Is there nothing in this house to eat?

  • Thread starter Thread starter matthyaouw
  • Start date Start date
AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around improvising meals from limited pantry supplies, highlighting various creative and unusual food combinations. Many participants share their experiences with quick and unconventional meals, such as ramen noodles, spaghetti sandwiches, and even raw ramen eaten straight from the package. Some mention the efficiency of cooking methods, like using one pot to minimize cleanup. Others share humorous anecdotes about their worst food experiences, including artificial crab meat and bizarre combinations like white rice with ketchup. The conversation also touches on the nostalgia of simple meals during tough times, such as tomato sandwiches and tuna mixed with canned spaghetti. Participants express a mix of humor and practicality in their culinary improvisations, emphasizing the resourcefulness required when faced with empty cupboards.
matthyaouw
Gold Member
Messages
1,125
Reaction score
5
I'm sure you've all been in the situation- lunch time comes around, your're hungry, you check the cupboards, the fridge, freezer, and there doesn't seem to be anything half decent to eat.
My question is this: when faced with that situation, what are the best, worst and strangest improvised 'meals' you've managed to cook up from what lurks in the back of the pantry?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
romainian noddles (i think i spelled it right)(the nodles that cook in three minutes with a pack of seasoning)

they take a little more time than warming something up in a microwave, but you only need ot wash one pot, a spoon and a bowl.

they'er great if you have a cold also
 
Spaghetti sauce with those japanese 3-minute cooking ramen noodles. It wasn't bad.. except for the fact that the noodles were mushy and the sauce was bland.
 
Frito sandwich, spaghetti sandwich, greenbean sandwich...OMG, I eat too much bread. At least the bread I eat has bark in it.
 
The spaghetti taco wasn't as good as I thought it would be. :blushing:
 
Put on some ragged clothes, grab a can/cup and go outside and beg for a while. Soon you will have enough for lunch and dinner at wendys :smile:
 
lawtonfogle said:
they take a little more time than warming something up in a microwave, but you only need ot wash one pot, a spoon and a bowl.

If you were in my minionary you would be castrated for such inefficiency. Eat out of the pot, save the bowl.
 
This has happened to me numerous occasions.

The best sollution is...if you can drive, go get some food! If you can't, get one of your parents to go get some food! ANNOY THE CRAP OUTTA THEM!
 
White rice and ketchup I was extremely poor at the time.
 
  • #10
lawtonfogle said:
romainian noddles (i think i spelled it right)(the nodles that cook in three minutes with a pack of seasoning)

they take a little more time than warming something up in a microwave, but you only need ot wash one pot, a spoon and a bowl.

they'er great if you have a cold also

I think those are "Ramen" noodles (or were you joking?). And if you are really hungry, why bother cooking them? ("Rawmen noodles")
 
  • #11
I once put a chocolate bar into a bread which was way over its 'best until' date.

Still tasted quite nice.. :rolleyes:
 
  • #12
There's always food in my house, and lots of it. If worst came to worst, I could saw a chunk off of that 26-year-old moose in my freezer. If I'm hungry but don't really feel like eating (tired, stressed, etc.), I like 2 cans of tuna mixed with a can of Smurfagetti, seasoned with lots of cumin and onion powder. (Zoodles are okay, too.) The sauce moisturizes the tuna enough that it's easier to eat than usual.
 
  • #13
Smurf said:
If you were in my minionary you would be castrated for such inefficiency. Eat out of the pot, save the bowl.

LOL! I was going to say the same thing when I read that! :smile:

Almost anything can be mixed with rice or pasta, including any random condiment packages you have lying around (ketchup, mayo, mustard, soy sauce; any two out of those four can be combined as well, but I don't recommend combining three or more). Tuna can be eaten straight from the can if there's nothing else, as can pretty much any canned vegetable.
 
  • #14
Spam Fried Rice.
 
  • #15
brewnog said:
Spam Fried Rice.
You never cease to disgust me.

I'd rather eat the moose...
 
  • #16
My problem the food is there I just have to make it, that's where ramen noodles are nice. When feeling lazy you just eat them raw.
 
  • #17
The worst thing I've eaten, when there has been nothing else to eat, has got to be artificial crab meat... I almost puked after the 5th bite. (yeah, i don't know why continued eating it after the first bite)
 
  • #18
Chi Meson said:
I think those are "Ramen" noodles (or were you joking?). And if you are really hungry, why bother cooking them? ("Rawmen noodles")

I like to add some spray-on margarine to my raw ramen noodles, at least it feels more like "cooking" that way.
 
