Struggle Meals 101

Welcome to Make-Do Kitchen, where we don’t have the means, but we work to get it done anyway. I’m Emily, I’ll be your host.

Are you hungry? Are you broke? How about chronically tired and low on time? If so, you sound like the typical college kid. You have come to the right place.

Together, we’ll go through every excruciating step it takes to get a “meal” in front of you. Whether you live in a sad little dorm room without a kitchen or a house with proper utilities, there will be something for everyone!

Let’s Make Ramen Noodles

Let’s start off with a classic. For many struggling financially or otherwise, ramen is a staple comfort food. This bowl of noodles is salty, shockingly cheap and extremely customizable.

First of all, go for the cheap stuff! Rich people buy nice things, but poor people make nice things. Don’t allow the fact that your food is coming from the literal bottom shelf to intimidate you.

Back at home, get some water boiling in a pot. Sprinkle a little salt into the water if you want to feel fancy. Once that is good and boiling, go ahead and slam those noodles into the pot and let them boil until they are nice and soft.

If your living situation does not accommodate basic living facilities such as a stove, you could splurge on a microwave ramen cooker. If you don’t want to spend a whopping $10, that’s okay. We always have a workaround here in the Make-Do Kitchen.

As for the workaround, all you need to accomplish is boiling water. You could toss your ramen into a bowl with tall sides and cover it with just enough water to cover it and microwave that for five minutes, give or take. It just depends on how effective your microwave is.

If you have an electric kettle, you could go that route, too. The same goes for a coffee maker. Just make sure your noodles get cooked.

If you lack motivation at all during this process, that’s okay. Try imagining yourself as some determined video game character who has been given a strangely specific side quest.

Next, you have to make your bowl of 40 cent noodles appetizing.

Everybody believes their way of doing it is the best way. This is clear enough just from searching for recipes on platforms like TikTok.

Here are some of our personal favorites in the Make-Do Kitchen:

Drain the water out of your noodles. The package says not to, but do it anyway. Live on the edge a little. Add into a bowl the flavor packet, a bit of soy sauce, garlic powder and a pat of…

…Okay, well, if you are out of butter like me, margarine works just as well.

If you don’t have any soy sauce, you should really start hoarding those little packets that come with Chinese takeout. Mix everything together and enjoy!

Slices of American cheese are another easy way to upgrade your ramen a bit. I will admit, this one sounds a little bit more out of left field, but trust me.

First, do not get rid of the water like last time. Add your flavor packet, soy sauce and slap a slice of cheese in there. It does not, by any means, need to be the name brand. Few things ever do.

Once it gets a little melty, stir everything together for a creamy bowl of ramen.

Well, That Was A Lot of Work.

I hope this has been educational, or at least entertaining. If one thing should be taken away it is this: being broke sucks, but it does not always mean the end of the world.

Remember to make do with what you have and to at least try to have fun while you do it.

If you have any ideas for other struggle meals I should make, let me know and I might scrape up the motivation to make it.