With my husband not working until his arm is healed, and us not qualifying for food stamps anymore, I decided it was time to get crafty, epically when it came to the kitchen. I absolutely love the people on youtube who make meals from the dollar store, and I’ve always wanted to try it.

While I was running my Saturday errands, I decided to stop in at the dollar store. I wanted to do a Chinese inspired dollar store dinner with the stuff I already had at home plus the stuff at the dollar store, but they didn’t have anything, and actually had a very poor selection at the dollar store I went to, so, I had to think of something on the spot.

I looked around and took note of everything I did had, and started formulating an idea. That’s when I started piecing together a menu. 4 Cheese tortellini, garlic and herb biscuits, and I’d make a red sauce with hamburger, basically my typical red sauce recipe I’d use for spaghetti, with whatever canned veggies I already had at home.

What I got:

• 2 bags of 4 cheese tortellini – $3.00 each

• 1 can of tomato sauce- $1.25

• 1 can diced tomatoes $1.25

• 1 can mushrooms – $1.25

• 1 box garlic biscuit mix- $1.25

Total: $11.00

Everything else I used I already used at home. Now, I know there’s other people there who choose to ONLY use things from the dollar store, but I decided to do it a bit more realistically, and use things I bought from the dollar store, as well as things I still had at home, thus not having to buy more things.

What I used from home:

• Salt, Pepper, Thyme, Oregano
• 1lb Hamburger
• 1/2 shredded cheese (for biscuts)
• 1/4 cup butter (also for biscuits)
• Parmesan Cheese

Variations:

If you choose to make a meal similar to this, you don’t need to add mushrooms, or even the hamburger. It would be just as good without those two things. I added them being my husband isn’t a huge fan of pasta, and pasta sauce, so I was trying to make it a more heartier meal for him, in hopes he would enjoy it a little bit more.

Because I bought two bags of the tortellini, I also have enough leftover for us all to have it for dinner again, but this time I’ll make garlic bread out of the sandwich bread we have. With the main course being already finished, to complete this meal you’d really just need a vegetable or salad, and for pasta dinners I always include some kind of garlic bread/biscuit. So for $11.00 you have dinner for multiple nights, and potentially even a lunch or two for you or your spouse to take to work.