“Poor food or not, this dish is one of those memories that is burned into my brain.
It’s been 40+ years since I last ate it, and I can still taste it.”
People quickly chimed in with their own survival meals and here are some of the best responses.
Broil ‘til the cheese is melted.
Now that my dad is gone, this is dinner on his birthday."
“Im British and was brought up in the 1970s by a Welsh mother who wasted nothing.
Shortly before it was served my mum would drop in dumplings.
It was amazing.”
“Lazy chicken parm.
It’s just frozen chicken nuggets on spaghetti with prego sauce and shredded Parmesan from the green bottle.”
“Mac ‘n’ cheese with hotdogs.
My mom called this pennies and cheese!
I didn’t know others actually ate this same meal!”
Cover with water or frozen chicken broth, and add herbs, salt, and pepper to taste.
Toss in a bit of barley or macaroni towards the end.
I usually got a few meals out of a single batch."
“Mine is papas con chorizo, which is cubed boiled potatoes scrambled with egg and chorizo.”
“Tomato sandwiches made with nothing but tomato, mayo, pepper, and white bread.
It’s unreasonably good for what it is.
The pepper does the trick.”
“As a kid, my brother and I would make bologna roll-ups with fried bologna and scrambled eggs.
We’d roll the bologna around the eggs a few times and chow down.”
We ate that a lot growing up."
“Red beans and rice.
“Mix together some sugar and cinnamon.
Then grab buttered toast and sprinkle on the sugar mix.
It’s good for satisfying a sweet tooth when there’s nothing else in the house.”
The sweet and salty just really hits.
Growing up, my brothers and I didnt even realize salmon or tuna patties were a struggle meal.
I still make them a few times a month.
“Open-faced hot turkey.
Serve it hot with a side of canned green beans for good measure.”
I decided to make some Tuna Mac for lunch, and honestly, it was tasty.
Its literally tuna mixed into boxed mac ‘n’ cheese.
Theres no crispy topping, and theres no baking it.
Its a one-pot, stovetop meal.
This stovetop version is the real ‘Im making it work’ vibe.”
“I used to make something similar to seven layer dip but baked into a casserole.
My kids called it ‘Mexican goo.’
The bottom layer is seasoned refried beans.
The second layer is rice (I generally use leftover Spanish rice).
seasoned with spices, enchilada sauce, or taco seasoning.
The final layer is cheese.
Bake it at 350F until the cheese starts to brown and bubble.
Serve it with tortilla chips for dipping or wrapped up in corn tortillas.”
“Rice and chicken porridge.
Add salt and pepper, remove chicken bones, and stir it so the rice and chicken mix together.
It looks terrible, but it’s so comforting to eat during the winter.”
“One of our regular ‘pantry meals’ is chicken noodle casserole.
“Beans and cornbread.
This is a sentimental one for me.
It was one of my dads favorite meals, and he made it well.
We ate it with sweetpickleson the side.”
“My mother used to make something called rice and eggs.
She only served this because times were tough.
I remember a frying pan, cooked rice, and mom tossing it with beaten eggs.
It came out like creamy rice, almost like a risotto but firmer.
Poor food or not, this dish is one of those memories that is burned into my brain.
It’s been 40+ years since eating it and I can still taste it.”
“Pasta amatriciana, though at the time I knew it as American Macaroni.
Italian immigrant neighbors taught my grandmother how to make it, and she showed it to me.
Its still one of my favorite things, and its delicious.”
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
