Today I went grocery shopping at 99 Cents Only. I spent $16 on the following:
4 packages of lettuce (each contains 4 small heads of various green and red lettuces)
4 lbs carrots
2 lbs onions
5 lbs white cornmeal
2 lbs chickpeas
1 lb navy beans
Triscuits
Dried figs
Dijon mustard
Raspberry preserves
Apricot jam
I get that dollar store food sounds sketchy, but 99 Cents Only is not your typical dollar store. There’s a huge amount of crap to be purchased there, but they also stock a surprisingly large amount of real food. They even have produce. Some of it looks a little wilted and sad, but most of it is just fine. I regularly buy those heads of lettuce, and they will stay fresh for at least two weeks in the fridge.
I think these stores receive a lot of closeouts and overstocks, because the inventory is always changing, and sometimes they get really great stuff. One time I found Earth Balance baking sticks (and promptly bought all 15 boxes), and another time they had quarts of Silk unsweetened almond milk (which I also cleaned out). Oh, and then there was the time they had big bags of Earth Balance popcorn and cheese puffs. I don’t even want to talk about that. I try not to go nuts on the snack foods, but I regularly stock up on baking ingredients, dried beans, pasta, grains, condiments, etc.
If you’re lucky enough to have one of these stores near you, I encourage you to check it out!
thousand dollar vegan 