r/strugglemeals

Costco chicken thigh - $1.69/lb, I used about $3.33 worth on average, 6 thighs cooked. Whole pack cost $20.99 ish for 6 packs of 6.

Beans - $.99 at my Aldi

Brussels - 1.99 at my Aldi.

Olive oil/bbq sauce/spices - about a dollar.

Fed me, my husband, my BIL and my 10 month old.

Some background; we are a family of 3 living in the NE USA. Husband works FT and I work PT and am FT caregiver to our baby (often while working at the same time to make ends meet). We live in a rural community where we have access to extremely cheap meat and produce, but only in the summer/late spring. This meal was from a few weeks ago when we had no money and were literally scraping from the pantry and freezer. Husband is Italian and I am from a very eclectic family of immigrants who taught us to cook with nothing and make it work.

My dream is to make a completely free YT where people can learn to cook with no means. Would anyone watch? I mentioned in a thread today and someone said it was a good idea. I would love to give back and teach other people how to ditch the expensive banquet/stouffers meals. I could even do some off grid techniques where I strictly grill over a fire or teach about butchering chicken or venison ( I farm chicken to reduce cost).

We’re all gonna get through this. ❤️ love you all.

A number of dishes I show are called “regular ass meals” while some questionable offerings are lauded as authentic struggles. I looked some of this up and…a lot of delusional people here. Most of my posts are quite affordable - cheaper than buying canned chicken and instant potatoes for example. Or spending $4 for a Walmart cafe lunch.

You know what? It’s people being too afraid of dealing with real ingredients. Those of us that do are labeled as “rich” while those buying “poor people ingredients” spend more. Before the “Ramen police” come out the woodwork…not sustainable for regular living.

Just the bread butts with grated cheese between and a black coffee -low cost and zero effort.

Jalapeno Ritz, Wolf hot dog sauce and hot bean dip.

Crush up the Ritz and mix it all together.

Should be edible

Had two left over tortillas after freezing some emergency burritos.

Had fruity pebbles, but no milk.

Had peanut butter but no bread or jam.

It's actually pretty decent. I think the youth would say it's bussin'?

Edit for recipe:

Microwave tortilla for 13 seconds. I think I once heard Mythical Chef Josh say 13 seconds was perfect, and it was life changing.

Scoop and spread peanut butter with a spoon across the warm surface of the tortilla.

Drop fruity pebbles by the fistfull across the peanut butter covered tortilla until you're happy with the results.

Roll it up and (hopefully) enjoy!

Soup with minced meat, onions, potatoes, butter, carrots, corn, peas, bell pepper, and a dash of chili flakes.

I add some hot sauce to my own bowl. If it wasn't for spicy, I'd probably be more depressed.

$3 at dollar tree, can’t complain

My go to comfort struggle meal right now. Around $15 total cost will feed me several times over with plenty leftover to share the love.

That's what it looks like 😅

That's a beef patty on a bed of stir fried cabbage. Get paid tomorrow, so I can buy some bread.

I bought some chicken to drop in the airfryer and realized im out of rice. Had some leftover pasta and tomato paste that's been open for too long but smelled ok. Crisped a garlic on the chicken fat shredded a sad piece of carrot, seasoned with basil and a bit of gochugaru. Meal costs less than a beer.

This is my current go-to for a cheap hot prepared meal while living in my car. This would have been cheap 10 years ago, it's a frickin steal now. I'm aware most Walmarts don't offer carnitas but for those of us that have it, amazing. I believe you can get 3 chicken strips instead for like a dollar more than this as an alternative.

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It works and it's quite tasty. I'm tired of the questions of food choices from people that don't know my situation in depth. I can't always make money, I can't always get the proper ingredients- when I can, I do. And healthier choices are included at that point.

Let's go beyond healthy choices because you should be aware you can't always eat healthy all the time (finances), yet most everyone has a cheat or a dessert meal. If you don't, you are lying- which is my point-just because I've shown some junk meals doesn't mean I eat that way always, and I don't.

When I'm able to eat cucumber salad, with vinaigrette, onion, tomato and some greens. I don't post that as a struggle because it's so healthy (and not a struggle in my opinion), I guess I'm just not understood here, that's okay. I think the moderation here is lacking completely, but that's my own opinion.

That being said texture and flavor fatigue is a real thing- sometimes junkier food is a nice change of pace versus something as simple as beans and rice- yet I have people judge me, just becaus I want to taste something different.

I've been judged from being stoner food, to being absolutely disgusting, from flavor choices or nutrition issues.Excuse me, are your flavor choices the rule of the world? Are you able to always make the best food choices with the money in your hand at the time? Sometimes people just have to eat, and sometimes they want something that's a little bit more flavorful. You keep complaining, I'm going to keep on eating to where I enjoy it by mixing it up.

Yes there's Crystal on it, it's not meth, those comments are getting very old as well considering none of you apparently know what hot sauce is. The jokes are getting old, be kind please..

A potato dish with some shredded cheese, 3 to 4 strips of diced bacon, green onion tops and a dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt. This is a 12” cast iron skillet but you can scale up or down as needed.

suppertime!

Trying to get in the habit of batch cooking my chicken and eggs for work, found steamed chicken and a plain omelette to be super simple.

I do put some spicy mayo on at work for some moisture.