I recommend starting out at the bar with a frozen house margarita. Have fun trying to decide what to order. I enjoyed the added descriptions next each item. I hate when I don’t know exactly what I’m ordering and then SURPRISE you get something you didn’t even know you ordered. This time we knew what we were getting into. Here’s what we started out with:

• Shrimp & Roasted Garlic Corn Tamale (with fresh corn and cilantro sauce)
• Blue Corn Pancake (with barbecued duck plus habanero chile-star anise sauce)

I didn’t know what Anise was but it’s a spice that resembles licorice and fennel. It’s also used in five-spice powder.
Both appetizers were melt in your mouth good but The Blue Corn Pancakes beat the Shrimp & Roasted Garlic Corn Tamale. I’m fortunate to have been eating dinner with someone who likes to share!

For my entree I had the Ancho Chile-Honey Glazed Salmon (with a spicy black bean sauce, tomatillo salsa and roasted jalapeno crema). See what I mean about the added description about what you’re ordering? My client ordered the Mexican Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin (with Bourbon-ancho chile sauce and sweet potato tamale with crushed pecan butter). While she was very happy with the pork tenderloin I think she ordered the entree for the sweet potato tamale with crushed pecan butter

To compliment our meals (because we didn’t have enough…) we also had:

• Roasted Corn with Smoked Chiles, Cotija Cheese and Lime
• Mashed Potatoes with Cilantro Pesto

I must admit that the roasted corn was my favorite item of the evening and my client was kind enough to send the  roasted corn recipe posted on the Food Network site. Maybe I can make it for one of my three Thanksgiving dinners.

Grilled Corn Salad

That said, there isn’t anything I didn’t like. Oh except for maybe the Logo. The letters in MESA are chopped off! It looks like the designer ran out of time and decided we didn’t need the top portion. See for yourself.

-xoxo garlic girl

- xoxo garlic girl

Me and Tyler

Oyster down

Green bean salad with almonds and truffle oil

Good wine. We stayed at the Ventana Inn, Big Sur.

Mushroom & oyster soup. Delish!

Rock shrimp lettuce wrap

Bubbly for a perfect day

xoxo garlic girl!

From this...

...To this!

Dinner is served!

Here’s what I suggest. Think about the items you need/are out of or low on and start a list. Also, it helps if you think about what you’d lie to eat during the week or at least the main serving and design your list around that. For example, I know I have these things in my freezer already:

• Mushroom Ravioli
• Chicken
• Shrimp
• Chicken Sausage

So I’ve made a list of items that could go with some/all of these. Then I can tailor the meal to however I’m feeling that night. Here is what I’ll be getting at good old Trader Joe’s today.

• Zuccini
• Cauliflower
• Portobello mushrooms
• Arugula
• Onions (purple, yellow, white)
• Lemon

We can’t forget about snacks and fruit!

• Mixed nuts
• Crackers
• Edemame
• Hummus
• Mango
• Strawberries

Lastly, this week I’m going to bring my lunch to work so I’ll buy sandwich meat, bread, cheese… some other goodies for sandwiches. I’m also going to make Turkey Chilli to take for lunch (no not with the sandwich but I can alternate). Alright, that’s all for now. Hmm… maybe that’s too aggressive and I may only do one of these things.  I’ll keep you updated.

- garlic girl

On the menu for tonight? Halibut, broccoli and orzo – oh my!  And for just $4.21 per plate. There are many more great meals to be made and a lot more money to be saved!

• Halibut $6.61
• Broccoli $1.00
• Orzo $0.43
• Lemon $0.28

TOTAL: $8.42

Too bad there aren't leftovers

This was super duper easy to make. I seasoned the halibut with garlic salt and garlic powder, pepper a little and olive oil and lemon. Then baked at 375 for 18 minutes (I could have done 15). Orzo is a no brainer. Just boil like pasta and add what ever you like. I added garlic salt. Finally I steamed broccoli in the microwave and then chilled in the freezer for about 10 min; dded lemon, olive oil and sea salt and TA-DA!

-xoxo garlic girl

Easy Peazy!