  • #19
Dynamis said:
The worst thing I've eaten, when there has been nothing else to eat, has got to be artificial crab meat... I almost puked after the 5th bite. (yeah, i don't know why continued eating it after the first bite)

Sadly, I actually like that stuff. As long as you realize it's not going to taste like crab, it's pretty good. But you have to dip it in melted butter, or else make a salad out of it.

Raw ramen noodles is going a bit too far for me though! If I'm so lazy I can't be bothered to cook noodles for 3 minutes, it's time to call for something to be delivered. Though, if you buy the fresh angel hair pasta (the stuff that's in a refrigerated case in the pasta aisle), that only takes about a minute to cook, and tastes way better than Ramen (you can freeze it if you want to stock up). But, of course it's far more expensive. You really can't beat 25 cents for a meal.
 
  • #20
Once when I was young and really poor [just got my first apartment], I lived on tomato sandwiches for a week.

Glass of orange juice with two raw eggs and tobasco, well mixed. I got the idea from Rocky I. :biggrin:

In fact, I ended up drinking one of these each day before I worked out, for quite a long time. Back then no one [the average person at least] seemed to think that raw eggs were bad. Many health nuts considered them to be a good thing to eat!
 
  • #21
Ba said:
My problem the food is there I just have to make it, that's where ramen noodles are nice. When feeling lazy you just eat them raw.
I've eaten them raw. :redface: They're good that way.

Artificial crab meat comes in different qualities. I bought some of the real cheap stuff and it tasted like fish candy.

Tomato sandwiches are yummy!
 
Last edited:
  • #22
Ramen is korean. It's real pronounciation ramu-on.

When raw, with chilli, it can taste very nice..but very, very, VERY hot depending on which 'ramen' you have.
 
  • #23
Dynamis said:
The worst thing I've eaten, when there has been nothing else to eat, has got to be artificial crab meat... I almost puked after the 5th bite. (yeah, i don't know why continued eating it after the first bite)

When I worked in a grocery store, there was a little while I worked in the meat room. I remember packing it up, I actually got some for a salad. Then about four days later someone brought some back complaining it was like rubber. And boy was it ever
 
  • #24
Evo said:
I've eaten them raw. :redface: They're good that way.
If you toast then in the oven, they are even better and quite nice on salads.


Evo said:
Artificial crab meat comes in different qualities. I bought some of the real cheap stuff and it tasted like fish candy.

The better stuff can be found at asian grocery stores and is typically shaped as cylinders individually wrapped in plastic. I use it when I make sushi, but it makes a good "crab" salad also.
 
  • #25
DocToxyn said:
If you toast then in the oven, they are even better and quite nice on salads.

Do I have to ask the obvious? If you're going to bother with the trouble of toasting them, why not just follow package instructions and boil them? That little flavored salt packet tastes better in boiled water than as a powder. :-p
 
  • #26
Bladibla said:
Ramen is korean. It's real pronounciation ramu-on.

When raw, with chilli, it can taste very nice..but very, very, VERY hot depending on which 'ramen' you have.

hmmm I think Ramen is the Japanese term for their noodles. There's ramen in every country; in China it's La-mian. I'm sure there's the Korean "ramu-on" but if we call it ramen I think we refer it to the Japanese one.
 
  • #27
I used to LOVE artificial crab meat! I don't eat it anymore though.
 
  • #28
DocToxyn said:
If you toast then in the oven, they are even better and quite nice on salads.
oooh, that does sound good!

C'mon Moonbear, it's a new taste treat. Try some uncooked noodles. :approve:

The better stuff can be found at asian grocery stores and is typically shaped as cylinders individually wrapped in plastic. I use it when I make sushi, but it makes a good "crab" salad also.
I've had that, it is very good.

Of course the all time, unbeatable, most orgasmic is Alaskan King Crab legs dipped in melted butter with lemon and garlic. I will do ANYTHING for those. :blushing:
 
  • #29
Evo said:
oooh, that does sound good!

C'mon Moonbear, it's a new taste treat. Try some uncooked noodles. :approve:

:smile: I think I ate my last package of Ramen noodles on Sunday. I'll have to try tasting those crumbs that are always left in the package next time.

