How To Whip Up Tasty Meals Out Of Dollar-Store Food

  • September 6, 2008
  • 9,400 Views

Darlene212 from Darlene Liebman (and 4 others)

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Don’t give us that look. It is possible to make delicious, nutritious meals out of (mostly) dollar-store items — if you know a few tricks.

You Will Need

  • An open mind
  • Lots of spices
  • Pantry staples
  • A little ingenuity
How To Whip Up Tasty Meals Out Of Dollar-Store Food: Scour the stores

Step 1: Scour the stores

Shop at several dollar stores. Merchandise in these shops is hit-or-miss, so you’ll have a better chance of getting ingredients that work together if you frequent multiple stores.

How To Whip Up Tasty Meals Out Of Dollar-Store Food: Stock up on bargains

Step 2: Stock up on bargains

When you see something good, stock up! You might not see that item again for a while. Or ever.

Always check expiration dates. Dollar-store items sometimes have a short shelf life.

How To Whip Up Tasty Meals Out Of Dollar-Store Food: Be adventurous

Step 3: Be adventurous

Keep an open mind. Products that tend to put people off, like canned meat, often are not as bad as you imagine. It’s worth risking a dollar to see.

Read ingredient labels. Chicken in a tin is just chicken packed in water — nothing scary about that.

How To Whip Up Tasty Meals Out Of Dollar-Store Food: Load up on canned vegetables

Step 4: Load up on canned vegetables

Load up on canned vegetables. Believe it or not, because they’re canned right after they’re harvested, they’re often more nutritious than supposedly “fresh” produce in some grocery stores that has spent more time traveling and sitting on the shelves.

Rinse canned vegetables before cooking to reduce the sodium, and look for canned fruits packed in juice instead of syrup to reduce the sugar. If syrup-packed fruit is the only choice, rinse three times before serving.

How To Whip Up Tasty Meals Out Of Dollar-Store Food: Stock up on canned salmon

Step 5: Stock up on canned salmon

Stock up on salmon in cans and pouches. Because it’s usually fresh-caught in Alaska, it’s better for you and the environment than canned tuna or farm-raised fresh salmon.

How To Whip Up Tasty Meals Out Of Dollar-Store Food: Go wild with spices

Step 6: Go wild with spices

Take advantage of the dollar spices; they’re invaluable for doctoring up inexpensive ingredients.

Keep your pantry stocked with staples that are not always available in dollar stores, like butter.

How To Whip Up Tasty Meals Out Of Dollar-Store Food: Be creative in the kitchen

Step 7: Be creative in the kitchen

Be creative with your bargains. Fry some sardines in olive oil and serve over pasta. Wrap Vienna sausages in dough to make pigs-in-blankets and serve with a honey-mustard sauce. Make a crudite dip from canned artichoke hearts and tinned spinach.

How To Whip Up Tasty Meals Out Of Dollar-Store Food: Learn how to substitute

Step 8: Learn how to substitute

Make do with substitutions. No milk in your dollar store? Water down evaporated milk. Want onions? Reconstitute them out of dried ones from the spice rack. Need flour? Use that bargain pancake mix.

How To Whip Up Tasty Meals Out Of Dollar-Store Food: Find recipes online

Step 9: Find recipes online

Don’t know what to do with the canned calamari, capers, and capellini you just lugged home? Plug your ingredients into a website like www.recipematcher.com and it will spit out some delicious concoctions.

The five best dollar-store buys are cleaning supplies, gift wrap, snacks, shampoo, and kitchen accessories.

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Comments (9)

filmFlicka

Thanks! Great for a starving artist like me!

over 3 years ago by filmFlicka

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lchaya

Fantastic!!!

over 3 years ago by lchaya

Reply
cmemove

check out the containers too for storage.

over 3 years ago by cmemove

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WesleyJ

A great combination of a creative, well-made video with helpful suggestions the perfect recipe for the Howcast family of vids.

over 3 years ago by WesleyJ

Reply
adiksadiatabs

check out the dollar tree - the neiman marcus of dollar stores :D

about 1 year ago by adiksadiatabs

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over 2 years ago by uploadedtv007

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carsoncoyne

well done

over 2 years ago by carsoncoyne

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Wynne_Evans

Clear, Entertaining, intriguing Intellectually stimulating! Well-researched. http://mcatprep.yolasite.com/

over 2 years ago by Wynne_Evans

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deckard1

I love shopping the dollar stores. Very good video with accurate information. I do check expiration dates as well as COUNTRY OF ORIGIN. Sorry but after the tainted pet food from China, I don't buy my food (Pet or human) from that country ever.

over 3 years ago by deckard1

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