• Salmon (From Costco) $3
• Salad (tomato, onlion, arugula) $1.69
• Potato (small, red) $.30

TOTAL: $4.99

This meal was not only easy to make and inexpensive but really good if I do say so myself! I sprinkled lemon, salt and pepper on the salmon and baked in the oven for 25 min at 375 degrees. I microwaved my potato for four minutes and then baked it (wrapped in foil) for 10 minutes. While the salmon and potato were in the oven I made the salad. My little secret for a low fat/cal baked potato? I used garlic salt, a few sprays of  I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter and a dollop of Naturally Yours fat free sour cream. I know this probably doesn’t sound tasty at all but trust me! It is!

Creative Chicken Salad

I used a little bit of everything for this salad:

• Arugula $.96
• Reg onion $.17
• Lemon Juice (half a lemon) $.14
• Tomato $.40
• Chicken (half a breast) $.94
• Apple $.40

TOTAL: $3.01

That’s a pretty hearty salad for about $3.00! I made dressing by mixing items that I had handy (garlic,  lemon juice, honey, salt, olive oil, rice wine vinegar and fresh Parmesan cheese). And the chicken? I cut up into thin slices and cooked on the stove with salt, pepper and rosemary.

Surf 'n' Turf

Other than a red onion I knew I didn’t have anything to make a salad so I picked up arugula on my way home. I was pleased to find left over filet mignon — and  in my freezer  frozen jumbo shrimp from Costco. I warmed up the steak and sauteed the shrimp with lemon and garlic. I tossed the arugula with a little onion, lemon and olive oil…sprinkled a little salt and pepper an the salad and shrimp and served. Dinner for two was about $6.00 each!

• Jumbo Shrimp $5.66
• Filet Mignon $3.95
• Arugula $2.10
• Lemon$.25
• Garlic $.25

TOTAL: $12.21

The kicker? This meal only took about 20 minutes from start to finish. Maybe I’ll start making 20-minute meals!

I almost suggested going out to dinner to Josh last night because I had such a long day at work but instead, I came home and cooked and I’m glad I did.

I made Talapia, steamed cauliflower and saffron rice.

Talapia Lick'n good

Not only was this healthy but easy to make! And per my usual, inexpensive! I got the Talapia during a Costco run two months ago. It was probably around $3. The cauliflower was $1.25. I used left over pesto (from my Garlic party) to top the fish and baked it in the oven for 15 min at 375 degrees.

I would estimate this meal for two people was under $7 total and took less than 30 minutes to make.

Just some highlights from the menu included garlic pesto linguine, garlic stuffed meatballs,  garlic stuffed mushrooms, garlic goat cheese appetizers and more. I’m bummed that I didn’t get photos of everything – folks were hungry (including myself) and we ate before I had time to snap photo. I was able to grab a couple, which I posted below.

I made garlic pesto using a recipe on Simply Recipes, doubling the entire recipe but used 20 garlic cloves instead of the prescribed six.

Garlic Bomb

If you’re curious, here is the price breakdown for making one batch of this pesto (garlic style):

• Fresh Basil leaves (approx two bunches) $2.50
• Garlic (10 large (ucloves) – $.50*
• Romano or Parmesan Cheese $3.00
• Pine nuts – $.62*
• Olive Oil – $2.50*

TOTAL: $9.12

A friend of mine made garlic stuffed meatballs! She used the Emeril Lagasse’s recipe. They were a hit and I highly recommend! The photo below is from Good Morning America (the one I took didn’t come out).

Garlic Gladiator Meatballs

Josh used our very handy margarita machine to make his famous homemade margaritas. Why would I ever leave home again? This was ‘the’ wedding gift he chose on his own and we use often And yes, it sits out on our kitchen counter.

Josh swears by the tequila he uses. It’s called Chamucos. I’ll tell you one thing, it’ll do a little number on you!

A little bit of this and a little bit of that

The great thing about hosting a party like this is that everyone is involved in the menu and it’s a nice way to bring friends together.

I’m finding that many people are eating out less and cooking more. This doesn’t mean you have to see your friends less, it just means you have to get more creative about when and how you see them. Instead of planning dinners out, why not plan dinners in? What have you planned recently? I’m already thinking about my next dinner party.

For now Josh and I are working on getting the smell of garlic out of our place. Garlic day 1, good. Garlic day 2, bad.

*Ingredients: I buy in bulk so the price tends to be split over multiple uses.