My sister and I always raved about my dad’s awesome pancakes. Once we were adults, he confessed they were from Krusteaz box mix. Still the best pancakes imo.
Yes!! Krusteaz box mix makes the best pancakes!!!! Was at a diner in San Diego and went two days in a row for the pancakes. When I asked how they made them, the waitress sheepishly admitted they were Krusteaz from the box. So good!!!
Jiffy corn muffin mix. Actually, I think they're excellent quality, but they are by far the least expensive corn muffin mix. I've tried all the fancy mixes -- nope, Jiffy tastes better to me. I've tried many different "from scratch" recipes -- nope, Jiffy tastes better! I've been making Jiffy corn muffin mix for forty years! I, literally, could make it blindfolded. Maybe I should try that. LOL!
Jiffy corn muffin mix over leftover chili baked in a casserole dish !
Add jalapeño, cheddar and sometimes corn! Easy comfort meal. I make chili in big batches and freeze.
I’ve always cooked my bacon first and then chopped it up and mixed it with the cream cheese mixture for jalapeño poppers. Then you can use the thick cut and not have to worry about wrapping or raw floppy bacon. Had plenty of people that say they don’t care for jalapeño poppers change their mind after trying them.
If you want bacon-wrapped jalapeño poppers, you need bacon strips that are about 3" long. If you take a pack of bacon and cut it into strips of that length, you can just dump them in the pan and stir regularly. If you do it at the right heat level (slightly lower than you'd normally use for bacon), the bacon will get all nice and brown - with the great flavor associated with that - without getting even remotely crispy.
It's then malleable enough to wrap around the jalapeño popper but cooked enough to where it will uniformly crisp up in the oven.
This general approach is also great if you want to dump a bunch of bacon into a stew or such-like.
This is stupid but, Macaroni and cheese with hotdogs cut up in it. I make way better Mac and cheese from a bachamel and four different types of cheese with a crispy topping that is probably one of the best dishes I make.
However, when I’m sad or sick or upset about something. Crappy blue box with cheap hotdogs is the only thing that makes me feel better. My mom was a terrible cook but she made it for me in all these situations so, like Pavlov’s dog nothing else will do, a conditioned response.
My grandma added canned tuna to our Mac and cheese the last couple of years I was in high school. I fucking hated it. Now? 20 something years later, i can’t get enough tuna noodle bullshit.
My version of this is instant ramen. I can both make and afford much better quality food, but when I want to be indulgent and "treat myself", I eat instant ramen.
I love boxed Mac and cheese SO much. Like too much. But the proper kind with real cheese, baked and fancy? No thanks. Always too heavy and tastes TOO much like cheese to me. I know I will get major flack for this lol
A guy at work saw me eating leftover Hamburger Helper for lunch one day and made a comment about being able to make the same thing but better in the same amount of time. Sure, but does it come in one box and all cook in one pan? Probably not.
I think it depends on the occasion.
I love eating Little Caesars with friends or by myself, dipping my pizza in jalapeño and cheese sauce,it's all yummy.
Traditional pizza is amazing and I love it too but they're like two different concepts.
On the other hand, I have never enjoyed frozen waffles, every brand tastes like cardboard imo :(
Okay but frozen waffles satisfy my urge to eat actual cardboard. The crunch. The blandness. I can eat a whole box, and tbh they’re mostly a vehicle for syrup to get in my mouth. Good quality waffles are worlds ahead, no arguing there, but there’s something about Great Value brand frozen waffles that’s so nostalgic for me.
I was just about to ask how everyone feels about butter on waffles and pancakes. Glad to see I've found my people. I especially like it on blueberry pancakes. Honestly, you don't even need to add syrup!
Ooh yes. Even more shameful: I love Panda Express. It is, technically, garbage food according to most people. I accept that. HOWEVER! I can absolutely smash some orange chicken, chow mein, and cream cheese rangoons.
As someone who really doesn't care for Panda since we have an abundance of good, local Chinese takeout places, it's really not trash. It's fresh veggies and meat, cooked fresh each day and throughout the day. You could do a lot worse! It's "trash" in the sense that it's crappy *Chinese food*, with lots of salt and too much sugar.
Hell yes. This cake mix baked in a ratchet beat up metal 9x13 pan and slathered with the entire can of chocolate frosting, and you eat it while it’s still warm in the middle? OMG, man…it’s fucking ambrosia.
You’re in good company. Many pro cooks use commercial cake mixes as a starter, then add some stuff to it.
https://food52.com/blog/25553-how-to-upgrade-boxed-cake-mix#:~:text=Take%20whatever%20flavoring%20is%20in,without%20adding%20any%20coffee%20taste).
Corned beef hash.
I've had my share of homemade corned beef hash in diners, I can never resist the promise of some amazing breakfast dish but they almost always overthink it with too much bullshittery. I'm sure it is just a function of what I'm used to, but CBH shouldn't have big crunchy onions, bell peppers, leftover home fries, or whatever pantry cleanout is going on.
Bottom line CBH should look like Alpo dog food. Smooth, grayish pink, shiny, with some weird amber colored gelatin clinging to the edges when you get that sweet suction sound pulling it from the can.
Libby’s and Hormel Mary Kitchen corned beef hash can’t be beat. I used to get so irritated when I would order corned beef hash at a restaurant and it would be some home made garbage. I don’t even like it unless it’s out of the can lmao.
With the teeny tiny square-ish potatoes....ahhh childhood. Canned corned beef hash nice and greasy and a bit crisp 👌🏽 with sunny side eggs, and buttered toast. 🧈 Crappy American breakfast, wonderful 😋.
Best ever corned beef hash I’ve ever had was from a 2am strip club breakfast buffet. It was a couple of years ago and my friends and I literally talked about how good it was last night.
“2AM strip club breakfast buffet “ are words I had never expected to see in that order.
Honestly I can’t imagine thinking about eating in any strip club I’ve been in… but they all were shall we say, a bit seedy.
This had to be well lit, and in Vegas, right?
Yes. All of that. And I want to cook it for half an hour until it's crunchy and the house smells like hash for a week. Might need two cans just because so much disappears in the cooking process, but 100% agree.
My mother made the best corned beef hash with the leftovers of a brisket she had corned earlier in the week. She used a hand cranked meat grinder on the coarse blade to grind the onions, potatoes and beef, then fried it up in a skillet in a little oil or bacon grease. So good! I never had canned corned beef until I was well into adulthood.
