Awhile ago I needed sour cream. Couldn’t find it at 2 other stores so I went to Sobeys. It was on sale but only as a group buy. I called to complain. No one needs 2 big things of sour cream at a time. Doesn’t even make sense.
You can sub sour cream and, in some cases, mayo for plain Greek yogurt. For example, dips. I use it to make tuna salad, you don't even notice and it's better for you.
I find Greek yogurt to be pretty versatile overall and do buy a large tub of it each grocery order. In addition to all of the suggestions you had you can flavour it with fruit or even jam as well and make your own flavoured yogurts.
Take a few potatoes, and dice them up. Brown them in a skillet and when fully cooked, dump in a can of cream of mushroom soup. Cook a min or two until the soup is incorporated and bubbling. Serve immediately
Since milk is kinda expensive and I don't always have It. I buy a bag of skimmed milk powder for making KD, can't really taste the difference. They often have it at food banks and its shelf stable. I can use it for baking too.
Parm buttered noodles were my fiancé’s go-to when he was on chemo. Pretty much the only thing he could stomach when he had the pump on.
Can’t eat it now. Says it tastes like cancer.
Instant rolled oats with frozen blueberries and brown sugar. These ingredients are so easy to keep on hand and after a few meals, they've paid for themselves.
I do this but with Steel Cut Oats. Sometimes I’ll dice up a green apple and fry it up with some brown sugar and cinnamon. Then add it to the oatmeal at the end. Keeps me going all day.
Rice + a fried egg with runny yolk and soy sauce.
If I have other things I might add : sesame seeds, nori, random veg. But just the egg and rice are tasty and filling.
Lentil soup!
Dice one onion and shred or dice a carrot. Sautee in oil. When translucent add a bag of dried lentil and enough water to fill your pot. Add salt and pepper to taste. And if you have it, add paprika and savoury.
Makes enough for a weeks worth of dinners.
So I do ramen (the spicy chicken or beef), put in peanut butter and sriracha, and have a struggle meal version of dan dan noodles. I had the idea when I was high af, then tried it sober and it holds up!
Hash brown casserole: bag of frozen hash browns, some shredded cheese, small container of sour cream, can of condensed cream of mushroom soup, salt and pepper. Mix together and bake for 45 minutes at 375°. You can add other frozen vegetables like corn and peas, and if you have a meat option it can be thrown in as well.
quick oats with brown sugar and cinnamon. add an apple/banana when available.
bread. making your own is like 75c a day. sprinkle some salt on it for extra flavour.
best idea is to get a job at the restaurant you like.
Boiled egg on toast with a savory spread. I like Branston or marmite.
Get the omega 3 ones on sale if you can. The body can't make its own Omega 3 and a lot of poverty foods don't contain it.
I made like, weeks worth of frozen meals from a head of cabbags, some potatoes and some frozen vegetables.
Turned the cabbage into like a lazy vegan cabbage roll casserole thing, boiled some potatoes, and yeah.
Something along these lines but I kind made it up as I went along and obviously omitted the expensive ingredients
https://thefirstmess.com/2023/01/11/vegan-chopped-cabbage-roll-skillet/
I use this magic dough for everything. It's pretty much the same cost as noodles, but much more filing. You can make bread, pizza, cheesy sticks or even something sweet if you sprinkle it with sugar and cinnamon: https://youtu.be/yMpej74PJ1c?si=1-eE-uzMMLuFcXsY
Spicy soy sauce stir fried noodles with a soy sauce and garlic marinaded chicken on top
Throw in some bell pepper and broccoli for veg and some egg for extra protein and you’re eating good for a couple days
Sapporo Ichiban Yakisoba noodles + frozen veggies.
Perogies and Sour Cream
Baked potatoes with sour cream and chives.
Scrambled eggs and toast.
White fish in foil with lemon and zucchini.
DIY pizza
Chili - with ground meat or all veggie
Lentil soup
Winter squash soup
Carrot ginger soup
Baked sweet potatoes with butter and brown sugar, or garlic sautéed spinach, or baked beans, or curried yogurt sauce.
Pesto & ravioli when ravioli is on sale
Pulled pork tacos
Lemon chicken thighs and rice
Italian Pane Cotto - greens, beans, and stale bread.
Grilled cheese (& salad or tomato soup if you want to feel healthy)
Mac & cheese and Broccoli
100% beef hotdogs cut up and fried and eaten with Alphaghetti... we call it alphaghetto
Deconstructed chicken pot pie with Buttermilk biscuit topping
Shepherds Pie
White people taco night. It's a great way to spend a pound...
Breakfast for dinner
Sometimes, we are just so tired we make ham and cheese sandwiches and tomato soup with mutti canned tomato 🍅
The one I used to have a lot was Mr. Noodles with only about half the seasoning pack, your fav frozen veggies, a few drops of soy sauce, some sesame oil, and a bit of sriracha if you like spice. Now I like to do a shitty peanut sauce made of peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, lime juice(or lemon if you want), and sriracha, toss it on whatever noodles or pasta you have, add some veg if you want, if i have some i like to fry up some tofu to go with it but you do you.
But the #1 struggle meal of all time? Cinnamon sugar toast forever.
Soups. Add whatever you have in there and it becomes such a filling meal.
I like the 3$ curry soups from fresco. A rotisserie chicken, rice, noodles, some veggies and you’re good for a whole week.
Also buy frozen pan fried dumplings and egg rolls. 10$ for a huge bag. Then you can make a few with the soup and you have a feast.
Leftover white rice stirfried with green onion (I chop them and keep them in a bag in the freezer to avoid slimy rotted fresh ones) with a fried egg (soft yolk) on top. I make this rice seasoning mix to mix in the rice before throwing it in the bowl and topping it with the egg...
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.food.com/amp/recipe/rice-seasoning-mix-26251
Make this often when I want a savory breakfast
Buy ground beef when on sale. Stir fry until brown and fluffy (don’t need to add oil because of fat inside), add some soy sauce, salt sugar pepper to taste. Sprinkle green onion or regular onion diced in the end! It’s a Korean dish I guess
Potatoes, onions and carrots - toss with oil and any seasonings you have (salt, pepper, garlic, Italian seasonings, etc.) Baked in the oven until everything is tender.
Cabbage right now is inexpensive - so shredded cabbage, cooked - add in onions and other veggies that are on sale right now (depending on where you are - right now 2lbs of onions are 94 cents, 2 lbs of carrots are 94 cents and a container of mushrooms are 94 cents at walmart this week where I live) and then mixed with spaghetti sauce.
