What's your favorite "poverty" food?

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

What is your favorite meal that would have been acceptable during the Great Depression?

My favorite horrifying dinner is City Chicken. My dad has a soft spot in his heart for Mush. My wife still eats Ramen noodles once a month or so for dinner, but that strikes me more of "college poor" than "adult" poor.

[PokerPacker]

Pretty much anything fried is poverty food, right?

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Pretty much anything fried is poverty food, right?

Eh....it depends. Fried chicken breasts wouldn't necessarily be. Chicken thighs? Maybe.

One of the things Americans started doing was frying things that did not need to be fried. Pan frying used to be reserved for making inedible foods edible.

[IONTOP]

Grilled cheese, mac and cheese, and that rice or pasta that you boil and let simmer and you've got linguine alfredo or broccoli cheddar rice...

[STBonecrusher21]

Cream of Chicken on toast.

Pepper it up, tall glass of milk, good ****!

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Cream of Chicken on toast.

Pepper it up, tall glass of milk, good ****!

Wow...that sounds awful.

Good for you.

[Pick6]

Grilled Cheese or PB & J. Brown rice and beans.

[KAOSkins]

I'll have to bring my story from the other thread too. Mexican food without question. Might get diabetes one day but chile, beans, rice and tortillas keep a lot of people living in a state similar to our depression fed. Nobody else is using lard anymore and I'm glad I can at least get it in my fresh tortillas and it's unpopularity keeps the price down.

Of course, it not being a depression I go out once a week or so for my fix and try to avoid diabetes.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Pasta fagiole is great by the way. A few cans of tomato sauce, some kidney beans, some cheap pasta, whatever seasoning you have in that spice rack your mom gave you when you got your apartment and you can eat for a week.

[STBonecrusher21]

Wow...that sounds awful.

Good for you.

:ols:

Been eating it since I was a kid. More of a breakfast meal.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

I'll have to bring my story from the other thread too. Mexican food without question. Might get diabetes one day but chile, beans, rice and tortillas keep a lot of people living in a state similar to our depression fed. Nobody else is using lard anymore and I'm glad I can at least get it in my fresh tortillas and it's unpopularity keeps the price down.

Of course, it not being a depression I go out once a week or so for my fix and try to avoid diabetes.

Beans is pretty much a miracle food when you think about. You can live pretty much forever on various beans and spend less than a buck a day.

Refried beans, rice, and cheese in a tortilla will make you feel like you just ate a six course meal for about $1.25.

[abdcskins]

Quesadilla with salsa. Or corned beef hash out the can.

Eggs scrambled with ham and cheese (too expensive?).

[mattsb84]

I always enjoyed slop on a shingle growing up. Cheap unhelathy foods. Mmmmm

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

I'll be honest; I was hoping for some city chicken related questions. My wife had never heard of it until she married me. Then she was not sure she wanted to marry me.

[Slacky McSlackAss]

Peanut Butter and Jelly on a tortilla.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

PB&J seems borderline wholesome to me.

I just thought of my moms favorite meal: Ham and cabbage. Made the house stink for days.

[Predicto]

Mashed potatoes.

Not as a side, but as an entire meal.

[KAOSkins]

Beans is pretty much a miracle food when you think about. You can live pretty much forever on various beans and spend less than a buck a day.

Refried beans, rice, and cheese in a tortilla will make you feel like you just ate a six course meal for about $1.25.

No question, I am glad I was a college student here for the one reason that I could eat really cheaply (even going out for it) and really tastily, allowed me to concentrate my fundage on more enjoyable pursuits than eating. Beans are truly a wonder food. You could do without any meat for a long time eating beans and rice is also a big thing. Hell island style black beans and rice is pretty cheap and damn good too.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Mashed potatoes.

Not as a side, but as an entire meal.

I would occasionally make egg noodles and mix them with mashed potatoes. And canned gravy. It will give you diabetes that night.

[rumpshakers]

SPAM....SPAM and ramen noodles.....SPAM raman noodles and cheese......

[Califan007]

Two eggs, steamed rice with butter, salt and pepper, and refried beans lol :ols:...definitely makes you feel full afterwards.

---------- Post added September-8th-2011 at 03:17 PM ----------

Also, Ramen noodles with diced fried hot dogs and shredded cheese on top (if I could afford the cheese, that is)...

[PokerPacker]

Mashed potatoes.

Not as a side, but as an entire meal.

* EVERYTHING potatoes.

I know its a stereotype, but I can't get enough potatoes. Fried, baked, mashed, steamed, twice-baked... they are wonderful.

