Spaghetti can definitely be struggle meal, 1lb of ground beef, the cheapest spaghetti noodles and pasta saucd you can find, You can make a big pot of it and it'll probably last you a week
@@elliotcoffman2643 Bro buy some onions, garlic, and a bell pepper chop saute in butter or whatever oil or fat you have and make your sauce and noodles. Meat does not make it gourmet. Using a premade pasta sauce cancels out any gourmet. ALso just a premade pasta sauce and noodles sounds like something they would feed prisoners at aushwits
One of my favorite memories is leaving school on the last day of Jr year with my friend Art and putting our $ together to grab some H&R for 5 bucks and drinks and just walking through Lake county eating pizza and playing music up to lake Erie. Good times 👍👍.
When I saw the cereal with water picture the first thought that came to my mind is that exact scene in the movie Friday, when Craig went in the kitchen to try to make some cereal when in the fridge and saw that there wasn't any milk. 😂😂😂😂 CLASSIC.
@GetRyght Gaming I had it growing up. Most poor households in NYC had it. I wish I can put an image of it here but honestly you put it on white bread or crackers. Just google it and you'll see it.
Cinnamon toast is a struggle meal/dessert that I still eat sometimes. 😅 After seeing the cereal with water.... one time we didn't have milk and I really wanted cereal...I mixed up water and coffee creamer to make some ghetto ass milk for my cereal. Poor people can get creative af.🤣
The struggle food back then for me was bakery bread with butter, chef boyardee spaghetti meatballs, grill cheese, banquets, celeste pizza and tostinos and damn i remember that red juice 🤣 and the ssips fruit punch
My parents both grew up very poor during the Depression and WWII so most of the items in this list were prepared in my house when I was a kid. I remember very well my dad eating shit on a shingle. I freakin’ love you, Stefan! You always make me laugh my ass off!
I think chili definitely depends on the context. It's definitely more in the category of "a little bit is going to fill you up, so that pot is going to be dinner for a week" rather than cheap ingredients struggle most of the time. When you're in the sticks, though, it also gets much more into that struggle category as you're adding that can of black beans and tomato paste that you unearthed from the back of the cabinet that no longer has an expiration date (the can ain't bulging, though, so surely it's still good), that freezer burnt mystery meat that you've been avoiding for about a year (you /think/ it's from that deer Cousin Bobby shot last Christmas but you can't say for sure), etc etc. I frankly make use of a lot of these, both as a struggle food and as a "I only have the time and energy to cook for five minutes" food. I've also started learning about some international struggle foods to really mix things up a bit. My recent go to has been stir fried tomatoes and eggs - a bit more inaccessible with the current egg shortage, but when eggs are not $5 a dozen, it's a cheap, simple dinner, and once the rice is cooked up it's maybe like 5 minutes of prep and cook time.
Hell, we made every sandwich with white loaf bread. Hamburgers, hotdogs, spam, potted meat, canned deviled ham. If it fit between those slices, we ate it.
Not sure if it's the classic recipe but we made it with ground beef, campbell's mushroom soup, some milk, and salt and pepper. Vary the amount of cans based on need and struggle. It hit hard when it had a chance to sit overnight and be served for breakfast. That is definitely struggle food/good eating.
We used to eat Spam Slam when I was a kid - a can of spam, some potatoes, a can of green beans and an onion in a pressure cooker. The spam and onion added seasoning. Fed a family of four quite often.
Yesssssss Red drink and we also had what we called "basehead drinks" that came in the little plastic barrel lookin container and came in red, purple, blue and orange drink flavors...those were definitely damn near refreshing
I never thought it a struggle meal. Been eating them since i was a kid, well before i ever realized that we didn't have any money. It was just something we did in the summer, Dad grew tomatoes in the garden and sometimes we would make tomato sandwiches. I thought it was totally normal. These days i step it up a notch and i spread some cream cheese on the bread before i put it in the toaster oven to toast it. Kinda like making a toasted cheese but with cream cheese. Once its all toasted Tomato from the garden, a little salt and pepper. Its fantastic. Its still something i only do in the summer because the garden fresh tomatoes are what makes it so great.
OMG it would be great if you could do a review on the foods you've never tried like the tomato sandwich! Not only would it be hilarious lol, but you'll get a chance to see if you truly like it or not👍🏽
A struggle Mama used to make: Ramen noodle with hotdogs sausage. If the budget allowed, added broccoli. Top tier. Sometimes, a bit of craftiness in the struggle gets you through a lot!