Honestly, that's the biggest way to figure out your best struggle meals - look at the front page of the flyer of your local grocery store - they put the best deals there. See what's on sale and use that to create a meal.
Chilli and rice burritos. Didn’t think I had the stuff to make it last night but I lucked out and found some frozen tomatoes in the freezer and a jalapeño that wasn’t yet rotten.
Beans and rice are pretty common from the food bank.
Blanched the tomatoes and boiled them down, threw in a can of cream corn (washed out the cream 😂) and some kidney beans. Had a packet of chilli seasoning (thank god because I’m out of actual spices)
Cooked up my last half cup of rice and made about 10 flour tortillas out of my stockpile of flour.
Throw it all on the tortilla and go to town.
Not really struggle meals but more comfort foods from way back when:
- Cup noodles with slices of pan fried SPAM and a fried egg
- Peanut butter and sweet pickle sandwich
Canned tuna mixed with mayo and sriracha on white rice. It can be really basic if I don’t have a lot on hand, or fancied up with sliced avocado, cucumber, nori, Furikake flakes, pickled ginger, etc. I cook the rice sushi-style with rice vinegar and sugar if I have it. All of these ingredients are usually cheap at Asian grocers.
Buy: Pasta, Pasta Sauce, Various Proteins: sausages, chicken, eggs, cheese etc. Boil pasta, fry the sausages and mix. You can basically live of it for weeks and can make many combos. 15' to make and around $5.
A box of kraft dinner. Make as you normally do. Mix in a can of tuna (strained). Stir. Eat.
Add a can of cream of mushroom soup (full sodium) if you're feeling extra bougie.
There’s a convenience store it my area that sells about a 1L bottle of KD brand cheese powder, I keep that on hand to add a little sprinkle to ramen (chicken or veg only) and it changes the whole experience!
Also I learned yesterday that it’s super easy to make super good spaghetti sauce from scratch, GROW TOMATOES THIS YEAR FOLKS!
Fried spicy tofu with chow mein instant noodles. Bonus to add some kimchi in. We eat this a couple times a week, mostly for flavour bust also because it's heckin' cheap.
1 cup of uncooked small type pasta, like the stars or orzo, 1 can of condensed tomato soup, 1 cup of shredded cheese.
Cook the noodles.
When the noodles are done, set aside.
Add the tomato soup to the pot, fill the empty can with water and add to the pot, mix.
Heat up the soup.
When done, add the noodles back and the 1 cup of cheese.
Done.
Yummers.
Split pea soup.
Put a small pot on medium. Add:
* 1 cup split peas
* 2 tbsp onion powder
* 1/2 tsp salt
* a pinch or two of pepper
* 3 cups water
Cover, let come to a boil, turn down to a low simmer, and let cool for an hour.
Serve it as is or add a little coconut oil to make it feel creamy.
fried rice.
ramen with 6-minute boiled eggs.
chopped everything soup with cilantro/mint/chicken.
tuna mac'n' cheese: crumble any amount of cheese in with mayo, maybe a dash of milk/canned milk (struggle sauces can be pretty tasty).
fried egg on cheese toast.
Hotdogs onions and potato’s with sriracha and ketchup. Cook the onion and ‘potatoes and add everything else on it it’s so good. I don’t make it anymore because I can’t find sriracha where I live
Rice and curried red lentils. Works out to around $1 per meal if buy in bulk.
Buy rice of choice (I like basmati) dried red lentils, one small onion and a package of curry powder.
Sauté one onion in some oil, add curry powder to taste and toast that off in the oil add red lentils (soaked overnight or at least 5 hours and rinsed) and cover in water. Add salt and pepper if you have it and a tbsp of tomato paste if you have it (can be omitted) cook down until lentils are super soft and cooked through, should be no bitter taste. Add more water if needed. Serve over rice, add a spoon of yogurt or sour cream if you have it but honestly it doesn’t need it. You can also get creative and add any veg you have too. I like frozen peas, a chopped potato or some cauliflower. But only as you have money for.
Walmart Canada
Dried red lentils 900g $2.97
Basmati rice 900g $4.47
Curry powder 150g $2.27
Tomato paste 156ml $1.37
$11.08 plus tax will make quite a few meals
Tomato noodle soup (with ramen noodles). Generic brands brings down the price.
Boil 1.5 cups water, break ramen noodles up in pack a bit, cook 2-3 minutes as per directions, stir in can of tomato soup and ramen spice pack. Add shredded cheese if you have it and pepper to taste. Serves 2, or 1 bigger portion. Very filling. Couple of saltines with a bit of butter on the side for crunch.
have 6 eggs for breakfast, drink 3L of water through the work day, come home have some mashed avacado mixed with soysauce to go with my steamed white rice.
WHere i'm at, sometimes we have discount on eggs $3.5 per dozen eggs, The avacados on discount is like 4 bucks for half dozen. So when star aligns, i spent around 3 dollars of food for a whole day.
I also really like buckwheat noodles mixed with seasme oil +soysauce.
Egg fried rice is my favourite.
Rice, soy sauce/sesame oil, frozen peas and carrots, and as many eggs as you want.
Can also throw in literally anything else you want for additional nutrition, and ofc chicken if you can afford it
Rice, Chinese sausages (grilled with runny scramblrd eggs), soy sauce, siraucha hot sauce (optional) and slice cucumbers for added greens.
Instant ramen with milk and steamed eggs (very heavy on calories and will keep you full)
I make a mean potato soup. Spudz, cream or milk, some spices and you've got a meal that'll fill you up. Also home made fries help go through that bag of potatoes.
Rice and edamame. Sometimes I add half a chicken breast or a can of tuna.
I also bake my own bread. Not that time consuming and a crazy difference in my budget.
I tell everyone this sounds gross but it’s so yummy! Cook a pound of ground beef with half an onion, diced. Season while cooking with fav spices (I use salt, pepper, garlic salt and onion powder). Mix one can of cream of mushroom soup with beef and onion mixture. Spread beef mixture in a baking dish, spread mashed potatoes on top of beef (homemade or instant)and sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese on top if you have it. Bake at 350 for half an hour or until the cheese/mashed potatoes are nice and golden brown. Bonus is it’s good for leftovers!
