Do you think you can pull together real meals with Dollar Store items? I was pretty skeptical myself. I didn’t think they had much to offer. I also worried that I wouldn’t find oil free items there as well.

Where I live in Canada our Dollar Stores don’t have freezer sections sadly. Pre COVID-19 days, we crossed the border to shop I was amazed to find out that the Dollar Stores in the USA have freezer sections. They keep them stocked with some pretty amazing choices too! If your Dollar Store has a freezer then this challenge will be much easier for you. It will provide you much more to work with.

Here in Canada it’s not uncommon to find $3.00 and $4.00 items at the Dollar Store. I’m not sure why we even call it the Dollar Store anymore. It’s actually pretty hard to find $1.00 items these days.

I challenged myself to find $1-$2 items that I could pull a meal off with. I wanted to make sure each meal I made was between three and four servings as well. I wanted these meals to be something a family could enjoy or to have leftovers for lunches. Meal prepping is always such a great time saver! I’m not going to say I had tons of choices but honestly it wasn’t that bad at all. I was surprised at what I was able to find. I had to think outside the box and try creating family meals out of just a few ingredients. It’s definitely possible with a little thought and effort.

Many of us are trying to cut food costs and save some money. Shopping at the Dollar Store can help you save money and still put together some healthy meals. I plan on continuing to tinker in the kitchen and create more yummy inexpensive meals. It’s become a challenge that I’m now quite enjoying. I wonder what else I can come up with?

I don’t consume any added oil in my diet so I also had to make sure that foods were compliant. I originally wanted to make a pasta using traditional tomato sauce but every brand had canola oil in it. I had to pass on that idea and think of something else. I wanted to make a comfort meal using pasta. I decided to make my own healthy sauce. I threw only a few ingredients together and came up with a yummy pea sauce. This idea was actually way better and this sauce has become a staple in our house now!

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I’ll add my video where I made this yummy recipe in this post so you can see how I made it. I made a Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner in the video below. If you haven’t already Subscribed to my YouTube Channel please consider doing so now. That way you don’t miss any upcoming recipes videos!

I hope this inspired you to visit your local dollar store. Grab some staple ingredients and I bet you can create some great meals too! Let me know what you come up with in the comments. If you recreate my recipes please tag me on IG. I love seeing you guys make my recipes. It brings me so much joy!

Health, Joy & Positive Vibes,

Debbie