Dine in Gourmet $20 or less.

Living here in the Bay Area your options for eating out is overwhelming with a wide variety of ethnicity. You have your choice of American, Chinese,Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, South American, French, Mexican/Spanish and much more. Some gluten free friendly restaurants like In & Out, PF Changs, Maggiono's, Claim Jumpers and Grill on the Alley provide the variety we look for. Whatever your price range is there is a gluten free friendly restaurant you can eat at. Of course there are the major chain restaurants that provide a gluten free menu as well, On the Border, Outback, Elephant Bar and Olive Garden. Any of those can be appealing but sometimes you want something over and above what the "normal" eating out experience brings you. You start looking for those "gourmet" restaurants that you know average $50 a plate NOT including alcohol or appetizers. That's when you start looking in your wallet......

With everyone on a penny pinch especially when it comes to the extra expenditures it just seems hard to find the need to go out. Then to top it off you are on a specialty diet so that starts limiting your options.

It's Saturday night, you and your significant other want to go out and have a nice meal together. You find yourself making decisions based on the price rather than the atmosphere, meal and over all quality of service. I always say that the whole enjoyment of going out is the atmosphere and being waited on. If you can find a way to put that aside I can show you how you can make a $80 dinner for less than $20 for two.

Typically when I go out I like to order a nice steak. Fillet Mignon is one of my favorite cuts of meat (Psoas major or tenderloin). At a french restaurant this can run anywhere between $36 - $52 per person with ONE side. I made 2 4oz fillets with TWO sides for less than $10 per person.

Fillet Mignon with caramelized mushrooms topped with Balsamic Syrup, 

Herb Seasoned Mashed Potatoes and Sprouts.

  Ingredients:
2- 4oz Fillet Mignon steaks ($11)
2- russet potatoes ($1.80)
12- green sprouts ($1.75)
1- cup of Balsamic Vinegar ($1.25)
3- tbsp organic Agave ($0.75)
2- tbsp EVOO ($0.20)
1- tsp tarragon dried ($0.15)
2- tbsp garlic powder ($0.60)
1- dash of salt ( to small to count)
1- tbsp fine herbs dried ($0.15
4oz sliced mushrooms ($1)
1- cup of Original Unsweetened Almond Milk ($0.30)

Meal Total: $18.95 (estimated and not exact)

Fine Herb Mashed Potatoes:
peel and cut potatoes. Fill a pot with water toss potatoes into pot turn stove on med/hi and bring to boil. Cook until potatoes become soft. Drain potatoes and put back in pot add milk, 1-tbsp garlic powder and fine herbs. Mash until desired texture.

Sprouts:
Wash and cut sprout in half place in a medium sauce pan filled 1/3 with water place sprouts in pan cut side down. Bring to boil and cover. Cook until desired softness. Take out of pan season with salt

Balsamic Syrup:
in a small heavy sauce pan pour balsamic vinegar and agave into pan. Turn stove to med/hi and cook for 10-15 minutes until sauce reduces to about 1/3 cup. Stir occasionally. Poor over fillets

Fillet Mignon:
Take fillets and rub the EVOO on them. Season with tarragon garlic and salt. Place in pan on med heat cook each side evenly for 7 min. After the first 7 min add sliced mushrooms. Cook until meat is pink in middle and mushrooms have softened and turned a brownish color.

Megan and I truly enjoyed this meal. I know that going out would have been fun but I was able to create a more enjoyable time at home. Sometimes thought and effort means more than how much you are pulling out of your wallet. We did go out to ice cream and a movie (Wall Street 2).


Please leave a comment if you tried any of my recipes. I would like to know how they turned out for you.