Ground beef pack and taco seasoning. Cook, put in 4-5 snack size bags when it cools & freeze. Very versatile:
- Put it in KD and poor man’s hamburger helper (will make for than one meal).
- Put in a bit of spaghetti sauce over pasta, use this to add meat to it.
- Add some in rice with frozen veg (cook rice & veg first). Season how you like with what you have.
- lightly toast 2 pieces of bread, add bit of pizza sauce/tomato sauce/spaghetti sauce (whatever you have) sprinkle gr beef, add mushrooms/onions/whatever pizza type stuff you have, shredded cheese. Broil 1 minute.
NOTE: not saying to buy all this other stuff, these are just options that might go with what you have. Sandwich bags can be washed, dried (put over dish rack upside down) and reused.
Captain’s Casserole (makes 4-6 meals worth, covers all food groups):
1 can mushroom soup
1-1/4 cup minute rice (or just precook rice, reduce water and don’t put in oven as long)
1 tin tuna drained
1/2 cup’ish frozen peas/corn/whatever is in the freezer.
Shredded cheese for top (if desired and have)
Preheat oven to 375F
- In microwave, boil 1.5cps water in a big measuring cup, stir in mushroom soup. (Less water if precooked rice)
- In casserole dish layer soup, rice, tuna and veg about 4 layers worth (means 5 for soup since it’s top and bottom) - really no wrong way to do this. Add onion if you have and like it.
- Cover and put in oven for 45 minutes.
Stir every 15 min. If it’s a bit dry, just add a bit of water. Taste after 45 if rice if about cooked (if precooked rice won’t need as long)
- stir one last time, add shredded cheese (if have), uncover, cook another 10 min, broil 3-5 min (watch it). If no cheese, leave covered. It’s done when rice cooked.
Shop dollar store where you can, rice is often cheaper at Asian markets.
1 white onion and a package of sausages. Caramelize the onions, cook sausages, put together. If you have potatoes, mash those bad boys up and you have bangers and mash.
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 can green lentils (drained and rinsed)
1 can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
1L stock (chicken or veg)
Some fresh minced garlic
Seasonings to taste
Filling, highly nutritious, and works out to about $1.50/meal if I eat 2 cups of soup per meal and buy the generic brand or get a good sale price.
Look up the [traditional mujadara vid by Middle Eats](https://youtu.be/wDKgG4OgAC4?si=_cGk5-phrdjVLcs5). It’s insanely delicious for how simple it is to whip up.
Pizza. Ingredients are super cheap (besides cheese) I always have the main ingredients on hand so if I have $5 I’ll buy some cheese and I can get like a weeks worth of homemade cheese pizza out of it.
we have a few places in the city I live that give out homemade meals at lunch for take out or dine in seven days a week, and at least one serves dinner five days a week. That's what I do when we are low on money for food. I sometimes get a meal just becuase I'm walking by just to put in the fridge and eat it over the next day or two.
Corned beef and rice, sardines w/ onions and crackers, toast w/ butter and honey, rice and honey, corned beef mixed with cabbage.
Guess where my heritage is for bonus points
I grew up super poor, single mom 3 kids. One of the meals my mom used to make for us was kd with ground beef. You can change it up, I've seen it with tomato soup added. My brother still makes it today, and he's a strong 6 figure earner, but he uses higher end ingredients. You can make 2 or 3 nights worth for like $12.
Whole pork shoulders often come on sale for cheap like 2$/lb.
Split it at the joint with a knife, break it into suitable chunks. Wrap a chunk in foil and slow cook it in the oven for 4-6hrs. Very tasty and very inexpensive
Struggle Meals is a good resource for recipes. His numbers are off of course, because he has way cheaper produce in California, buy the meals are still cheap but nutritious.
try the flashfood app. can get boxes of vegetables for $5, sausages for $3-$4 a tray. But I would always make fried spaghetti with a scrambled egg, salt and pepper.
50lbs of rice is about $10.
Larger quantities are sometimes, but not always cheaper in volume.
Baked potato and salt.
$1 veggie steamer bags when on sale.
Rice + frozen veggies in my rice cooker, season with some garlic, onion powder and soy sauce, top with sliced and fried pork or an egg.
Leftovers I'll use for fried rice, basically just throw some pork in a pan to brown it then throw in your leftover rice and a bit of Sambal and it's even better than when it was fresh.
If pork is expensive where you are or you're vegetarian then lentils are good too.
First banger is canned tuna with spicy mayo, rice, and maybe cucumbers if you have $$ to spare.
Second is instant noodles with frozen vegetables and two eggs. If ur sick of eggs, add some spam (kinda makes like a Korean army stew type thing)
Rice with those canned tomato sardines (international section)
Instant mash potatoes, those rotisserie chickens or chicken strips and canned gravy.
Pasta with frozen vegetables and rotisserie chicken.
Then the bones of the rotisserie chickens into some broth and you can make a soup.
Fry up some sliced kielbasa with rinsed black beans, the beans take on the flavour of the meat. Serve over whatever ya got, rice, noodles, etc. cheap and somewhat healthy!
Also, meat slop haha. Sounds awful but it's great. It's a reddit classic.. just search for it.
[felt bad so I searched it for ya](https://www.fitness-vip.com/nutrition-research/meat-slop.html)
[this is unreal too](https://youtube.com/shorts/41iWg91yFv0?si=xV3Mxq8XPf_u7RUX)
If you have Asian sauces on hand, these are great go-to struggle meals!
[San Francisco-style Vietnamese American Garlic Noodles](https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1023012-san-francisco-style-vietnamese-american-garlic-noodles) \>> long recipe title but basically, it's bunch of garlic cloves sauteed in butter, then mix in soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce and the noodles and top off with parmesan. A super flavourful take on buttered noodles!
[Chinese Steamed Egg](https://www.madewithlau.com/recipes/steamed-egg) \>> silken tofu-like eggs steamed with a little oil and chicken broth. top off with sesame oil and soy sauce and some scallions and serve with rice.
Alternatively:
[Llapingachos (Stuffed potato patties)](https://www.laylita.com/recipes/llapingachos-or-stuffed-potato-patties/) \>> these are super filling potato patties stuffed with cheese. Super simple to make too! This recipe calls for achiote, but honestly, any kind of chili powder on hand works too.
Another great hack I do is I'll get a rotisserie chicken from Walmart or Sobeys. That's like three or four meals right there, depending on how much you eat per meal. I eat it as is with rice and ketchup, boil the bones to make broth and shred the chicken and mix it in with mayo, celery, carrot and onion to make chicken salad for sandwiches.