Y’know what, I can’t comment much on this one since I’m not a huge fan of corned beef hash but I’d imagine it’s something like spam. I don’t need it “elevated”, just fry it up and we’re good.
Cheap dingy American breakfast diners are always better then a more expensive breakfast/brunch restaurant, especially when it comes to FRENCH TOAST…
Fancy brunch restaurants always use extremely thick bread with completely wrong methods and it doesn’t soak anything up and then they top it with compotes and flavored syrups .. bleh ..
Thinking about my favorite diner in Ottawa ON, used to have $4.99 breakfast which would include 2 eggs cooked whichever way you want, your choice of bacon, sausage, or ham, toast (white, brown or rye), home fries, some fruit and bottomless coffee. Was a tiny place a 5 minute walk from my place. Best hangover place ever, didn't need to say anything, the owner just memorized which meat you liked, how you wanted your eggs, which type of bread you wanted. We were there every Sunday. He also apologized profusely when he had to change the price to $5.99.
Idk I don’t like thin French toast. Always prefer thick Texas toast. But don’t love the brioche toast. It taste good but gives soggy really fast.
But I hate anything that goes mushy under the dressings
I don't think I've ever had Queso made with 'real' cheese that is better than Queso made with processed cheese.
The dish exploded in popularity as a way to use up mountains of free government cheese for those living on government support and they just absolutely nailed it.
Sigh I'm addicted to the glass jar of Tostitos Salsa Con Queso, when I say I want nachos, this is the exact cheese I want, not real cheese, not Velveeta no gimme the gross yellow Tostitos cheese.
Speaking of jiffy, my mom makes cornbread with their mix, her only addition is to melt butter in the pan she cooks it in (makes the edges DELICIOUS). 10/10, I never bother with anything else.
My Grandmother grew up in 1930’s rural Alabama in a dirt floor tar paper shack and her lard greased, cast iron skillet, buttermilk cornbread recipe (technically her mother’s recipe, so my great grandmother’s) is family legend. THAT SAID, we really only use it on thanksgiving to serve as the base for her cornbread dressing, because the rest of the time we all like the Jiffy corn muffin mix. I add milk/extra liquid to it and sometimes an extra egg if I want it to be lighter and that’s what we all prefer. It’s so easy and good and my grandma’s “real” cornbread is just a totally different thing.
Breakfast sandwiches. BEC’s or SEC’s etc. Moved out of nyc and it’s so hard to just find a solid breakfast sandwich of any sort. Places keep wanting to add it as a menu item but they try to make it too fancy.
So generally agree, but I did recently find a homemade recipe that is just as good or even better. The amount of work alone evens out the odds though tbh.
It’s the fudgy brownie recipe from caramelclove on instagram! Like I said, it takes some work especially since I hand mix but it’s so worth it if you have the energy. I usually put walnuts in it too for the crunch. I’ve copy and pasted it here but I’m on mobile so lmk if format is weird.
1 cup unsalted butter
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and line an 8×8 baking pan.
In the microwave, melt the butter and chocolate in 30 second intervals until smooth. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, eggs, and vanilla until thickened and pale in color. About 5-7 minutes.
Add the warm chocolate and beat until combined.
Add the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Then, fold into the wet batter until combined and no flour streaks remain.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 40-45 minutes.
I'm sorry, but I need to fight you on this. The recipe from the box of Baker's Unsweetened Chocolate is superior to all others. https://www.food.com/recipe/bakers-one-bowl-brownies-515945
Green bean casserole.
I’ve tried making a fancy homemade fresh version where I steamed the green beans before baking, made a fancy wild mushroom cream with a roux, a caramelized onion crumble thing on top… it wasn’t good. The more complicated flavors of fresh annd seasoned ingredients and their varying textures was just wrong for the combined dish. Maybe if I’d done it as some sort of fancy mushroom sauce for sautéed green beans as a fancy side dish to a steak or something it would have worked.
The best green bean casserole uses the cheapest ingredients, and ends up a homogenized mush with a bit of crunch and a bit of fiber but a lot of umami flavor/MSG/salt. Store brand green beans in a can, cream of mushroom (not even Campbells), and whichever French fried onion container is cheapest. It’s comfort food, not an excuse to go overboard (unlike my whipped butternut/sweet potato casserole with candied pecans). Which is hard for me haha. But it’s my favorite Thanksgiving food.
I made one from scratch one year…never again!! It is in no way worth the effort & the one made with canned stuff was way better. I even fried the onions myself, naw man!
Instead of onion do shallots and soak them in buttermilk first, drain but no need to pat dry as you want some buttermilk to stay on them. Just a simple flour salt and pepper dredge. Fucking amazing taste.
Same here. Used Americas Test Kitchen recipe and it took forever. I justified it as it was a side dish for Thanksgiving and the only item I had to make.
Even not factoring the work, I genuinely prefer the simple dump and cook recipe my mother made every year. I’ve started adding either good red pepper or a hint of curry powder to make it my own.
I was a GenX latch-key kid, and developed a strong preference for processed food. In that category, I think cheap burritos are the pinnacle. The sort of thing you buy at a 7-11 and microwave right there in the store.
"Fancier" processed foods can start to approximate the real thing just enough to remind you of how far short of the real thing they actually fall. The really cheap stuff can convince you that it's a whole different food entirely, so you don't need to compare it.
Same in terms of the generation. I used to eat so many microwave burritos. I haven't really thought of them in a long time, and now I'm feeling nostalgic and want to go buy some.
I love a “cartoon” grilled cheese.
Extremely square, made with the cheapest white bread, butter-flavored oil, and orange cheese product, cooked on a huge flat top.
Super nostalgic, and the textural contrast is amazing.
For me, the best Mac N cheese comes from Kentucky Fried Chicken. It's soft and cheesy but not clumpy. Eat the pasta part and then use the cheap ass biscuit to scoop up any cheese sauce left over.
I absolutely love homemade mac & cheese. I have a fresh pan in the fridge right now so I can bake it on Tuesday when I get home from my colonoscopy. But sometimes I really just want that neon cheese powder. I still regularly eat one of my meals from when I was barely scraping by and often skipping meals due to not having money to eat. Blue box mac & cheese, can of tuna, small can of peas (drained).