[zoony]

I still crack open the occasional can of vienna sausages. I love Ramen, always will, though I rarely eat it anymore- have you looked at the nutritional info on those things? How do they fit that much bad **** into noodles? It's actually impressive. I mean, sausages you expect 10g of fat, but noodles?

my problem is I don't care for stews and soups and gumbos, etc. Chances are if its been on low heat for several hours and contains liquid and meat, I will not like it. Meat needs to make contact with fire/high heat and with the exception of a light sauce, not make contact with water. So that rules out a lot of peasant dishes for me, unfortunately.


The main problem is there isn't any peasant meat available anymore. I bought a few skirt steaks recently, cost me $35. WTF. Skirt steak is supposed to be $1.50 merchandised in the dog food aisle. Chicken is expensive. Hell, bacon is $6 / pound.

---------- Post added September-8th-2011 at 06:24 PM ----------


I would occasionally make egg noodles and mix them with mashed potatoes. And canned gravy. It will give you diabetes that night.

that's a dinner you have to go change into a wife-beater before you sit down to eat.

[Kosher Ham]

Mac and Cheese.
Hot Dogs
Grilled Cheese
Ramen Noodles Chicken

Those are the ones I can think of that I still might eat on occasion, just because.

[abdcskins]

Also, I hate to say it, but when I have $2.21 in my wallet and I'm really hungry I'll hit up McDonald's and get two McDoubles. They sort of taste good while I eat them, but when I'm done I feel slobbish like Albert Haynesworth.

[zoony]

Cheese is actually relatively expensive. So I don't consider any meal featuring cheese as poverty food. Now mac and cheese with the powdered orange stuff in the box, yah.

I make a home-made mac and cheese. It requires 12 oz of sharp cheddar. That's like $8, and you haven't even bought the noodles yet. ****

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

The main problem is there isn't any peasant meat available anymore. I bought a few skirt steaks recently, cost me $35. WTF. Skirt steak is supposed to be $1.50 merchandised in the dog food aisle. Chicken is expensive. Hell, bacon is $6 / pound.

That's a good point. One of my favorite meals as a kid was minute steaks and fried potatoes - which is basically potatoes and crisco. Minute steaks can be $6 a pound now. How is that possible?

---------- Post added September-8th-2011 at 05:29 PM ----------


Cheese is actually relatively expensive.

Yea...Even Kraft singles are relatively expensive at this point.

I'm also not entirely sure what has happened to Fast Food. My wife and I were late for something last week and did lunch at the McDonalds drive thru. It was around $16 for two people. Like, how could anyone take a Little League team there at this point?

[Stew]

When I was single and lived alone I would make the most ghetto fabulous meals for myself.

Brown some ground beef, boil some frozen mixed veggies, mix, add some pasta sauce and sprinkle of cheese, and that was a weeks worth of meals.

PB&J in between two eggo waffles always hit the spot when I had the munchies after a night of drinking.

Sometimes I wouldn't even boil the ramen noodles, id eat them dry (raw) and sprinkle the seasoning packet over the dry noodle bar, eat it like a granola bar.

Pour a can of Campbells cream of mushroom soup over a couple of chicken breasts, and toss them in the oven until they were done.

Id go fishing, catch a catfish, filet the catfish, marinade the fish filets in milk and butter, roll them in flour/cornstarch/diced onion mix and pan fry them into little hushpuppies.


now a days I get real meals that my wife cooks for me, but taking that trip down memory lane makes me miss being single. it may have been the worst food of my life, but some of the best times.

[zoony]

Sometimes I wouldn't even boil the ramen noodles, id eat them dry (raw) and sprinkle the seasoning packet over the dry noodle bar, eat it like a granola bar.

.


:rubeyes:

[Pwyl]

Back in my poverty days it was ramen, sliced cheese food(the stuff not made with any milk), can of tuna. Sometimes I would toss in a can of corn for variety.
One time I ate 3 packs of ramen for dinner and passed out for 2 days from all the MSG. :ols:

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

When I was single and lived alone I would make the most ghetto fabulous meals for myself.

Brown some ground beef, boil some frozen mixed veggies, mix, add some pasta sauce and sprinkle of cheese, and that was a weeks worth of meals.

PB&J in between two eggo waffles always hit the spot when I had the munchies after a night of drinking.

Sometimes I wouldn't even boil the ramen noodles, id eat them dry (raw) and sprinkle the seasoning packet over the dry noodle bar, eat it like a granola bar.

Pour a can of Campbells cream of mushroom soup over a couple of chicken breasts, and toss them in the oven until they were done.

Id go fishing, catch a catfish, filet the catfish, marinade the fish filets in milk and butter, roll them in flour/cornstarch/diced onion mix and pan fry them into little hushpuppies.


now a days I get real meals that my wife cooks for me, but taking that trip down memory lane makes me miss being single. it may have been the worst food of my life, but some of the best times.

That actually strikes me as a farily expensive (and complicated) way to eat **** food.