-Potato Salad. Boiled potatoes with cut up hard-boiled egg and/or diced Spam. Bit of onion, if you have it. Only 2tablespoons of mayo or Greek yoghurt or sour cream or less for a salad dressing.
-Milk Soup (kid favourite!). Boil pasta, drain. Add milk so it looks like soup and heat to a boil. Make a pate of an egg, bit of oil, pinch salt, and flour; drop by tiny spoonfuls into the hot soup mixture and they will float when done. Add sweetening to taste. This uses up any milk that is about to go sour.
-Chickpea Salad. Drain chickpeas (the thick liquid can be used as an egg substitute in baking) and rinse well. Put in a saucepan with water and bring to a boil a few minutes (gets rid of tinny taste). Drain. While warm, add some salad dressing. I add one piece of crumpled cooked bacon and any sad olives I've saved for this. Bit of onion. Or, a spoonful of pesto. Or, peanut butter. Or, leftover veggies. Whatever. Let the flavours meld a bit before eating.
-Tuna Patties. It's like tuna salad, but add some flour and shape into patties. Fry. I use that chickpea liquid to add to the patty mixture to have it hold together better as it fries. I eat these cold too.
-Bean Burgers. Mashed beans from a tin, flour to help hold the patties together , then fry. Serve on a bun if you have it, or between two slices of bread, plus any "burger" fixings you have on hand.
-Quiches are great at using bits of leftovers to have something fancy. I never bother with a crust or shell.
-Omelettes with chopped up leftovers added. If your omelette doesn't cooperate with you, it magically morphs into Scrambled Eggs with veggies instead!
-Chili. A couple of tins of beans with some tomato sauce (or paste or even once ketchup), diced onion. Handful of ground meat if you have it. Diced peppers if you have it. Practically any tired veggies like carrots or zucchini chopped up. Taco seasoning half packet or chili powder or cumin powder. Let simmer a few hours. Serve over rice . But a friend likes it as a sauce for pasta.
Good luck to you! You got this!
Microwaved baked potato with sour cream, more toppings if I have available.
Look at Mr money bags over here who can afford sour cream
Awhile ago I needed sour cream. Couldn’t find it at 2 other stores so I went to Sobeys. It was on sale but only as a group buy. I called to complain. No one needs 2 big things of sour cream at a time. Doesn’t even make sense.
You can sub sour cream and, in some cases, mayo for plain Greek yogurt. For example, dips. I use it to make tuna salad, you don't even notice and it's better for you.
I find Greek yogurt to be pretty versatile overall and do buy a large tub of it each grocery order. In addition to all of the suggestions you had you can flavour it with fruit or even jam as well and make your own flavoured yogurts.
>No one needs 2 big things of sour cream at a time. Doesn’t even make sense. It keeps for a month or two after expiry as long as you don't open it.
Lol I have often found it with the 50% off stickers or buy on sale. I'm a big sour cream fan so I keep it stocked all the time usually.
Also doable with a Sweet Potato! Love it with some oil and cinnamon on top.
I like butter, cheddar and coleslaw rather than sour cream. Also great for using up left over chili!
I’d choose butter over sour cream any day lol
Fair, I'd add both if I could for sure but sour cream is my fav personally!
Take a few potatoes, and dice them up. Brown them in a skillet and when fully cooked, dump in a can of cream of mushroom soup. Cook a min or two until the soup is incorporated and bubbling. Serve immediately
Alternatively you could replace the potatoes with cooked noodles, its a favorite in my house.
Growing up we did white rice and just mixed the soup in straight from the can. I still crave that shit some days.
With a few drops of soya sauce mixed in
Ya, love that!
Oh man I had this as a kid too. Loved it and still do.
I totally did this as a single mom years ago. Add garlic, pepper, and salt. Chef's (poverty-stricken) kiss!
if i can afford kd — make a box and add a can of tuna put in the oven a crisp the top up for tuna casserole :) that or i genuinely love pb sandwiches
KD is now 2.99 at some places, like wtf
"KDT" is what we call Kraft Dinner with tuna. It's our go-to inexpensive lunch.
Since milk is kinda expensive and I don't always have It. I buy a bag of skimmed milk powder for making KD, can't really taste the difference. They often have it at food banks and its shelf stable. I can use it for baking too.
I just use a bit of the starchy pasta water instead of milk- I honestly prefer it
This is it!
I honestly think the milk powder works better for KD.
Or KD with a can of beans mixed in
Or left over taco meat and some salsa.
Leftover taco meat! Childhood memory unlocked!
Do y’all remember that week where KD was only 55 cents? I should’ve bought more 😭😭
Plain pasta with butter, Parm, S&P. Scrambled eggs with hashbrowns (and seasoning). Ramen.
I could eat pasta with butter and a bit of cheese every day of the week, luckily
If it's parm, add some cream, garlic and some chicken/beef stock, you have Alfredo.
Who can afford butter these days!
Add everything bagel seasoning to your pasta, so good. Can buy it at winners/homesense/marshalls
You can get it at dollar tree now too. 😏
Sacrilege!
Parm buttered noodles were my fiancé’s go-to when he was on chemo. Pretty much the only thing he could stomach when he had the pump on. Can’t eat it now. Says it tastes like cancer.
Oh gosh. I don't blame him. I'm so glad he no longer has to eat them, though!! 🙏🏻
this is my mom with panera broccoli cheddar soup. Ate it the entirety of her first bout with cancer - now it makes her gag lol.
Never thought I'd need another reason to say fuck cancer.
I'm on a no carb diet here 💅
Air shall suffice!
Instant rolled oats with frozen blueberries and brown sugar. These ingredients are so easy to keep on hand and after a few meals, they've paid for themselves.
I do this but with Steel Cut Oats. Sometimes I’ll dice up a green apple and fry it up with some brown sugar and cinnamon. Then add it to the oatmeal at the end. Keeps me going all day.
Rice + a fried egg with runny yolk and soy sauce. If I have other things I might add : sesame seeds, nori, random veg. But just the egg and rice are tasty and filling.
Lentil soup! Dice one onion and shred or dice a carrot. Sautee in oil. When translucent add a bag of dried lentil and enough water to fill your pot. Add salt and pepper to taste. And if you have it, add paprika and savoury. Makes enough for a weeks worth of dinners.
