Food
Five Favorite Dollar Store Foods
From healthy to, hmm, not so bad
Although I love to watch the YouTube videos where somebody does a dollar store food challenge and plans, say, a week of meals on a $10 spend, I’m only an occasional dollar store food shopper myself.
Partly this is because when I want to do a bargain grocery shop, I can get better deals and a wider variety of foods at the Winco in my suburb. I know I’m lucky to have good local options for fresh, affordable food. For more on the different roles dollar stores can play in our lives depending on our neighborhood’s grocery store landscape, check out this NPR piece.
That said, you know I love to stop into the dollar store to pick up stuff like gifts and art/craft supplies (and a million other little things I might need!), and hey, I gotta check out the food aisles to see what’s happening.
While I was on a walk the other night, I got to thinking about my food favorites from the dollar store, and I started putting together a list and organizing it in my mind from “pretty darn healthy” to “OK this isn’t so bad because it’s a small portion.”
So here are my top five dollar store food purchases, based on what’s normally in stock at my local Dollar Tree. This list is subject to change based on what I’m hungry for the next time I shop.
- Dried beans. I love to cook dried pinto beans especially. I just add a little salt, pepper, paprika, and maybe some onion and garlic powder. If I’m doing black beans, I also add cumin. My dollar store almost always has bags of dried pinto and black beans, and I keep both on hand in my cupboard. Typically, these cost closer to $2 for the same quantity at my local grocery stores.
- English muffins. Dollar Tree spoiled me on this one because now I hate to pay full price for English muffins, even if it’s just fifty cents more than the Dollar Tree deal. My local dollar store typically has the Orowheat or Thomas brands. Are these healthy? In moderation, I say yes.
- Little boxes of fruit juice. My former foster daughter is 11 now, and she still loves these. Dollar Tree has the Juicy Juice brand (100% juice), and I’ve only ever found their orange juice blend (her favorite) at Dollar Tree. I can find these elsewhere for less, but the containers are bigger, and I like just offering a smaller amount of juice because of the amount of natural sugar.
- Skinny Pop cheddar flavored popcorn. By the way, this is vegan, not real cheddar cheese, and I can’t understand why Skinny Pop doesn’t market it that way; I guess they don’t want to alienate non-vegans. Anyway! This is another item where I prefer the smaller portion. It’s self-limiting, and it’s a nice in-between size: bigger than the single-serve bags but smaller than the large family-sized bag. The dollar store size makes a nice snack while grading papers, or however non-teachers spend their afternoons.
- Mini Moon Pies. I don’t think the other list items are unhealthy, but this one, well, I can’t say it’s good for you. But what does good mean, really? The dollar store versions of the brand-name Moon Pies are individually wrapped chocolatey, marshmallowy treats, and they are small yet satisfying. One is enough. You can microwave it, and it’s like a softer take on a s’more.
As always, I’d love to hear about your dollar store favorites. Do you have some food items you always buy at the dollar store? Do you have treats you can’t resist if you stop in the dollar store to buy something else? Please let me know in the comments.
And for more dollar store enthusiasm, please see my growing list of dollar store related stories linked below. Thanks for reading!
