"The most important part of a struggle meal is eating it with a heart full of hope" dam didn't expect an inspirational quote out of a struggle meal vid but here i am
@@wakichunuYes and no. If you're poor and only eat cheap carbs you gonna be fat and hungry all the time. Mixing in a struggle salad every now and then would keep you fuller longer and your insides would thank you
@@MXHMustafaXHorror i'll take this wisdom with me for my next poor phase, hope i dont have one before i evaded my quickly communising fully authoritarian piece of shit country tho
I love how he replaces critical ingredients with random crap he has laying around. " i dont have oreos, so im gonna substitute it with a gallon of paint"
oh my goddd i used to eat this all the time when i was a kid. we would also put a little bit of butter on it so the sugar and cinnamon sticks and for more flavor
You know you can just mix flour with water and milk and get european pancakes? Add sugar and you are good to go! Also an egg in the mix if you are feeling rich. I usually skip it anyway. For some reason i will never forget like 4 things from being a young child at my gransmas place and one of them is the sugar pancake.
in a very very low point in my life currently and the final bit about you not wanting anybody to ever have to experience eating a struggle meal brought tears to my eyes. your videos are the only thing keeping me going right now. thank you❤❤
i know I was like dang....my family is hillbilly red neck and these lack creativity......they put the sausage and mayo and I'm like.....why not tuna and mayo??? a tuna can is like 75 cent and mayo packets at the deli are usually free. so is salt and pepper packets and relish packets at delis.
I didn't realize how much of my childhood was struggle meals until I thought about it as an adult. Lots of buttered noodles with salt/pepper, a ton of canned fruit/veg (free thanks to my grandpa working at a canning plant), and when we had the money to splurge on meat, Mom would make a pork roast with potatoes and onions. I have fond memories of the scent of the roast simmering in a cast iron pot all day, and then you could use the leftovers with some BBQ sauce (sparingly!) on plain white bread for a poor man's pulled pork. Every couple of years I buy a pork roast just to remind myself of home and how far I've come.
It kinda lessens the blow when most of your national dishes are "struggle meals". People didn't have too much to choose from when we were kinda forming our national identity 110 years or so ago. Like the absolute peak dish is this nonsense called "karelian roast" where you take all the bad and chewy bits of a pork, put it in a pot with onions and if you can afford them carrots, then cover them with water, and put in oven until it's all grey mush.
The chicken bouillon that was used for the popcorn chicken is a powder. Meaning you can sprinkle it on without making your popcorn soggy. What you used is chicken base, a chicken concentrate meant to be used to make stock but with flavor closer to freshly made chicken stock. It’s not the same and, while I don’t want to try either, I’m almost 100% certain that would have both tasted and looked better if you had used the powder.
Chicken powder on popcorn reminded me of when my brother and I were little and we used to sneak packs of ramen out of the house when we were hungry but didn’t want to go home yet. Lunch would then become, crushed dry ramen, in the bag, with the seasoning powder mixed in. Pretty good snack. 😂
Fun fact, the end piece of bread is used to keep the moisture in all the remaining pieces to prevent it from drying out too quickly, so always leave it for the last!
@@InsanityPlusOne if you require a week to finish a loaf of bread that's on you, I have to buy a new loaf every 2-3 days, that's way before it starts to get mold
As a med student and an asian my favorite struggle meal is Indomie mie goreng (fried noodle). Touch of a sunny side egg and done. Delicious and fast 👌🏻
These recipes people were sending in seem more like they're struggling with depression rather than money😭 All of them could be make so much better with different techniques and some extra steps
My struggle meal is a can of ranch style beans (can be substituted for baked beans, chili beans or black beans) mixed with instant rice, topped with salsa and whatever cheese I have at the time. It’s actually pretty bomb as a lazy person’s version Tex-Mex tbh
right? it's like they set high expectations. if i ever go to england and don't find specimens like these i'll be about as disappointed as if i'd gone to paris and not seen a medieval amount of rats
My struggles meals are: 1: A boiled yellow plantain smashed up, seasoned with salt and garlic, and topped with cheese or Vienna sausages. 2. A boiled potato seasoned with salt and whipped with a soft boiled egg. 3. White rice topped with sunny side up eggs, and I break the yolks to drip on the rice as I eat it.
