Have you ever gone for lunch and realized that the only thing besides lint in your pocket is a few quarters? Have you ever only had a couple minutes for lunch and just assumed you just wouldn’t eat? I can’t fix those past experiences, but I can help stop you from having to deal with that again! These are some cheap foods that you can eat quickly as well

1) “Ramen calm and carry on”

Few people eat ramen for enjoyment’s sake, but I do have some things to say about ramen that could prove to be useful.

If you have a store that has a serve-yourself-soup station, get one of the cups. They’re usually free, but if not, they shouldn’t be much. It might be hard to find a soup station during covid, but this may be useful in the future. I prefer to get the larger cup, you want to get something that can hold a bit. If you don’t have a soup station of delicious goodness, then I recommend just bringing a cup or bowl from your house. 

Now the reason I am recommending getting a cup and not just buying cup noodles is because those just feel like desperation food. You also get significantly more bang for your buck if you buy one of the maruchan bricks of ramen instead. Depending on the store, you can usually get two bricks for maybe only 10 cents more than a single cup noodle. I personally get two bricks, but you’d be just fine with one brick if you’d prefer. If that’s the case, then you can get a smaller cup of course. If you sincerely cannot get any sort of container, then the cup noodle is your best bet, but I genuinely recommend avoiding those if you can help it.

So once you’ve got a container and the right amount of bricks, what you’ll want to do is break the bricks in half lengthwise and try to think back to your tetris days and fit everything just right. If you have a kettle, you’re graced with good luck. If not, you better hope you have a microwave. You’ll want to pour any of the flavoring packet you want (or maybe not. I don’t know you and your habits). I recommend keeping it concentrated so when you pour the water it can separate it on its own and even the flavor out without being too watered down. So next you’ll want to heat up some water, I recommend making it just hot enough to soften the noodles and leave it at that; You don’t want to spend your whole lunch break trying to cool down your noodles. Consider how much flavor you want when you add the water. I personally go just high enough to cover the broken brick without watering it down too much.

Let the noodles sit until you can see that under the water the noodles are softening up a little, then use a utensil and begin to push any dry parts sticking out of the water down. Now I will just say you can use just about anything for a utensil if you’re brave enough. I’ve used the back of two sharpies as chop sticks so you really can get creative with this step.

Wait until the noodles are to the level of softness you prefer, and then enjoy your mediocre, but semi-filling meal.

2) “Live, Laugh, Potato”

My dear reader, I am a potato fiend. I will viciously go for any potato I can get my hands on and then try to boil it, mash it, or stick it in a stew (obscure reference). Potatoes are the ambrosia of our lovely little world and should be given the attention they deserve. 

One of the many amazing aspects of potatoes is how versatile they are. You can make just about everything under the sun with potatoes if you’re willing. With a sack of potatoes you could make a stew, some fries, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, boiled potatoes, or you could cook one over a fire (make sure to poke holes if you want to go that route, don’t want exploding tater in your eyes). You can do whatever you want with potatoes and I recommend doing so. Experimenting with how you cook potatoes can be great fun. I will be mentioning a few different simple ways you can prepare them depending on the supplies you possess.

So the first and most simple method is the one I did the most. You just microwave that bad boy and eat it like you would an apple. I personally bought a sack of russets for I think $2.69 at the Mendocino Harvest Market, and would just keep at least a single sack in my locker for when I was hungry. You could microwave one in about 4-5 minutes, and then flip it over and do another 3. You usually want them to be fairly soft; but if you’re in a rush, or just like them firm, you can use your own discretion and decide for yourself how you want it. Bigger potatoes will need more time, but seeing as that is on a potato-to-potato basis, I can’t give a definitive time for that. If you have any seasoning, like salt, pepper, or butter, I recommend using them. I personally didn’t, but as you can tell by this article, I am absolutely bonkers!

