Best Cheap$kate Food Finds of 2017

Deals Deals Deals - come and get 'em! Well, if you are a frequent visitor, you have seen some of these photos illustrating my delish recipes, and special Deal of the Day reviews like below (click on names to see original review.)

 Egg & Smoked Gouda Breakfast Sandwich

Chipotle Lime Chicken

Ultimate Dessert Bar

I get comments all the time how awful dollar and 99 cent stores must be. I can't argue that, there's an abundance of dross and Frankenstein food stuffs -- hey, you get what you pay for. But I am a bottom feeder on a budget, with over a decade of blog experience picking out the best for less.

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I gotta give it up to my local 99c only Store and Dollar Tree. Without them, my food blog would be anemic and barren. When I'm low on food, I will go to a regular grocery store for coffee and freshly baked bread, fresh seafood and specialty cuts of meat, but I always make time for a quick stop at my fave cheap$kate 99 cent and dollar stores for food deals.

99 thanks and keep stocking the shelves for starving students, hardworking minimum wage earners, retirees on a budget, single parent families, and everyone else without much change to spare.

This is a case where you want to be an impulsive shopper - walk past one of these cheap$kate deals below, and by the time you get home, change your mind and head back to get the deal, well, it will likely be gone.

Here's what you're missing all you naysayers and snooty gourmands. Sometimes you gotta bite the bullet. But don't worry all my fellow penny-pinching gastronomers, the 99 Cent Chef has your back, or at least your stomach. So check out my:

Best Cheap$kate Food Finds of 2017

White Asparagus

It's Smoothie-time!

I love cherries the most, especially for 99.99 cents per pound!

Dollar Tree is strictly second string. Mainly they lack a deep bullpen of fresh veggies and fruit. But they do get on base often and sometime even hit a chintzy home run. Round the bases below for some of the budget finds  that will have you cheering from the cheap dinner table seats.

Looks like these great minds do think alike.

Biscotti & Coffee --  I sometimes satiate my sweet tooth in the morning.

Dollar Tree crackers and 99c only Store vegan cream cheese -- can we all get along? It's only a tenth of a penny that separates them. And these crackers by Greta would also pair nicely with my Homemade Clam Dip.

I've heard it said 99 cent Stores don't carry "organic" - well, eat your words.

  Happy Hour!

Mmmmm....chocolate.

And keep checking back for another year of scrumptious blog postings!

2016 Cheap$kate Food Finds

The Cheap$kate Forager has a grab bag  full of the best 2016 deals from Dollar Tree and 99c only Stores.

Los Angeles is the epicenter for cheap food finds. And, while not all 99 cent or dollar stores are created equal, this Chintzy Cuisineste knows were to get the goods for the most economical deals.

 Some of my cheap$kate finds are healthy and some are not - that's what happens when you cruise the aisles. What you find today may not be there tomorrow, so I have learned to get it while you can.

This year I've found everything from grass-fed cow yogurt to Star Wars themed SpaghettiOs.

I tried the delish yogurt but only took a photo of the SpaghettiOs - I'm no fool.

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Freeze-dried fruit, like grapes and pear, are "in" this year. There is not much to them really - they are all air and lightness, with none of the heft and concentrated sweetness that regular dried fruit carries. I can't say I'm a big fan....yet.

This year my local Dollar Tree store has really kicked it up a few notches. While the selection is no where near what my fave budget 99c only Stores stock, they are getting better.

 Single servings of frozen, seafood, pork, beef and poultry are well represented.

 

I've even found enough dollar ingredients to create tasty individual pizzas (click here to see my recipe for Sausage and Black Olive Pizza.)

I always discover fantastic eatable finds at my local 99c only Stores. Again, if you see it today, it may not be there tomorrow, so I advise impulsive purchasing.

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Not every 99c only Store sells beer and wine, but I have found the ones that do, and boy do they ever! Twelve to sixteen ounce bottles or cans of Pumpkin Ale, Thai lager or The Hobbit Smaug Stout, anyone?

Deli meats make frequent appearances, everything from sliced Roast Beef to Blackened Chicken Breast. Those are the kind of finds that vanish from the store shelves very quickly.

I picked up a couple of containers of Oyster Mushrooms last week, to simply saute in butter.

Living in Louisiana during my high school daze, the Southern product brand of Zatarain's was everywhere to be found -- and here in Los Angeles it's a great treat to get it at such cheap prices. 

So major props to the 99c only Store and Dollar Tree for keeping my stockings stuffed all through the new year! And be sure to check back next week for my Top 9 Recipes of 2016.