Of course the all time, unbeatable, most orgasmic is Alaskan King Crab legs dipped in melted butter with lemon and garlic. I will do ANYTHING for those. :blushing:

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmm yummmmmmy! I don't even need the lemon and garlic, just the melted butter is enough for me. I think we need to introduce a new fee scale at the cancer clinic! Alaskan king crab legs for the full work-up. :approve: :biggrin:
 
  • #30
Moonbear said:
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmm yummmmmmy! I don't even need the lemon and garlic, just the melted butter is enough for me. I think we need to introduce a new fee scale at the cancer clinic! Alaskan king crab legs for the full work-up. :approve: :biggrin:
If guys only knew the secret was Alaskan King Crab legs. :biggrin:

:blushing:

What can I say? They're so GOOD! :shy:
 
  • #31
Evo said:
If guys only knew the secret was Alaskan King Crab legs. :biggrin:

:blushing:

What can I say? They're so GOOD! :shy:

They might be getting the hint about now. :wink:
 
  • #32
Evo said:
Of course the all time, unbeatable, most orgasmic is Alaskan King Crab legs dipped in melted butter with lemon and garlic. I will do ANYTHING for those. :blushing:
Anything...? :-p
And these are applied orally? :confused:
 
  • #33
Moonbear said:
Do I have to ask the obvious? If you're going to bother with the trouble of toasting them, why not just follow package instructions and boil them? That little flavored salt packet tastes better in boiled water than as a powder. :-p

It's mostly because cooked ramen, as indicated by this thread, has been done to death, so I thought to try a different texture/flavor profile and it's pretty good.

EVO said:
C'mon Moonbear, it's a new taste treat. Try some uncooked noodles.

Yea Moonbear, everyone's doin' it... :-p
 
  • #34
Smurf said:
If you were in my minionary you would be castrated for such inefficiency. Eat out of the pot, save the bowl.

the pot is to hot to eat out of, and the bowl cools down faster, and uasly my brother wants some so i use the pot, eat my noddles, wash the bowl and spoon and by then the second batch is ready, and he uses the newly clean bowl and spoon
 
  • #35
Spaggetti O's in those little single serving cups. 1.15 minutes in the Microwave and they're ready to burn the roof of our mouth.

Mixed water and catsup together and heated it to make soup once.

Looking for candy once as a kid, I had some of that Baker's unsweetened Chocolate.
 
  • #36
lawtonfogle said:
the pot is to hot to eat out of, and the bowl cools down faster, and uasly my brother wants some so i use the pot, eat my noddles, wash the bowl and spoon and by then the second batch is ready, and he uses the newly clean bowl and spoon

That's all way too complicated. Just set the pot on a towel or blanket and it's no problem that it's hot.

Though, if you're into gourmet cooking, they do taste better if you boil a second pot of water that you don't put the noodles in, drain the starchy water off the noodles when they are cooked and mix your flavor packet in with the clean boiled water. That's a lot of effort though, as it requires two pots. And if you're really going all out, you can thinly slice a bit of steak (one cube of stew meat goes a long way; you can feed yourself for a week or more on one of those packages of beef cubes) or chicken breast, and fry it up then toss it into your cooked noodles. But, that's really a lot of effort, so you might want to reserve that fancy stuff for when you have a date over for dinner. :-p :smile:
 
  • #37
Artman said:
Spaggetti O's in those little single serving cups. 1.15 minutes in the Microwave and they're ready to burn the roof of our mouth.

Ugh, I've never liked Spaghetti-Os. Not even as a kid. When I lived in dorms with no freezer, I managed to suffer through some spaghetti sauce in jars, but ever since, I usually have a regular supply of homemade sauce in the freezer. Usually, when all else fails, it's pasta and tomato sauce. I realize that's pretty upscale for this thread though, so I won't say any more on it.

Looking for candy once as a kid, I had some of that Baker's unsweetened Chocolate.

I did that once too. I also used that with a bunch of kids to demonstrate taste to them. We needed an example of bitter, so I decided it would be fun to see their reaction when they think they are getting chocolate (after checking with all their parents that none of them had allergies to chocolate of course).

Package of unsweetened chocolate: $3
Expression on little kids' faces as they bite into it: Priceless. :smile:
 
  • #38
Danger said:
Anything...? :-p
And these are applied orally? :confused:
Yep, I'm easy. :redface:

Hey, if I quit my job, can I stay in that basement corner of yours? Can we get rid of the iron maiden though? :bugeye:
 
  • #39
Moonbear said:
Package of unsweetened chocolate: $3
Expression on little kids' faces as they bite into it: Priceless. :smile:
hilarious! :smile: poor rugrats!

When I was a little girl I had a friend from the Phillipines who introduced me to Ramen noodles. She always cracked open a raw egg and stirred it into the pot while the noodles were cooking. It's yummy that way, and it's an easy way to add protein.
 