My go to struggle meal used to be; -flour tortilla +honey mustard+ham Now the new updated version is : -flour tortilla+honey mustard 👍🏽✨ Good luck everybody
Mine is flour torilla that I heat directly on the burner of my gas stove. Then add mayo and shredded cheese. If I have shredded lettuce, put that in and then (optionally) lightly sprinkle with white wine or red wine vinegar. Roll like burrito. If I don't have lettuce or cheese, just the mayo on a warm torilla is good for ultimate struggle.
You can make a crumble following roughly the same recipe except instead of white bread you combine flour sugar and butter and you grill it in a pan on low heat. Add on top of your cooked apples and it makes for a perfectly serviceable apple crumble.
@@Goddot 15+ bowls of yogurt with a single granola mix bag is not “expensive” granola mix is like 3-4$ at aldi and last i checked a simple bag of chips at any gas station nowadays is like $2.29 lol, how on earth did you come to that conclusion
@@LUCKIPUPPowdered peanut butter is 10x the cost or regular peanut butter and granola at $4 a bag is overpriced. Comparing a bag of granola from Aldi to chips at a gas station isn’t a comparison.
@@codename495 dawg idk where you live but inflation hittin and everything is expensive lol especially any food that actually has any nutritional value big dawg
My go-to struggle meal is insanely delucious and only needs 1 pot (no joke give it a try). - Open a can of tomatoes, put them in a pot and mash them - Add heavy cream to taste and mix to form a sauce . Add salt and any spice you enjoy to taste (generally recommend garlic powder, onion powder, dry basil, oregano and paprika) but you can do with just salt. - Put the stove on high heat. - Once the sauce is boiling, crack 3 eggs in there and cook until the whites are settle and the yolk is creamy but still runny. - Use the pot as your plate (or transfer to a plate if you are feeling fancy) and eat alongside some white italian bread to deep in the sauce and in the egg yolk.
Dollar tree struggle recipe: 1 bag of corn chips, 1 can of chilli or beef stew, and slices of cheese. Line a baking dish with lightly crushed chips, put stew or chilli on top, cheese on top, bake til cheese is melty.... Really really good meal for less than 5 bucks.
These meals are giving nostalgia for the time i was extremely depressed and wouldnt care for myself in any way at all. Knowing i still tried making myself food in those times, albeit sporadically and with no rhyme or reason, still makes me happy for some reason. I may only have eaten a full on head of plain brokkoli with baked chicken nuggets or canned beans but i still had enough of a will to live to want to enjoy any type of strange food and that is comforting to me. Struggle meals show we are still trying
I think the only dish I can claim as mostly mine without direct influence or intentional following a recipe is taking a can of spam, slice into thin to a medium thickness slabs for slightly easier cooking, fry on a pan with some soyu sauce, not much. Once the spam is at a point you like cut to cubes. Add rice to the pan for maybe a minute or two at most with a little more soyu. To help with the overwhelming salt a tablespoon or two of butter helps with a slightly creamy taste. Enough salt to probably kill you but easy to make, the rice ensures you feel full. And cheap.
The best struggle meal is still this: Cook noodles. Then pour almost all the water out and pour like one teaspoon of lemon-Juice, two tablespoons olive oil and some grated cheese (i like youg gouda) over it. Give it a good mix until the cheese has melted a bit. Add some salt to your taste. Its delicious!
You are wrong. Cook noodles, pour over a teaspoon of olive oil, fresh or granulated garlic and black pepper. Spices are cheap enough for how little of them you need and the olive oil can be replaced with butter or really any edible fat.
