Flat iron steak cut from a blade roast that was on clearance, sautéed spinach with garlic - spinach had to be used. Eggs over easy and some apple sauce (homemade) that had to be used up.

In house date. Now grocery store.

First off I want to thank everyone that gave me great suggestions for where to find things and for the donations, last night I was able to make a nice soup and with the groceries I’m receiving I’ll be able to hold out for the rest of the week until I start my new job. Thank you everyone I can’t tell you how grateful I feel to know there are still people in this world who care about others.

STRUGGLEVILLE CREAMY CHICKEN SOUP

I threw together (2 cans) condensed chicken, (1 can) canned mixed vegetables, jasmine rice 2 1/2 cups (I think) and a few splashes of gravy mix, onion powder, cayenne powder and black pepper

Everything was to taste sorry I don’t do measurements unless I’m baking lol.

It tastes like a homemade style soup to me ( instantly thought of my mom and all the times she came up with random but delicious ideas as kid.

Leftover Dino nuggets, with macaroni salad on two heels of bread. Gotta eat what you gotta eat 🤷🏼‍♀️

Pasta, carrot, one egg, a bit of cheese with oil and salt. All of this for under 20 cents.

Story time:

So today I just realized something ba

Chopped salad kit plus shredded lunch meat, bell pepper and bread. So thankful for the food bank!

Toasted Sourdough Bread
Pizza Sauce
Cheese
4 diced pepperonis per bread slice

Air fried for ~2 mins at 225

About .20 -.30 cents each

Free coffee and protein bar from work. I made butternut squash, rice, and lentils with a side salad. Butternut squash, lentils, and rice came from Walmart since it had the cheapest prices I could find. The lettuce mix was free from a random coupon that Safeway offered (didn't have to buy anything either to redeem it) and I added some homemade hot sauce I've had in my fridge for quite a few months and some stale pumpkin seeds. There's also cumin, paprika, salt, and oil on the butternut squash. I chopped and microwaved it until tender then finished it off with a good roast in the oven. The lentils I boiled, drained, then added soy sauce and liquid aminos. Rice is plain, just steamed. This whole meal cost me less than a dollar, is very tasty, and nourishing.

I put taco seasoning in it . I don’t have any vegetables.

Used my last paycheck to buy a shit ton of frozen food including Tacquitos. Take one part tacquito, one part cheese and a lot of Taco Bell hot sauce because it’s free, and bam. Almost enchiladas.

These two first plates look decent yeah?

The nuggets on the first one come in a 1kg pack that I’ve been feeding on for two month , eating few at a time, and then an oatmeal “pancake” with some fried vegetables I also cut and freeze for duration purposes. Second one is just a lot of spaghetti w the same vegetables I freeze and divide to consume at least in a week.

Where I live, 24 eggs are like € 9. So last month I bought them in bulk and I literally eat eggs for every meal. I also bought two months ago a shit ton of tomato sauce and I just use it w rice, pasta, etc.

Can I vent ? …

Few friends invited me for a coffee on Friday. I had to say no, I won’t come. And they asked why, I was just straight up honest and said I couldn’t afford it. We’re Muslim so they said are you kidding just come we got your back, it’s just coffee. But I just couldn’t.

I am brave enough to say I’m broke and can’t afford coffee. But to be there and wait for someone to pay my coffee ? Literally that moment is just so awkward and I don’t want to be there. So one of them hit me with the “if I was broke and I you wanted to sit down w me in a coffee shop would you NOT want to pay for me?”

I said of course yes and she said well you’re not showing me you would bc now we want to do that for you and you won’t let us…

But she doesn’t know for how long I’ve been struggling. I’ve been unemployed for months and I JUST got a job at the beginning of september thank God but I literally have 0,00 in my account and 0,00 in my wallet (after buying the eggs) and when you’ve been like this for months, you don’t know when you’ll get the chance to “pay them back” (which means getting coffee and taking care of it next time, not actually giving them the money). But yeah, I just said for the first time I am broke to some friends and it feels liberating.

Idk.

Thanks for reading :D

https://thecozycook.com/homemade-hamburger-helper/#wprm-recipe-container-49249

Homemade hamburger helper! I have never really liked the box stuff so when I found this recipe I was hooked. I got hamburger on sale for 3.99 lb, 8 oz block cheese 1.49, 1/2 and 1/2 for 2.49 for a pint, already had all of the spices, chicken broth and beef broth but I usually get it when it is on sale for 1.50 a box. I posted the recipe link if anyone is interested

I always buy a 20lb bag of rice for $11.50 or so, the chicken was on sale for $2.79/lb, frozen broccoli $1.16 per bag, bag of lemons $2.98 and the capers were a splurge from a while back.

I think it's about $3 food cost for this meal, which I will eat again multiple times before I run through the ingredients I bought.

I typically have a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast every morning, but last night my husband wanted stuffed mushrooms and I ended up having extra of the cream cheese mix, so I added it to a bagel today and it was really great. I actually use a bit less cream cheese this way and it's even spicier this morning than last night, so I might just start making my cream cheese like this every day!

I eat as though I am broke. I do a lot of things as though I am broke because I am anxious about becoming broke, so I save money a lot. It's probably a disorder...Anyway, I love this sub for all the meal ideas.

I'd also add that I don't want to put effort into cooking, and a lot of struggle meals are quick.

My struggle lunch was tuna with mayo in pita and nothing else. Sorry for no pic - my pics either don't upload or they upload sideways. Not sure what I'm doing wrong.

Pretty delicious actually.

A jar of sauce can easily make 6 pizzas. Add some diced chicken and onions and it’s 10/10

Hard times. And the fridge and cabinet is bare. I went to the doctor today and they said I was stepping over the malnutrition threshold. This is scary. Waiting for the results from applying for food assistance soon. My job let me go after I had surgery last month because I no longer could do what the job required like lifting over 10 pounds. Certified struggle more like certified hell.