I’ve recently been fixated on the idea of struggle meals, probably because I’ve been struggling both financially and mentally. I’ll share a couple of mine:
-Egg on hash brown patty: as simple as it sounds, bake a frozen hash brown patty, cook a sunny side up egg and put it on top. I like to season the egg with salt/msg, pepper, and garlic powder, then add a few drops of Tabasco sauce. Bonus points if you have avocado to spread on the hash brown first
-Flaming Hot Cheetos taco: toast a corn tortilla on both sides on a pan, then add sour cream and shredded cheese and flaming hot Cheetos as the “meat”, add any other taco toppings you like/have (shredded cabbage/lettuce, hot sauce, etc)
Would love to hear everyone else’s struggle meals when you just don’t have the means mentally/financially to put much effort into cooking
Italian American grandmother would make legit pasta e fagioli. Once when she didn’t have the ingredients it was just elbow macaroni and a can of beans. Somewhere along the line baked beans was all she had and it became the favorite.
Been a struggle meal for 4 generations now. Kids call it pasta zhoo.
Boil 1lb elbow macaroni in salty water to al dente. Take pot off the stove. Don’t drain, but scoop off enough water so that it just barely covers the pasta. Pour in a 16oz can of baked beans and mix. Serve with butter and black pepper.