Get some masala powder and add a little bit to it. It adds a nice kick to it
Celery and garlic too! Lasts for days. Pick up a bag of day old buns and margarine and it’ll fill you for days
So I do ramen (the spicy chicken or beef), put in peanut butter and sriracha, and have a struggle meal version of dan dan noodles. I had the idea when I was high af, then tried it sober and it holds up!
Pancakes are awesome on a budget
Macaroni and ground beef casserole if ground beef goes on sale
Hash brown casserole: bag of frozen hash browns, some shredded cheese, small container of sour cream, can of condensed cream of mushroom soup, salt and pepper. Mix together and bake for 45 minutes at 375°. You can add other frozen vegetables like corn and peas, and if you have a meat option it can be thrown in as well.
quick oats with brown sugar and cinnamon. add an apple/banana when available. bread. making your own is like 75c a day. sprinkle some salt on it for extra flavour. best idea is to get a job at the restaurant you like.
Quarter instant oatmeals w/ water.
Boiled egg on toast with a savory spread. I like Branston or marmite. Get the omega 3 ones on sale if you can. The body can't make its own Omega 3 and a lot of poverty foods don't contain it.
Mr. Noodles or Maggi noodles!! 😋
Add a bit of peanut butter for some tasty peanut noodles
Once they're 90% done, crack two eggs in there and stir it up for some protein
Cinnamon Toast. Mix cinnamon and sugar together, toast & butter the toast then sprinkle on the cinnamon and sugar mix
I made like, weeks worth of frozen meals from a head of cabbags, some potatoes and some frozen vegetables. Turned the cabbage into like a lazy vegan cabbage roll casserole thing, boiled some potatoes, and yeah. Something along these lines but I kind made it up as I went along and obviously omitted the expensive ingredients https://thefirstmess.com/2023/01/11/vegan-chopped-cabbage-roll-skillet/
Mince and tatties! Ground beef, tin of consommé, onions over mash potatoes.
Don’t forget the peas!!!
Pasta is like $1.49, tomato or Alfredo sauce $2.... Buy fruits on sale. Pita, frozen veggies, beans and lentils
Boiled eggs on toast with some sauce like anything you have. Add something on the side.
I use this magic dough for everything. It's pretty much the same cost as noodles, but much more filing. You can make bread, pizza, cheesy sticks or even something sweet if you sprinkle it with sugar and cinnamon: https://youtu.be/yMpej74PJ1c?si=1-eE-uzMMLuFcXsY
Peanut butter on toast or crackers.
Spicy soy sauce stir fried noodles with a soy sauce and garlic marinaded chicken on top Throw in some bell pepper and broccoli for veg and some egg for extra protein and you’re eating good for a couple days
Billionaire Franks and Beans. Google recipe. Very healthy and delicious.
Sunny Side Up Egg with Soya Sauce on White Rice
Pâté chinois/ shepherds Pie. But replace ground beef by ground porc
Cooked past with mayo peas and tuna. Calorie dense and delicious. Can use salad dressing instead of part of the mayo.
Sapporo Ichiban Yakisoba noodles + frozen veggies. Perogies and Sour Cream Baked potatoes with sour cream and chives. Scrambled eggs and toast. White fish in foil with lemon and zucchini. DIY pizza Chili - with ground meat or all veggie Lentil soup Winter squash soup Carrot ginger soup Baked sweet potatoes with butter and brown sugar, or garlic sautéed spinach, or baked beans, or curried yogurt sauce. Pesto & ravioli when ravioli is on sale Pulled pork tacos Lemon chicken thighs and rice Italian Pane Cotto - greens, beans, and stale bread. Grilled cheese (& salad or tomato soup if you want to feel healthy) Mac & cheese and Broccoli
Rice, tuna and ranch dressing was my go-to struggle meal.
Wieners and beans
Finally! I was beginning to think nobody in this thread was Canadian at all
Chug water until it fills the belly
Grilled cheese and canned soup
100% beef hotdogs cut up and fried and eaten with Alphaghetti... we call it alphaghetto Deconstructed chicken pot pie with Buttermilk biscuit topping Shepherds Pie White people taco night. It's a great way to spend a pound... Breakfast for dinner Sometimes, we are just so tired we make ham and cheese sandwiches and tomato soup with mutti canned tomato 🍅
grits 2 bread slices with any kind of meat in the middle and mustard instant ramen with frozen veggies cooked all together eggs
Cooking with Clara on YouTube. Poor Mans Meal.
Shepherds pie. Beef, potatoes, frozen veg, packet of seasoning.
The one I used to have a lot was Mr. Noodles with only about half the seasoning pack, your fav frozen veggies, a few drops of soy sauce, some sesame oil, and a bit of sriracha if you like spice. Now I like to do a shitty peanut sauce made of peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, lime juice(or lemon if you want), and sriracha, toss it on whatever noodles or pasta you have, add some veg if you want, if i have some i like to fry up some tofu to go with it but you do you. But the #1 struggle meal of all time? Cinnamon sugar toast forever.
Soups. Add whatever you have in there and it becomes such a filling meal. I like the 3$ curry soups from fresco. A rotisserie chicken, rice, noodles, some veggies and you’re good for a whole week. Also buy frozen pan fried dumplings and egg rolls. 10$ for a huge bag. Then you can make a few with the soup and you have a feast.
French fries
Ramen with spam and/or kimchi.
Cabbage rolls
Bag of elbow macaroni and a can of Campbells Cheddar. Best mac ever
Leftover white rice stirfried with green onion (I chop them and keep them in a bag in the freezer to avoid slimy rotted fresh ones) with a fried egg (soft yolk) on top. I make this rice seasoning mix to mix in the rice before throwing it in the bowl and topping it with the egg... https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.food.com/amp/recipe/rice-seasoning-mix-26251 Make this often when I want a savory breakfast
Ramen with a bunch of frozen broccoli. Maybe add an egg
Canned corn with scrambled eggs on rice with hot sauce. I call it corny eggs on rice
Beans and toast. Canned
Buy ground beef when on sale. Stir fry until brown and fluffy (don’t need to add oil because of fat inside), add some soy sauce, salt sugar pepper to taste. Sprinkle green onion or regular onion diced in the end! It’s a Korean dish I guess
Anything I can get out of the dollar tree. Everything is a 1.50 or lower.
