#SKRUGGLEMEAL: Easy & Cheesy

Cheese. *sigh* I love it, and I'm not a cheese snob by any means. Whether it's a handmade and delicately aged gruyère or a wedge of velveeta,  I'm not one to pass it up, including but not limited to the processed cheese-like sauce that accompany boxed pasta meals. Your body is a temple, health is wealth, yadda yadda yadda; If you're looking to spend less than four bucks per serving and don't mind fake cheese N carbs then let's get down to it.

I added minced garlic, red onion, cilantro, and one small sweet pepper(all diced) to a hot pan coated lightly with coconut oil and let them all mingle for a few minutes at med. heat. Opened a can of store brand fire roasted stewed tomatoes (this also works great with Rotel) and mixed it in. Follow the instructions on your store brand shells & cheese, and add them all together. It's that easy! For additional seasoning I added chili powder, black pepper, and paprika. A light sprinkling will do. I make different variations of this, sometimes I add leftover chicken, ground turkey or beef, and once I used ground bison. This time around I used...canned chicken. It's a thing I didn't even know was a thing until my friend Rev Bart told me about it. He's known for his versatility and resilience so when he told me about the value of canned chicken breast I took him for his word, and I'm glad I did. $2.50 for a 2.5oz can, $1.69 for the shells & cheese, $0.89 for the canned stewed tomatoes, and the produce I already had in the fridge bringing the total for three servings to $1.69 each.

#SKRUGGLEMEAL: Simple Salmon Spinach Salad

If you're going to eat a salad, you might as well make it as colorful as possible. I bought raw salmon for $3.40 and usually I make this salad with kale...but spinach was on sale. The secret ingredient for this hearty and filling salad is ginger. I grated some fresh ginger and garlic, sautéed them with 1 tsp of butter over med-low heat for about 15min before adding the salmon.

I seasoned the salmon with black pepper, paprika, and Mango Habanero salsa and lime juice. Add as much of the salsa as you want because you can use it as an oil-free salad dressing. To the bed of spinach, I added red onion, chopped tomatoes and sliced avocado (I sprinkled a little garlic salt on the avocado). The end result can easily be shared between two people. Alright, let's talk prices; The spinach was $1.49, The salmon was $3.40, the jar of salsa $2.99, and the avocado $0.99. Everything else I already had at home, bringing the total to $4.43 per serving. Any tips or tricks on finding cheaper produce in the LA area(or anywhere, really)? Feel free to drop em in the comments section!

#SKRUGGLEMEAL: Cheap Chicken Salad

Stretching meals is a delicate art, especially when buying a few groceries can run you roughly the same price as a car note. I made cheap chicken salad with a limited amount of ingredients.

Macaroni noodles, 2 leftover chicken breasts, celery, green onions, red onion, garlic and Sriracha mayo. I sautéed the celery, red onion, garlic, with grapeseed oil. Added them to the chopped chicken, and seasoned with black pepper, yellow curry, and paprika. I mixed in the Sriracha mayo (add to taste) and drizzled some actual Sriracha on top! If you have any suggestions or requests, feel free to throw em in the comments.