I'm a cheese addict, but I don't like cheese on ramen. Lol My doctoring of ramen consists of also straining out the broth, but adding a dash of soya sauce/oyster sauce/hot sauce, and chopping up whatever leftover meat I have from yesterday's dinner. Lmao
@@designator7402 I cashed for proper Parmesan every time. You need very small amounts for a great deal of taste with real parmesan, so it averages out to be really cheap for how much taste it gives you.
It’s been a while so I hope I remember this. But a struggle dessert I loved making is something I called the PB&J Cheesecake Take 1 spoonful of creamy peanut butter and put it in a small mug, bowl, or ramekin. Microwave it until it’s soft. While your peanut butter is still liquidy, take an equal spoonful of strawberry cream cheese (can be any fruity or sweet cream cheese, my stores just only sold strawberry) Mix them both together until the cream cheese is fully melted and smooth. Reheat in the microwave until the mixture begins to bubble. Immediately place it in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes till it sets. Place an unlit candle in it and put on a fun lil party hat and enjoy
Apparently I did struggle meals wrong. In college I started off the month buying a big bag of rice and then would buy meat whenever it was on sale or on clearance. Then spend some money on garlic salt, pepper, soy sauce, and ginger and then went wild with whatever other ingredients were on sale. 5lb of rice 8.98 Garlic salt 4.78 Black pepper 3.77 Ground ginger 2.24 Soy sauce 3.58 Vegetable oil 3.84 Total 27.19 for all the seasons and rice which will last a while. I usually got a few weeks out of the rice and only needed new seasonings every 3-4 months depending on how liberal I was with them. Then for protein and veggies watch for good sales and clearance. Now these prices aren't totally accurate because I'm just going off Walmart prices they could be more or less depending on where you live.
Yeaah so many young adults leave home with no idea how to stretch a dollar. If you're willing to put a little more effort into cooking, for example with dried beans instead of canned, there's money to be saved for spices haha.
Struggle meals are really just for when you struggle to budget, struggle to learn cooking, or are too lazy to go to the store so you make a meal out of random ingredients you had sitting around.
@@cookiemonster2630 yeah like i always hear about other young people saying that they can only afford ramen, but like, ramen is more expensive than healthier options like pasta
@onionring1531 or struggling mentally. Sure, eating a proper meal may be healthier and cheaper, but when you can barely scrape together enough energy to get out of bed, it’s easier to shove a Walmart frozen pizza in the oven and be done with it
5:56 "why would you substitute a cheap and accessible ingredient with another cheap and accessible ingredient" potato prices from where i live be like ↗↗↗↗↗↗
A delicious struggle meal is pinto beans. I pressure cook a pound of dry pinto beans with water, chicken bouillon cubes, and taco seasoning. Serve it in a bowl and top with hot sauce, any cheese you have and sour cream. So comforting.
Beans have always been my go-to struggle meal too...cheap, and easy to make. I'd put dried beans (usually black beans) in a crock pot with lots of water and let it cook all day while I was at school/work, with some chicken bouillion, same as you, along with fresh garlic and onion. Come home, add some green chili (yes, I'm from NM...we actually eat such a thing here), and then serve it up in a tortilla with veggies, cheese, salsa and sour cream for a hearty burrito. Nourishing, healthy, cheap, and easy....ticks all the boxes. Ten out of ten would recommend, especially black beans for a more intense flavor. I saved pinto beans for green chili stew; same deal with the beans, but at the end added cooked ground meat along with the chili, and ate in a bowl with either a tortilla or cornbread. Struggle meal, but also comfort meal, esp in winter. FYI - for vegans or vegetarians, Impossible brand makes a ground "meat" that is even better than real meat in green chili stew and tacos and spaghetti...yummy!
Try out some kogel-mogel, dude. 2-4 raw egg yolks, 3-4 tea spoons of sugar, beat until sooth and creamy, or maybe a little gritty, whichever floats your boat. Favorite Soviet era struggle meal.