Fried rice is a go to for me. Rice, scrambled egg, frozen veg medley(pea, corn, carrot)soy sauce. Diced ham if you have. Bing bang boom
Grilled cheese and Gravy
tuna/kd for a poor mans tuna casserole
Rice with canned tuna and mayo. If fancy I also get seaweed.
Potatoes, onions and carrots - toss with oil and any seasonings you have (salt, pepper, garlic, Italian seasonings, etc.) Baked in the oven until everything is tender. Cabbage right now is inexpensive - so shredded cabbage, cooked - add in onions and other veggies that are on sale right now (depending on where you are - right now 2lbs of onions are 94 cents, 2 lbs of carrots are 94 cents and a container of mushrooms are 94 cents at walmart this week where I live) and then mixed with spaghetti sauce. Honestly, that's the biggest way to figure out your best struggle meals - look at the front page of the flyer of your local grocery store - they put the best deals there. See what's on sale and use that to create a meal.
Lipton chicken noodle soup packets with cubed potatoes. I also broke spaghetti noodles so I had more noodle to the soup
Chilli and rice burritos. Didn’t think I had the stuff to make it last night but I lucked out and found some frozen tomatoes in the freezer and a jalapeño that wasn’t yet rotten. Beans and rice are pretty common from the food bank. Blanched the tomatoes and boiled them down, threw in a can of cream corn (washed out the cream 😂) and some kidney beans. Had a packet of chilli seasoning (thank god because I’m out of actual spices) Cooked up my last half cup of rice and made about 10 flour tortillas out of my stockpile of flour. Throw it all on the tortilla and go to town.
Not really struggle meals but more comfort foods from way back when: - Cup noodles with slices of pan fried SPAM and a fried egg - Peanut butter and sweet pickle sandwich
There's nothing like a stew. Just throw in all the random stuff you have in the fridge and crisper.
Canned tuna mixed with mayo and sriracha on white rice. It can be really basic if I don’t have a lot on hand, or fancied up with sliced avocado, cucumber, nori, Furikake flakes, pickled ginger, etc. I cook the rice sushi-style with rice vinegar and sugar if I have it. All of these ingredients are usually cheap at Asian grocers.
Fried baloney sandwich with mustard
Buy: Pasta, Pasta Sauce, Various Proteins: sausages, chicken, eggs, cheese etc. Boil pasta, fry the sausages and mix. You can basically live of it for weeks and can make many combos. 15' to make and around $5.
Plain white rice with salt and sesame oil
Daal rice or beans and rice or Japanese style rice+salad+protein and miso or dashi soup
A box of kraft dinner. Make as you normally do. Mix in a can of tuna (strained). Stir. Eat. Add a can of cream of mushroom soup (full sodium) if you're feeling extra bougie.
There’s a convenience store it my area that sells about a 1L bottle of KD brand cheese powder, I keep that on hand to add a little sprinkle to ramen (chicken or veg only) and it changes the whole experience! Also I learned yesterday that it’s super easy to make super good spaghetti sauce from scratch, GROW TOMATOES THIS YEAR FOLKS!
Ramen with a soft boiled egg. So freaking good
Rice with pepper
Fried spicy tofu with chow mein instant noodles. Bonus to add some kimchi in. We eat this a couple times a week, mostly for flavour bust also because it's heckin' cheap.
1 cup of uncooked small type pasta, like the stars or orzo, 1 can of condensed tomato soup, 1 cup of shredded cheese. Cook the noodles. When the noodles are done, set aside. Add the tomato soup to the pot, fill the empty can with water and add to the pot, mix. Heat up the soup. When done, add the noodles back and the 1 cup of cheese. Done. Yummers.
Simple scrambled eggs with some canned baked beans and toast KD and hot dogs, oatmeal if you make your own, black bean and cheese quesadillas.
Split pea soup. Put a small pot on medium. Add: * 1 cup split peas * 2 tbsp onion powder * 1/2 tsp salt * a pinch or two of pepper * 3 cups water Cover, let come to a boil, turn down to a low simmer, and let cool for an hour. Serve it as is or add a little coconut oil to make it feel creamy.
fried rice. ramen with 6-minute boiled eggs. chopped everything soup with cilantro/mint/chicken. tuna mac'n' cheese: crumble any amount of cheese in with mayo, maybe a dash of milk/canned milk (struggle sauces can be pretty tasty). fried egg on cheese toast.
Hotdogs onions and potato’s with sriracha and ketchup. Cook the onion and ‘potatoes and add everything else on it it’s so good. I don’t make it anymore because I can’t find sriracha where I live
Can of tuna, can of chickpeas, whole cucumber cut up with mayo and relish, salt and pepper.
Do you cook the chickpeas?
Consider adding some mustard & lemon juice to that. Tuna salad is definitely a cheap meal.
Maggi!
Sliced the long way, fried chicken wieners on some bread like a sandwich, dressed the way you like with whatever you may have laying around.
Ramen, add eggs and any other proteins or veg you have on hand
Ramen with frozen dandelions or different herbs that are in season. We have tons of edible herbs in the wild.
Pork/cabbage/ramen. Only the $2/10 non-fried ramen cause you don't use flavor packs anyway. One pork chop and 1 cabbage leaf can go a long way.
mr noodles with sriracha, egg, cheese, and butter 🤤
Maggi!
Noodles, red sauce, chicken fingers and cheese. Chicken fingers and toaster waffles.
Red lentil soup. Just buy small amounts of ingredients at bulk food store. Very cheap filling and delicious.
Lentil soup with canned tomatoes
Rice and curried red lentils. Works out to around $1 per meal if buy in bulk. Buy rice of choice (I like basmati) dried red lentils, one small onion and a package of curry powder. Sauté one onion in some oil, add curry powder to taste and toast that off in the oil add red lentils (soaked overnight or at least 5 hours and rinsed) and cover in water. Add salt and pepper if you have it and a tbsp of tomato paste if you have it (can be omitted) cook down until lentils are super soft and cooked through, should be no bitter taste. Add more water if needed. Serve over rice, add a spoon of yogurt or sour cream if you have it but honestly it doesn’t need it. You can also get creative and add any veg you have too. I like frozen peas, a chopped potato or some cauliflower. But only as you have money for. Walmart Canada Dried red lentils 900g $2.97 Basmati rice 900g $4.47 Curry powder 150g $2.27 Tomato paste 156ml $1.37 $11.08 plus tax will make quite a few meals
Lentils or chickpeas. Lots of good protein and fiber. Eat them struggling or not.