Another way to prepare them is to microwave them and then cut them in half and apply butter, spices, and perhaps some cheese as well. You’ll very likely want a plate for this. This method is extremely tasty and you can also add whatever you want to it. I like to immediately cut it in half when it’s out of the microwave so it’s still piping hot and then immediately put butter on it. The reason I put the butter first is so when you put the seasonings on, they stick to the butter and thus season your tater better. My personal favorite seasoning is something called “Perfect Potato”. It was aptly named and it is sincerely one of the best things you could treat your taste buds with. 

After seasoning, I put on some slices of cheese. It’s usually best to keep them fairly thin so they melt quicker, but if they don’t melt to your satisfaction, you can use a fork and mash the cheese into the potato. If you explicitly want your potato to remain in half and unmashed, one thing you can do is just put it back in the microwave for maybe 30 seconds. Just keep an eye on it so so you don’t overdo it. If you have already cooked your potato a lot, I don’t recommend this method. 

You can also use this way to cook it to make some really tasty mashed potatoes. Just mash it all up and you have an awesome meal. You don’t need anything fancy to squish it; I just use the fork I’m going to devour it with. I really recommend mixing it well or you’ll have some blank spots. 

These are just the easy ways to make a potato, I deeply recommend looking into other ways to make tasty taters and also different kinds of potatoes themselves. Russian fingerlings are small potatoes that make up for their size with their amazing taste. They are so smooth they seem pre-buttered. On the higher end of potatoes you could microwave are golden yukons. These bad boys are delicious and large. They’re a little bit more expensive than russets, but worth the price.

3) Oatmeal (Can’t think of an oatmeal pun)

Oatmeal is an absolutely fantastic cheap food. The reason it’s at the bottom of the list is because unless you’re carrying a bag of oats, you can’t really do it on the fly. That said, you could very easily bring a small bag of oats with you, or buy them from the store. Oats are amazing for your brain and body and you can live solely off of oats for some time. You can make it savory, or sweet, or any other flavor you’re in the mood for. You can add just about anything you can think of to your oats to make a tasty, satisfying meal. 

I’m going to focus on the scottish way of making oatmeal because that’s my personal favorite for its simplicity. Bring the water to a boil, and as soon as it starts, you want to gently sprinkle the oats in. If you keep it consistent, stirring will be easier as there will be less clumps. If you, or the person you are making the oatmeal for, particularly likes clumps, then you don’t have to stir as much. The only seasoning you need is salt, which you add towards the end so it doesn’t harden the oatmeal too much. I highly recommend adding salt. 

You can add whatever you want to this deliciously diverse meal; it just naturally promotes creativity. You can add berries, sugar, milk/cream, or anything you’ve already tried and liked. If I’m eating oats outside, I like to add huckleberries if I’m in the mood for sweetness, or seven-ribbed plantain if I’m looking for something savory. Seven Ribbed Plantain is also called Ribwort and is a great plant for medicine or food. It can be a bit bitter, but I find it adds a lot to a plain bowl of oats. Of course you really do not need to go the full outdoors route and could add whatever you want from the store. You could prepare the oats in the morning and then bring them with you, or make them on your break and enjoy them hot.

Oats are very simple and easy to make so you can get as creative as you’d like in preparing them!

There are many ways to prepare cheap food, and this is just a few of them. If you’re really interested in this stuff, I recommend going out there and experimenting for yourself. That’s how I learned most of this, and it’s paid off. It’s difficult to get tasty food without dropping a whole bunch of money on it, so ask people you know if they have any ideas or recipes and learn from the world around you. I personally have a higher blood pressure from eating potatoes and ramen as long as I did, and it genuinely is dangerous to stay on this sort of diet for too long. So please, if you can, eat as healthily as you are able to. Junk food will flat out kill you after a while, so ramen should just be a last choice. Potatoes can also be dangerous if that’s mostly what you’re eating, especially if you aren’t really active. Out of all of the foods I listed, oatmeal is probably your best bet. It’s healthy and cheap, and very tasty if made well.