I personally know some folks who spend all their money on fast food, and then online it seems pretty common folks not knowing how to cook causes massive financial problems.
My super duper cheap meal that takes no effort is “lazy rice veggie soup”: Can of peas and carrots cooked with a bouyon cube until cube is dissolved Add cooked rice to mix, and heat until rice is flavorful with absorbed broth
I do a cup of dried rice, and a can of peas and carrots which means the soup has 800ish calories and I think it’s pretty good as it’s either 2 small meals that you can have sides with, or one large one!
So what are your cheap meals you like to make? The less well known, the better!
For myself, I like bannock or fry bread (amount of fat in the pan is one of the big deciding factors on which it is). Kinda like a cross between a pancake and an American biscuit. To make it, you just need to make a quick bread dough and pan fry it. Roughly 2:1:0.6 flour to water to baking powder and some salt. Mix, divide into smaller portions, and pan fry. That’s it. Using a whole grain and/or bread flour adds extra nutritional value.
Top with butter and or jam. Eat with fruit or vegetables for a balanced meal.
Do you have a preferred fat to fry in? Im thinking ive might have found another use for those bacon drippings.
Anything that’s handy really. Generally, I’ll use a less saturated one like light olive or avocado oil but, I’ve got some fat cap from a smoked pork butt in the freezer that I might try. It renders to a lard really easy in a pan and adds an amazing flavor from the wood smoke.