Dining for Women

by - 4:24 PM

Last night, I hosted a wonderful group of ladies at my house for our monthly chapter meeting of Dining for Women. I became involved with this global NPO last year after attending a local chapter meeting with two of my friends. We loved the idea and the program, and decided to found our own local chapter in Milwaukee.

What is Dining for Women?

Dining for Women is a national dinner "giving circle". We meet monthly on a rotating house basis, learn about that month's selected organization, the culture of the women we are helping, and cook food from that specific country.



At the end of the night, we donate what we would normally spend dining out on a meal with friends to benefit women in need.

It is a wonderful, humbling experience to learn about these women, their culture and what we can do just by staying in one night instead of dining "out" to help alleviate their oppression.

A Typical Chapter Meeting

This month's organization was The Girl's Empowerment Project, which focuses on identifying and protecting separated and orphaned refugee children living in Nairobi, Kenya.


One of the fun challenges each month is cooking local recipes. DFW provides recipes for each meeting, and sometimes we also look for variations on sites like All Recipes.



I made a variation of maku wiki (a kale dish) that was similar to my garlicky kale.


Other girls brought Kenyan coconut rice, chicken curry, sweet potato balls, Kenyan spare ribs and some super delicious coconut macaroons.





We had a great discussion about this month's program and watched a short video to learn more about the cause we would be supporting with our donations.


After coming together to "break bread", we discussed the hardships these women face, the strong differences between our cultures and how we sometimes take for granted the huge freedom we have as women in our society.


It truly is a wonderful experience getting together every month, and I am so lucky to have such wonderful friends spearheading our chapter and meeting each month.

Learn More

To learn more about getting involved DFW or to find a local chapter, check out the official DFW website. We found out about DFW after seeing a great segment on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. Check it out!

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Most of the recipes on this page can be found in this month's Recipe Guide. Thanks for taking a break with me this week to learn about this great program!

Up Next Week

Get ready for ski season with some great pre-ski workouts on Hitting the Slopes and check out some ways to easily cut calories with Smart Substitutes.

Have a great weekend!

Kat

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5 comments

  1. I am super inspired by your blog post! I have been a book blogger for years, and have been a chapter leader in Canada for just 1 year. But now I think I might consider starting a chapter blog for DFW!

    Great post, I love DFW too. :0)

    Lisa Jemus
    Calgary 1
    Chapter Leader

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  2. Thanks Lisa! Really appreciate the kind words - you should start a DFW Chapter blog! Such a great organization, the more exposure they can get, the better. Keep me posted!

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  3. :-) This is a great blog! I need to encourage my DFW group to try cooking the monthly recipes, that looks like great fun. Thanks for sharing!! Joy - Germantown TN chapter

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  4. I love your blog and love seeing photos of DFW chapter members! I've been in a DFW chapter in Virginia for over 5 years, and I visited Heshima Kenya when I was in Nairobi last September. It is an amazing organization, and like many of the orgs we support, started by two American women, and making such a difference in the lives of these refugee girls. They lost everything and now they are smiling and hopeful.

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  5. Thanks ladies! It is so wonderful to hear about all of your Dining For Women experiences. I will definitely post more recipes in the future so we can all stay connected!

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