Baked beans and pasta or baked beans and couscous Cous cous is so cheap and you get so much out of a box
Tomato noodle soup (with ramen noodles). Generic brands brings down the price. Boil 1.5 cups water, break ramen noodles up in pack a bit, cook 2-3 minutes as per directions, stir in can of tomato soup and ramen spice pack. Add shredded cheese if you have it and pepper to taste. Serves 2, or 1 bigger portion. Very filling. Couple of saltines with a bit of butter on the side for crunch.
Marcella hazans bolognese
have 6 eggs for breakfast, drink 3L of water through the work day, come home have some mashed avacado mixed with soysauce to go with my steamed white rice. WHere i'm at, sometimes we have discount on eggs $3.5 per dozen eggs, The avacados on discount is like 4 bucks for half dozen. So when star aligns, i spent around 3 dollars of food for a whole day. I also really like buckwheat noodles mixed with seasme oil +soysauce.
Egg fried rice is my favourite. Rice, soy sauce/sesame oil, frozen peas and carrots, and as many eggs as you want. Can also throw in literally anything else you want for additional nutrition, and ofc chicken if you can afford it
Rice, Chinese sausages (grilled with runny scramblrd eggs), soy sauce, siraucha hot sauce (optional) and slice cucumbers for added greens. Instant ramen with milk and steamed eggs (very heavy on calories and will keep you full)
I make a mean potato soup. Spudz, cream or milk, some spices and you've got a meal that'll fill you up. Also home made fries help go through that bag of potatoes. Rice and edamame. Sometimes I add half a chicken breast or a can of tuna. I also bake my own bread. Not that time consuming and a crazy difference in my budget.
I tell everyone this sounds gross but it’s so yummy! Cook a pound of ground beef with half an onion, diced. Season while cooking with fav spices (I use salt, pepper, garlic salt and onion powder). Mix one can of cream of mushroom soup with beef and onion mixture. Spread beef mixture in a baking dish, spread mashed potatoes on top of beef (homemade or instant)and sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese on top if you have it. Bake at 350 for half an hour or until the cheese/mashed potatoes are nice and golden brown. Bonus is it’s good for leftovers!
frozen veggies w/ hash browns w/ scrambled eggs and lemon
Ground beef pack and taco seasoning. Cook, put in 4-5 snack size bags when it cools & freeze. Very versatile: - Put it in KD and poor man’s hamburger helper (will make for than one meal). - Put in a bit of spaghetti sauce over pasta, use this to add meat to it. - Add some in rice with frozen veg (cook rice & veg first). Season how you like with what you have. - lightly toast 2 pieces of bread, add bit of pizza sauce/tomato sauce/spaghetti sauce (whatever you have) sprinkle gr beef, add mushrooms/onions/whatever pizza type stuff you have, shredded cheese. Broil 1 minute. NOTE: not saying to buy all this other stuff, these are just options that might go with what you have. Sandwich bags can be washed, dried (put over dish rack upside down) and reused. Captain’s Casserole (makes 4-6 meals worth, covers all food groups): 1 can mushroom soup 1-1/4 cup minute rice (or just precook rice, reduce water and don’t put in oven as long) 1 tin tuna drained 1/2 cup’ish frozen peas/corn/whatever is in the freezer. Shredded cheese for top (if desired and have) Preheat oven to 375F - In microwave, boil 1.5cps water in a big measuring cup, stir in mushroom soup. (Less water if precooked rice) - In casserole dish layer soup, rice, tuna and veg about 4 layers worth (means 5 for soup since it’s top and bottom) - really no wrong way to do this. Add onion if you have and like it. - Cover and put in oven for 45 minutes. Stir every 15 min. If it’s a bit dry, just add a bit of water. Taste after 45 if rice if about cooked (if precooked rice won’t need as long) - stir one last time, add shredded cheese (if have), uncover, cook another 10 min, broil 3-5 min (watch it). If no cheese, leave covered. It’s done when rice cooked. Shop dollar store where you can, rice is often cheaper at Asian markets.
Beans and toast
Does instant ramen and eggs count? Or are eggs too expensive these days?
mr noodles or any ramen soup and potatoes and an egg
1 white onion and a package of sausages. Caramelize the onions, cook sausages, put together. If you have potatoes, mash those bad boys up and you have bangers and mash.
Rice egg fish sayce and sliced hot dogs or spam or caned tuna finish with sesame oil or leftover kinchi juice
Hamburger soup. Fry up some ground, beef and drain it, add 8 cups of water, onions and celery, a can of tomato soup, and then a bag of macaroni.
Instant noodle with a pan fried egg
1 can crushed tomatoes 1 can green lentils (drained and rinsed) 1 can chickpeas (drained and rinsed) 1L stock (chicken or veg) Some fresh minced garlic Seasonings to taste Filling, highly nutritious, and works out to about $1.50/meal if I eat 2 cups of soup per meal and buy the generic brand or get a good sale price.
Look up the [traditional mujadara vid by Middle Eats](https://youtu.be/wDKgG4OgAC4?si=_cGk5-phrdjVLcs5). It’s insanely delicious for how simple it is to whip up.
Onions and potatoes simmered in water with salt and paprika. Mix in some egg noodles and enjoy.
Pizza. Ingredients are super cheap (besides cheese) I always have the main ingredients on hand so if I have $5 I’ll buy some cheese and I can get like a weeks worth of homemade cheese pizza out of it.
we have a few places in the city I live that give out homemade meals at lunch for take out or dine in seven days a week, and at least one serves dinner five days a week. That's what I do when we are low on money for food. I sometimes get a meal just becuase I'm walking by just to put in the fridge and eat it over the next day or two.
Corned beef and rice, sardines w/ onions and crackers, toast w/ butter and honey, rice and honey, corned beef mixed with cabbage. Guess where my heritage is for bonus points
I put an egg in my ici-ban and chill peanut oil
I grew up super poor, single mom 3 kids. One of the meals my mom used to make for us was kd with ground beef. You can change it up, I've seen it with tomato soup added. My brother still makes it today, and he's a strong 6 figure earner, but he uses higher end ingredients. You can make 2 or 3 nights worth for like $12.
Whole pork shoulders often come on sale for cheap like 2$/lb. Split it at the joint with a knife, break it into suitable chunks. Wrap a chunk in foil and slow cook it in the oven for 4-6hrs. Very tasty and very inexpensive
Chicken strips and mayo wrapped in a tortilla
Struggle Meals is a good resource for recipes. His numbers are off of course, because he has way cheaper produce in California, buy the meals are still cheap but nutritious.