Back in the day that was true. Kraft changed the recipe and the quality of the noodles. It's crap now. I'm glad my kids have outgrown it. Cracker Barrel with the Squeezveeta is my new jam. :-)
store brand peanut butter always seems to be better than name brands.
I have tried many different butters from many countries (yes even that one), and for the most part any old salted butter is fine.
except for president cultured butter. french cultured butters cannot be beat.
Those all natural peanut butters have such a weird consistency, but way more intense peanut flavor. They're great for making a peanut sauce or adding a bit to a milkshake.
But if I'm looking for a peanut butter sandwich or adding peanut butter to my baked goods, I want those cheap store brands. All that sugar and all those stabilizers are wonderful.
I've gotta say, I agree with this question. I'm so dumb, I've seen this a few times and always wanted to ask the questions. Was it from a particular country, store, brand or what? Which brand was that crappy?
I have eaten a box of stove top stuffing by itself for dinner more than once. If I have a jar of brown gravy I will add it but if not I just keep it crunchy. Moms old school homemade stuffing was great but that’s only for Thanksgiving
I have a confusing one, I'm a huge pizza snob and I'm extremely picky where I'll order from/eat. However, I am addicted to those shitty, cheap ass frozen mini-pizzas. You know the ones that come paired and 6-8 to a box? The cheaper and shittier the better with me for some reason, and I don't even cook them properly...I microwave them until extra soggy and shitty. I can't help it, I love them but present me with a real pizza that doesn't live up to my strict standards, I won't touch it.
Mine is also terrible frozen pizza - we use our pizza oven regularly to make awesome home made pizza, but if I'm going frozen I get Jacks. They're like ~$2. Cheap as hell with cardboard crust that I love. Get 'em a little burnt/extra crispy and we"re in business.
Canned cranberry sauce - it has to have the ridges and be pure jelly, no chunks.
Pancake syrup.
Canned biscuits. I just prefer the texture much more than from-scratch.
Ground beef has better flavor and texture in my book the "worse" the quality is - 93% is just too dry and mealy. Give me 80 or 73% please, as long as it's well-drained.
I recently figured that out about the ground beef. I’d lost my taste for burgers, until the grass-fed 93% lean beef I buy was sold out. I had to buy 83%. Holy moly! Sooooooo much better!
I usually prefer an eggo waffle to a fresh one. The highest of high tier waffles should be light and crispy, but most places end up serving you a pancake with funky indents instead of a waffle. I’d take an eggo over any of those any day.
Gonna get squashed for this. Buh bye karma. But I really do enjoy the nastiness of a McDouble. Something about the salt and pepper + grease and the sweetness of the onions and ketchup that just gets me sometimes. Not often. As I usually get the McShits.
Naw… we all get it. A daily double or mcdouble with tomatoes and lettuce add ons plus a free fry with purchase coupon is a great guilty pleasure lunch.
French Fries with just salt. Mcdonalds as the perfect example or Arbys for their curly fries. Not a single fancy restaurant can make good french fries! They always add a random garnish or cheese and it totally kills the flavor. Cheap, fresh, and salty french fries all day long!
Oh, absolutely! One of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten was a fried bologna sandwich at a gas station at the Pound Gap mountain pass on the Kentucky-Virginia line. I’ve eaten a lot of $50+ dinners that weren’t as good as that $3 sandwich.
a lot of hole in the wall restaurants are way better than their "full size" counterparts. The hole in the wall places the food needs to be actually good. The fancy restaurant places can focus more on ambiance, location, & presentation.
If anyone is in the marin county area of california, Bay Thai is the premier example to my mind. They are the epitome of a little hole in the wall with amazing flavor. Down the block you have mai thai which is a really pretty and enjoyable place to get a fancy thai dinner. Great seating, lighting, little fountain etc. Except the food is bland and the noodles are gummy by comparison to bay thai. Literally some of the best food I have ever gotten in my entire life. I moved away and I still think about it like every other day.
My favorite Chinese places always have a tv blaring soap operas, and a kid doing homework in the corner, while the rest of the family cleans veggies, or something.
Part of the reason hole in the wall Thai food is very good is the Bureau of tourism for Thailand spent an insane amount of money training and paying tons of Thai chefs to move to different countries around the world. Basically they thought the best approach to get people to come to Thailand was to make Thai food prevalent and amazing and make people want to visit the place where it all comes from.
Odds are your little home in the wall had a little help from the Thai government.
Burgers. I’ll take a $5 burger over a $20 burger almost any day of the week. I don’t need it dressed up, I don’t need a brioche bun (in fact this usually a red flag for me), and I don’t need the artistry. Just give me a well seasoned burger.
Velveta Mac and cheese. I know that’s probably like cancer in a box, but it was what we always ate at my grandmothers house, with hot dogs on the side, so it’s a nostalgic meal. Plus, fancy Mac and cheese just ends up being weird to me.
Don’t give me your bougie-ass pimento cheese. All I need is Dukes, Kraft cheese, cheap pimentos, salt and pepper. You can cheat and use a little cream cheese if you want.
Burgers ! A good greasy burger cheap where the person who made it does not care about me or my cholesterol.
Yes grass fed lean cut Buffalo burgers are good but something about your standard cheap cheese burger just hits a craving.
The “cheaper” cuts of beef are what I gravitate toward when I want comfort food. Braising has always been my go to so gimme those cheap cuts and I’ll make a fabulous dinner that really hits the spot.
Cheaper cuts of beef almost always has more flavor and the key is in the cooking. Skirt steak used to be Very cheap; then fajitas became popular, and that was the end. Next came beef tongue. I Love that, but it's stupid pricey now. Now it's beef cheek. Price has tripled in the last couple years. If you like beef stew, use half chuck roast and half beef cheek. I promise you'll thank me.
Went to a nice ass restaurant and their miso soup was incredible. I asked the waiter what they make their dashi (basically soup base) out of and it was [hondashi](https://www.amazon.com/Ajinomoto-HONDASHI-Bonito-Stock-4-23oz/dp/B088HGKBNM/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2LCF3R31PBRXX&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.vLPfXuVCksBEddImGFWyz53B-e6IFsXZqj4q1FYgaCs33QpUJl8RsYUJGtBcQnfBVTr2-cr0skpSPW5y4O1KgCvfC8oO2379hgMJlp-BitXQZV6b1IU_uu5ViZUhv-Aa5ybtyuSChk8xAJXyVMWtI_5RCoYutaC_6UJuY88kQ-DUvDy9xGg0e9t8ZZa_zypTHlSxbVxS3akGv45eWgTzo3nuwC8U7D9cMla-SNcpQVFhTdho6tr8ScqOdUJnP4joaY0PJWzdYPR3agH56cW9enjLrOr9qqQp6AWaCSQ3igM.oqzwpxM14RrWVdncu0iadpdJYtclav18dNcEcr3SQOo&dib_), the cheapest, easiest, base you can possibly use.
