Struggle meals

My first choice would be nettle soup. Nettles are everywhere (sort of), they are rich in protein and contain some fat, and they are also strengthening and adaptogenic. The minerals they contain are amazing—plant based iron, magnesium, etc.

Not only that but they taste good! The only reason they need a sting is how good they are.

Some stories say that nettles are sufficient for human subsistence—stories of colonists given only an extremely tiny portion of land to cultivate who foraged nettles as their staple, and Milarepa who supposedly ate only nettles while he was on solitary meditation retreat in the Himalayas. Nevertheless, I think nettles are rarely a bad choice for eating, no matter your situation.

I think this thread on Frugal Soup fits the bill!

While soup may benefit from a written recipe, it is not required.

One of my personal favorite 'recipe' soups is Ham and Navy Bean Soup. If you have a hambone available and some beans, you are in luck! I have had success making it with ham hocks as well. The cumin really pulls this recipe together.

And remember to use your leftovers. In the soup example, you can add one thing -- whatever you have or whatever's on sale, and make it a whole different soup. And you can do that every day, forever! https://permies.com/t/204592/Perpetual-stew-friends

Soups, stews, mac and cheese, and spaghetti are good struggle meals.

Beans are very versatile and are high in protein which makes them almost perfect for a tight budget.

Here are some ways to make ground meat go farther or to use less:

https://permies.com/t/139164/Ground-Meat-Recipes

Christopher Weeks wrote:And remember to use your leftovers.

Leftovers are my favourite thing to eat when I'm short of time!
When I do have time to cook properly, I often make a family sized meal for the 2 of us. So we might have it on alternate days, and a portion goes in the freezer for when I really don't have time to cook; one evening's work makes three evenings' meals. This works well for stew-like dishes such as curries, shepherd's/cottage pie, fish pie, soups, sweet and sour veg. I find chilli and lasagne taste even better after reheating!

When I am trying to make do with less, I often think “what do we actually need?”, and for my family’s food, that is basically carbs, protein, fat, and greens. Leafy greens (especially wild ones like nettles and dandelions) are so nutritious, you can get by with just those and no other fruit or veggies, for carbs, you can use whatever is homegrown or cheap - I grow a lot of potatoes for this purpose, but we also get bulk bags of organic grain as well. For protein and fat, homegrown eggs, dairy, and meat are what my family thrives on.

If you can’t grow greens, learn how to forage, and do some guerrilla gardening, and then you’ll have access to wild greens in season. This year I am trying out making dried greens by harvesting dandelions when they are abundant and at their tastiest and then air drying them on cake cooling racks and crumbling them up into jars to add to soups, stews, and drinks in winter. Health food shops charge a lot of money for this sort of thing, but if you’re good at foraging, you can make it for free.

Homemade bone broth is great. Bones are often seen as a waste product, so if you are friendly with any butchers, hunters, or people who raise their own meat, ask if they get rid of bones at butchering time and maybe you’ll get free bones. Bone broth is supposed to be protein sparing, so that you need less protein from other sources when you have broth. The bones often have little scraps of meat and marrow on them that can be eaten too. Depending on where you are and who you know, you might be able to get unrendered tallow for free (or for cheap), and render it up yourself for a nourishing cooking fat.

For cheap healthy food for busy times, I think it helps to remember that a bit of forward planning makes all the difference. Dumping a cheap tough cut of meat in a slow cooker or in a pot in a low oven with a bunch of veggies, water or broth, and whatever else you have around and leaving it to cook on its own doesn’t take much time to set up. I like to do big batch cooking too, where I cook a big pot of stew or curry once, and then we have 3 or 4 days worth of food from the one recipe. Without forward planning, eggs and cheese are really good and quick to eat.

And also for forward planning, taking some time to make a big batch of kimchi, kraut, or other ferment when the veggies for them are cheap and abundant will reward you later on, because if you’re really busy, you can just get a scoop of fermented vegetables on your plate and not have to worry about preparing other vegetables. I make big batches of ferments in autumn and they keep for a quite a while, the kimchi especially will keep for a full year just in an unheated room in the house.

Nettles are way too high in carotenoids. Carotenoids are toxic. In stories from the past about people surviving on nettles and other similar wild foods it worked for them because they had some toxin storage capacity left in their livers. Beware survivor bias. What we don’t have are all the stories from the ones that didn’t make it. And even if we do, it’s never recorded as “nettle poisoning” because the outcome will just look like they died of dysentery or cholera.

Anna Platte wrote:Nettles are way too high in carotenoids. Carotenoids are toxic.  

I thought it was pre-formed vitamin A that was toxic and that the precursor carotenoids just accumulate and turn you a bit orange.

It seems to me that to survive eating only Nettles might require the transmutative powers of a Saint...
But what I've read, and my own feelings of improved health from including them in my diet, seems to suggest that they are wonderfully nutritious as part of one's diet.

Anna Platte wrote:Nettles are way too high in carotenoids. Carotenoids are toxic. In stories from the past about people surviving on nettles and other similar wild foods it worked for them because they had some toxin storage capacity left in their livers. Beware survivor bias. What we don’t have are all the stories from the ones that didn’t make it. And even if we do, it’s never recorded as “nettle poisoning” because the outcome will just look like they died of dysentery or cholera.