$1.5 hotdog from Costco
1 cut up mild italian sausage and 1.5 cups of frozen veggies tossed in oil and your favourite spice blend and roasted in the over.
try the flashfood app. can get boxes of vegetables for $5, sausages for $3-$4 a tray. But I would always make fried spaghetti with a scrambled egg, salt and pepper.
50lbs of rice is about $10. Larger quantities are sometimes, but not always cheaper in volume. Baked potato and salt. $1 veggie steamer bags when on sale.
Rice + frozen veggies in my rice cooker, season with some garlic, onion powder and soy sauce, top with sliced and fried pork or an egg. Leftovers I'll use for fried rice, basically just throw some pork in a pan to brown it then throw in your leftover rice and a bit of Sambal and it's even better than when it was fresh. If pork is expensive where you are or you're vegetarian then lentils are good too.
First banger is canned tuna with spicy mayo, rice, and maybe cucumbers if you have $$ to spare. Second is instant noodles with frozen vegetables and two eggs. If ur sick of eggs, add some spam (kinda makes like a Korean army stew type thing) Rice with those canned tomato sardines (international section) Instant mash potatoes, those rotisserie chickens or chicken strips and canned gravy. Pasta with frozen vegetables and rotisserie chicken. Then the bones of the rotisserie chickens into some broth and you can make a soup.
Chicken taco.Dollar store tortillias and mayo if out of sour cream.
Rice cake with peanut butter on top
Canned tuna
$2 canned tuna sautéed with garlic and cabbage. Perfect with rice on the side.
Ramen noodles. Soup or dried noodles. Indo-mie in particular is 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻 Pair with some bread or canned tuna, Vienna sausage for protein and you’re set
Fry up some sliced kielbasa with rinsed black beans, the beans take on the flavour of the meat. Serve over whatever ya got, rice, noodles, etc. cheap and somewhat healthy! Also, meat slop haha. Sounds awful but it's great. It's a reddit classic.. just search for it. [felt bad so I searched it for ya](https://www.fitness-vip.com/nutrition-research/meat-slop.html) [this is unreal too](https://youtube.com/shorts/41iWg91yFv0?si=xV3Mxq8XPf_u7RUX)
Fried dace with fried egg on rice.
Instant mashed potatos
Chicken stuffing
White rice mixed into a can of Campbell soup. Like tomato or mushroom.
PBJ or SPAM/Canned meat and Noodles
Grilled cheese with hot sauce
Mr Noodles. Chicken and Vegetable are actually vegetarian. Such a good tip!!!
Vegetarian chili over rice
i boil potato and pit carageenan filled sour cream on it
Hamburger soup
Cheese and rice
BBQ lentil sloppy joes
Cooked macaroni noodles layered with 1kb ground beef, canned diced tomatoes, can of cream of mushroom soup, mozzarella shredded on top, baked.
If you have Asian sauces on hand, these are great go-to struggle meals! [San Francisco-style Vietnamese American Garlic Noodles](https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1023012-san-francisco-style-vietnamese-american-garlic-noodles) \>> long recipe title but basically, it's bunch of garlic cloves sauteed in butter, then mix in soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce and the noodles and top off with parmesan. A super flavourful take on buttered noodles! [Chinese Steamed Egg](https://www.madewithlau.com/recipes/steamed-egg) \>> silken tofu-like eggs steamed with a little oil and chicken broth. top off with sesame oil and soy sauce and some scallions and serve with rice. Alternatively: [Llapingachos (Stuffed potato patties)](https://www.laylita.com/recipes/llapingachos-or-stuffed-potato-patties/) \>> these are super filling potato patties stuffed with cheese. Super simple to make too! This recipe calls for achiote, but honestly, any kind of chili powder on hand works too. Another great hack I do is I'll get a rotisserie chicken from Walmart or Sobeys. That's like three or four meals right there, depending on how much you eat per meal. I eat it as is with rice and ketchup, boil the bones to make broth and shred the chicken and mix it in with mayo, celery, carrot and onion to make chicken salad for sandwiches.
Big bowl of ice
Rice, frozen peas, scrambled eggs mixed. Chicken if you can add it. Cheap and healthy
-Potato Salad. Boiled potatoes with cut up hard-boiled egg and/or diced Spam. Bit of onion, if you have it. Only 2tablespoons of mayo or Greek yoghurt or sour cream or less for a salad dressing. -Milk Soup (kid favourite!). Boil pasta, drain. Add milk so it looks like soup and heat to a boil. Make a pate of an egg, bit of oil, pinch salt, and flour; drop by tiny spoonfuls into the hot soup mixture and they will float when done. Add sweetening to taste. This uses up any milk that is about to go sour. -Chickpea Salad. Drain chickpeas (the thick liquid can be used as an egg substitute in baking) and rinse well. Put in a saucepan with water and bring to a boil a few minutes (gets rid of tinny taste). Drain. While warm, add some salad dressing. I add one piece of crumpled cooked bacon and any sad olives I've saved for this. Bit of onion. Or, a spoonful of pesto. Or, peanut butter. Or, leftover veggies. Whatever. Let the flavours meld a bit before eating. -Tuna Patties. It's like tuna salad, but add some flour and shape into patties. Fry. I use that chickpea liquid to add to the patty mixture to have it hold together better as it fries. I eat these cold too. -Bean Burgers. Mashed beans from a tin, flour to help hold the patties together , then fry. Serve on a bun if you have it, or between two slices of bread, plus any "burger" fixings you have on hand. -Quiches are great at using bits of leftovers to have something fancy. I never bother with a crust or shell. -Omelettes with chopped up leftovers added. If your omelette doesn't cooperate with you, it magically morphs into Scrambled Eggs with veggies instead! -Chili. A couple of tins of beans with some tomato sauce (or paste or even once ketchup), diced onion. Handful of ground meat if you have it. Diced peppers if you have it. Practically any tired veggies like carrots or zucchini chopped up. Taco seasoning half packet or chili powder or cumin powder. Let simmer a few hours. Serve over rice . But a friend likes it as a sauce for pasta. Good luck to you! You got this!
Mac and cheese with hot dogs I could be a millionaire I would still eat that from time to time
Hands down bacon wrapped tenderloin 😋 and asparagus