And I still use cream of mushroom soup as a marinade on occasion (though I spice it up a bit).

I've been thinking about what zoony said. It seems that the only way to really eat "cheaply" now is buy really awful frozen foods or the occasional canned food. It's hard to "cook" cheap food at this point.

[Stew]

That actually strikes me as a farily expensive (and complicated) way to eat **** food.

And I still use cream of mushroom soup as a marinade on occasion (though I spice it up a bit).

Which one? most of what I wrote i used to get from the dollar tree, except for the chicken or ground beef, both being cheap about five years ago.

I mean, Id catch the fish out of the lake... how expensive can any of it be? I think the cheese is the most expensive item I have listed :ols: :::edit::: nope, the eggos were around the three dollar mark.

maybe you think i made them all at once? I could never afford that back then. :ols:

[twa]

favorite would be red beans and rice or dirty rice

does chicken and dumplings count?...done right it is great

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Which one? most of what I wrote i used to get from the dollar tree, except for the chicken or ground beef, both being cheap about five years ago.

I was just doing the math in my head that ground beef, frozen veggies, jarred pasta sauce, and cheese would be a $7 or $8 dollar meal. It also sounds kind of gross.

[Jumbo]

Grocery store wise, I'd say hamburger/tuna helper type concoctions (pasta, meat, sauce or can of soup, throw in some canned veggies etc), or the my fave healthier option, fresh carrots, potatoes, onion, chicken breast, all baked. Rice & beans customized cheaply and creatively. PB & J, cheese/turkey meat/saltines/milk.

Take-out wise---budget pizza deals places (use coupons), Burger King, Taco Bell.

[Stew]

I was just doing the math in my head that ground beef, frozen veggies, jarred pasta sauce, and cheese would be a $7 or $8 dollar meal. It also sounds kind of gross.

maybe now, about five years ago ground beef was a maybe a couple bucks for a large portion, frozen veggies were 99 cents a bag, Id usually have the pasta sauce in the fridge left over from whenever, and the cheese would only be if i could afford it, or if it was leftover in the fridge and hadnt grown fur yet, and there would be enough for about a week. very cheap if you go per meal. I think it was a four fifty trip to Giant and would have enough to last a week.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Chicken breasts are fairly expensive too. That meal just sounds like, you know, a normal dinner dinner.

[Prosperity]

What is your favorite meal that would have been acceptable during the Great Depression?

My favorite horrifying dinner is City Chicken. My dad has a soft spot in his heart for Mush. My wife still eats Ramen noodles once a month or so for dinner, but that strikes me more of "college poor" than "adult" poor.

I would pound my face into a bowl of catfish and mashed potatoes upon sight and smell (maybe not really poverty, but I count KFC, Bojangles, etc as poverty food, because it's fast, affordable, and calorific)

canned chilli (or beans if I'm really broke) is also a favorite.. if I'm feeling lazy. I don't even bother to heat it up, or even get the cans that require an opener. I just pop one open and eat it right of the can then toss it into recycling. Good source of fiber, protein, and carbs.

This past summer there was a period of a few weeks when I had to live on $20 for a week. I bought a bunch of bean cans, and eggs. I would boil the eggs and eat them for breakfast, take them to work and eat them for lunch. I would eat a can of beans or two at night.

The farting never ended... but it wasn't too bad, I liked boiled eggs... for a while at least, towards the end I started to digust myself.

[Jumbo]

Sorry brother, my bad--i missed the "depression" angle and was thinking a little higher budget but still poor. i did my share of customized noodles (pre-ramen) back in the day. also went through times where pancakes or oatmeal were the meal 2-3 times a day for week at a time and you'd customize with wild berries you'd pick or cheap seasonings (often also grown or picked wild).

[clietas]

Easy and cheap. Gotta be Soup and Bread/crackers. Pretty much my standard lunch.

[Califan007]

If you're actually talking really REALLY poverty, I once ate walnuts and Pez candy for about 10 days straight :ols:...A friend gave me a bag of walnuts a few months earlier from this time and the Pez was left over from an Easter gift from a female friend a year and a half prior...I had forgotten I even had it. So it was some walnuts--occasionally lightly roasted in melted butter with salt on top--and like 5 pieces of Pez candy, and some ice water. I lost 34 pounds in 2 months back then lol...

[Darth Tater]

Not really a Great Depression food since fast foods had yet to start using those free packets of ketchup but I use to make free tomato soup:

Go to McDonalds (or whatever fast food place is close) and get a couple of fistfuls of those ketchup packets (salt/pepper packets are optional). Boil some water, mix with the ketchup and salt/pepper to taste. If you are lucky, you may have a store real close that throws out day old bread and if you actually got a little money, maybe you can get some potted meat or even splurge on some top-ramen. If the fast food place has those packets of lemon juice, swipe a few of those and a couple of packets of sugar and you can make some lemonade to drink.

