Was talking with a group of friends recently about foods they, friends, or family had eaten during times of extreme poverty--healthy items and not so healthy ones.
Here are some of the experiences:
In a family with a number of kids and a very low paying job: There would be weeks where the meals consisted of white bread with mayo, with koolaid or water to drink.
Wild spring greens such as poke weed (cooked properly to deal with toxicity issues), or dandelions.
Rice soup: Water, rice (not rinsed in order to preserve the added vitamins), salt and pepper.
Hot water in a mug—nice in winter for the warmth.
Poor man’s French Toast: Fried bread—bread fried in oil/fat. Plain or with applesauce.
Beans on Toast. Usually with some sort of flavored canned beans.
And there was a group effort that was somewhat more nutritious. It was a pizza potluck done Stone Soup style done by a group of friends who were all in very low paying jobs. The hosting house made the pizza dough from sourdough starter, sale flour (.89 for 5 pound bag—10 pizza doughs per bag), salt, water, and some on sale oil. Each guest brought one cup of a topping (tomato sauce, cheese, onions, peppers, ground beef, pepperoni, mushrooms, etc.). The pizza doughs were baked about ¾ of the way and cut into slices before the guests came. Each guest topped their slices as desired and they were then baked until done. Tea and water to drink.
What meals like this have you come across?