Do you have a favorite I'm-alone-now-so-nobody-will-know favorite dish?

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When I make any kind of food -- Asian or not -- for guests, I always make everything from scratch. It's not fair putting the blame on Marie Calendar or the Jolly Green Giant if anything fails. But when I'm alone and want something that is normally a whole lot of work with no pain, no strain, I keep a carton of Ajinomoto "Gourmet Pot Stickers" in the freezer. 12 to a tray, 6 trays to the carton. They do come with a dipping sauce, but I customize mine with a little added fish sauce, Shao Xing wine, shoyu and some regular and chile sesame oils. Simmer until their bottoms are crusty and brown, then enjoy. There are tons of variations, as the mood strikes me.

Do you have something that you save for yourself when you're alone because you don't want the rest of the world to know you can be that lazy? I figure what the rest of the world doesn't know won't hurt them. '-) So tell us about yours and we promise to keep it a secret.

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Dill pickle sandwich.

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I tear a whole in the center of a slice of multi-grain bread, drop it into a skillet of heated butter, crack an egg in the center, top it with a slice of good cheese and sprinkle it with chopped red onion. When the bottom of the egg is set and the bottom of the bread browned, I transfer it to the broiler to finish. Sprinkle with a few bacon bits to serve. OMG, it's heaven.

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Since it's just between us . . . there's a box of Costco frozen vegetable samosas lurking at the back bottom of my freezer. They are so good with apple and jalapeno jam.

Keep it a secret, please!

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An old joke amongst people who know me from when I first bought my house and lived alone - Pop Tarts and Wine. I was even given that as a gift once later on!

OK, so that was 11 years ago, and I honestly haven't had that as a meal since. My SO would drop over if I were to bring home Pop Tarts these days.

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Try those potstickers with some black vinegar from shan xi or zhen jiang.

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Remember that to do Gyoza right, you brown the bottoms but then put in a half cup (or so) of water into the hot pan and put on a loose top, When the water is gone, the gyoza are done - crisp on the bottom and steamed soft on top.

For me, it's mostly leftovers. I always make too much for dinner and munch, guiltily, late at night. But when I either don't have leftovers or have purposely put then up for another meal, I resort to "instant" soups. I keep pre-sliced dried shiitake, prepared wakame (cleaned and cut), my homemade menma (soy/sugared bamboo), whatever tofu and surimi I have (kamaboko, chikuwa, gobo age). I usually have home-made dashi in the fridge, but if not, I use hondashi powder. I have many types of miso plus I have soup bases for tom yum and others. There are always scallions in the veg drawer. Sometimes it's leftover rice and green tea. So using the hot water in the electric hot pot, or nuking the dashi, I can have a nice soup put together in a few minutes - not necessarily something I would have served my mom, but certainly edible.

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I hate to admit, stouffers chipped beef over toast. Yes I make it myself, but I always keep one of those. I also keep a mac a cheese by stouffers, not good but for a quick 11 o clock dinner, it surfices. Better than take out. Also I order chinese maybe 1 a month or once every 2 months, usually when a friend stops by and they want it. I always order another side of house fried rice or some dish for me. I break the container into 2 dishes and freeze. Maybe 3.50 per dinner. Easier than going to get it and easy. Not the best but handy when needed. I have one fried rice in the freezer right now.

Don't laugh at stouffers, it works none the less.

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When the husband is away, I eat salmon cakes and cottage cheese. But not at the same meal.

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Fried Spam & eggs, but keep it quiet!

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no

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I boil the shiznit out of frozen Brussels sprouts, mash with butter, salt and pepper. It has the consistency of baby food and I love it. =)

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Trader Joe is the cop-out cook's friend.

I'll fry up some of their beef taquitos to get them hot and crisp, heat up a can of their black beans and mash 'em, open a carton of their guacamole and lay some of it on lettuce, surround with some of their cherry tomatoes, and there's dinner. 

Dinner trick #2: shred some cabbage (preferably nappa) and put it in the bottom of a pan. Cole slaw fixin's in a bag (which I haven't tried yet) would probably work well too. Then add a little water and a splash of rice vinegar. Lay on top some of TJ's frozen shu mai. Steam until everything is done.

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I open a can of skinless & boneless sardines packed in olive oil and lift them out of the oil into a shallow bowl. Then I slice some red onion so thinly that you can see through it and add that, plus salt, pepper and a squirt of fresh lemon juice. Toss altogether, letting the sardines break up a little. Taste and, if necessary, add some of the oil from the sardine can. 
Grab a can of seltzer, a handful of saltines, and I'm soooooo happy! (You promised I was alone, right?)

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Casseroles!! I wish I still let myself eat this, Bisquick Pepperoni Pie. My Mom made it up about 25 years ago and it is so delicious. It's nowhere near the ones they list on the website!. Also, tortilla lasagna! Indulging used to be so much fun!

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Stouffer's macaroni and cheese, Canadian old cheddar cheese on saltines, grilled cheese sandwich, quesadillas on flour tortillas with homemade salsa...is there a theme here? Also way too many salted pistachios and some kind of fruit.

