Favorite Poverty Meal?

[Chuck White]

Left over baked beans are the makin's for a good samich! 

[LeeB]

Never had a bean sandwich, but I guess it's not much different from a bean burrito. Guess I've eaten plenty of open faced bean sandwiches though. Bread smeared with mayo and beans ladled on.

[petefrom bearswamp]

Just reread the thread and I am drooling on SOME of the posts but not all.
I had a good number of the meals posted here when growing up but never considered for a minute that we were poverty stricken.
I recall when I was working in western   VA in 1959 or 60 I had a young fellow working for me that said they often had poke (pork) and grits for supper.
He said That meant poke your feet under the table and grit your teeth.

[WDH]

I remember working in Forestry School measuring research plots for a Professor to make some money to live on.  I was working with another student, and we would take a break for lunch.  I would take beef round steak and cook it and slice it very thin to make sandwiches.  My work partner always said that he wished that he could afford to eat steak.  The thing was, that round steak cooked and sliced thin was cheaper than the processed lunch meat that he made his sandwiches out of .  This was 1975, and that round steak was a whole lot cheaper than it is today. 

[mike_belben]

We had cheesesteak sandwiches last night from venison, sliced off from one of the smaller leg muscles.  If it was garden season my only cost woulda been bread and cheese.  The peppers were excellent this fall.  Will do a lot of onions come spring. They go with everything.

[doc henderson]

I buy the boxes of spam individuals.  24 in a box.  We had this as a meal when my son and I were hiking at Philmont scout ranch.  I carry a few in my car in case I would have car trouble or get hungry out working in the country.  My dad was a truck driver and he told me(right or wrong) not to give cash to people who are asking for handouts.  He told me of a story of a man running up to his truck in a truck stop parking lot asking for a dollar for a cup of coffee.  My dad offered to buy him a cup and some breakfast but the man refused.  My dad was a military policeman and little did the guy know, but a gun was pointed at his belly since he ran a hundred yards strait for my dads truck and jumped up on the step.  My dad told me if the man insisted on cash, then he must of wanted it for something other than food.  So now I offer people along the street with signs of home-less-ness,  a few spam singles.  A bit off topic but made me think of my Dad.  Lost him and mom 10 years ago and still miss them.  

[billbobtlh]

Aw man thats DanG funny right there!

[doc henderson]

In college I would buy cheap store brand chicken pot pies, 5 for a dollar.  pop that in the oven, and make some white rice.  dump the pot pie on top of the rice.  Not bad and pretty cheap.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Never tried them over rice but I loved the little cheap pot pies you mention. Turkey was my favorite then chicken and if nothing else left I'd eat the beef ones.

[doc henderson]

If I was real hungry, I would make 2, but still ate a meal for less than a dollar

[lxskllr]

I forgot my *world famous cabbage soup. A couple sausage links cut up and browned, or not. A pot full of water, half a head of cabbage, about .5C wine vinegar, a bunch of Tabasco, a bunch of black pepper, and some salt. Simply heat until cabbage is tender and/or sausage is safely cooked.


*World famous is a bit of an extrapolation. My daughter really likes it  :^D

[charles mann]

poor folk food for me growing up was, whatever we could find in the woods within a mile of the house, some during the day, like deer, squirrel and rabbits, but the rest were night animals, like coons, possums, hogs, frogs and other such 4 legged critters and not to mention, aquatic swimmers, both day and night. 

nowadays, it is cabbage and ham hocks, or sausage, or what a former supervisor would cook, taters, onions, garlic, some kind of meat, but i added shrooms to it, and cabbage at times. 



 

granted i wouldn't call it poor food, but i ate on that pan of food for 3 days, 2x a day, but took a break and made lettuce wrap burgers, which i ate for 2 days 2x a day to mix the meals up. the tater surprise and lettuce wraps cost me $25 and supplied me with chow for 5 days, 2 x a day, for a total of $2.50 per meal. and with $50 a day per diem, i was able to repurpose the rest for something else.