I will never eat baloney. Ever since my homegirl that's a scientist showed me me bologna under a Microscope. If you saw what I saw that's deep inside of Bologna. You wouldn't eat it either
Bro everything looks wild under a microscope. Look at a slice of apple, or a piece of bread. Yes, pork has loads of bacteria and microfauna, but chicken and fish have just as much if not more.
@@hotgun2469 oh trust me bro I know bologna Taste good when it's fried, but I'm traumatized bro. And it wasn't just bacteria that i saw, I saw bugs, and and other stuff. I just can't do it.
Okay, this is the one where I got some OPINIONS. - Beans & Rice - "I need some protein", bruh beans are like pure protein, PLUS fiber, and if you're making your black beans and rice right, you're tossing in a ham hock -Chef Boyardee BOWL? That bowl ain't struggle, that's the bougie ravioli. The real struggle food was the grocery store-brand generic ravioli in a can -Anything McDonald's is WAY too expensive to be real struggle food. I know poor folk go there a lot (I did too), but DAMN, for the same price you can get a way better meal pretty much anywhere else -Taco can be struggle food if you got a big-ass family, assuming it's like white-people tacos -Bruh tomato sandwich was my favorite shiz as a kid, struggle or no
THANK YOU! Beans and rice is so versatile too. It can literally be any bean and any rice. Beans and rice side from popeyes is absolutely delicious. I agree with literally everything else you said too. Boyardee bowls are also too expensive to be considered struggle NOWADAYS but they used to be cheaper, but Mcdonals is absolutely too expensive to be struggle unless your only ordering off the dollar menu
This is a terrible struggle list! This needs a redemption video! Please redo! Butter noodles should be on that 100% 😂 Butter and tortillas Peanut butter and tortillas lmfao Spaghetti is def a hood classic. When you eat that mfr over and over and over cuz its cheap and last for days! 😂 so much can go into this list!
I grew up eating parmesan cheese and hot sauce in a bowl, after school in elementary. Corned beef was a Christmas morning delicacy. I looked forward to school lunch. That chicken and gravy with mashed potatoes got my peter hot! Spaghetti is a struggle meal. $1 for a box of noodles and $1 for the canned sauce.
9:20 “The nose & ears & HOOVES…do pigs have hooves…? Pigs do not have hooves…” idk why that shit got me dying rn i had to play that part like 10 times🤣
I'll say one that's a classic I grew up on... Ranch Style Beans, Sliced New Potatoes, and some kind of beef all mixed together in a form of stew. Sometimes some diced or Rotel tomatoes
FYI anyone in the struggle wanna step your Mac game up. Do a little less milk, add a little extra butter and add some salt. Or as my dad used to make me cut up some hot dogs throw them in and add a slice of Kraft American cheese on top melted. I’m no longer in the struggle and make this for my daughter sometimes and it’s her favorite thing.
You gotta throw the cut up weenies on the stove with some butter and your season of choice(pepper, garlic powder, and paprika is my go to) until brown on the edges and THEN throw it in my brotha game changer. Your kid'll love it.
I agree never been that bad for me to use water w/ cereal, we always had milk. Tacos & chili definitely aren't a struggle food. I still eat hamburger helper, ramen noodles, frozen pizza & sloppy joes sometimes til this day
I used to take white bread. Take a glass and cut out circles and sprinkle nestle quick and sugar on them with tap water to drink. My brother and sister would be so d*** delighted. I had to put a lil gourmet on it with the circles, because we didn't have shyt to eat lol 😂
I remember not too long ago my corner gas station had .99 white bread and eggs weren't much more than a dollar back before inflation and I would make egg sandwiches, add a Kraft single and hot sauce that was some good eating.
I always ate that Kraft Mac n Cheese after it had been in the fridge, cause that shit slapped. Cold Kraft with a bit of ketchup was THE struggle meal in my house.
Chilli was a struggle meal in a different context. The it's Friday my mom just got paid so we felt classy and pulled up and got some ground beef and the little McCormick chilli packet and a can of beans. Pop that thing in the slowcooker kinda struggle. Will last you all weekend if you eat slowly 🤣
My grandmother lived through the great depression, and she's made me tomato sandwiches. They're not good but they're not great either. I'd put them in project living.
Pizza rolls, tortillas was a staple in my college cuisine. With the tortillas I could make pizza quesadillas with questionable ham and “melted topping” and a little sauce from my 50 cent can of hunts spaghetti sauce!!
