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My local grocery store, which sells some convenience/prepared foods (made there) sells peeled garlic in the produce section in half pint containers. For just a dollar or so...it's more economical than heads with 67 dried out tiny cloves (@chiff: lolol) and I find I use it all before it spoils.

A little tangent here for all the garlic lovers...I recently read that the nutritional value of garlic increases if you let it sit for a few minutes on the cutting board before adding it to the pan. (akin to spinach having more nutritional value once cooked vs raw).

raki5-It's not the time, it's the freshness. Each sprout has sapped goodness out of the clove, diminishing its flavor & size. Removing the sprout is easy, but I'd like to keep mine from sprouting. I guess there is no way, kind of like eyes on potatoes.

Removing the green 'germ' in a garlic clove takes no time at all to do. There are serious North American problems with the desire for total 'convenience', hence preservatives, over-packaging, freighted fruit and vegetables. Easy to trace a lot of our foodie 'woes'. Sometimes, often, good food takes a bit of time.

The tub-o-garlic sounds great, but I would have to get a smaller one than the Costco size because I'm cooking for myself most of the time. I always buy a regular unpeeled thing of garlic, and it seems like the next week the inside is dry and the green sprouts form.

I use the Costco peeled garlic all the time! I'm sure I use more garlic than I normally would, because it's milder than freshly-peeled cloves. Usually I make it through the whole tub before they start to go off, but even if I end up throwing some away, at five bucks for three pounds it's not a fiscal tragedy.

@Crazy... I'll tell you this. I know for sure I use a lot more garlic since I have those peeled cloves at my disposal! (Hope you and your significant other both like garlic...LOL.) The whole cloves are so much better than that pre chopped crap in the oil. You decide how you want to use it, whole, sliced, chopped, paste, or even roast a few cloves and you've got roasted garlic. Enjoy!

I don't know if this is a casserole neccessarily, I know that it's not called that because it's ripped off from Ina Garten ... Anyhow, Saute two medium onions and spread them out on the bottom of a baking dish. Then, slice onions, zucchinni and tomatoes the same thickness and alternately layer them in the baking dish. It's very colorful and pretty. The next part has nothing to do with Ina, I made this up. If you have some marinara on hand, use that and just lightly cover the veggies. If you've got more time, make a home made cheese sauce starting with your basic roux and then adding whole milk, salt, pepper and whatever cheese you have on hand. Throw it in a 350 degree oven until all of the vegetables are done and before you know it, you've got a tasty vegetable "casserole."

I tend to lump pasta salads in with casseroles because both keep well, etc. etc. I like to cook whole wheat rotini with chickpeas, wilted spinach/arugula, olive oil, onions, and S&P--if that helps at all!

Srews and soups reheat really well, so if you expand into that territory, you've got plenty of options. And they usually freeze well also, so you could freeze some portions and that way you aren't having the some soup for 3 days in a row, you could have a soup you made a few weeks ago, instead.

Pozole (the stew-like dish, not just the hominy) reheats really well, and we think it's actually better on second or third day. That said, pozole is made with pork, usually, and it really is a meaty dish but you could modify it by using turkey or something else, or you could alter the ratios and use a lot more hominy to the pork, or you could add beans to sub for some of the meat.

This is a little different:

Coastal-Style Pork

2T oil
2 1/4 lb. pork filet, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/4 cup seasoned flour
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups beef stock (*I'd use chicken stock)
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 fresh green chili, seeded and chopped
2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped (*or canned diced)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 fresh pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into chunks
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1T fresh, finely chopped cilantro, to garnish

Preheat oven to 350*F. Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet. Toss pork in seasoned flour and fry until evenly browned, turning frequently. Transfer meat to a large, flameproof casserole. Add onion to skillet and fry gently until soft, adding a little more oil if necessary. Stir in stock and bring to boil, stirring. Add ground coriander, garlic, chili, tomatoes and bell pepper. Simmer 5 minutes. Pour over pork. Bring to boil, cover, and bake 1 1/2 to 2 hours until tender.

Add pineapple and sweet potatoes. Return to the oven and bake an additional 20 to 25 minutes until fruit and vegetables are tender. Garnish with cilantro. Makes 6 servings.
The * are my notes, not the author's - Anne McDowall