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Was a time when 1 day every other month or so, I would make refritos from 2lbs of soaked pinto beans, cook a pound or so of fresh ground pork or beef and grate about a pound of cheddar then make as many burritos as there was filling for. Baked the burritos until golden and freeze them after cooling.

These days it's heat and eat chimichangas.

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Tamale pie: can of corn, can of local bean chile, cut up a red onion and some black olives, top with the normal masa for tamales and into the oven. Five to ten minutes prep time. My daughter likes it.

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Store bought Ramen (the ten for a dollar kind), with the seasoning only. Boil and drain the noodles, stir in the seasoning, eat like pasta. Yummy.

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Mashed potatoes and chopped Spam, mixed together, put into a pie dish and sprinkle with Lawry's Seasoned Salt, bake till crusty on the top and enjoy. Yum!

I call it "Spam and Taters".

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You're talking convenience, right?

I've fessed up in the past to my opinion that Pizza Rolls are the end-all-be-all of junk food. Also Mary Kitchen canned hash with a sloppy fried egg on top. Mmmm.

But ultra *lazy* convenience has to be the bag of crinkle cut fries in the freezer (sshhh... only my daughter and I know it's there). Heat toaster oven. Spread fries on pan and insert into oven. Wait for ding (glorious ding!). Blort out some catsup, some mayo, some mustard. Laze on couch and enjoy dipping while flpping through channels.

I see no reason to start scrubbing potatoes and making a production out of a few fries, when I have crinkle cut goodness 18 minutes away. 

Yep, sometimes lazy. But very happy.

Cay

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Oh lordy, here goes-

Kraft Mac & cheese- the powdered stuff with the straight pasta. I use a lot less butter than it calls for and eat the whole thing. But not very often.

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creamed tuna on toast with frozen peas!

nowdays I make my own white sauce, but it's gotta be frozen peas!

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I get a tray of surimi, and saute it in lots of butter and Old Bay. Sometimes I go even simpler. I just dump the surimi in a big bowl, sprinkle with Shoyu and eat it with chopsticks. I don't try to pretend it's crab, but it is very sweet and tasty IMO

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Tandoor Chef frozen indian food, in particular the potato and pea samosas with cilantro chutney and saag paneer. Delightfuly greasy and full of salt, but they really hit the spot when I'm tired and don't want to actually cook. I usually put some basmati in the rice cooker to accompany. I'm also fond of Alexia yukon gold fries cooked crispy and dipped in mayo, so gross and yet okay enough for frozen fries. I have been known to eat both in front of family, however. 

Oh, I thought of something--I make these white chocolate flavored with matcha (powdered green tea) and almond butter patties, sort of like a Reese's cup, only more interesting. I keep those to myself.

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Frozen fordhook lima beans, with lots of butter added. That's it. Weird, I know, but I love 'em and I don't want to share!

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Eggo waffle with a slice of cheddar melted over it. Weird version of a grilled cheese, I know, but I love it.

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Simply Asia Mongolian noodles, Ling Ling chicken eggrolls(or dumplings) w/dipping sauce.
Break and bake turtle cookies for dessert. Not the healthiest meal, but so damn good!!

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Hilarious topic.

Something I eat alone and would never in a million years consider inflicting on someone else is my 'fastest ever pizza'. (Avert your eyes now, it's shameful). I slather a piece of white bread or greek pita with ketchup (the heinz organic version, not that that's any excuse), season with oregano, salt, pepper, top generously with cheddar, then blast it under the grill. 

Also, careful examination of my freezer will often reveal a stash of mini sausage rolls, waaaay in the back....

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Tamales in a can. Sorry.

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Tastykake Butterscotch Krimpets. I count this as "dish" because sometimes they are "breakfast."

Spelled wrong, but they taste oh so right.

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dill pickle wrapped with ham or smoked turkey, then a piece of swiss cheese wrapped around that

no bread, no condiments just pickle, meat and cheese

even the dog looks away.....

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I love this thread. Spagettios with sliced franks and parmesean cheese. Feel free to use the domestic stuff in this recipe.

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White rice with Heinz 57. weird but deelish.

Fresh grapefruit sliced into sections and sprinkled with kosher salt...and sometimes a packet of Splenda. gotta love that sour/sweet/salty thing going on.

and don't get me started on Oreos.

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Tuna Noodle Casserole for me. Would never inflict it on anyone else.

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my nearby family-owned grocery store makes single-serving dinners to take home. i am addicted to their Swedish meatballs with gravy and egg noodles. they taste exactly like something i would have eaten in my elementary school cafeteria, and are thus oddly comforting when DH is on the road. 
usually followed by a pint of B&J, but that has nothing to do with being lazy.

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Taiwanese instant noodles - there is a drawer in my pantry that is designated for holding the many varieties of instant noodles I keep in stock. I have instant noodles whenever I need something quick and comforting - however, I never add hot water (except when I am in UA flight), I like to cook my instant noodles in boiling water instead and add an egg and some vegetables to the broth - delicious!