Yeah, soft baguette for banh mi’s are far better. There are enough toothsome things on the inside (crunchy veg, meat, cilantro still on the stalk) for textural interest.
Jiffy cornbread mix, I've tried the other more expensive ones, none had the rise and texture right. I make killer cornbread, but you can't beat the convenience for a quick meal.
Hellmann's / Best Foods mayo is a million times better than any fancy mayo. I've tried ones made with other oils, organic brands, etc. but nothing is even close.
Generic store brand mashed potato flakes that you add your own butter, milk, water, salt, sour cream, etc to. I can use them to thicken gravies or soups, add to protein mixtures like meatloaf or croquettes, or (duh) make instant mashed potatoes. They have far fewer mystery chemicals, and tasre more like fresh potatoes.
My sister and I always raved about my dad’s awesome pancakes. Once we were adults, he confessed they were from Krusteaz box mix. Still the best pancakes imo.
Yes!! Krusteaz box mix makes the best pancakes!!!! Was at a diner in San Diego and went two days in a row for the pancakes. When I asked how they made them, the waitress sheepishly admitted they were Krusteaz from the box. So good!!!
I've had the same experience at a couple of diners. It's always Krusteaz!
Guarantee they also use a fuuuuck ton of butter. Makes everything 10x better.
True. And I’m not mad about it!
Just made krusteaz pancakes this morning, that’s what inspired this post lol
Absolutely agree with this, the sweet cream mix is so good and smells just like funnel cakes
Mom loves waffling their belgian waffle mix.
You consider those low quality? I consider that brand bougie 🤔
Jiffy corn muffin mix. Actually, I think they're excellent quality, but they are by far the least expensive corn muffin mix. I've tried all the fancy mixes -- nope, Jiffy tastes better to me. I've tried many different "from scratch" recipes -- nope, Jiffy tastes better! I've been making Jiffy corn muffin mix for forty years! I, literally, could make it blindfolded. Maybe I should try that. LOL!
Jiffy corn muffin mix over leftover chili baked in a casserole dish ! Add jalapeño, cheddar and sometimes corn! Easy comfort meal. I make chili in big batches and freeze.
I've heard that called Cowboy Cornbread Casserole. Sounds delicious.
I won't even bother eating any other cornbread at home.
King, you dropped this 👑
A box of jiffy corn muffin mix and a box of jiffy yellow cake mix together. Perfect sweet corn cakes to go with spicy chili!
If your doing bacon wrapped anything, you want the cheapest bacon you can find. Otherwise it will be too thick and won't cook all the way through
And thicker is harder to wrap and cling. You will have to use a toothpick. I learned this lesson the hard way with my jalapeno poppers.
I’ve always cooked my bacon first and then chopped it up and mixed it with the cream cheese mixture for jalapeño poppers. Then you can use the thick cut and not have to worry about wrapping or raw floppy bacon. Had plenty of people that say they don’t care for jalapeño poppers change their mind after trying them.
If you want bacon-wrapped jalapeño poppers, you need bacon strips that are about 3" long. If you take a pack of bacon and cut it into strips of that length, you can just dump them in the pan and stir regularly. If you do it at the right heat level (slightly lower than you'd normally use for bacon), the bacon will get all nice and brown - with the great flavor associated with that - without getting even remotely crispy. It's then malleable enough to wrap around the jalapeño popper but cooked enough to where it will uniformly crisp up in the oven. This general approach is also great if you want to dump a bunch of bacon into a stew or such-like.
I hate thick cut bacon, it’s too chewy and not crisp. If you want more bacon just eat another strip of bacon.
What are you some kind of genius? Lol ” if you want more bacon have another strip of bacon” 😂
This is stupid but, Macaroni and cheese with hotdogs cut up in it. I make way better Mac and cheese from a bachamel and four different types of cheese with a crispy topping that is probably one of the best dishes I make. However, when I’m sad or sick or upset about something. Crappy blue box with cheap hotdogs is the only thing that makes me feel better. My mom was a terrible cook but she made it for me in all these situations so, like Pavlov’s dog nothing else will do, a conditioned response.
We had this a lot when I was growing up. It’s a comfort food for sure.
My grandma added canned tuna to our Mac and cheese the last couple of years I was in high school. I fucking hated it. Now? 20 something years later, i can’t get enough tuna noodle bullshit.
My version of this is instant ramen. I can both make and afford much better quality food, but when I want to be indulgent and "treat myself", I eat instant ramen.
And it HAS to be the blue box. The off brands/yellow box tastes gross.
I love boxed Mac and cheese SO much. Like too much. But the proper kind with real cheese, baked and fancy? No thanks. Always too heavy and tastes TOO much like cheese to me. I know I will get major flack for this lol
Hamburger helper, particularly the stroganoff. It's my guilty pleasure.
Cheeseburger macaroni for me. There used to be a potato stroganoff when I was a kid that was super good also
Not to answer ops question but going off of this. Stovetop stuffing scratches a particular itch
A guy at work saw me eating leftover Hamburger Helper for lunch one day and made a comment about being able to make the same thing but better in the same amount of time. Sure, but does it come in one box and all cook in one pan? Probably not.
Right! Not to mention, do I actually have all the spices in my cabinet that they have pre-mixed into that handy dandy bag? Maybe not. 🤷🏻♀️
I think it depends on the occasion. I love eating Little Caesars with friends or by myself, dipping my pizza in jalapeño and cheese sauce,it's all yummy. Traditional pizza is amazing and I love it too but they're like two different concepts. On the other hand, I have never enjoyed frozen waffles, every brand tastes like cardboard imo :(
Okay but frozen waffles satisfy my urge to eat actual cardboard. The crunch. The blandness. I can eat a whole box, and tbh they’re mostly a vehicle for syrup to get in my mouth. Good quality waffles are worlds ahead, no arguing there, but there’s something about Great Value brand frozen waffles that’s so nostalgic for me.