[Stew]

I fish and crab for a lot of our seafood now, and that keeps our food bill down a little... unless you take into account fishing gear and tackle, but that's my hobby. id love to build a chicken coop and get fresh eggs the way our neighbor does. Not a big coop, but three or four would be perfect. Our garden keeps us in beans,carrots, tomato, cucumber and watermelon. I havent really had beef in a couple years unless my wife is away, then I may sneak a steak or a five guys burger.

[TheGreatBuzz]

I'm not sure if this counts in todays market but it historically started as a "poverty" food.....


BBQ

[Predicto]

* EVERYTHING potatoes.

I know its a stereotype, but I can't get enough potatoes. Fried, baked, mashed, steamed, twice-baked... they are wonderful.

ihMMw0rnKz4

[Park City Skins]

I have about 50,maybe 60 bucks a month to spend on food so I've had to get inventive,(researching depression era cooking has helped too),so I consider everything I eat "poverty food." :silly: Various ways of cooking chicken thighs,(making a chili or soup works pretty good),cheap ground turkey from Walmart,lentles,and some kidney beans makes a pretty good lunch. Especially on top of a couple of small corn tortillas,($2.14 per 72 ct pkg). I bake 10lbs of potatoes then freeze them to eat on the weekends. You can actually eat fairly healthy and cheaply if you do things right. Taking advantage of seasonal sales and managers specials. Got a good deal on some chicken breasts,(skin and bones included),at aobut .99 cents a pound. The extra makes a good stock. Got some of that in the freezer. :)
As for my favorite. Ramen noodles for sure. Mmmm. :)

[Stew]

Chicken breasts are fairly expensive too. That meal just sounds like, you know, a normal dinner dinner.

Chicken breasts arent very expensive, especially if you buy in bulk and plan your meals. Im looking online right now at a five pack for four and some change, and when I was buying them was 2005/06 about.

If any of what i wrote sounds like normal dinner to you... eww, I feel for ya.

[Jumbo]

Chicken breasts are fairly expensive too. That meal just sounds like, you know, a normal dinner dinner.


I guess...I get chicken breasts for 2.29 lb on sale w/coupon in family packs (need a working freezer compartment if small family) and when I am helping someone stretch the budget, we cut them up in bite-size chunks and portion them out per serving and go heavy on the pasta and cheap canned vegs (3 for a dollar) and use the cream of celery or mushroom soup (3 for a dollar) so for 5-6$ we feed a family of 3-4 pretty well and less if you use tuna (you still get decent protein that way).

[Stew]

I used to buy a bag of red skinned potato's, boil a few at a time with the skin on, after I boiled them, Id put them on a cookie sheet, smash each one just a little bit on the top, sprinkle a little salt and pepper, and bake them for ranother ten/fifteen minutes or so. Very good.

[Stadium-Armory]

I know its cliche, but I love Ramen noodles. Beef fake-o-flavor. So salty and bad for you. mmmmm

[Stew]

What about cube steaks... they were cheap as hell for a pack of six back in the day. They were tough as a shoe sole, but cheap and filling.

[Bang]

Chicken breasts used to be very inexpensive. I ate a lot of them.

I've never been someone who can be considred rich, well off, comfortable, or anything close. I've always lived on a tight budget, from childhood on up.
There were times that were much worse than others.

When I was a single dad things got real tight for about a year there, we had lots of "upside down days".. pancakes for dinner.. scrambled eggs for dinner. My son had a ball, thought it was a special occasion,, but no, it meant dad had about a dollar or two to buy dinner.


I could make two chicken breasts coated with some Italian bread crumbs, a plop of intstant mashed potatos, and some frozen peas for about 3.50

Being poor doesn't mean you had to eat bad. You stretch it. A box of mac and cheese used to cost a quarter.. 30 cents maybe. A pound of ground beef was about 4 bucks. Mix them and eat dinner today and lunch tomorrow.


Pasta and ragu. I liked the Knorr sauce mixes. About 89 cents a pack. Box of pasta a dollar.

~Bang

[MissU28]

What is City Chicken?

[Park City Skins]

What is City Chicken?

Diced meat,(cheap cuts of pork or beef among other things),that is breaded and fried in butter or oil). Using a skewer or something by the way.

Edit: My mom used make it when I was a kid,but then add it to a stew sometimes.

[twa]

What is City Chicken?

cubed pork with chicken seasoning
http://www.post-gazette.com/food/20000224mailbox.asp

[KAOSkins]

I used to buy a bag of red skinned potato's, boil a few at a time with the skin on, after I boiled them, Id put them on a cookie sheet, smash each one just a little bit on the top, sprinkle a little salt and pepper, and bake them for ranother ten/fifteen minutes or so. Very good.

