Christiane Jory did, and was so thrilled with the outcome that she decided to write a book about her discoveries: The '99 Cent Only Stores' Cookbook. It's filled with recipes that make gourmet food out of not-so-gourmet ingredients. (This seems to be the week for 99 cent meals).

Like the NPR reporter who interviewed Jory, I'm definitely skeptical of food that comes from a 99 cent store. Yep, I'll admit it: the often-discolored cans, dented boxes, and brands I've never heard of creep me out. And if you told me you bought wine at the same place? I'd try it, but I'd cringe a little.

One of my first thoughts was, Oh, but the food is probably shipped from far-off countries and sits in warehouses for days. But Jory insists that some of the food at the stores actually comes from local farmers and distributors. Jory relies on improvised and substituted ingredients - evaporated milk instead of cartons of milk, canned veggies instead of fresh - to achieve a tasty meal at a low cost.

I have to say, Jory definitely encouraged me to look for food in different places, and be open to new ideas. The only thing that turned me off was the health aspect. Canned foods and refrigerated croissants can be easy and tasty, but they're not the most nutritious. Maybe next time I pass a Dollar Tree, I'll look around for bargains, but I don't think I would make it my primary source of food. Would you

Owned by a German company called Albrecht Discounts, ALDI is a discount grocery chain that started in Germany in 1948. Decidedly no frills, the company stocks virtually all house-brand products, all offered at very low prices thanks to exclusive deals with their suppliers, many of which are big-name producers. ALDI has approximately 5,000 stores worldwide and the two Albrecht brothers, who own the company, are some of the riches men in the world.

But getting back to ALDI's business strategy, does this sound like another store that we know of? The same strategy, although executed by the US staff and tailored to their customers' tastes, is the exact same one used by Trader Joe's.

Trader Joe's, although it may be based in Southern California, is actually owned by Albrecht Discounts. The company was purchased back in 1979, long before it hit the cultural mainstream. Since that time, it has been left to turn itself into a very trendy, upscale grocery store by following a similar business plan to ALDI. TJs has low prices and a lot of store-brand products, but a different image that appeals to a different group of consumers.

The holidays can get pretty expensive, with gifts, food and entertaining expenses piling on until after the New Year (especially if you want to hit one or two after-Christmas sales), so it is always great to find a way to save some money without loosing out on quality. Food is one area where it is difficult to cut back, since price and quality are often closely linked. Paying more will usually get you better meats, cheeses and chocolates, for example. When it comes to wine, however, price are quality are not necessarily as closely inked - not unless you're talking about $100+ bottles of wine, anyway. Since AOL Food has a much larger staff than we do, they went through many bottles of wine to find five great ones that are $5.99 a bottle or less, perfect for serving with holiday dinners or bringing along as a hostess gift to a party because they are guaranteed to taste good without breaking the bank.

1. Trader Joe's Coastal Cabernet ($4.99)
2. Amaicha Torrontes ($4.99)
3. Banrock Station Shiraz ($5.99)
4. Barefoot California Merlot ($5.99)
5. Barefoot California Chardonnay ($5.99)

Obesity in Britain, as it is in the US, is often referred to as an epidemic due to the quickly expanding waistlines of so many in the country. The Department of Health puts the number of overweight or obese people in Britain at 24.6 million, or around 40% of the total population, and they expect to see numbers increase over the next decade. People in the US are slightly healthier than they were lest year, in part because of trends towards healthier eating (even though we are still seeing a tremendous amount of very unhealthy food out there), but this same trend is not noticeable in the UK, according to a new study.

This study, which surveyed more than 12 million consumers about their shopping habits over the past four years, found that only 8% of Britons made an effort to buy healthier, more nutritious foods, such as organic products and "food with labels such as fresh, lite or low fat." 44% of British shoppers had made no effort to buy healthier foods, sticking with "value or extra-value lines" of products." Interestingly, there wasn't much difference in price between the baskets of the healthy shoppers and those who opted for cheaper, less nutritious foods. The healthy baskets cost an "average of £71.78compared with £71.18 for an unhealthy one," which means that most shoppers were buying what they perceived as value at a cost to their health and without saving anything in their wallets.