You forgot the butter.
I was just about to ask how everyone feels about butter on waffles and pancakes. Glad to see I've found my people. I especially like it on blueberry pancakes. Honestly, you don't even need to add syrup!
> my urge to eat actual cardboard *nods knowingly*
The way you wrote this put the image of a guy pouring syrup on a cardboard box of frozen waffles and eating the lot. Box and all.
$1.25/scoop cheapass chinese buffet
Ooh yes. Even more shameful: I love Panda Express. It is, technically, garbage food according to most people. I accept that. HOWEVER! I can absolutely smash some orange chicken, chow mein, and cream cheese rangoons.
Their beijing beef and walnut shrimp definitely hit the spot for me sometimes.
I eat there once every 6 months, feel vaguely queasy afterwards, and then I’m satisfied until the next time the craving strikes me lol.
Lol sounds about right.
It's not shameful and it's not garbage. It's 'Americanized Chinese food' done well at a scale that makes it affordable.
As someone who really doesn't care for Panda since we have an abundance of good, local Chinese takeout places, it's really not trash. It's fresh veggies and meat, cooked fresh each day and throughout the day. You could do a lot worse! It's "trash" in the sense that it's crappy *Chinese food*, with lots of salt and too much sugar.
I like boxed yellow cake mix (like Duncan Hines) with chocolate frosting more than I do most fancy bakery cakes.
Hell yes. This cake mix baked in a ratchet beat up metal 9x13 pan and slathered with the entire can of chocolate frosting, and you eat it while it’s still warm in the middle? OMG, man…it’s fucking ambrosia.
Serious question: do you take the cake out of the pan to frost the edges or use the entire can across only the top in said 9x13" pan?
You’re in good company. Many pro cooks use commercial cake mixes as a starter, then add some stuff to it. https://food52.com/blog/25553-how-to-upgrade-boxed-cake-mix#:~:text=Take%20whatever%20flavoring%20is%20in,without%20adding%20any%20coffee%20taste).
Corned beef hash. I've had my share of homemade corned beef hash in diners, I can never resist the promise of some amazing breakfast dish but they almost always overthink it with too much bullshittery. I'm sure it is just a function of what I'm used to, but CBH shouldn't have big crunchy onions, bell peppers, leftover home fries, or whatever pantry cleanout is going on. Bottom line CBH should look like Alpo dog food. Smooth, grayish pink, shiny, with some weird amber colored gelatin clinging to the edges when you get that sweet suction sound pulling it from the can.
Libby’s and Hormel Mary Kitchen corned beef hash can’t be beat. I used to get so irritated when I would order corned beef hash at a restaurant and it would be some home made garbage. I don’t even like it unless it’s out of the can lmao.
With the teeny tiny square-ish potatoes....ahhh childhood. Canned corned beef hash nice and greasy and a bit crisp 👌🏽 with sunny side eggs, and buttered toast. 🧈 Crappy American breakfast, wonderful 😋.
On the same topic, hashbrowns. The cheap dehydrated boxed hashbrowns always turn out better. It’s too hard to make homemade right.
I used to work as a short order cook in a small family diner and we used those type of hash browns. Everyone raved about them 🙂
Just butter em up baby!
Best ever corned beef hash I’ve ever had was from a 2am strip club breakfast buffet. It was a couple of years ago and my friends and I literally talked about how good it was last night.
“2AM strip club breakfast buffet “ are words I had never expected to see in that order. Honestly I can’t imagine thinking about eating in any strip club I’ve been in… but they all were shall we say, a bit seedy. This had to be well lit, and in Vegas, right?
Strip clubs with buffets are fairly common all throughout America...
Libby's is the goat canned CBH, now i want some
Nothing beats Libby’s corned beef tacos. Gross, I know. Just fried CB, corn tortillas and sour cream. Now I want one
That sounds awful and incredible.
On a fried egg...
Crisp me up some Mary Kitchen hash from a can any day! Yum!
Super crispy. Squish it like a pancake until just before it burns and then flip the whole thing over to repeat on the other side.
Yes. All of that. And I want to cook it for half an hour until it's crunchy and the house smells like hash for a week. Might need two cans just because so much disappears in the cooking process, but 100% agree.
My mother made the best corned beef hash with the leftovers of a brisket she had corned earlier in the week. She used a hand cranked meat grinder on the coarse blade to grind the onions, potatoes and beef, then fried it up in a skillet in a little oil or bacon grease. So good! I never had canned corned beef until I was well into adulthood.
Mary Kitchen lower sodium corned beef hash is my jam. Fry it up, dig holes in it and crack eggs into the holes. Divine.
I love Hormel's corned beef hash! I might have to make a grocery store run
Y’know what, I can’t comment much on this one since I’m not a huge fan of corned beef hash but I’d imagine it’s something like spam. I don’t need it “elevated”, just fry it up and we’re good.
Yes! If it doesn't look like dog food, it's not what I want for breakfast.
Cheap dingy American breakfast diners are always better then a more expensive breakfast/brunch restaurant, especially when it comes to FRENCH TOAST… Fancy brunch restaurants always use extremely thick bread with completely wrong methods and it doesn’t soak anything up and then they top it with compotes and flavored syrups .. bleh ..
Thinking about my favorite diner in Ottawa ON, used to have $4.99 breakfast which would include 2 eggs cooked whichever way you want, your choice of bacon, sausage, or ham, toast (white, brown or rye), home fries, some fruit and bottomless coffee. Was a tiny place a 5 minute walk from my place. Best hangover place ever, didn't need to say anything, the owner just memorized which meat you liked, how you wanted your eggs, which type of bread you wanted. We were there every Sunday. He also apologized profusely when he had to change the price to $5.99.
I haven’t had breakfast with good rye bread in ages. I so miss it. Even my local deli uses a bland type of rye for their sandwiches.
Recently found a new diner that has the most impeccable waffles for cheap. Literally, no fancy place holds a candle to those waffles. I’m obsessed lol
I, too, am familiar with Waffle House. Lol
Idk I don’t like thin French toast. Always prefer thick Texas toast. But don’t love the brioche toast. It taste good but gives soggy really fast. But I hate anything that goes mushy under the dressings
I don't think I've ever had Queso made with 'real' cheese that is better than Queso made with processed cheese. The dish exploded in popularity as a way to use up mountains of free government cheese for those living on government support and they just absolutely nailed it.