A good struggle meal is 50/50 corn and macaroni with butter, little bit of salt. Can cut the butter if you're struggling really bad and don't have any. If you're a bit on the higher end of the struggling, you could add cheese.
I can make a giant pot of bean soup for like 10 bucks from dollar store ingredients. One thing that always makes struggle meals more palatable is having a good selection of dried and powdered spices (which i can also find at the dollar store). Your wallet doesn't have to suffer just to satisfy your tastebuds, and your tastebuds don't have to suffer just to satisfy your wallet. Shop around for deals, and just never be afraid to experiment. If you worry a lot about making things, or just have no idea where to start, then i actually recommend studying recipies from times of scarcity. In the U.S. that would be the great depression and world wars one and two in terms of years i'd start looking into. People really showed a lot of good and bad creativity during eras of rationing. Even if your situation is bad now, i have every faith that you'll be alright.
for really good recipes during times of Scarcity, i HIGHLY recommend checking out B. Dylan Hollis. he makes videos on vintage recipes, and is perfect for pointing out delicious cheap recipes, and telling you which ones to stay away from XD
@@thedorkknight9684 OH I LOVE HIS CONTENT!! I even have a preordered copy of his cookbook. He brings every ounce of his humor into his cookbook and its great.
@@hardywatkins7737 the food bank was a god send for me in college. I'd go with my roommate to get a box for two, then cook loads of stuff before the fresher things could go bad. I can't have dairy so I'd trade the dairy products for other things with friends on and off campus. Lol sometimes I'd even trade home cooked meals for other stuff, like extra ingredients or spices. I know there are lots of people in my age group that feel ashamed or embarrassed to go to a food bank, but honestly its a resource like any other. Damn, sorry I'm rambling, you just brought up funny memories of my little "restaurant" I had back in college.
Our struggle meal was really good. My mom would make star or alphabet soup (la moderna packet .48 cents) and she would add a teaspoon of tomato bouillon ($2.38/ 7.9 oz jar) a tablespoon of salt, one 8oz can of tomato sauce (.44 cents) she would add 4 washed, whole eggs and they would hard boil with the soup. She would also add fresh cooked beans ($1.98/ one 32 oz bag) which had been left cooking all day. On fancy days she would make fresh jalapeño salsa and add it to give it some spice. Less than $5 and most of these ingredients would last for several meals.
Dang, an actual meal under $5. I'm always annoyed when I see videos on budget meals and it costs like $30 for all the ingredients and is only cheap when priced per serving. When you're really struggling, you don't have the leeway to drop that much at once for all the ingredients
The soup sounds similar to what I had growing up. I would buy pasta that was star shape and I would cook it in a pot of boiling water that flavored with vegetable stock and while I made this because there wasn't anything in the house (not struggling, more like we ran out food and needed to go shopping) and thats all we had. I loved it so much I still make it today and I'm 30 years old
My sister (she's in 8th grade) made us this 9:18 dish and it turned out so good! Instead of the bread she used puff pastries cuz we didn't eat it as a struggle meal lol. She also made chocolate ones. And they were delicious. Although the chocolate inside is piping hot.
Fried Ramen Ingredients: 1-2 Maruchan Ramen packet(s) 2 Cups water However much butter you can afford or care to use. Just enought to where you're teetering on that edge between "This makes sense" and "I'm gonna have a heart attack." - Use a skillet with a lid instead of a pot. The water will boil more quickly than with the pot. Let the water boil and then put the ramen in with the lid on, do not use seasoning packets yet. - Once noodles are noodley, save about a cup of the water and drain the rest. Leave noodles in the skillet. - Add a spoon of butter into the skillet with the noodles and stir them about. While noodles are still noodling, add a seasoning packet. Continue to stir till you feel the pan is properly coated with butter as well as the noodles. - Leave the noodle bobs alone for a bit so they can crisp up. After about 3-5 minutes, check to see if they've crisped. If so, stir and then flip. If you can't flip, God help you. - After noodz are flipped, add some more butter and repeat the process. Keep sitting, stirring, and flipping till your nods are at the desired crispiness. Add more seasoning during these repetitions as you care too. I'm not your mom. - Once it's all nice and crispy, plate it. Yes, you have just taken some crunchy noodles and just remade them into crunchy noodles. But, they taste better now. Note: I didn't forget about the saved water. Pour some into the skillet every now and then if you feel the noodles are drying up too quicky during cooking or if you feel the seasoning isn't spreading like you'd prefer. Use the water to moisten it and give the seasoning a way to help coat the noodles. But if you're hellbent on that inevitable heart attack, use more butter instead of the starchy water.
