Its that time of year when we gather to give thanks for our blessings and to eat good food. I was talking with some coworkers the other day about struggle meals. A struggle meal is a cheap, filling, and simple meal made when you have limited time or money, often featuring inexpensive ingredients or a combination of available items. Examples include instant noodles, eggs and rice, or whatever ingredients you have in your pantry, and the term can also refer to a way of coping with financial difficulty or low motivation to cook a lavish meal.
I don’t recall my mom ever saying we were eating struggle meals. I know we ate some cheap meals. Cubed steak, sliced and threaded on skewers were a favorite. We called it “snake steak”. It may have been a cheap meal but we viewed it as special. Another Mom meal would be to fix a box of store brand mac and cheese add a can of peas, and a can of tuna and presto! Homemade tuna helper.
My coworkers mentioned chipped beef and gravy on toast, noodles (any shape) and butter with canned diced tomatoes, a bowl of hot rice with milk and sugar, or a sandwich made of white bread, ketchup, and cheese. Fried egg and spam were mentioned as were crackers and mayonnaise.
I had a friend in high school who ate a Banquet frozen potpie over rice and I thought this was fancy food.
According to Feeding America, about one in 7 households (13.5 percent) experience food insecurity, or lack of access to an affordable, nutritious diet. 5.1% of U.S. households (1 in 20) experienced very low food security, a more severe form of food insecurity, where households report regularly skipping meals or reducing intake because they could not afford more food. Low pay, losing a job, or having a disability can make it hard for even working families to afford enough food. When rent, health care, heat and electric bills, and child care cost more, families often have to spend less on food.
Food insecurity has been increasing in the United States for the past few years, with a statistically significant rise from 12.8% in 2022 to 13.5% in 2023, reversing a decades-long downward trend. This increase is largely attributed to the expiration of pandemic-related government benefits and continued high food prices, which disproportionately affect lower-income households, minority groups, and single-parent households.
Usually, the priciest part of Thanksgiving is the turkey. The average 15-pound turkey costs about $30.00. The cost of a typical Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixings is around $6 per person. If you want to cut down on cost or just don’t like turkey, you can bake a whole chicken instead. Honestly, anything can make for an alternative Thanksgiving dinner—one of our colleagues swears by a steak and a baked potato on the fourth Thursday of every November. It’s my house, my rules (or your house, your rules, as it were). But if I could add one piece of advice: I do think a holiday meal should be festive, fun, and at least a little decadent. Something you wouldn’t ordinarily fix.
Give thanks not just on Thanksgiving Day, but every day of your life. Appreciate and never take for granted all that you have. Now, I ‘m off to watch “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” with Betsy and eat some buttered toast with cinnamon sugar.
Cube steak with pan sauce
Ingredients
4 servings
24 ounces cube steak, cut into 4 portions
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
⅓ cup Worcestershire sauce, divided
½ cup water
Directions
Lightly season both sides of each cube steak with salt and pepper. (See Cook’s Note). Melt 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter in a large, non-stick skillet over medium heat. Once butter is foamy, add cube steaks and sprinkle about 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce on top of each cube steak. Cook until brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the steaks, and sprinkle each with an additional 1 to 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce. Cook until steaks are firm and reddish-pink and juicy in the center, about 3 minutes more. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 135 degrees F. Remove to a platter and tent with foil. To make the pan sauce, pour about 1/2 cup water into the skillet and stir all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil and cook for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in remaining butter, until melted. Evenly divide pan sauce over each cube steak and serve warm. Cook’s Note: I used four 6-ounce cube steaks for this recipe. Worcestershire sauce is quite salty. Be sure to allow for that when adding salt or seasoned salt.
Basic Roast Chicken
Ingredients
1 (3 1/2- to 4-lb.) whole chicken
1 Tbsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Remove chicken giblets. If desired, cut out and discard wishbone. Thoroughly pat chicken dry; generously season with salt and pepper, both inside and out. (If you have time, refrigerate uncovered at least 1 hour or up to overnight.) Preheat oven to 450°. Tie legs together with twine, if desired, and tuck wing tips under body of chicken. Arrange chicken breast side up in a roasting pan or large ovenproof skillet. Roast until juices run clear and an instant-read thermometer inserted into center of thigh registers 165°, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Baste chicken with pan juices. Tent with foil and let it rest 15 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and carve.