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Kraft Deluxe Macaroni and Pasturized Processed Cheese Food Product with diced Spam, seasoned with Japanese nanami togarashi.

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Stouffer's Mac & Cheese - there's a box lurking in my freezer right now.

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I'm actually shocked at how some many CH's are so simple based. Even though they have great creative ideas, they love a crazy boxed food or some bizzar treats. It makes me feel pretty good and feel more at place. We may all have our wierd cravings and obsessions, but we all try hard to take cooking to another level when the time is right. I just got home and used Sooo many short cuts tonight for dinner, but d*mn it was good. And a busy day tomorrow up early again so I planned a nice breakfast for myself (I'll be on the water all day, so food is required). I used horrible honey ham (1 post) on cheap bread with cheeze whiz, my sons I was out of regular cheese. Breakfast, pre made hollandise, pillsbury biscuits and cheap pre cooked bacon (I had a coupon and tried it). But, I love to see that simple wierd dishes can be our favorites. I'm actually cooking (well my friend is cooking) stouffers stuffed green peppers. I truly like them and he is cooking so why not.. I guess I can add that as well to my list of crazy I like meals. I did make a great potato gratain to go with the dish tomorrow night. I did have some nice potatoes to use. I think combining some of what we like and some fresh isn't always a bad thing. May not be great, but it is ok when you have no choice. I think potatoes and cheese are pretty much the only thing in their right now, lol

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Turkey Reuben

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Hellman's mayo on saltines. Canned tamales. Peanut butter and mashed banana sandwiches. Kettle-cooked barbeque potato chips. Canned boiled peanuts.

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Cold leftover london broil, cut up, and drizzled with a balsamic reduction (that I always have in a swueeze bottle) , too good.

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canned sardines with hot sauce, onions and saltines (unsalted tops)... YUM!

WON
http://whatsonmyplate.wordpress.com

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OK..y'all are going to laugh...but...trader's bool kogi..trader's homemade tortillas...sour cream onions and cheese..my bool kogi burrito! And thanks to the replies, I am craviing what we used to call Johnny Marzetti..

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Canned clam chowder with a bowl of white rice.

Canned corn hash with white rice.

Every time I'm fluffing up a new batch of white rice, I have to restrain myself from throwing a pat of butter in there with soy sauce and calling it a meal.

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Tuna Helper or Kraft Mac and Cheese. I'm working very hard to not eat processed foods, but I grew up on box/foil packet cheese products and just can't replicate that flavor. Most people wouldn't want to, but sometimes I crave the badness. I do doctor it up with veggies, but I can't leave behind my processed cheese product.

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Frozen gyoza and shumai, shameful?? We eat those for breakfast all the time. Millions of Japanese live over a century on ramen and dumplings!

But when no one's around, I'm on the down low with Chef Boy-ar-Dee. Mini-bites and beefaroni, mmm.

Anyone remember the song Junk Food Junkie?

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Hello! don't post often, but lurk often....

I am in the pop tart for dinner camp, or I stop by the cheesecake factory and get a piece of cake to go. So good!!!

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Butter and hot sauce sandwich.

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Spaghetti with butter and cracked black pepper.

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Three parts peanut butter, one part marshmallow fluff. Mix until the consistency of play-doh. Eat with fingers.

PB & J on Ritz crackers.

Banana, split lengthwise, slathered with nutella or PB or both.

Cooked white rice mixed with gojuchang and soy sauce (and scallions if I'm motivated), picked up in pinches with pieces of toasted nori.

Fresh cucumbers cut lengthwise into spears and used to scoop up gojuchang.

Collards sauteed with garlic and a spoonful of brown sugar, add frozen shelled edamame, some water, soy sauce, steam until greens are done and top with a dollop of red fermented tofu. If there's any cooked rice, mix that in.

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OK, so I had s'mores for dinner tonight. We went camping earlier in the week and I only had them one night - for dinner, LOL.

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Betty Crocker instant Garlic Mashed Potatoes with some butter and salt on top. I just love the pure starch taste.

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My laziness cat is out of the bag. Sometimes guests get the scratch works, sometimes they get a doctored Digiorno pizza and a nice bottle of red. If I had to always do the fancy works and put on a show, I would either resent my guests or sit alone eating my progresso soup and american cheese slices grilled sandwich.

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I will take a can of hominy (or corn if there is no hominy), drain it, and heat it up. Then I will mix in about two tablespoons each of butter and mayonaise, some crumbly cheese, and sprinkle the top with some type of spicy seasoning blend or something like Penzey's Chicago steak seasoning, One the rare occasions when there is some leftover bacon, I will crumble it up and add that too.

As awful as it sounds as I write, that's how good it tastes.

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I have a bunch of things that I will admit to that I make for just myself - like poached eggs over arugula salad, open faced grilled cheese and apples, mussels steamed with some Paul Newman Sock A Rooni sauce. But my most embarrassing admission is Gorton's Beer Batter Fish filets with a slice of cheddar on a crusty roll, with tartar sauce. Reminds me of childhood, and is really yummy.....