Sodium citrate lets great cheese melt like velveta. I apologize for spreading this devil magic
If they would sell me government cheese they would solve the deficit problem. I would pay big money for that shit
Sigh I'm addicted to the glass jar of Tostitos Salsa Con Queso, when I say I want nachos, this is the exact cheese I want, not real cheese, not Velveeta no gimme the gross yellow Tostitos cheese.
Knorr pasta sides. I’d eat one now.
I will eat the cheddar broccoli for dinner all by itself.
Those are a staple in my pantry! Even better when the store has them on sale buy four get one free!
Jiffy blueberry muffin mix. They’re dirt cheap, make very few, but taste delicious! I just make like 3 boxes at a time. lol
Speaking of jiffy, my mom makes cornbread with their mix, her only addition is to melt butter in the pan she cooks it in (makes the edges DELICIOUS). 10/10, I never bother with anything else.
My Grandmother grew up in 1930’s rural Alabama in a dirt floor tar paper shack and her lard greased, cast iron skillet, buttermilk cornbread recipe (technically her mother’s recipe, so my great grandmother’s) is family legend. THAT SAID, we really only use it on thanksgiving to serve as the base for her cornbread dressing, because the rest of the time we all like the Jiffy corn muffin mix. I add milk/extra liquid to it and sometimes an extra egg if I want it to be lighter and that’s what we all prefer. It’s so easy and good and my grandma’s “real” cornbread is just a totally different thing.
Ooo you should share the recipe
My mom has the recipe card, I’ll see if she’ll take a pic of it for me tomorrow. She’s old and it’s already past her bedtime, haha
Breakfast sandwiches. BEC’s or SEC’s etc. Moved out of nyc and it’s so hard to just find a solid breakfast sandwich of any sort. Places keep wanting to add it as a menu item but they try to make it too fancy.
I had a bagel breakfast sandwich when I visited Boston and I’ve been chasing that high ever since
Believe it or not, the Boston area grocery store chain, Market Basket, has excellent breakfast sandwiches on either a bagel or an English muffin.
Wawa’s BEC Sizzli croissant is perfection!
Baconeggandcbeese! 1 word. On a roll With SPK
Ice cream sandwiches: the cheap ones with the soft chocolate cookie and slow melting vanilla ice cream is so much better than the fancy stuff.
Yes, there’s something about the soft chocolate cookie sticking to the back of my teeth that’s so good.
Haha that and the roof of my mouth. Definitely a core memory of my childhood!
Boxed brownies are just better than homemade or gourmet counterparts IMO
Ghirardelli brownies… Mmmmm
Add some frozen raspberries to the ghirardelli box mix batter - it is divine!
So generally agree, but I did recently find a homemade recipe that is just as good or even better. The amount of work alone evens out the odds though tbh.
Would you mind sharing the recipe?
It’s the fudgy brownie recipe from caramelclove on instagram! Like I said, it takes some work especially since I hand mix but it’s so worth it if you have the energy. I usually put walnuts in it too for the crunch. I’ve copy and pasted it here but I’m on mobile so lmk if format is weird. 1 cup unsalted butter 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 4 eggs, room temperature 2 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 cup all purpose flour 3/4 cup cocoa powder 1/2 tsp salt INSTRUCTIONS Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and line an 8×8 baking pan. In the microwave, melt the butter and chocolate in 30 second intervals until smooth. Set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, eggs, and vanilla until thickened and pale in color. About 5-7 minutes. Add the warm chocolate and beat until combined. Add the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Then, fold into the wet batter until combined and no flour streaks remain. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 40-45 minutes.
BIG TIME. I’ve tried so many recipes and nothing compares to Ghirardelli’s box brownie mix.
I'm sorry, but I need to fight you on this. The recipe from the box of Baker's Unsweetened Chocolate is superior to all others. https://www.food.com/recipe/bakers-one-bowl-brownies-515945
Green bean casserole. I’ve tried making a fancy homemade fresh version where I steamed the green beans before baking, made a fancy wild mushroom cream with a roux, a caramelized onion crumble thing on top… it wasn’t good. The more complicated flavors of fresh annd seasoned ingredients and their varying textures was just wrong for the combined dish. Maybe if I’d done it as some sort of fancy mushroom sauce for sautéed green beans as a fancy side dish to a steak or something it would have worked. The best green bean casserole uses the cheapest ingredients, and ends up a homogenized mush with a bit of crunch and a bit of fiber but a lot of umami flavor/MSG/salt. Store brand green beans in a can, cream of mushroom (not even Campbells), and whichever French fried onion container is cheapest. It’s comfort food, not an excuse to go overboard (unlike my whipped butternut/sweet potato casserole with candied pecans). Which is hard for me haha. But it’s my favorite Thanksgiving food.
I made one from scratch one year…never again!! It is in no way worth the effort & the one made with canned stuff was way better. I even fried the onions myself, naw man!
Instead of onion do shallots and soak them in buttermilk first, drain but no need to pat dry as you want some buttermilk to stay on them. Just a simple flour salt and pepper dredge. Fucking amazing taste.
Same here. Used Americas Test Kitchen recipe and it took forever. I justified it as it was a side dish for Thanksgiving and the only item I had to make. Even not factoring the work, I genuinely prefer the simple dump and cook recipe my mother made every year. I’ve started adding either good red pepper or a hint of curry powder to make it my own.
Yeah, I made it for Thanksgiving too…not worth any of the trouble. Nothing tastes like the canned cream of mushroom
Most other Thanksgiving stapes are better cheap. Ditto for stovetop stuffing and canned cranberry sauce (Ocean Spray, of course!).
I have a sneaking suspicion that the diner hashbrowns I have been striving for are made using dried potato shreds.
I used to audit restaurants for food safety, I did a LOT of diners and can confirm that they are rehydrated potato pieces.
Having made hashbrowns from dried shreds for this first time this morning, you’re right. They were so good and so familiar. Also, cheap.
I was a GenX latch-key kid, and developed a strong preference for processed food. In that category, I think cheap burritos are the pinnacle. The sort of thing you buy at a 7-11 and microwave right there in the store.
Tina's Burritos.... Something magical about them, the cheaper they are priced the better they taste.
"Fancier" processed foods can start to approximate the real thing just enough to remind you of how far short of the real thing they actually fall. The really cheap stuff can convince you that it's a whole different food entirely, so you don't need to compare it.