You don't understand how funny this is 2:23 . I once made a huge batch of french toast for my entire family as a kid, and used cumin instead of cinnamon by accident. I specifically remember saying "Owww I love cinnamon, I'm gonna put extra!". IT WAS HORRIBLE!
I used to drink hot milk with cinnamon and honey, and one time I put a fuck ton of cumin in by accident and it was putrid. Idk why spice companies haven't changed the way they label cinnamon and cumin at this point. just make the cumin label yellow or brown and make the cinnamon label red ffs
A struggle meal my mom would make is kind of a mushroom-tuna casserole. She'd mix white rice, cream of mushroom soup, canned peas, and tuna together then bake until warm throughout. If we had them, she'd sautee sliced button mushrooms in butter and add them, but they're not essential. I actually liked it as a kid, but it's not everyone's cup of tea.
Best meal to feed a family when you’re broke and tired is tuna noodle. Boil a box of pasta (pro tip you only need enough water to cover the pasta, just make sure to stir constantly. screw the directions). While the pasta is cooking open and drain canned corn and a can of tuna. If you want you can shred the tuna in the can with a fork, it’ll make mixing easier. I also like to give the tuna water to any cat nearby. You’ll also want a can of cream of mushroom soup, mayonnaise, and cheese, as well as any seasoning you think works well with tuna (typically just a lot of salt and pepper and a dash of summ spicy). Once the pasta is cooked and as drained as your energy, use the same pot you cooked the pasta in to mix in the corn, cream of mushroom soup, however much mayonnaise your heart desires (typically 1-3 dollops), the tuna, the cheese, and the seasonings. The pasta should be hot enough to get the rest of the ingredients warm and melty. Most kids and adults alike enjoy it, and if not you just call them ungrateful and remind them it’s better than starving. If there’s any leftovers just mix in a spoonful of Mayo the next day and microwave for a minute or so. Good as new.
I used to make a microwave mug cake very similar to that chocolate cake almost every day. Was the best part of my day during a pretty dark time so love the messaging at the end and thanks for sharing.
my favourite struggle meal is white rice with whatever leftover meat i have in the fridge with hot peppers cut into it and salt, pepper, oregano, and chilli pepper flakes
one of my struggle meals i still make once a week is bechamel sauce with noodles or rice, depending on what i have at home. the catch is, the sauce is also seasoned with a bit of soysauce and a few dashes of tabasco.
My favorite struggle meal is what I call poor man's pizza. A flour tortilla, topped with whatever red spaghetti sauce is open, and then whatever shredded cheese is there, usually the HEB fiesta blend. That would be Monterrey jack, cheddar, asadero, and "queso quesadilla" but plain cheddar works fine too. Pretty much the only thing that won't work is low moisture mozzarella cause it just refuses to melt.. Top with whatever meat you have, I've done bacon bits, sausage, meatball, and slim jims. If you can use a 2nd tortilla, do it and then you can melt it all with a stove and put butter on it, otherwise you need to microwave it till the cheese is melted. Once it's all done, sprinkle some shakey parmesan cheese if you have it. Or leftover parm bags from a pizza place.