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This is so like the "bless me Chowhounds, for I have sinned" threads. :)

Okay, I'll 'fess up: onion, ground beef, B&M Bacon & Onion baked beans, ketchup, all cooked in the same pan.

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I look forward to nights when i can just make some mashed potatoes (smashed more likely because i'm too lazy -___-) and throw in some sauerkraut and polish sausage slices, then mix it all together in one bowl and oooooh yummm comfort in a bowl.

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Spaghetti with butter, ketchup, and parm (better from evil green can). My mom would kill me for posting this. She's still pissed that I told the baby sitter about it when I was 7. She served it with frozen mixed veg and cubes of cheddar - I don't. SO must not be in town when I eat this lest he comes home before I wash the dishes. Kraft mac and cheese with a can of rotell. Only slightly less embarassing.

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Too many to list really but one of my favorites is a Totino's pizza with some brussel sprouts on top. And I don't care what anyone says, Totino's will beat the pants off of any other frozen pizza out there any day.

What's stranger are the weird dishes that I will go to some length to prepare for myself but aren't suitable for polite company. A sandwich comes to mind... Two slices white toast, fried egg with the yolk broken, fried bologna, slice of american cheese, ketchup, iceberg lettuce, and a sliced Klaussen dill pickle. As for impolite company, I always make a point to shove one of these in their faces. They always balk at the ketchup and pickle but they come around.

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I always bring back a college favorite when I'm along... call it Trailor Trash

Pan-fried kielbasa, cut up and placed into a pot of baked beans - served with spicy mustard, hot sauce, and slices of whitebread.

Not so good for the old GI tract, but soooo good.

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Packaged mac and cheese mixed with a can of Ranch Style beans.

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Nothing beats white bread fried in bacon grease. Haven't had this in five years or so, so it's about time. Top with sauteed mushrooms and a fried egg. Yum!

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Ssshhh, don't tell! Spam hash with a poached egg on top. Trader Joe's garlic chicken enchiladas. Amy's frozen dinners. Top Ramen with stir-ins. Thai and Indian frozen dinners. Aaahhh, it feels good to get it off my chest. The only thing I'm NOT going to reveal is how much of the time I really am this lazy!

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Oatmeal for dinner.

Hubby would not approve. ha ha.

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I always keep a box of frozen Goya fried plantains on hand. They are so delicious, baked in the oven, dipped into Wegmans' garlic caesar dressing.

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Beefaroni, out of the can...cold.

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I know this is totally gross, but since we're in confessional mode....

Buddig Beef, slathered with cream cheese, with huge segments of onion tucked in when folded in half to make a "sandwich." Wrong, but just soooooo good.

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Depending on the craving...

Pablum with cold milk & sugar... sweet fix
Plain white rice with lots of butter... straight out of the pot... carb fix
Cheese cube, wrapped in bacon, deep fried... stress-buster.

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spaghetti with cold ketchup. 
memories from college that I keep alive once a year...okay twice a year..okay..

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make 2 servings of rice in ricecooker with 2 slices of diced spam cooked with it. After rice/spam is ready, sprinkle with a torn up sheet of toasted nori and sesame seeds. Heaven!

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Hominy sauteed in butter or olive oil. Scramble in a couple of eggs, lots of cheese, and toss with salt and cayenne!

Same as above with any leftover carb...potatoes, pasta, rice.

Orzo cooked in chicken broth, mix in some scallions and top with parmesan.

Shin Cup korean style noodles--spicy! Throw in leftover cubed meat for variety. ;)

Tamales from a jar.

Anything related to tomato-less pasta. Love to carbo load when I'm alone.

Refried beans mixed with lots of cheese.

Ice cream topped with peanut butter and something chocolate.

Fat-free chocolate pudding topped with "light" whipped cream.

Frozen steamed chopped spinach topped with butter and parmesan.

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reliably, i turn to my friends at stouffer's, who ply me with their spinach soufflé. one *used* to have to bake it for nearly an hour! now, i can nuke it for a quick fix.

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Air popped popcorn with butter, garlic salt and LOTS of fresh ground pepper.

Spoon with peanut butter and honey on it.

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I have a cassarole that I make for myself only-it's too embarrasing since there is a full cup of butter in it!! This is the recipe-I promise, it's delicious!!
3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts put in a shallow baking dish
top each breast with a slice of swiss cheese
crumble up a whole box of garlic croutons, pour over chicken
top that with the previously mentioned cup of melted butter (I actually use a little less, since the croutons have oil in them)
top all that with a can of slightly diluted cream of mushroom soup, smooth out the top, cover with foil, bake @ 375 for seventy five minutes, taking the foil off after an hour. Heart attack city. And, if I'm going to be truly honest, I like the congealed buttery leftovers the next day :)

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If I'm sick or not feeling well or just plain tired and do not want to cook a meal. Italian sandwich or white bread with Velveeta and make grilled cheese. With a bowl of ramen soup with seasoning and a bit of hot sauce. Or yes a whole box of Kraft Mac and Cheese. Or in the Summer two pieces of lightly toasted bread lot of hellmans mayo and only the ends of a garden grown tomato seeds discarded and lots of S&P on it.