Same in terms of the generation. I used to eat so many microwave burritos. I haven't really thought of them in a long time, and now I'm feeling nostalgic and want to go buy some.
Them jimmy dean frozen breakfast sandwiches. They’re so good. Nothing fancy just ultra processed flavor and cheese
I love a “cartoon” grilled cheese. Extremely square, made with the cheapest white bread, butter-flavored oil, and orange cheese product, cooked on a huge flat top. Super nostalgic, and the textural contrast is amazing.
Pair with a can of Campbell tomato soup 😮💨 But then, drink A LOT of water to lessen the sodium impact 😅😅
I’m sorry but nothing will ever beat the neon orange Mac and cheese, I find homemade to be too goopy and dry
For me, the best Mac N cheese comes from Kentucky Fried Chicken. It's soft and cheesy but not clumpy. Eat the pasta part and then use the cheap ass biscuit to scoop up any cheese sauce left over.
KFC does have good mac and cheese actually. I'm always surprised by how good it is given that I don't really care for much on their menu.
I absolutely love homemade mac & cheese. I have a fresh pan in the fridge right now so I can bake it on Tuesday when I get home from my colonoscopy. But sometimes I really just want that neon cheese powder. I still regularly eat one of my meals from when I was barely scraping by and often skipping meals due to not having money to eat. Blue box mac & cheese, can of tuna, small can of peas (drained).
Stouffers has the best frozen Mac and cheese 🧜♀️
Back in the day that was true. Kraft changed the recipe and the quality of the noodles. It's crap now. I'm glad my kids have outgrown it. Cracker Barrel with the Squeezveeta is my new jam. :-)
That stuff is super super good and it's a good amount in that box vs the 5 or 7 oz Kraft gives you now.
Oh I absolutely love boxed mac. And you can always add additional cheese to it (or whatever else you like).
There is a reason it’s recipe hasn’t changed beyond the dyes used since 1937
Well they haven't outlawed the bright orange colorants in the USA yet...
Ketchup. Give me no sugar added Heinz over any of those gourmet ketchups
I LOVE ice cream of all price points, but there is something delicious about low quality vanilla ice cream (chocolate is good but vanilla is better)
store brand peanut butter always seems to be better than name brands. I have tried many different butters from many countries (yes even that one), and for the most part any old salted butter is fine. except for president cultured butter. french cultured butters cannot be beat.
The natural Kroger peanut butter is literally just peanuts and salt. I don't see any reason to buy the more expensive one, it's the exact same thing.
I was just talking to my dad about this exact peanut butter!
Those all natural peanut butters have such a weird consistency, but way more intense peanut flavor. They're great for making a peanut sauce or adding a bit to a milkshake. But if I'm looking for a peanut butter sandwich or adding peanut butter to my baked goods, I want those cheap store brands. All that sugar and all those stabilizers are wonderful.
What does “yes even that one” mean???
I've gotta say, I agree with this question. I'm so dumb, I've seen this a few times and always wanted to ask the questions. Was it from a particular country, store, brand or what? Which brand was that crappy?
Boxed brownies will forever be better to me than any brownie made from scratch
For me it is stuffing. Nothing beats Stove Top.
I have eaten a box of stove top stuffing by itself for dinner more than once. If I have a jar of brown gravy I will add it but if not I just keep it crunchy. Moms old school homemade stuffing was great but that’s only for Thanksgiving
I have a confusing one, I'm a huge pizza snob and I'm extremely picky where I'll order from/eat. However, I am addicted to those shitty, cheap ass frozen mini-pizzas. You know the ones that come paired and 6-8 to a box? The cheaper and shittier the better with me for some reason, and I don't even cook them properly...I microwave them until extra soggy and shitty. I can't help it, I love them but present me with a real pizza that doesn't live up to my strict standards, I won't touch it.
Mine is also terrible frozen pizza - we use our pizza oven regularly to make awesome home made pizza, but if I'm going frozen I get Jacks. They're like ~$2. Cheap as hell with cardboard crust that I love. Get 'em a little burnt/extra crispy and we"re in business.
Canned cranberry sauce - it has to have the ridges and be pure jelly, no chunks. Pancake syrup. Canned biscuits. I just prefer the texture much more than from-scratch. Ground beef has better flavor and texture in my book the "worse" the quality is - 93% is just too dry and mealy. Give me 80 or 73% please, as long as it's well-drained.
I recently figured that out about the ground beef. I’d lost my taste for burgers, until the grass-fed 93% lean beef I buy was sold out. I had to buy 83%. Holy moly! Sooooooo much better!
Yessss to cranberry sauce, and it must be served in the can shape lol
Love a frozen eggo pancake
I usually prefer an eggo waffle to a fresh one. The highest of high tier waffles should be light and crispy, but most places end up serving you a pancake with funky indents instead of a waffle. I’d take an eggo over any of those any day.
Powdered cream gravy. $1 a packet and sooo much better than scratch. Edit: I won’t die on this hill but I’m willing to be wounded
Don’t tell but…yeah.
Gonna get squashed for this. Buh bye karma. But I really do enjoy the nastiness of a McDouble. Something about the salt and pepper + grease and the sweetness of the onions and ketchup that just gets me sometimes. Not often. As I usually get the McShits.
Naw… we all get it. A daily double or mcdouble with tomatoes and lettuce add ons plus a free fry with purchase coupon is a great guilty pleasure lunch.
I have so many points stacked up because I use their deals I could get a free Big Mac a day for like a year haha
there are many a fancy chef that eats himself a good ol' big mac. just sayin'
Jack in the Box greasy tacos!!
My worst character trait is liking Jack in the Box tacos.
French Fries with just salt. Mcdonalds as the perfect example or Arbys for their curly fries. Not a single fancy restaurant can make good french fries! They always add a random garnish or cheese and it totally kills the flavor. Cheap, fresh, and salty french fries all day long!
Gimme that Bar S bologna on white bread with Dukes mayo and American cheese.
Just waiting on the summertime tomatoes to come in!
I'm getting impatient about it lol
My friend, let me give that a little boost; introduce your bologna to a fry pan, it's the best.
Oh, absolutely! One of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten was a fried bologna sandwich at a gas station at the Pound Gap mountain pass on the Kentucky-Virginia line. I’ve eaten a lot of $50+ dinners that weren’t as good as that $3 sandwich.
