Wednesday, October 5, 2022

My Wednesday Pantry - The (not)Dollar Tree $5.00 Meal Challenge 2022

     Another year, another attempt at making a reasonably decent meal from items at the Dollar Tree. This is purely for amusement. It will illustrate though how food deserts can really be hard to create a healthy diet. If I, someone with few food limitations, access to refrigeration and cooking source, struggle, I can't imagine if this store or similar, was all I could access with limited transportation options. My Dollar Tree, while small, had a limited refrigerator and freezer section. That helped with some variety. There's no fresh produce and bread products are hit or miss. 

I tried to give myself rules that didn't make this an unchallenge. Using oodles of spices, oils, milk, butter, and other items that are pure ingredients are off limits. The only thing from my own supplies I'd allow is salt and pepper. It's true though, if starting with nothing, these may be nonexistent too. 

     So here's the thing though, I didn't actually do the challenge. I bought the ingredients as listed, and had ideas. In my head, I changed things up a  bit. I shopped an easier route and decided to do a two meal, $10 challenge. This meant I could split some items to both to add more flavor, but add more calories too. However, once I really thought things through, I think I could get three meals made. Here's my shop:

  • 6 medium eggs 
  • John Morrel Sausage
  • Pepper, onion blend 
  • Bisquick mix 
  • 2 pounds rice 
  • I pound pinto beans 
  • Beef broth
  • Hunts Pasta sauce, garlic

      This is how I might have gone about making them. With helping my daughter with grandpup, working longer logged in hours to ensure I could get my work done with potential extra drive time or dog walking time, I just didn't have the energy to actually produce. I'm using ingredients I bought in other meals. So here's my three ideas.

Meal one: Rice crust quiche, rustic beans, rice pilaf

 Mix 1 cup cooked rice with one egg, pat into pie plate, pre bake 10 minutes. Beat the other five eggs.  Sauteed 1/3 pepper blend, cool add to eggs and put in crust. Bake at 350° for about 35 minutes until eggs are set.

Add 1/4 cup broth, 1/2 cup pasta sauce, and  about  1 1/2 cup cooked beans. Simmer slow until sauce for beans thickens, taste for salt or pepper. Make rice pilaf by browning rice in a few TBLS of broth, add another 1/2 cup of broth, salt and pepper to taste, and 1& 1/2 cup water,  cook rice as normal.

Meal Two: Chili pizza

Use biscuit mix to make a pizza crust, reducing the water by 1/3. Spread out on pizza pan or cookie sheet. Take one - 1& 1/2 cup  cooked beans, mush them as fine as preferred, then cook adding beef broth to desired consistency, likely 3/4 cup. Spread on pizza crust. Then top with 1/2 the remaining pasta sauce.  Saute 1/3 of the pepper blend, with half the sausage sliced in discs, top the pasta sauce. Bake for another 15 minutes, until crust is fully done. 

Meal Three: Sausage & Bean soup 

Sauteed last of pepper blend with either discs or chunks of remaining sausage, in a soup type pot. Add the remaining broth, pasta sauce, and beans. Add one cup water, and more salt and pepper to taste. This should yield about four hearty cups of soup. Cook 1 cup of rice to two water, with salt to taste. Serve soup in bowls along side or over rice. 

     There might be many reasons food access is limited. I was going to do this as a challenge, but the challenge was doing the challenge! I'm not happy with calorie or sodium, but using the rice and beans would keep sodium down and bulk up. 

     I worked with someone who 30 years ago only had a service station credit card and no money until payday. She had to creatively take care of her and her daughters needs for three weeks until her first pay day, shopping at a gas station. She shared how much she hated bananas after that as it was the only fresh fruit or vegetable they carried. When she later bought a manufactured home, she was ecstatic to be able to put in a garden, never forgetting the limitations. 

     How would you rate my plan? If I got gumption again, should I move forward?  Feel free to be brutally honest.  

25 comments:

  1. I like the sound of the rice pie crust. I could use that in a dozen ways and am bookmarking it for future use.

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    1. The idea came from the first Tightwad Gazette and use for leftover rice. I use it frequently.

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  2. I would give you an A plus. I think you did a great job considering the limitations at the Dollar Tree. I’ve watched a lady who does these videos on YouTube and she gets very creative.

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    1. They were just my ideas, and maybe next time I'll implement. If nothing else, it stretches creative thinking.

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  3. I can't remember the title of it right now but a few years ago I read a book by an American journalist who spent three lots of four months in different US states trying to live on the then minimum wage. It was an interesting read and she said that the biggest challenge preventing her from "improving her lot" was lack of cooking facilities where she rented and living in a food desert! Good luck to you in your challenge!

