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

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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.

To complete this How-To you will need:

An open mind
Lots of spices
Pantry staples
A little ingenuity

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Tip: 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.

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.

Step 6: Go wild with spices

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• cheap
• cooking
• dinner
• economics
• groceries
• grocery
• home
• house
• how-to
• howcast
• money
• saving

[badcatmcconell1324]

Guys,not everybody has the money to go down to publix and spend a hundred or more dollars buying grocerys every week. Some people have to eat stuff like this cuz its all they can afford.

[Merasty0]

this reminds me of my sisters first apartment she always bought stuff form the dollar store so she could pay for college

[auntbecky]

hey guys, don't be stickin you're noses up in the air at this. take it from someone who knows. there's a lot of solid advice in this vid. i do a lot of my grocery shopping at dollar stores. just a couple tips:

check for stores with frozen sections. they're a big help!

also, be careful what you purchase, sometimes the big chain stores actually have items cheaper than the dollar stores.

[auntbecky]

ok, just one question. why would wild caught salmon be better for the environment then farm raised?

[mickeylova12345]

The 99cent only store in my area has fresh produce, bread, etc. It's much better for food than the dollar tree.

[thekrazykarls]

@candygrl36 and heart disease. lol

[blackkittys668]

*deep breath* huuuuuu...EWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!

[RockstarHQ1]

I like can food

[fuhrman66]

I would rather get sent to jail and eat their food than eat this slop. In the co-ed jails you will find better pigs in blankets too.

[HalloweenQueen95]

why would i keep BUTTER in my pantry.. . .

[sacricolist]

Good advice, but I tend to avoid foods, especially fish, in those yellow/orange-ish tin cans. The food packed inside always just tastes like the can itself.

[carsontroeh]

@TheLuigiManFan or... go to subway...