We asked shoppers to prowl the aisles at dollar stores and their local Aldi's discount groceries to find ingredients for an entree for four. The catch? They had to spend less than $12.

Despite my best efforts to keep an open mind, visions of deep-fried Spam and potato flake casseroles danced in my head. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of creative and tasty dishes that were submitted.

Of course, some of the 45 submissions included ingredients that would make any foodie raise an eyebrow. Among my favorite ingredients: "Imitation Lobster Mates," "8 Jimmy Dean Sausage Biscuits 'snack size' " and the all-too-inevitable "Cheez Wiz."

We received submissions from men and women, children and culinary students. Some teachers even used our challenge as a class exercise.

In the end, we picked eight finalists. We asked them to prepare their dishes and bring them to our offices in downtown Raleigh one rainy morning this month.

Here's what happened.

The finalists

Our finalists' dishes were as diverse as the people who made them. The most common fault we found was an abundance of salt, which is to be expected, considering most of the ingredients were prepackaged. As I expected, most people chose to shop at Aldi's simply because that store stocks fresh meat and vegetables, which make for more interesting eating.

Among our eight finalists, we had several chicken dishes, a slow cooker chicken recipe, pork chops and even a gazpacho. (You can find all eight recipes on page 5E).

I must pause here to give Raleigh resident Dan James an honorable mention because he took the challenge and ran with it, creating 12 recipes for our contest, which he dubbed "a dozen under a dozen."

Along with Dan's ambition, I also admired Lisa Stephenson and her Carrington Middle School students, who created "Cougar Cups" -- an eggy kind of muffin filled with cream cheese.

I kind of felt a nostalgic affinity for the Cougar Cups because they seemed like something I would have invented when I was that age. Plus, I guess I'm just not a low-cal kind of girl.

Also noteworthy were the 17 entries from the students in Raleigh's Inter-Faith Food Shuttle's culinary training program, which works to teach people culinary skills and help them find a job in the industry.

The challenge matched the 11-week program well because it teaches budget-stretching as well as culinary creativity, said program director Terri Hutter. Students went shopping together and then created individual recipes.

"With some of our students on very low incomes, it's likely that in a lot of the low-income neighborhoods there isn't a grocery store," she said. "It would be a chance for them to do their thing rather than following our thing."

The winner

In the end, after tasting all eight dishes and drinking about a gallon of water, we picked Fuquay-Varina residents John Chorman and Debbie Hammann, who created an entire meal for $12.

Their heart-healthy turkey meatloaf, candied carrots and scalloped potatoes were all excellent. And we were duly impressed by the fact that they squeezed a $2.99 bottle of wine in on their $11.91 receipt.

We did extend them a fair amount of leeway when it came to the definition of "pantry staples." Their recipes included milk, orange juice and other items that weren't specifically listed in our given household staples.

But it's not a huge stretch to assume that most households would have those staples, and we extended the same flexibility to other entries that took liberties with the rules.

Chorman and Hammann, who moved here from New York, said they've never entered a recipe contest before.

But after getting to know them, I'm not surprised that they won. Within two minutes of getting John on the phone after declaring them the winner, he'd invited me to dinner three times.

The couple said their love of food stems from their big families (John is the ninth of 10 children, and Debbie is the youngest of seven), and their time traveling the world.

"We just love food," Hammann said. "You know, you eat something, and you say, 'We can do this at home.' Then you just play with it until you get it."

At their Fuquay-Varina home, Hammann and Chorman grow their own vegetables and herbs and make their own wine. They also do things like make their own jam and pickle their own peppers.

As for their winning recipe, they said their goals were simple.

"We wanted to make it healthy and wholesome," Chorman said. "And there was enough ingredients over that you could always make another meal."

Two meals for $12?

Now that's pretty frugal -- even for me.

Recipes

Cherry Pie with Lattice Top

Baby Carrots in Orange Butter Sauce

Scalloped Potatoes

Heart Healthy Meatloaf

General D's Chicken

Gazpacho with Flash-Roasted Fish Wraps

Pork Chops with Apple Relish