  • #40
Evo said:
Yep, I'm easy. :redface:
You have no idea how happy I am to hear that.:-p

Evo said:
Hey, if I quit my job, can I stay in that basement corner of yours?
Absolutely. I'll even let you upstairs once in a while if you don't behave yourself. :biggrin:

Evo said:
Can we get rid of the iron maiden though? :bugeye:
I suppose, but the rack stays. (You're kinda short anyhow...) :wink:

You realize, I assume, that your dietary habits will preclude kissing. I have that seafood allergy... :frown:
 
  • #41
Moonbear said:
Expression on little kids' faces as they bite into it: Priceless. :smile:
Evil! :devil: I'm loving it! :biggrin: :!)
 
  • #42
Artman said:
Looking for candy once as a kid, I had some of that Baker's unsweetened Chocolate.
It's actually pretty good if you dip it in honey or corn syrup. :smile:
And before you jump all over that one, notice that 'honey' is not capitalized. :-p
 
  • #43
Danger said:
Absolutely. I'll even let you upstairs once in a while if you don't behave yourself. :biggrin:
Wow, what more could I ask? :approve:


I suppose, but the rack stays. (You're kinda short anyhow...) :wink:
I'll need a couple of pillows to keep my head elevated, my nose gets stuffy if my head isn't elevated and I wouldn't want to be uncomfortable while on the rack. :rolleyes: (I've always wanted to be taller)

You realize, I assume, that your dietary habits will preclude kissing. I have that seafood allergy... :frown:
I can't imagine a life without crab. Is it just shellfish you're allergic to?
 
  • #44
Danger said:
It's actually pretty good if you dip it in honey or corn syrup. :smile:

But then it isn't unsweetened anymore.

And before you jump all over that one, notice that 'honey' is not capitalized. :-p

:smile: I must really be tired today; that thought didn't even cross my mind.
 
  • #45
DocToxyn said:
Yea Moonbear, everyone's doin' it... :-p

Ooh, sign me up! :smile:

So, is this regular peer pressure or peer-reviewer pressure? :biggrin:
 
  • #46
Moonbear said:
:smile: I must really be tired today; that thought didn't even cross my mind.
That explains you, but how did I miss it?




Tee Hee Hee, he said "Jump all over 'that one'" Tee Hee Hee. ("That one" was, "dip it in honey")snicker snicker snicker. :-p
 
  • #47
Evo said:
I'll need a couple of pillows to keep my head elevated, my nose gets stuffy if my head isn't elevated and I wouldn't want to be uncomfortable while on the rack. :rolleyes: (I've always wanted to be taller)
No need, my pet. It's inclined 25º and has a nice leather headrest. (We wouldn't want you <snorting> any more than usual; it would keep Lucy awake.)

Evo said:
Is it just shellfish you're allergic to?
As far as I know, just shrimp, but by association I'm scared to try other crustaceans. No problem with mollusks or any kind of fish. (Except I don't generally like fish. Just the 'white?' kind–tuna, shark, swordfish, etc.. I'm not really a bigot; it's just that the others taste, well, fishy.)

Moonbear said:
But then it isn't unsweetened anymore.
That, of course, is the point. :approve:



Moonbear said:
:smile: I must really be tired today; that thought didn't even cross my mind.
Don't blame yourself. I had that one set for 1.5 minutes, but it might have been a faulty fuse. :redface:
 
  • #48
Artman said:
Tee Hee Hee, he said "Jump all over 'that one'" Tee Hee Hee. ("That one" was, "dip it in honey")snicker snicker snicker. :-p
Are your meds losing effectiveness, or was there a special on tequila? :-p
 
  • #49
French fries and meatballs.

Too much fat. :redface:
 
  • #50
Somehing I tried today:
'Roast chicken flavour noodles' (with roast chicken presumably being a mis spelling of 'almost entirely devoid of' and noodles being an abbreviation of 'soggy shards of broken pasta like substance') with fillets of cold mackrel in tomato sauce.
 

Similar threads

Are you a kind, benevolent Master?
Replies
24
Views
2K
Other DOE/SULI Argonne Internship Housing
Replies
13
Views
5K
Close Calls from Falling Objects Out of High Rises
Replies
6
Views
2K
Plumbing Compressed air powered water pressure
Replies
39
Views
14K
Temporary full-time job at a local Wendys
Replies
16
Views
3K
TOP 10 Reasons for Being Culturally Different
Replies
14
Views
4K
No problem.Meet a Mentor: D H - Get to Know Your Wonderful Mentors Better
Replies
28
Views
8K
I’ve made a huge mistake (or: how I learned I hate business and love physics)
Replies
1
Views
3K
Can I Reconnect with My Friend After Months of Silence?
Replies
4
Views
4K
How to deal with unethical coworkers?
Replies
11
Views
2K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top