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    1. Was it "On The Clock" by Emily Guendelsberger? I read it too!

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    2. I'd love to read it. There are so many basics I take for granted. I live 6 blocks from a major grocery store, and within 12 mil are an additional six, not counting convenience stores, some with full grocery items.

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  4. This reminds me of a dirty rice my mom used to make. It was kind of a mix of beans and rice with the pepper onion blend with a red sauce with sliced kielbasa. You ingredients made me think of it. I think it was an invention made with what ever we had in the house.
    During her divorce from my dad she did 2 things that extended our grocery budget. One she only shopped once a month. She also always had a garden. My brother worked for a dairy farmer and we got milk from them. But to her then that we had 2 stores both really expensive and have a very small selection. So at the end of the month the selection at home was also really slim. Taking 10 to one of them might have looked like your picture.

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    1. I grew up with a dish that essentially was just elbow macaroni in a white sauce. We'd squirt ketchup or any other condiments that might have been around. I didn't realize until I was a teenager that it was made when there was nothing much else.

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  5. I'd say, as long as it's teaching you something & you are enjoying it, go for it! We can all learn new money saving tips along the way.

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    1. I think the brain game side is fun and challenging. I want to get the options healthier.

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  6. My heart breaks for people that do not have the money or the access to fresh food. Quality food leads to better health which is why the same people without this access are most often times some of the sickest. It's a vicious cycle. I've racked my brain on ways that I could help with this but have never been able to come up with a solid plan.

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    1. It is a sad and vicious circle. I think supporting both bricks and mortar and mobile food shelves help tremendously. Also, advocating for SNAP and zoning requirements for grocery access.

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  7. I enjoy these posts/challenges. Keep doing them!

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  8. While the town I work in has a grocery store, the town I live in during the week ( not the University town where I am on weekends) only has a Dollar General and Family Dollar. They have a large selection of frozen foods but no fresh fruit or vegetables. I think you did very well in your challenge. there have been times when I have had to do several Dollar General meals in my life. Also, gas stations here sell home cooked meals such as bacon and eggs, fried catfish and hush puppies. The food is good and home cooked but it is full of calories. Cindy in the South

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    1. It would be great if more C stores had fresh veg and fruit. I'm sure it would sell.

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  9. The meals do sound hearty and creative. I would have to buy black-eyed peas and eat that with rice. Luckily, I do eat beans and rice with seasoning. The eggs would be boiled or scrambled. No sausage, maybe a can of tuna. I could make tuna croquettes, using an egg and the biscuit mix. For this $10, I could eat well, more meals or make meals for two. If I ate the things you bought, this would be great. I am not a fan of sausages because I am allergic to some ingredients. Wouldn't an onion be great with this? Limited money and limited choices when shopping certainly limit the meals!

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    1. There are many combinations that could be made with these ingredients. I could have done just canned tomatoes but the volume was so much less than pasta sauce, and despite the sugar, had other seasonings too. I like your idea of tuna croquettes.

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  10. Well done for creating those different dishes with such limited ingredients. I'm a qualified chef and I think I'd struggle. x

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    1. It was a brain teaser. Still a bit too much reliance on processed foods, sauce, biscuit mix, and sausages.

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  11. I work in a very rough neighborhood with no grocery stores. There’s a family dollar, though the freezers and fridges seldom work. The dollar general is much nicer but about 2 miles away, which is challenging for low income folks with no car. A local produce company began placing small fridges in convenience stores a few years ago, and it’s awesome. The products generally need to be used pretty quick but the prices are fantastic. It’s very cool to be able to get a nice bunch of collard greens for a buck, limes for a quarter etc. I hope this catches on in more cities. VKC

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    1. That's a good idea to bring better produce and fresh food to food deserts. It's really challenging as the DT challenges demonstrate, to cook healthy meals with limited ingredients.

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  12. I would likely not do it unless there were financial need. If memory serves you're working on healthy habits. That said, I do know there are 100s of thousands of people who must live this way.

    Our Farmers Market initiated a mobile market in 4 sections of town a few years ago. This year they added "buy a bag take a bag" and "need a bag take a bag" in an effort to put wholesome fresh foods on tables. They also initiated acceptance of SNAP at the market. Our local farmers are working hard for our communities. I love them and support them!

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    1. I think my DT challenges have run their course. Our farmers market is tiny and very local but I know the one in Minneapolis accepts SNAP. I'm not sure about St Paul's.

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