Had to go OT for this one. Garlic oil, salt and pepper, 3 minutes on high in the microwave amd crisp/brown the skins on a grill. No better potatoes in the world. Red potatoes are a lot more expensive than russets though.

[GoSkins561]

Black beans over rice wins and it's healthy.

In college, me and my boys use to slaugther deer, venison tacos, venison steaks, venison burgers, venison pasta sauce over noodles, awesome. Cost = one 30-06 shell, a hunting license. We always had plenty of venison to go around. ;)

[Stew]

Had to go OT for this one. Garlic oil, salt and pepper, 3 minutes on high in the microwave amd crisp/brown the skins on a grill. No better potatoes in the world. Red potatoes are a lot more expensive than russets though.

Yep, a little more expensive for a smaller bag, but the taste was worth it. That was splurging for me, but if I portioned out the potato's, i could make it last. It sucked if I had a buddy come over while I was eating, because then I was inadvertently cooking fo two!

[techboy]

Not really a Great Depression food since fast foods had yet to start using those free packets of ketchup but I use to make free tomato soup:

You might be right about the source of ketchup packets, but turning ketchup into soup absolutely was a staple of Great Depression eating. Remembering The Great Depression's Sunny Side (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113844245):


Soup became a staple because it could be made with whatever was in the kitchen, could be cooked in one pot and could be stretched just by adding water. Depression soup was one part ketchup to two parts water. Stale bread became croutons or bread pudding.

So pretty much everything you described.

[GoSkins561]

Some of you dudes need to learn how to hunt.

[Stew]

Some of you dudes need to learn how to hunt.

If I still ate red meat, Id still hunt. I used to all the time growing up. I no longer eat red meat though, so i don't really hunt anymore. I never hunted for sport. I fish though!

[twa]

Some of you dudes need to learn how to hunt.

I didn't see chili on your list.....mix venison and wild pig

[Ellis]

Fried baloney sandwich.

[KAOSkins]

Black beans over rice wins and it's healthy.

In college, me and my boys use to slaugther deer, venison tacos, venison steaks, venison burgers, venison pasta sauce over noodles, awesome. Cost = one 30-06 shell, a hunting license. We always had plenty of venison to go around. ;)

We did that too, though it was crawdads outta the ditch, rabbits, quail and dove. Never forget showing the girls a rabbit in the oven (dressed like a suckling pig) that would look a lot like a big rat. Tasted great though!

[GoSkins561]

If I still ate red meat, Id still hunt. I used to all the time growing up. I no longer eat red meat though, so i don't really hunt anymore. I never hunted for sport. I fish though!

or Fish, hell I would eat carp before eating bread in ketchup water. :ols:

Isnt rabbit white meat?


I didn't see chili on your list.....mix venison and wild pig

mmmmm, venison chilli, im not sure how i forgot it. :thumbsup:

---------- Post added September-8th-2011 at 08:25 PM ----------


We did that too, though it was crawdads outta the ditch, rabbits, quail and dove. Never forget showing the girls a rabbit in the oven (dressed like a suckling pig) that would look a lot like a big rat. Tasted great though!

Had rabbit and tree rats on the grill, both were very good, I would actually eat either of them again. I have always wanted to eat rabbit on Easter for some reason.

[zoony]

I've been thinking about what zoony said. It seems that the only way to really eat "cheaply" now is buy really awful frozen foods or the occasional canned food. It's hard to "cook" cheap food at this point.

take the example of homemade pizza, which we're both familiar. I recently made a couple.

Flour, yeast, canned tomatoes, garlic, shredded cheese, pepperoni... I was $25 in. Our local papa johns runs a take out special Mon-Thurs for a large one topping @ $5.

Even something simple like baking a loaf of bread, do you save anything? yeast, flour, salt, sugar, water... you can buy a loaf on sale for 99 cents. I think the only real advantage to cooking at home anymore is (a) taste and (b) control of ingredients, i.e. health.

But if you want to eat cheaply, it's best to buy prepared food or fast food. (unless you're talking about eating beans or something out of a can)

[Darth Tater]

You might be right about the source of ketchup packets, but turning ketchup into soup absolutely was a staple of Great Depression eating. Remembering The Great Depression's Sunny Side (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113844245):



So pretty much everything you described.
My grandfather pretty much taught me this, maybe that's were he learned. When I was in college I lived near a grocery store that threw out its old bread along with tins of potted meat you could pick up for a quarter and a McDonalds that I could hit on my way back from class.

[zoony]

It's interesting. Countries like France go thru centuries of hard times and their peasants develop dishes such as foie gras, ortolan, and baguettes. The vietnamese developed pho and the Japanese developed soba and ramen.

We got ketchup soup. Are Americans just idiots? I'm starting to think that might inevitably be the case.