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i eat alot of ramen not cause its cheap but cause i love it and rarely tell people (i live alone). usually most of the season packet, onion, peppers, egg, garlic, sriracha.
my brother makes his is prob the most shameful that i will every now and then recreate:
cook noodles, drain, add the entire seasoning packet (this used to be done with the discontinued chili flavor), butter, sour cream, hot sauce (we were a sriracha fam), and shredded cheese (usually the taco blend) - soooo incredibly good...and so incredibly bad for you.

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I am mostly a lurker... but this thread is too great!

Fluffernutters: Kraft Extra Creamy Peanut Butter and Marshmallow fluff on super soft white bread. 

Kraft Spirals made with way less butter and milk that the recipe calls for. I never thought to have 2 boxes until I read this thread!

Angel Hair pasta with mix of spaghetti sauce and hot sauce with tonnes of cheddar cheese - for breakfast.

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I haven't read through all the posts in quite some time, so don't know if anyone has praised Spam as a dark indulgence. A chef friend was just out in Seattle and visited the Marination Taco Truck, where he consumed, among other things, Spam Sliders. Marination has recently been proclaimed one of the best food trucks in the country. Spam makes it happen.

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Grilled cheese sandwich using single slices.

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cheez whiz with ritz crackers.
or sloppy joes made with ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar and yellow mustard.

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My "I'm sick" or "I'm sad" meal is heated up beef broth, with four pieces of white bread and butter, dipping the bread in the broth.

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Although it's not my very favorite dish when husband is traveling I'll make myself sauteed calves livers with peppers and onions. Add soy sauce during last minute of cooking, over steamed white rice. Or prepare home-style filipino dishes like pinakbet or karekare.

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Another favorite is deluxe nachos MY WAY with Campbells canned Cheese Sauce, Stagg's Turkey Ranchero chili, TJ'j layered Fireroasted Salsa & Guacamole dip, and La Costena pickled jalapenos and carrots atop white corn tortilla chips. Holy prepared food overload!

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1) Challah bread with soft butter AND strawberry or raspberry preserves, a perfect food.

2) Challah bread with mayo, salt, sliced seedless cucumbers (I like Kirbies) and sliced tomatoes or grape tomatoes. Has a very fresh taste. 

3) Corn Flakes, milk, and sugar, so comforting

And if you feel like hot food... 

4) Jarred tomato sauce witha little sugar and lots of SOUR CREAM, garlic powder, and FRIED rough-chopped ONIONS over angel-hair noodles. Poor-man's stroganoff. You can add browned ground beef. Once you start eating this, you can't stop. 

Great thread, very useful too.

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I've been known to drain a can of plum tomatoes, add some chopped garlic, red onion, olive oil salt and pepper. Ready in 2 min

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Kraft Spaghetti in the green box. Hard to find. I actually just use the spice packet, add Barilla cooked pasta, hamburger and tomato sauce. So good, especially as a spaghetti sammy.

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Campbell's "Raviolios." Similar to Spaghettios (which I also enjoy) except, you know, they're ravioli.

I don't know why, but I love those. I'm a sucker for canned pasta and have been all my life.

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Either soba noodles or egg fettucini with butter and parmesean. A HUGE bowl of fat + carbs.

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I have a tendancy to binge and I'm addicted to sweets, so I make sure I don't keep things in the house that will trigger this. If I kept Nutella / peanut butter / marshmallow fluff / maple syrup / hot fudge or chocolate sauce, I would spread one or more of these on bananas till I got sick! I don't trust myself with anything sweet in the house. (I do eat sweets outside the house - just never at home.)

As it is, one thing I love to make when I'm alone is pasta - always DeCecco. I do a few preparations, but my current favorite is with olive oil, chopped sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, lots of chopped Italian parsley, the juice and zest of half a lemon, and lots of parmesan and/or romano cheese (the good stuff). I could eat pasta every day for the rest of my life and never tire of it - it's my all-time favorite comfort food.

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I love Lean Cuisine frozen pizzas, sushi from grocery stores, and Chef Boyardee ravioli (slapped in pan with mushrooms and grated parm). Nothing makes food taste better than a liberal sprinkling of shame

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Ichiban ramen, either original or shrimp flavour.

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I go to KFC. Park *behind* the building and hope to heaven nobody sees me go in. Get my chicken and mashed and gravy and cut-up cole slaw and take it back to the restaurant I manage, and hide in my office and eat it. The staff has forgiven me.

On a more Chowish note, I keep escargot butter in the freezer. I quickly saute some coarsely diced chicken thigh meat in oil and garlic and finish it with the escargot butter.

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This is such a great post. This thread made me remember one of my weird childhood "alone foods." As a little kid, I distinctly remember taking surimi pieces (back when they were called krab sticks) and peeling them into many little strips, a la string cheese. Then I would "fry" the strips in my tiny blue plastic frying pan over the "stove" of my play kitchen, and happily eat them from the miniature blue skillet. Odd, huh? Lord only knows how my parents decided to start keeping surimi in the house in the first place.

