tastefully Simple, but maybe work an odd schedule, live in a small space, or otherwise can't swing an in-house tasting party.
3. The Facebook Party - This is an online event that takes place on Facebook.  You invite your friends to attend the Facebook event, and I present videos, recipes, tips, and other information over the course of about 1 hour.  Your guests place online orders during the party. You can be anywhere in the US and have a Facebook party with me!  Facebook parties are great for people who have friends and family all over the country and communicate a lot on Facebook.  It's quick and easy, and just about no work for the host at all.

Now, is there any difference in the rewards that hosts can earn depending on the type of party?  No!  Hosts earn the same rewards no matter what type of party they host.  There are three kinds of rewards:

1. Host reward dollars - The amount of sales that your party generates translates directly to host reward dollars that can be used towards free products (or can be used to offset your investment in becoming a Tastefully Simple consultant!).  The more products sold, the more host reward dollars you get.  Also, if you have 15 or more orders associated with your party, you get an additional $15 in host rewards.
2. Monthly host specials - Each month Tastefully Simple has additional host rewards that hosts can take advantage of.  Some monthly host specials have levels, where the rewards increase as you reach each level. Here's an example of the host rewards for May 2013.
3. Half-priced items - If one of your guests books a party with me, any kind of party, you get any item in the catalog for half price.  You can get up to five half-priced items through bookings!

So what are you waiting for?  Contact me now to book the party that works best for you!

Another Easy Teacher Gift Using Tastefully Simple Products

In my last post I provided some suggestions for end of the year teacher gifts using Tastefully Simple products.  Since then, another consultant came up with a great gift idea.

These are our mini drink buckets (from left to right) Blueberry Pineapple Margarita Mix, Outrageous Orange Mojito Mix, and Golden Kiwi Margarita Mix. You can purchase these individually, or purchase the Triple the Fun pack, which includes one of each of these three.  Go to your local dollar store, pick up some plastic margarita glasses and a few packaging items and you've got a super easy and inexpensive gift.  Individually, the mini drink buckets are $7.99, and the Triple the Fun package is $19.99.

Unfortunately, this picture has been shared around us consultants so much that I don't know for sure who came up with the idea!  Can't take credit myself, though I do love it.

Easy Teacher Gifts Using Tastefully Simple Products

It's mid-May now, so they end of the school year is fast approaching.  Here in central MA we're in school until the very end of June (thank you Mother Nature for 9 snow days....*grumble*).  Anyhow, it's time to think about thanking your child's teachers for all the good they've done this year.  Tastefully Simple makes it super easy to give great gifts to the teachers in your life.

The easiest option is to order one of our pre packaged gifts, which include our best products presented in an attractive gift bag or boxed set.

The Cherry Good! gift set is $14.95, and includes our Very Cherry Cheese Ball Mix and Twisty Grahams. Yum!

Triple the Fun is a collection of three of our slush drink mixes: Outrageous Orange Mojito, Blueberry Pineapple Margarita, and Golden Kiwi Margarita. This gift set retails for $19.95.  Give the whole set to a deserving teacher, or break them out separately.

The Cozy Comfort gift set is a meal in a box, great for the teachers in your life!  It retails for $22.95, and includes Bountiful Beer Bread Mix, Perfectly Potato Cheddar Soup Mix, and Absolutely Almond Pound Cake.

So the pre-packaged items are a great idea, but what if you want to cut the price back a little bit?  Take a box of our Bountiful Beer Bread, which retails for $5.99, or any of our other baking mixes, like Absolutely Almond Pound Cake Mix or Truffle Fudge Brownie Mix.  Go to your local dollar store and pick up some pot holders or oven mitts, wooden spoons, and some raffia ribbon, and you can make a super easy and super inexpensive teacher gift.  Here's an example of one I made for Christmas:

Tastefully Simple makes thanking the teachers in your life easy!  Remember, allow about 2 weeks after ordering for your product to arrive.  And if you make your own teacher gifts with Tastefully Simple products, please share in the comments below!

What's New for May 2013?

Spring has sprung here in Central MA.  It finally stopped snowing, the grass is greening up, and the trees are budding.  May is a super busy month in our house, with several birthdays, Mother's Day, a First Communion, and Memorial Day, in addition to all of our regularly scheduled activities.

Tastefully Simple has got you covered for all of your entertaining needs as well as every day meal ideas.  Here's what we have going on in May:

Returning Favorites!  May 1 - June 30

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Returning Favorites are back, so it's time to stock up on your old favorites.  You can purchase the complete Returning Favorites Collection for $42.95, which includes five returning favorite products and a free gift of a brand new product: Strawberry Colada Parfait! You can also purchase the Returning Favorites products individually, but the Strawberry Colada Parfait is only available with the complete collection.  Here's the list of 2013 Returning Favorites:

Berry Buckle Cake Mix
Garlic Pepper Seasoning
Hoppin' Jalapeno & Bacon™ Dip Mix
Mocha Chip Frappe™ Drink Mix
Sweet Pineapple Chipotle Salsa

Host a Party in May and Earn The Returning Favorites for Free!

Have a party in May, and get some of your all-time favorites - back only for a limited time!

• $600+ party: Get our Returning Favorites Collection FREE ($51.44 value)! It includes five blasts from the past, along with a new product available exclusively with this collection.
• $400-$599.99 party: Purchase the collection for only $19.99 (60% off retail value).

That's all in addition to our usual host rewards. I do in-home tasting parties in Central Massachusetts, but I also do catalog parties, Facebook Parties, and online parties.  Email me at tastefullysuek@gmail.com to choose the party that is right for you!

Join Tastefully Simple for $100 Off, or Maybe Even for Free?

Did you see my previous blog post about the amazing offer that Tastefully Simple has going now?  If you need some extra income, Tastefully Simple is making it even easier to join.

How Do I Learn More?

Email: tastefullysuek@gmail.com

Phone: 978-549-2019

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tastefullysuek