Tell me your favourite “struggle meal”

[Catsandcannedbeans]

I will define “struggle meal” as something that is either very cheap, or very easy to throw together. Struggle snacks also welcome. I am looking for some to add to my rotation, anything I can batch cook gets a gold star. Anything that incorporates cheap cuts of meat gets two gold stars.

Mine are:
Fairy Bread, Bananas and custard (from a tin), when I was at university I used to make “fajitas” with chickpeas and beans instead of meat. I would make a huge batch and eat it for the whole week. I would normally eat this in the weeks leading up to my next payment as I had spent all my money on… textbooks. I still make it sometimes, but DP and kids don’t like it so I don’t make it often. Obviously the classic beans on toast. I always make a huge batch of jacket potatoes, sometimes I cut them into wedges and reheat them in the air fryer and put cheese and gravy on them (or curry if I have leftovers).

Cheese and Potato Pie.. I sometimes add bacon. I boil the onion with the potatoes so it isn't greasy.. I serve with baked beans..

Egg fried rice. The king of leftovers dinners. Leftover rice, leftover roast chicken or ham, whatever veg you have hanging about the fridge, 1 egg per person.
We had it last night. I used a pouch of cooked rice, some packet chicken chunks, red pepper, frozen peas, tinned sweetcorn, 3 eggs (sort of cooked into an omelette first, take out the pan then add back in at the end chopped up a bit). On the table in about 15 mins tops. Soy sauce/chilli sauce whatever added at the table.

Pasta with chorizo and jarred red peppers (fried together for a couple mins). Extra points if the pasta is fresh so cooks even quicker.

Udon noodles with bok choi, spring onions and peas, with a soft egg fried in chilli oil on the top 😋
I also recently discovered that garlic and tomato puree cooked down in some olive oil makes a really nice pasta sauce.

Shakshuka. Only a few ingredients, can used tinned tomatoes if there's no fresh ones in, add or remove ingredients as required.

Ful medames is similarly easy and cheap! Same with curry if you've already got the spices and veg in. Soups of whatever form, colcannon with homemade veggie sausages I batch cook (could have whatever meat you liked in place of them), Spanish omelette with salad, sandwiches, dhals.

Tomato pasta....I fry a handful of cherry tomatoes slowly in a little oil...add a tiny splash of balsamic vinegar...until they go a bit jammy. Toss through some cooked spaghetti. Add some grated hard cheese like parmesan or pecorino if you have any.

You can add garlic, chilli, basil if you happen to have any in.

I used to do a nice tomato pasta with some passata, tomato puree and various dried herbs and seasonings for the sauce.

My autistic DC now won't touch any tomato based sauces now so my quick and easy pasta is either cheesy or my quick green pasta. A bag of spinach, wilted then blended until smooth, mixed with a tub of cream cheese and a bit of the pasta water to loosen it enough to coat the pasta.

Pesto pasta is another favourite but DC only likes specific brands of pesto so I don't always have it in depending on what shop I've been to.

I swear we eat more than pasta but it's our fast, easy and cheap option usually. DC doesn't always like potatoes either so at least I know pasta will be eaten every time.

Soft boiled eggs with soldiers!
Done and dusted in 10 minutes

Layer of beans, layer of mash, grated cheese (cottage pie style). With sausages if you're felling rich.

Casserole for me, done in the slow cooker so I can turn it on and forget about it till dinner time.

Pork shoulder steaks 500g
Onion
Carrots
Mushrooms
Tin of tomatoes
Stock cube
Cornflour

Costs about £7 for all the ingredients, less if you shop around or buy frozen, and makes 4 portions.

I just dump it all in raw, stick it on high for a couple of hours, then low till I want to eat.

Tuna pasta. I'm fortunate enough not to 'need' to eat tuna pasta, I just love it 🤤

Me and dd struggled and I grew up poor 😭

Corned beef, cooked in onions and tinned tomatoes, on rice

Curry made up of cheap meat and plenty of veg and tinned tomatoes, on rice

Toast and butter

Fray bentos pie and rice with gravy

So many 🤭😭

Freah bread from lidl with butter as a treat. Chicken n chips as a treat

Omg and the best one - Indomie noodles

Fortunately we don't have to watch our budget now, but some childhood favourites for both ease and cost were:

Fried egg, oven chips and baked beans. Or omelette instead of the fried eggs.

Savory Sandwich pudding. Basically make cheese and tomato sandwiches, lay them in an oven dish, cover with eggs beaten with milk, pour over sprinkle some grated cheese on top and bake in the oven. Basically a cheese and tomato bread and butter pudding.

Pasta, pesto, peas and chopped up frankfurters.

Mac and cheese.

Toad in the hole (with cheap and cheerful sausages)

Roasted veg wrap with hummus and added protein (tofu/edamame beans or chickpeas) I usually roast enough veg to use it over a couple of days

Lentils in a 100 different ways.

Emergency pie is made from thinly sliced potatoes and onions cooked briefly in a little butter then put in a short crust with 2 tbs leftover cheese sauce. You can add thyme parsley and I expect bits of pig if you feel like it.

Usually go for pasta for a cheap quick meal or an omelette and chips. For pudding you can't go wrong with angel delight 😋

Dal and rice, so warming, cheap as can be and good fo you.

Best easy meal- fried egg sangers.

I'm having one of mine now. A tine of lentils rinsed, heated with a stock cube and lots of chillies, over a bed of basmati that's heavily salted and peppered. I missed lunch, and this only takes 10 min.

I love a big cheesy omelette. I'll fry some vegetables like mushroom, courgette and spinach, throw in a couple of eggs, top with lots of cheese. It takes les than ten minutes and it's nutritious, filling and delicious.

I do this but with halloumi

If i'm short of time (or not home for enough days to justify buying lots of different types of veg), then a bag of ready chopped stir fry veg, some cooked chicken / prawns / tofe and a pack of microwave rice. No prep and only the wok to wash up!

DS' favourite meal is noodles, some veg (preferably peas) and whatever meat leftovers are in the fridge eaten with gallons of gravy. I did it once when we had got stuck for two hours due to a car crash and the DC were beside themselves with hunger when we finally got home and I needed something quick. A decade later and DS has probably eaten it once a week!

I make a quick mushroom pasta sauce when the kids are with their dad. The sauce is made in the time the pasta takes to cook and it’s both very cheap and very tasty.

Pasta with salad dressing and tomatoes. Maybe mixed with tuna if I have a tin handy.
It's my favourite "can't be bothered" meal.