Mine isn’t really a “Meal”, I used to put margarine spread on white bread and sprinkle a tiny bit of cinnamon and sugar on it as a sweet treat growing up.
Struggle broke or struggle sad?
Hotdogs in ramen, hands down.
Our poverty “treat” as kids was toast with tomato sauce and a slice of government cheese, for a makeshift pizza.
We would put hot dogs in Mac N Cheese but never ramen, I did learn recently that some people put hot dogs in spaghetti and I wanted to try it but my husband absolutely refuses.
Fried chick peas (I use cans since they’re more convenient, but even cheaper dried beans are fine too but you have to soak for 24h and then boil them first). But either way, seriously cheap, loaded with protein and fiber, and delicious:
Rinse beans and dump into a large dry pan on high heat. Move them around until they have mostly dried up and just barely start sticking to the pan. Then add oil - just once or twice around the pan is plenty - and some salt. Then let them fry in that little bit of oil. Move them with a spoon every so often to keep from sticking too much.
After about 15 min you have these golden brown crunchy and slightly salty little things. They’re great, and go with everything as a side dish.
Hot dogs with white bread instead of a bun goes CRAZY imo