Nowadays there aren't many things I wouldn't eat in front of my husband, but, when home alone, I do occasionally bust out a package of ramen (the uber-cheap kind), boil the crap out of it with its seasoning, and then pour a whisked raw egg into the saucepan. Instant egg-drop noodles, whee! I have also been know to eat a bowl of salted white rice with grated cheddar cheese mixed into it, as a meal in its totality. Also, I'm embarrassed to admit that I really like cans of fruit cocktail -- the kind with the super-mushy pear pieces and neon red cherry halves. These days I try to at least drain the syrup first, but that wasn't always the case. 

Sliced green apples with salt or cheese. Velveeta Shells and Cheese -- the whole box, thankyouverymuch. And those terrible, 1000%-RDA-of-sodium, packets of cup-a-soup mix. And my favorite I'm-not-ashamed meal is a can of Campbell's Tomato Soup (it HAS to be Campbell's) mixed with a can of milk rather than water. That stuff's like mother's milk.

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Best quality bacon, thick-sliced into batons and eaten uncooked. 

Odense Marzipan, straight from the foil tube. I will finish a whole roll on the way back from the grocery if I am not careful.

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These days - it' s sardines in olive oil on top of unsalted - saltines...yummmmmmmm
I can't seem to get enough as a special treat!
But for years (as I'm sure I posted ages ago here) it's always been Kraft mac & cheese - the cheap powder one - NOT Delux please!!

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Deep fried Gizzards

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Broccoli florets in jarred tomato sauce!

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Nathan's hot dogs.

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That no-one sees? 
Maybe once a year I'll pick up a can of double chocolate frosting and eat it with a spoon over several sittings. My cakes are all frosted w/ homemade icing, but it just isn't the same. And I would be horrified to be caught with this by my daughter!
Another sin is a pan of hot rice with spears of cheese (be generous) thrust down into it. Add butter, garlic powder and salt, put the lid back on till the cheese is melted, stir and eat. Mm-hmm!
Something my entire family has as a 'bad for you treat' is fried bread. It is to die for. Thaw some frozen bread dough rolls, let them rise & roll them out. Cut into 3 or 4 strips each and fry in hot oil till golden and done. Drain and let them cool entirely before sprinkling with powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar. If you have never had fried bread you won't believe how wonderful this is!

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When alone, I like to drink an entire jar of Alfredo sauce as I cry myself to sleep! Good times.

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Mrs. T's pierogis - cheddar and onion flavored - covered with melted butter and salt.

Also, Stouffers mac and cheese.

I also like egg noodles smothered with butter and salt.

I'm sensing a theme here.

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when she thought no one was around or watching, my MIL would break open 4 Oreo's, cut a slice of American cheese in quarters, top each cookie half with the piece of cheese, put the cookie back to it's original appearance, and eat it. To me, that's just wrong...

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-Jello chocolate pudding that you cook so I can eat the "skin"; max # of times has only been 3 "skins" before it gets to be just pudding.
-7 oz. Hormel chili&beans nuked or not with a dab of mayo.
-An entire Stouffer's 21 oz. lasagna with meat & sauce and generous sour cream.
-Fried bacon and egg on white bread with Kraft yellow cheese, assemble and fried in the bacon fat on both sides. Not recommended before a lipid testing!

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Since I'll gladly trumpet my convenience-food and high-fat tastes to the world, I wasn't sure at first what would qualify. First thing that occurred to me was using straight cream cheese as a dip for potato chips, and they have to be Maui potato chips. Not something I really keep secret, but wait...when I tell people about it, I'm implying the a polite little scoop out of the tub of whipped cream cheese. NO ONE knows that it really tastes better with the bar cream cheese...half a package skewered on a fork. Alternate between eating a couple of chips and taking a chomp off the "cream-cheese-sicle" .

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I was home alone last night, and starving in that PMS kind of way, where you really can appreciate 'bad for you' food the most. Searching the fridge, and freezer, I found some leftover turkey sloppy joe like mess, and some tater tots. Got the tots crispy, topped it with sloppy joe, and some melted cheese, added a little ketchup on the side. It was about the best mess I ever threw together. And I didn't even know we HAD tater tots.

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I like to have spaghetti with jarred sauce mixed with plain yogurt. I call it spaghetti glop. Or tuna surprise; noodles, tuna, hellman's mayo and maybe some green onions. It's like a fast tuna casserole

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Pretzels dipped in mayo - or, alternately,, you can slice cheddar, place over a bowl of pretzels, and microwave for 30 seconds. Both are amazing.

Peanut butter and jelly straight out of the jar with a spoon

breakfast cereal straight out of the box like it's popcorn

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Liver and Onions - I make the Onions with Bacon let them cook for a long time and calves liver... a big fat cab or something and a salad,

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milk chocolate dipped into crunchy peanut butter. brands are irrelevant.

