Gourmet Recipes at Discount Prices

As you all know, I'll pretty much buy anything that costs $1. So, I was pretty excited to get my copy of The 99 Cent Only Stores Cookbook: Gourmet Recipes at Discount Prices, even at 10x $1. Not only was it going to be full of great ideas to use treasure from the 99 cent only stores, it was also supporting performance art. The author ONLY used ingredients she bought from the store. If they didn't have a box of sugar that week, she'd use a box of individual packets, even though she had perfectly good grocery store sugar sitting in her cabinet.

So, I spent a long time looking over the book, making shopping lists, planning... Unfortunately the results are not the most delicious food ever.

It started on a reasonably high note.

The Asian Soul Slaw (coleslaw with the addition of rice wine vinegar & sesame oil) was absolutely delicious, and is now our go-to coleslaw recipe.

and the Delicious Toffee Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies were perfectly fine, nothing special, but nothing wrong.

The next day didn't fare so well though

The Maryland Crab Soup was absolutely the blandest, milkiest, terribleist soup I've ever had.

and the Corn Pudding, was pretty much a corn omelet.

But I couldn't give up that easily.

Yesterday I tried Green Beans au Gratin. It was also fine, not as good as normal campbells cream of mushroom soup green been casserole, but like the cookies, there was nothing wrong with it.

I guess I'll try a few more things. But I'm pretty sure you get what you pay for, and you can't really have gourmet food at discount prices.