Struggle meals we ate: 1. in a warm flour tortilla put a slice of yellow cheese and a hot dog and bake at 350 F can't remember how long, maybe 6-8 minutes until the tortilla is crispy. 2. Slice about 2 hot and cook on a skillet until crispy and crack in a couple of eggs and you got winnis con huevo. 3. Take warm corn tortillas, smear some mashed potatos inside and fry and you got taquitos de papa. 4. Slice hot dogs lengthwise or diagonally and fry alongside french fries (storebought or make your own) and you got salchipapas. 5. Canned corn (heat it up heathen) and add butter and parmesan. You can add a squeeze of lime and hot sauce but its optional.
Also for even cheaper/easier pancakes you can use those like $1 martha white bag muffin mix mixed with some milk or water (i dont measure just mix til it looks like pancake batter consistency, sometimes i throw in an egg too) and make pancakes! They come in a ton of flavors! My fave is the banana chocolate and especially if u use peanut butter syrup on top (or spread some peanut butter on and use maple syrup), and pumpkin spice, and double chocolate! I feel like most breakfast foods are good struggle meals for dinners
I've been struggling all week: Fried rice in vegetable oil and a teaspoon of shrimp paste, teaspoon of sambal ulek, sesame oil, and soy sauce (kecap manis). Basically a fried rice with nothing but rice and aromatics, some salt and pepper. If you have it throw in some dried garlic powder to struggle a bit harder.
The secret to tasty lazy meals is Lao Gan Ma. Put it on popcorn, rice, microwaved frozen peas, or eggs, or mix it with peanut butter and dip things in it, or use it to spice up mac and cheese or a leftover burrito. It's super versatile. Either the chili crisp or the fried chili in oil depending on how you're feeling.
Savoury oatmeal is the win here. But my hardest laugh was definitely "and just like many things and activities I enjoy it was calling for some whipped cream"
An easy meal I've made is to take one pack of ramen noodles, crush them finely, then add them to a bowl. Add a little bit of water, then place it in the microwave for about 1 minute. Cut one dill pickle into tiny pieces, take your ramen out, then dump your pickle in. Add one pack of Thai chili tuna and some mayo, mix it all together, then eat.
my struggle meal during college was: egg fried rice egg and rice is really cheap in my country, so... i just combine them together. with seasoning of course.
The meal I think was Mum's struggle meal to keep us, her pre-teen and teen kids content, is rice with milk and sugar. Cook some rice, serve it in a bowl and dress with sugar, milk, and maybe even some canned fruit if you have it (like canned peaches are the one my mind goes to). I was trying to decide if cheese-on-toast is struggle, but I think it depends on what types of cheese and tomato condiment one has. The better version is cheddar cheese, with difficulty dictated on whether it is block cheddar or pre-grated, and tomato paste. The more struggle version is processed cheese slices and ketchup. Either way, toast two slices of bread, butter them, spread tomato condiment, top with cheese, then put under the broiler-grill until cheese is melty and maybe has some browning. Meanwhile, on the savoury oatmeal, I eat porridge savoury. FYI, porridge is oatmeal made with rolled oats, very Scottish, very common in Australia. Either way, the old-fashioned non-microwave cooking method is a saucepan, water, a little salt, and oats, and stir until all liquid is thick and light beige, and oats are squishy and cooked. Basic serving can be just salt, pepper, and a slice of butter. Fancy can include some minced herbs, shredded meat, or any other random thing you can think of. Look up Asian congee and it can resemble that, because congee is just rice porridge with mix-ins. I have more than once had my porridge with rotisserie chicken and kalamata olives.
My bulk struggle meal ( that i still eat to this day) is a potato casserole A bunch of potatoes that are peeled and thinly cut (or diced, personally i never had a dicer, but it makes it easier) A can of tuna A pack of heavy cream( about 250ml, if there is too little liquid you can add water) Salt pepper and a bouillon cube All those things mixed in an oven dish And some cheese sprinkled And into the oven For one person that can be enough for a few days (depending on your appetite) My mother was always persistent that even when money wasn't great, that we still enjoy life, to the best of our abilities and the best way to do that was to eat something good that made us happy, it doesn't have to be complicated or expensive to being a bit of happiness to you