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My short list of lazy dishes:

canned low sodium green beans
Simply Potatoes mashed potatoes
Shake and Bake (chicken flavor)
canned small beets
Rice-A-Roni (chicken/beef)
Frozen brown rice
Pot pie: Campbells soup/frozen mixed veggies/canned potatoes/cream/cooked previously frozen chick breast cut up/frozen pie shells
frozen burritos
pizza rolls
frozen pierogies (broccoli/cheddar)
Swanson's spinach souffle
those little mozzarella balls
melted french vanilla ice cream (+brandy) on any kind of berries)

Not a complete list, but embarrassing enough!

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, with Walnut Chunks Heated up in the Microwave for just a few seconds, until the chips start to melt!!!! (Plus the LARGEST Glass of Cold Milk you could ever Drink...) YUMMY!!!! Also, Fruity Baby Food... SHHHHH HHHH HHHHHH..... : )

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Might be unforgiveable, but when I'm alone and feeling lazy, I love the lean cuisine stuffed cabbage and the pesto chicken flatbread. The other dishes I could do without, but I always make sure my freezer is stocked with a bunch of these.

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I seriously love Mahatma's black beans and rice. I can make all kinds of different variations on it, but sometimes I just have to have it out of that little black bag. It goes only with Yucatan Sunshine hot sauce.

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Poutine. While I roast the "fries", I make a quick gravy with tetra-pack broth and lots of sauteed umami things (whatever's around. shallots, slices of dry sausage, mushrooms...). If I've planned ahead, I'll have cheese curds, but in a pinch I'll use whatever cheese I have on hand, cut into little cubes.

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Oreos or Chocolate chip cookies dipped in orange juice. 

Toast with mayo and tomato slices, salt and pepper. 

Kraft dinner.

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A jar of Victoria's marinara (or marinara with meatballs) straight up.

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Shhhhhh - Vanilla Ice cream over hot white rice

Thick cut Bacon sprinkled w/Brown sugar and LOTS of cracked black pepper - oven cooked -

Sandwiches of thin sliced cukes, sliced onion, mayo and lots of cracked pepper

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A current hidden-heart-attack waiting to happen -

Boston butt hacked into 2" to 3" chunks or strips - par boiled about 30-40 minutes. Make up a batch of commercial BBQ based sauce adding Pataks Vindaloo Paste (not sauce), garlic powder, Maple syrup for sugar, sesame oil + whatever else you like

Slather meat and broil next to heat on (! REQUIRED !) non-stick Foil - flip, re-slather - crisp 'em up

Pig OUT !

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Mom instilled some sense in us that I've worked hard to get around - but a great snack used to be celery sticks with peanut butter spread on them, or apple slices -

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A can of Hormel's Mary Kitchen roast beef hash sauteed in butter. Perfect as is.

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I go for the pot stickers too! I live in San Francisco in a neighborhood with a lot of Asian folks and stores so they are available everywhere in many, many flavors! I'm pretty lucky!
However, my all time favorite thing to eat alone in the dark? Mashed potatoes! Mmmmmm....
Usually I'll make them homemade but I have been known to just pour some potato flakes in a bowl and top it with a blob of cream cheese and boiling water. So ghetto, I know....

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Cheddar cheese and sweet pickle sandwich
Tater tots with ketchup/mayo/horseradish
Cream cheese licked off a big spoon
Pasta with egg
Fried lebanon bologna
Sardines and mustard on matzo
and
Chocolate pudding cooled in a 1/2" deep layer in a pyrex baking dish so it's ALL SKIN.

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Mini pretzels in a bowl with orange juice poured over them. Eat it like cereal. My kids gag when they see this so I have to wait until I'm alone.

Peanut butter, margarine and maple syrup mixed up and spread on hot toast.

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I like to warm corn tortillas until they get a little toasty (I do mine over a gas burner). Then spread on some butter and while the butter is melting, I roll up the tortilla and eat. Tasty.

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egg beaters and supermarket diced onions. For times when cracking and beating eggs feels like too much work for a personal omelet/scramble.

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When I'm alone, and feeling lazy, I'll sometimes just make a big pot of rice and eat it with salt, butter, and soy sauce (yes, it's very salty, and that's how I like it). Sometimes I dump a can of Rotel or stewed tomatoes over the rice and eat it that way, and if I feel VERY fancy I add cheese to the mix.

I also have sporadic cravings for a horrible breakfast my grandfather used to make for us when we were kids...we called it "Special Toast" and it was basically just slices of white bread fried in butter and then tossed with cinnamon sugar in a brown paper bag. He was generous with the butter, tossing it into the frying pan a half-stick or a stick at a time, and the bread HAD to be Pepperidge Farm White Sandwich bread. It's greasy and sugary and delicious. People are disgusted by the idea, but change their minds when I make it for them.

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Mine is cauliflower florets (torn apart into the pan, not chopped) fried in some hot olive oil with copious amounts of pepper and a fair amount of salt, some worcestershire sauce and then tossed onto some plain 2 minute noodles with some Kalamata olives (which i usually de-pip by biting a chunk off and then pulling the seed out) . Heaven at it's most lazy!

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This is quick and yes, some may say gross, but for me it's a little slice of heaven with a childhood nostalgia factor built in as well:

Whip up boxed mac and cheese, then mix with can of Manwhich, yum! And left over chile will do to.