Where has this been all my life! Another Bourgeois ghetto item is them darn 'croquettes' a.k.a salmon patties made from canned salmon. The prevailing brand was Eatwell back in the day. Tasted like fish caught in an oil spill. They used to put the bones and all in them leaden patties. Lawd have mercy.😖😳
Taco Bell Chicken Chipotle Ranch Burrito. That thing is freaking good tho, and it's only $2 at most stores, but $2.69 in Orlando. Price varies by location lol 😂😂😂😂😂
Don't sleep on spaghetti nan either Spoonful of spaghetti with the twist noodles dipped in salted flour and fried dark brown Hallelujah!!!! Now go to bed😂
My auntie when I was a kid, used to make bananas and mayo sandwiches, or sometimes banana and peanut butter. Hell, sometimes I ate only mayo sandwiches, or just peanut butter sandwiches, while drinking a ton of water to keep from choking. That was some strugglish ass shit!!!!
TRUE STRUGGLE FOODS butter &:sugar on white bread & a apple.. my mom made this for us(6kids) when we moved to Canada for lunch 😮 way back in early 80's .. now I'm 45 years old woman..i never want to eat it again..
Like Dave Chappelle said, in that OLDSCHOOL sunny d commercial, the white dude said "We got some purple stuff." That ain't purple stuff! the ONE black dude in the commercial KNEW that's GRAPE drink !! NECTAR of the project GODS!! Grape drink will get you through!! Just like can corn beef hash. Put that joint in the cast iron skillet letit get a lil golden brown then make a fried egg with some RED kool aid Shiiieeet!! And I think bologna sandwich should be BOUGHETTO cuz if u fry that bihhhh and put cheese on it with once again RED kool aid Cause it don't matter if it's Strawberry or cherry, all we knew was dat bihh was red and goodeder than a bihhh.
Back in the 80s I could see Tacos being struggle food, because they used to be about 50 cents. Not anymore though. Growing up in the 70s in a project in Knoxville, without a doubt, beans were my family's struggle food. Beans, homemade corn bread. Sometimes my mom would make fried potatoes, fried cabbage. My Mom would also make fried green tomato sandwiches. Usually went hungry because I didn't like them. Once I got older Ramen became my struggle meal. Which wasn't even an option in my youth. I'm 55 to add context.
Tacos are a struggle meal! Ask a Mexican! Spaghetti is a struggle meal as well! Pasta? $1 Sauce? $1. Canned veggies? $1. Ask me how I know. Throw in beans for $1. Also, $5 whole chickens are a struggle meal. When you gotta eat for 3 days and it's all you got? Yum!
Me and my buddies used to take spam on our hunting trips. We bought a metal rake and build us a fire, put those slices of spam and lay em down on that rake, and put that ish over the fire. It could've been the half a bottle of crown already down our throats, but that spam always hits like yo mommas belt.
Tomato sandwich. OK. I remember having toast with sliced tomato; maybe a little Italian seasoning and salt and pepper on the tomato. Add some melted cheese under the tomato, maybe some ham if you have it, and toast it in the oven until melted. Open faced tomato cheese sandwich. It is really good!!!
Oh a tomato sandwich is divine. You need a home grown tomato. Soft white or rye bread. Mayo or butter. A delicate smidge of Dijon. Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt. Not struggle food. No. Delicious.
I forgot to add we used to eat canned sardines and canned biscuits. I can still see my older brother's grimace as he slowly chewed through those sardine bones. He hates sardines to this day.🤣🤣🤣
Spam is more like a culti-ish kind of food, very popular in Hawaiian and Asian culture. I had too much of it as a kid, so I don't eat it anymore, but one time years ago, I had Spam musubi, and it slaps!
Tomato sandwiches with sandwich spread, cheddar cheese, black pepper, it's so good. But those tomatoes need to be homegrown, or organic, but definitely heirloom. It's not really a struggle meal, but it can be.
If u need special tomatoes u gatta get a specific store to enjoy ur struggle meal it ain’t a struggle meal imo 👏🏾u need those cheap ass tomatoes u get from a key food (ny born and raised) or u local hood supermarket that kinda smells weird when u walk in
@@Perc_angle30 It really isn't a struggle food. It's a farmer food, when you have an abundance of good crop tomatoes, to savor the flavor. I hear you though, that NY produce isn't bad either.
@@js-tw3vs true true the hood and rural farm areas do have some In common tho but nah it depends on when and where u get the produce from in ny if u go to a fruit stand you’ll get cheap and quality stuff but If u go to a big store in certain neighborhoods you’ll some times get small produce that’s a bit on the expensive side
for the taco argument i ate tacos with no cheese and miscellaneous taco shells…..i need to see it through😭and i used to smoke weed istg when i had the munchies with no money and no food id 1. just ignore my hunger💀 2. eat 6 toast slices
Mine growing up was Stroganoff (ground beef, egg noodles, cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, and if we had it, a dash of Worcestershire sauce). May not SOUND like it, but that shit got me through some lean times