[Darth Tater]

or Fish, hell I would eat carp before eating bread in ketchup water. :ols:

Do hunt and fish but when you are in an urban environment, those options are limited and I'm not really into dumpster food. Also after working for 15-16 hours everyday, hunting isn't easy.

[KAOSkins]

But if you want to eat cheaply, it's best to buy prepared food or fast food. (unless you're talking about eating beans or something out of a can)

Shame about the facts concerning eating cheaply in most parts of the country. When you're close to a poor country they get a lot more creative (at least taste and wholesomeness) with cheap stuff. You can get really cheap cuts of meat in NM and all along the border I'd think because it's so much a part of these peoples diets for generations. Tripe, cheek meat (tamales are almost always made of this here) you go to a mexican grocery store and you can buy pretty much the whole animal and a lot of the parts cook up better than you'd think. I still don't question what it's tamales or some other foods though. Like hotdogs I don't wanna know.

The beans that are popular (and much better for you because you say what's in it) are dried. Really cheap in bulk, lasts forever and easy to cook. If you have meat throw some in, if not a little garlic and onions sauteed before you put them to cook slow in water. Great burritos for weeks. I used to make a huge batch of burros and put them in the freezer. That and chorizo (cheap mexican kind not the good spanish kind) and fried potatoes was another cheap thing that tasted really good and was filling.

edit: I hadn't seen your other post, we're thinking alike. Poor people do wonders with poor ingredients.

[GoSkins561]

Do hunt and fish but when you are in an urban environment, those options are limited and I'm not really into dumpster food. Also after working for 15-16 hours everyday, hunting isn't easy.

I hear you, I love hunting, I wish I could find time and put a solid effort into bow hunting, unfortunately because of my schedule im limited to rifle season. If i was in a state of poverty, I would find time to carp fish instead of eating stale bread in ketchup water.

[Larry]

Cream of Chicken on toast.

Pepper it up, tall glass of milk, good ****!

Grandma taught Mom how to make Mushroom soup on toast.

Can of cream of mushroom soup. (Undiluted.) 1-2 hard boiled eggs, cut into quarters. Black pepper.

[zoony]

edit: I hadn't seen your other post, we're thinking alike. Poor people do wonders with poor ingredients.


All the great cuisine in the world was developed from the poor, no exceptions.

America is not an exception because we don't have great cuisine. I think that's been our problem, we've never really undergone extended periods of poverty that you need in order to get really creative. Loin and breast cuts for us, throw the tripe and brains and sweetbreads in the garbage, we're not eating that.

[sportjunkie07]

rice.. so cheap, can mix it with most things, spice it up as necessary, keeps easily.. etc.

and its way more healthy than ramen or macaroni.

and squirrels.. those little things are everywhere, id eat them even without the "poverty" tag. 1 bb pellet is pretty cheap.

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

cup of noodles all day everyday and beefaroni

[KAOSkins]

All the great cuisine in the world was developed from the poor, no exceptions.

America is not an exception because we don't have great cuisine. I think that's been our problem, we've never really undergone extended periods of poverty that you need in order to get really creative. Loin and breast cuts for us, throw the tripe and brains and sweetbreads in the garbage, we're not eating that.

Yup, apparently those pesky 20 or 30 year down times aren't enough. Takes a couple of centuries of serfdom and Prince John (Robin Hood one) style tax collecting. A lot of our luck was also from the land. Carrier pigeon was pretty popular back then I hear.

[TheDoyler23]

I really thought city chicken was code for eating pigeon!

When really broke, a box of pasta (1.00), a jar of sauce (1.75) and some shakes from a parm shaker can get you 3 meals for 2 bucks. A 75 cent can of diced tomatoes simmered with a little olive oil and seasonings can get you a long way, too. Tube shaped pastas do better when reheated.

Bread, butter and a dash of salt when really desperate.

Corn...straight from the can!

[Dan T.]

Nobody's mentioned tuna casserole, the Friday dinner staple for poor Catholic families.

Canned tuna, egg noodles, cream of whatever soup is in the pantry, milk. Mix, bake. Remove from oven, crumble potato chips on top.

[Kosher Ham]

TheDoyler...Pigeon is known as Squab in the restaurant business.

[Park City Skins]

1lb. ground turkey $1.00 (can use a pound or more of chicken thighs as well. Slow cook. Can fry up the skin and crumble it later as a topping. Save broth for soup stock).
1 1lb. bag of lentles .98 cents
1 1lb bag if dried kidney beans .88 cents
1 bag of 72 count corn tortillas $2.14
1 yellow onion,(around .80 cents a lb).

