Dollar Store Recipe

Inspired by Caleb at Ramen Days and an NPR article, I gave myself a challenge. I would make a dish using only ingredients from the local dollar store. And I would limit the budget to five dollars.

The closest dollar stores to me were Dollar Tree (everything for $1) and Family Dollar (discounted prices, but not everything is $1). I decided to start at Family Dollar. I had never been in that particular store before today. So I was surprised to see (a) it was clearance sale day and (b)they had a big refrigerated case of milk, eggs, hot dogs,cheese, ice cream & appetizers.

I took a cart around the store to get ideas. At first, I thought I would make a casserole. I tossed canned, chopped ham & a packet of broccoli-cheese rice into the cart. Then I decided that would be boring. So back on the shelf those went. My next idea was homemade corn dogs, after spotting cornbread mix, hot dogs & cooking oil. I finally settled on making dessert when I saw cans of strawberries.

Here is what I bought:

Capitol Golden Pound Cake, 10 oz, $1


Family Pantry Strawberries In Light Syrup, 15 oz, $1
Velvet Evaporated Milk, 12 oz, 85 cents


Baron Dark Chocolate, 5.3 oz, $1

With tax, I ended up spending $3.99. I decided on the way home I'd make French toast with my groceries. I would top it with strawberry syrup & grated chocolate. Sounds easy, right ?

I started the recipe by heating a frying pan to medium high. I poured the evaporated milk into a small mixing bowl. Then I cut the pound cake into 8 thick slices. Half of the chocolate bar was put in the blender and chopped. I opened the can of strawberries & realized "crud, this is whole strawberries in light syrup. There goes the strawberry syrup idea."

I dipped four of the pound cake slices into the milk & placed them in the hot pan. That was not a good idea, in hindsight. The pound cake ended up crumbling very quickly when turned over. And it stuck to the pan. What a mess!

So it was time for plan #2. Thank goodness I had four other cake slices left. I heated the oven to 365 degrees. I put the remaining cakes on a baking sheet, sprinkled them with the chocolate gratings & toasted them for five minutes. After removing the tray from the oven, I smeared the chocolate with a knife.I placed the strawberries on the side of the plate. And that was dessert.

My dessert didn't turn out as creative and amazing as I'd hoped. But I've learned from this not to overthink a recipe. And people did like how it tasted. Sometimes you need to cut yourself a break and say "Okay, we're taking the Pillsbury cake mix + frosting from the dollar store and calling it a day."

Contest Alert: Cake Walk

If you love jewelery and cupcakes, I suggest you head over to Cake Walk. There is a contest for the cutest cupcake earrings:

"So what is the giveaway this week? Kelly, owner of the egyptianruin Etsy shop, is giving away a pair of design-it-yourself cupcake earrings! The winner will get to choose the flavor of both the cupcake and the topping, and all earrings come on sterling silver fish hooks."

Ile De France Cheese: Holiday Bash for Cash

*ETA: Please vote for my entry. The contest ends on December 21st.





Cantaloupe-Goat Cheese Bites

Ile De France Goat Cheese (Original recipe: La Buchette), 6 oz, shredded
3 oz bacon bits
3 oz mixed nuts, chopped
1 lb of cantaloupe chunks

Take out two small bowls. Fill one with 1 1/2 oz chopped nuts. Put the bacon bits and the remaining 1 1/2 oz of chopped nuts in the second bowl. Set aside for the moment.

Now shred the goat cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Cut one end of the package, squeeze gently and press the goat cheese against a grater. Shredding the goat cheese will allow it to stick better to the cantaloupe.

Roll a chunk of cantaloupe in the shredded goat cheese. Repeat for the remaining cantaloupe.

One third of the cantaloupe bites will be served as is. The other two thirds of the goat cheese-cantaloupe chunks will be rolled in the nuts or the bacon-nut mixture.

This appetizer serves 6 to 8 people.

Contest Alert: Cake Walk

If you love food art like I do, head over to Cake Walk for a chance to win a cake postcard. Here are the details:

"To make things even better, TangBaby has offered to give one Cake Slice Postcard away to a lucky blog reader! That's you! For a chance to win, visit TangBaby's store. Then, come back here and leave a comment about your favorite item. (Sorry, open to US residents only.)"

POM Kiwi & POM Nectarine

Lately, I have been craving fruit. Not my usual assortment of bananas & apples, but richer, juicier fruits like kiwi. So I was very excited when I got to try POM Kiwi & POM Nectarine!

Normally I don't care for kiwi or nectarine drinks. Kiwi beverages I tasted in the past had strawberry-watermelon aftertastes. Prior nectarine drinks reminded me of orange hard candy : P The POM juices were a refreshing change from my past negative experiences. POM Kiwi definitely tasted like fresh kiwis, with a slightly tart pomegranate twist. POM Kiwi goes well with simple yet decadent meals, such as a dinner of steak salad & a small slice of cheesecake. POM nectarine had a natural, light flavor that reminded me of fresh squeezed juice from home. I would suggest the POM Kiwi for a Sunday brunch or a bridal shower. It would be delicious by itself or as part of a custom punch.

Try my POM Kiwi & POM Nectarine recipes. They're delicious & easy to make : )

POM Nectarine Cupcakes
1 - 18 oz white box cake mix
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
2 Tbsp honey
2 cups chopped peaches
1/2 cup POM Nectarine
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare cake batter according to package directions. Mix in pecans, honey, peaches & POM Nectarine to batter. Spoon cake mix into cupcake tins. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown. After cupcakes have cooled, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

POM Kiwi Chicken Salad
For the crust, I used rice flour, sweet potato flakes, butter & POM Nectarine. You'll need to eyeball the amount of POM added to the crust, just as you'd do when using water. I baked the crust for a few minutes at 375 degrees, then allowed it to cool completely. For the filling, I added 1/4 cup POM Kiwi to chilled chicken salad.