"Provitamin A carotenoids, such as beta-carotene, are plant pigments that the body converts into active vitamin A. These carotenoids are plentiful in leafy greens and vibrantly colored vegetables and fruits, including carrots, sweet potatoes, and papayas. The absorption of provitamin A is variable and subject to feedback regulation, making it unlikely to lead to toxicity with excessive intake." Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532916/

Vitamin A toxicity can happen from taking supplements or eating too much animal-sourced foods rich in preformed vitamin A. This form is rare in plant foods. It's produced when animals eat carotenoid-rich foods, convert it to vitamin A, and store it in their fatty tissues.

If a struggle-meal is a fast, easy and satisfying meal, my go-to is pasta, tomato sauce with leafy greens and 1-2 fried eggs (sunny side up) on top. Yummy, quick and easy.

Saute whatever veggies need to be finished and taste good together. When they're half done or so, spread them out in the pan, add a little more oil or butter and throw an egg on top. Turn down the heat and cover it. Maybe turn it over, maybe not. Sprinkle some cheese and recover. Make sure you start the toaster in time to have everything on the plate together.

My favorite fast meal is a sort of pasta alfredo with either whole grain linguine or penne. Instead of making a separate sauce, I simply add olive oil, mozzarella cheese, parmesan, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and italian seasoning on top of the pasta right on the plate. I then heat up some frozen broccoli and peas and mix those on top, maybe a few capers or banana peppers, red pepper flakes, etc. I usually top it off with slices of avocado or fried tofu or even a fried egg. Drizzle some Frank's RedHot sauce on top for some extra kick

I started making salt cured meats this year.   My cellar is full of prosciutto and many other salt cured cuts.  

This is a really fast way to preserve meat, there is no need for a freezer, canner, electricity or plastic wrap.  

 The bone in cuts are ready to use.   Just like you might use bouillon cubes to make an instant broth.  Throw in any veggies and you have a quick, hearty soup.   The meat falls off the bone and is salty and delicious.  A very different flavor than regular cooked meat.  

The thin sliced prosciutto and biltong is perfect for a quick charcuterie board feast or to top a fresh salad.   No need for refrigeration, I can take it on the road or as a high energy snack for a hike.

My go-to frugal meal is a can of beans topped with a can of tuna in oil. I ate this for lunch weekly, from kindergarten until grade 6, when I had to go to a school farther away from my home.  I still eat and enjoy it today. Any baked bean will do, but as a kid, the bean "du jour" was canned navy beans baked in tomato sauce - usually Heinz.  My "Auntie" would heat the beans, plate them and add a teaspoon or less of canned tuna to the middle of each plate. It was and still is a filling, satisfying meal.

Auntie Ann, my neighbor, served as the lunchroom for the neighborhood kids with both parents working. We were a cheerful group of 5 through 11 year old kids that needed a hearty mid-day meal. Auntie Ann supplied the fuel to keep us going through the afternoon. Another AA lunch was pancakes.  Soft, thick cakes slathered in butter (ah, probably margarine) and doused with Argo Dark Corn Syrup. It's still a staple in my larder. If you could buy pancake batter in the early '50's, she wasn't using it. I still recall the tall red can of baking powder sitting out on the counter. One tragic February, she accidently made a heart-shaped pancake and 8 kids clamored for a "heart pancake." I don't think she ever recovered from that frantic 50 minute moment.

On days when she had the time, she'd make risotto. A deliciously creamy rice and italian tomato sauce concoction that had bits of leftover veg in it. Sometime it was broccoli, or mushroom, peas or something else, but always something. On good days, it was chicken, and that was when the fights would break out over who had a the largest piece of chicken. Auntie Ann quickly learned to parcel out the chicken pieces after the plates were set in front of us kids.

Now I make canned beans with canned tuna, heart-shaped pancakes with Argo Dark corn syrup, and tomato sauce risotto as 懐かしい Natsukashī -- nostalgic in English. And they are all delicious, regardless of my age.

My favorite cheap, filling  winter warmer is Tuscan bean stew. Just veg and beans with aromatics, but wow! the flavor.
Chop up 2 onions, 6 cloves garlic, 3-4 carrots, 3-4 stick of celery and add to 2Tblsp heated oil, turn down and cook slow for 10 min (don't rush this bit) with the lid on, stirring occasionally.
Add 4 cans cooked beans/chickpeas- with the water, 2 veg stock cubes  or 4 Tblsp veg stock powder ( I dry all my veg peelings, dehydrate and blitz, store in an airtight container) and either 1 Tblsp dry or a few sprigs each of Rosemary , Thyme and Sage, chopped.
2 cans tomatoes and enough water to taste.
Season with salt and pepper, bring to boil then let it blip  for 15min- hours- depending on your schedule.
Serve on its own or with bread, dumplings, mash.  
I've played with the beans / veg and herb mixes- sometimes I don't have all to hand and variations of root veg work well. I've left out thyme completely sometimes, likewise the sage. Beans- whatever I have in the cupboard/freezer, mix and match if you choose. My favorite is butter beans (white lima beans). I tend to soak and cook whole bags of beans to save on cost, power and to have cooked beans at the ready in the freezer. I can reheat a portion or few  from frozen on the wood stove while I start the stew and they will continue to heat through when added to the stew. Likewise tomatoes, I don't can, but do freeze chopped tomato in the summer when prices are low.

Struggle meals for me (alone) are often a tortilla or other flatbread, with 'pick-a-cheese', 'choose-an-herb' (or blend), and an egg, sardines, or tuna, with a side of grab-a-veg, possibly select-a-fruit, and either lemon water or herbal iced tea. Sometimes, it's a handful of nuts, a chunk'o'cheese, and a couple dates.

If it's both of us, or most frequent are quesadillas, crustless pizza, fried rice, or leftover soup.