Cook the lenteles and kidney beans until good and soft. You're basically making a version of refried beans. Mix in whatever spices you like. If portioned out right,could have enough to last a couple of weeks. Mix in cooked ground turkey with portioned out bean and lentle mix. Wrap with 2-3 tortillas. Make your salsa if you want and portion that out as well. That alone won't cost much more than a few dollars a week. Good lunch to have and really not that bad for you. I tend to have some fresh fruit,(canteloupe,$1.25 each chopped then frozen),as a side. Fairly affordable too.

[renaissance]

Rice, beans, and eggs. Protein, carbs, and healthy fats on the cheap!

[Houston2Taylor2Landry]

I would pound my face into a bowl of catfish and mashed potatoes upon sight and smell (maybe not really poverty, but I count KFC, Bojangles, etc as poverty food, because it's fast, affordable, and calorific)

canned chilli (or beans if I'm really broke) is also a favorite.. if I'm feeling lazy. I don't even bother to heat it up, or even get the cans that require an opener. I just pop one open and eat it right of the can then toss it into recycling. Good source of fiber, protein, and carbs.

This past summer there was a period of a few weeks when I had to live on $20 for a week. I bought a bunch of bean cans, and eggs. I would boil the eggs and eat them for breakfast, take them to work and eat them for lunch. I would eat a can of beans or two at night.

The farting never ended... but it wasn't too bad, I liked boiled eggs... for a while at least, towards the end I started to digust myself.

I was reading through that thinking the exact same thing. It made me laugh though because Boiled egg farts are probably the closest smell to death itself.

[Forehead]

When I was doing my unpaid summer internship in college, I was shacking up in a friends apartment while he was back home. There was no one in town so I was pretty much a shut-in. Being that it was unpaid, I had very little money. So my go-to meal was the bulk ground beef from the local grocery store, frozen broccoli, and Texas Pete. I ate that for lunch and dinner for about two months.

Yes, I occasionally are something else, but that was 90% of my meals for two months. I think I lost 25 pounds.

[Houston2Taylor2Landry]

This is usually what I eat if I don't have steak in large quantities like I do now..

99c bag of mashed potatoes,Slice of cheese,bbq sauce, and sugar. mmmm...

Elbow macaroni 88c and can of kidney beans 99c...mmmm

Can of peas, Box of Kraft Mac, and Tuna.. mmm

Can of gravy over slices of bread...mmmm

Bag of Ramen and Tuna Fish

Bag of Ramen and chicken breast

[PleaseBlitz]

Chipped beef on toast. I have no idea how to make it, my wife makes it. She learned how to make it from her mom who grew up on a farm in WV, dirt poor.

It is amazing. :drool:


As an aside, whenever we visit, her folks make pancakes, but instead of syrup, they are served with sugar water (because when her mom was growing up, her fam couldnt afford real syrup) . Also amazingly good.

---------- Post added September-8th-2011 at 11:37 PM ----------

When i was in college, my poverty food was tuna, eaten directly out of the can.

[shuler74]

Easy.... Ramen noodles, you can buy a pack of them for .99 cents !!!

Lol at some of these answers.....chicken breast really.....title says poverty

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

We got ketchup soup. Are Americans just idiots? I'm starting to think that might inevitably be the case.

Poor Southern White Americans may be.

The Italian side of my family could take tomatoes grown in polluted soil in their backyard, onions, water, and flour and make a meal you would pay $50 for in New York.

The "white" side of my family ate fried baloney on Wonder bread.

Just look at the example of soul food. It's nothing but the most disgusting things that were lying around on plantations. And it's delicious (if horribly unhealthy).

You would think that Appalachia would have developed a great cuisine, but aside from fried catfish, I don't really know of anythng "native" to West Virginia that I would eagerly eat. Like, I've never found anyone who does something ingenious with squirrel meat. I'm not sure why that is, but it may have something to do with the Scotch-Irish being genetically incapable of developing decent cuisine.

I do think you can make a case that New Englanders knew how to make great food out of whatever was lying around. Lobsters were once food for prisoners. Chowder is not native to New England, but you could argue it was perfected there.

Outside of New England, nearly all the great "regional" foods around the US were either introduced by immigrants, Native Americans, or slaves. Barbeque was originally a Carribean concept that slaves altered in order to make the horrible meat they were given edible.

[zoony]

Poor Southern White Americans may be.

The Italian side of my family could take tomatoes grown in polluted soil in their backyard, onions, water, and flour and make a meal you would pay $50 for in New York.

The "white" side of my family ate fried baloney on Wonder bread.

Just look at the example of soul food. It's nothing but the most disgusting things that were lying around on plantations. And it's delicious (if horribly unhealthy).

You would think that Appalachia would have developed a great cuisine, but aside from fried catfish, I don't really know of anythng "native" to West Virginia that I would eagerly eat. Like, I've never found anyone who does something ingenious with squirrel meat. I'm not sure why that is, but it may have something to do with the Scotch-Irish being genetically incapable of developing decent cuisine.