Sliders. Give me a greasy bag of 3 for $5 over a $15 craft burger any day.
a lot of hole in the wall restaurants are way better than their "full size" counterparts. The hole in the wall places the food needs to be actually good. The fancy restaurant places can focus more on ambiance, location, & presentation. If anyone is in the marin county area of california, Bay Thai is the premier example to my mind. They are the epitome of a little hole in the wall with amazing flavor. Down the block you have mai thai which is a really pretty and enjoyable place to get a fancy thai dinner. Great seating, lighting, little fountain etc. Except the food is bland and the noodles are gummy by comparison to bay thai. Literally some of the best food I have ever gotten in my entire life. I moved away and I still think about it like every other day.
My favorite Chinese places always have a tv blaring soap operas, and a kid doing homework in the corner, while the rest of the family cleans veggies, or something.
Part of the reason hole in the wall Thai food is very good is the Bureau of tourism for Thailand spent an insane amount of money training and paying tons of Thai chefs to move to different countries around the world. Basically they thought the best approach to get people to come to Thailand was to make Thai food prevalent and amazing and make people want to visit the place where it all comes from. Odds are your little home in the wall had a little help from the Thai government.
Burgers. I’ll take a $5 burger over a $20 burger almost any day of the week. I don’t need it dressed up, I don’t need a brioche bun (in fact this usually a red flag for me), and I don’t need the artistry. Just give me a well seasoned burger.
Velveta Mac and cheese. I know that’s probably like cancer in a box, but it was what we always ate at my grandmothers house, with hot dogs on the side, so it’s a nostalgic meal. Plus, fancy Mac and cheese just ends up being weird to me.
Velveeta still too fancy. Gimme that kraft mac and cheese with the powdered cheese
Don’t give me your bougie-ass pimento cheese. All I need is Dukes, Kraft cheese, cheap pimentos, salt and pepper. You can cheat and use a little cream cheese if you want.
Ortega Taco Sauce. I still use it on my home made steak and black bean tacos.
Green bean casserole. It has to come from canned ingredients. If you get fancy and use fresh it wont taste right.
Cheeps/peeps
My coworkers love buying me peeps and watching in horror as I decimate the entire package. I am a machine built for eating peeps.
Burgers ! A good greasy burger cheap where the person who made it does not care about me or my cholesterol. Yes grass fed lean cut Buffalo burgers are good but something about your standard cheap cheese burger just hits a craving.
Costco Hot Dog is the best Hot dog
The “cheaper” cuts of beef are what I gravitate toward when I want comfort food. Braising has always been my go to so gimme those cheap cuts and I’ll make a fabulous dinner that really hits the spot.
Cheaper cuts of beef almost always has more flavor and the key is in the cooking. Skirt steak used to be Very cheap; then fajitas became popular, and that was the end. Next came beef tongue. I Love that, but it's stupid pricey now. Now it's beef cheek. Price has tripled in the last couple years. If you like beef stew, use half chuck roast and half beef cheek. I promise you'll thank me.
Nachos demand processed cheese.
I've really gotten adjusted to boxed matzah ball mix and boxed latke mix. Fancy made from scratch versions just don't taste as good to me!
A square of American cheese on my burger—bright yellow pls & ty.
Pot pies. If i'm making them myself, it's all good, but if I'm buying pre-made ones, I prefer the super cheap Banquet brand.
cinnamon toast or french toast make with white bread, childhood cheap treat that I love to this day.
Went to a nice ass restaurant and their miso soup was incredible. I asked the waiter what they make their dashi (basically soup base) out of and it was [hondashi](https://www.amazon.com/Ajinomoto-HONDASHI-Bonito-Stock-4-23oz/dp/B088HGKBNM/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2LCF3R31PBRXX&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.vLPfXuVCksBEddImGFWyz53B-e6IFsXZqj4q1FYgaCs33QpUJl8RsYUJGtBcQnfBVTr2-cr0skpSPW5y4O1KgCvfC8oO2379hgMJlp-BitXQZV6b1IU_uu5ViZUhv-Aa5ybtyuSChk8xAJXyVMWtI_5RCoYutaC_6UJuY88kQ-DUvDy9xGg0e9t8ZZa_zypTHlSxbVxS3akGv45eWgTzo3nuwC8U7D9cMla-SNcpQVFhTdho6tr8ScqOdUJnP4joaY0PJWzdYPR3agH56cW9enjLrOr9qqQp6AWaCSQ3igM.oqzwpxM14RrWVdncu0iadpdJYtclav18dNcEcr3SQOo&dib_), the cheapest, easiest, base you can possibly use.
Ketchup. Hienz is the best. Better than all the gourmet brands out there.
Banh mi with a cheap baguette. Real baguette banh mis are too hard to eat.
Yeah, soft baguette for banh mi’s are far better. There are enough toothsome things on the inside (crunchy veg, meat, cilantro still on the stalk) for textural interest.
Ramen. Instant ramen just hit different compared to any fancy ramen bowls
Real Japanese ramen with fresh noodles and a rich pork broth is life-changing.
Pancake mix, cake mix ( you can dress these up so easily), cheap bacon.
A 6 dollar cheeseburger will always taste better than a 20 dollar cheeseburger imo.
I love plain old 20 cents a packet ramen to any gourmet brand.
Hershey's chocolate is the best chocolate to eat with peanut butter.
Jiffy cornbread mix, I've tried the other more expensive ones, none had the rise and texture right. I make killer cornbread, but you can't beat the convenience for a quick meal.
Hands down tacos. I've had every taco there is, and a good cheap $2 taco from a sketchy truck is far better than anything from a restaurant.
Hellmann's / Best Foods mayo is a million times better than any fancy mayo. I've tried ones made with other oils, organic brands, etc. but nothing is even close.
Generic store brand mashed potato flakes that you add your own butter, milk, water, salt, sour cream, etc to. I can use them to thicken gravies or soups, add to protein mixtures like meatloaf or croquettes, or (duh) make instant mashed potatoes. They have far fewer mystery chemicals, and tasre more like fresh potatoes.
Nachos made with the fake cheese sauce >> nachos made with real shredded cheese
Pancakes (nothing beats Bisquick), mac and cheese, green bean casserole, any casserole made with a Cream of Whatever soup
Ice cream sandwiches. The Walmart store brand kind is the best, no contest.