I do think you can make a case that New Englanders knew how to make great food out of whatever was lying around. Lobsters were once food for prisoners. Chowder is not native to New England, but you could argue it was perfected there.

Outside of New England, nearly all the great "regional" foods around the US were either introduced by immigrants, Native Americans, or slaves. Barbeque was originally a Carribean concept that slaves altered in order to make the horrible meat they were given edible.

there is a theory that protestant food sucks because it is a sin to take too much pleasure at the table. Not a bad theory imo. If appalachia were settled by Catholics the cuisine would be exceptional. Look at the cajuns

[Botched]

I have eaten more than my share of poverty food. My favorite usually being whichever one I had at the time.

Ramen mixed with anything I can find. Eggs, lunch meat, mixed vegetables, cheese, sour cream, hot dogs, salad dressing, crumbled up chips or crackers. I might add 1/2 of one seasoning packet if I'm making 2 packs. It's a hearty meal, and the violent gas makes for good entertainment the next morning.

Rice is a good substitute for Ramen sometimes. Prepared with anything I have in the fridge. If you have leftover rice, you can throw it in a pan and fry it. Good stuff.

DIscount hot dogs. Usually .88 for an 8-pack. Grab some buns from the "almost expired" shelf for 1.25 and some ketchup and mustard packets from the prepared foods section, and you're good to go for less than 30 cents per dog.

Spaghetti O's straight out of the can. Done that for lunch twice this week. The generic ones are .89/can at Aldi. A little ritzy compared to fifteen-cent ramen, but sometimes you have to spoil yourself.

Stuffing is pretty cheap, but you have to add butter or spread to it. Still a good deal if you can find some generic Country Crock on sale. A box of stuffing is a lot of food.

Sometimes I'll find a big loaf of almost-expired "artisan" bread at a grocery store for not much more than $1. That can feed you for a while, especially if you have some generic spread and garlic powder to put on it.

Jars of pasta sauce and/or cheese regularly go on sale for $2 each. Mix one of those with a .99 box of pasta and you have more than 2 meals for $3. Oh, you can also top those noodles with sour cream if you don't want to buy pasta sauce. I love sour cream noodles.

For flavored beverages, generic powdered drink mixes are great. If you find it on sale, you can make 3+ gallons for $2.

[CrabR]

"poverty" food

Pinto beans and turnip greens. We were poor and we lived off tha sruff. Is wore i would never eat it again...........I still do and love pinto beans over light bread and side of greens . When i fix it at home no one will eat it but me

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

there is a theory that protestant food sucks because it is a sin to take too much pleasure at the table. Not a bad theory imo. If appalachia were settled by Catholics the cuisine would be exceptional. Look at the cajuns

The grandparents on my mother's side were strict Protestants from central WV.

They viewed dinner as strictly utilitarian. I hated eating with them.

[renaissance]

I'm suprised more people haven't mentioned eggs. They are like $2 for a dozen which can last for a week of dinners when combined with some beans and rice which are also dirt cheap if you pick up a bag of each. And they are much healthier and will leave you more satisfied than a box of instant mac and cheese or some ramen noodles.

[Elessar78]

I've had cup of noodles at work once a week sporadically. I routinely get mocked for it. But who cares? It has a soft spot in my heart, reminds me of college.

[Botched]

I'm suprised more people haven't mentioned eggs. They are like $2 for a dozen which can last for a week of dinners when combined with some beans and rice which are also dirt cheap if you pick up a bag of each. And they are much healthier and will leave you more satisfied than a box of instant mac and cheese or some ramen noodles.

Yeah, eggs are perfect for making dishes more hearty and satisfying than they would usually be. I add them to rice or ramen.

I can't do eggs by themselves as a meal, they get sickening quickly.

[renaissance]

Yeah, eggs are perfect for making dishes more hearty and satisfying than they would usually be. I add them to rice or ramen.

I can't do eggs by themselves as a meal, they get sickening quickly.

My go-to meal as a poor grad student was rice, black beans baked with salsa verde, and a couple of eggs over easy. I can't eat eggs by themselves unless they're hard boiled.

[addicted]

Bag of Microwave popcorn
Bowl to cereal

My comfort foods that when I'm pinching pennies I enjoy eating, beats the hell out of top romen

[GibbsFactor]

Gumment Cheese and PB and Jelly on old hot dog buns for the win Alex!

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

I like eggs, but they don't like me. So, I have to limit them. But, yea, you can throw them in with rice or veggies and suddenly have a meal.

[S.T.real,lights,out]

Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup!!

[Stew]

Also after working for 15-16 hours everyday, hunting isn't easy.

fishing is.

[elkabong82]

bologna cheese sanwich

[grhqofb5]

Corn beef hash.