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OK. Steak-Umms. On toast with sauteed onions, american cheese, salt and mustard.

In fact, I've discovered that I am still capable of nursing a hangover, and I want one of those monstrosities right now SO BAD.

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A hot link, sliced in half lengthwise and fried til it's good and caramelized on a soft steak roll with some extra sharp cheddar and a squirt of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce. So good.

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I cook rice with spaghetti sauce to give it flavor, throw in some spam, and call it a day...

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This will gross some of you out, but I love taking a cup or two of leftover jasmine rice, and adding it to a pan in which I've taken about 3 or 4 cloves of smashed garlic and browned them in a couple of teaspoons of oil. Fry the rice with the garlic until it's well incorporated, and salt to taste. I eat this with one of the following proteins:

Scrambled eggs (organic ketchup on the side)
Fried spam (organic ketchup on the side)

Or, my favorite, but the reason I have to eat it alone: dried, salted fish that's been fried for a couple of minutes to crisp it up. It smells like hell, but the flavor is so mildly fishy and it's so salty. I drool just thinking about it. I buy the dried fish at the local Asian markets, and I prefer the Filipino brands of either rabbitfish (danggit) or herring (tuyo). I eat this with the garlic rice and sliced tomato, and I dip the fish into a vinegar, pepper, and minced garlic sauce to help cut down on the salt/oiliness from frying.

My husband and kids refuse to touch the fish, and I'm the only one in the house that likes ketchup, so I have to eat this when I'm alone.

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A big bowl of brown rice or pasta with butter, salt, pepper, cheese, and a fried egg or two. This is my weakness.

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I have a million things that I scarf privately, and won't bore everyone with the details. I hadda laugh, though, at the brand-name of your private potsticker stash. "Aji-no-moto"=Japanese for a brand of MSG. No joke.

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Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (I, too, have eaten a whole box in one sitting)
Jiffy corn bread (ditto)

It's been years since I've had either, actually, but I can taste them as I sit here and type...

Luckily I was at a party recently where someone brought Lipton Onion Soup Mix dip with potato chips, and I dove right in. That is probably my #1 comfort food from childhood!

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I like a good ole bowl of fresh radishes with seasoned salt close by

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A Chef Boyardee pizza mix pizza. Don't ask me why. Normally, I'm a total pizza snob these days, but there's something weirdly sentimental about the Boyardee. Maybe it's because it's the first "food" that I helped make? When my dad was working weird shifts, my mom would occasionally make these for my brother and i, and we'd get to butter our hands to help spread the dough in the pan....

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There is something about this topic that gets me hungier than any other!!!

So many little (embarrassing!!) food quirks that we all can relate to! 
Things that comfort each of us in a way other people would NOT understand!
(Oreos dipped in sour cream anyone?)

Anyway Saturday night, after a day of eating healthy, I lost control in a bad way. I needed something swee and was still pretty hungry, but I didnt have much of anything in the house.
I was desperate so I grabbed a box of banana nut Cheerios and dumped a bunch of them into a jar of Nutella...
It wasnt too bad - it definitely satisfied the crunchy/sweet/gloopy urge all at once!
And it was a definitely only to be enjoyed lone!!

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"Fast asian noodle bowl" mix of some kind - the ones that come with noodles, dehydrated vegetable packet, and an oily sauce. I like one of the spicy flavors.
Add to that, chopped sauteed (or stir-fried) onions and bell peppers; fake chicken (Quorn); and a couple of scrambled eggs. And a bit of soy and a little extra water in the noodle preparation so it's saucy enough. OMG I have this with a big glass of skim milk in front of the TV when my husband's not home. 
I might have this tonight, actually. om om om

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Pasta Carbonara... about as fast as anything not out of the microwave, and really good, too.

My go to comfort food (replaced pasta Alfredo, about a 10 minute proposition).

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In college my roommate introduced me to Kraft mac and cheese tuna casserole. You boil the Kraft mac and cheese pasta then add the powder, milk (less than the recipe calls for), a can of cream of mushroom soup and a drained can of peas. Mix it all together over low heat to make sure you don't ahve too much liquid and eat. Sometimes I still like it.

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This is less in the "I cook it when alone because it's lazy" and more "I cook it when alone because it's so unhealthy" but about twice a year I LOVE an omelette with just cream cheese and cheddar as the fillings. There is zero redeeming health quality, but it's SO good.

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Now that I'm married, it's hard to indulge my secret food shames. When I was single, I kept a CostCo-sized box of Marie Calendar's potpies in the freezer. I would nuke one, and mix it up with boxed Kraft Mac 'n' Cheese. Salty, carby, preservative-filled goodness.

One of my other Secret Single Meals involved Campbell's Cream of Chicken AND Cream of Mushroom mixed together with sour cream, Parmesean cheese, and Worcestershire sauce poured over egg noodles.

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Yup. Tuna Helper Cheesy Pasta with cooked bacon mixed in.

I have it about once a year... and I always feel like pure white trash when I eat it. And after I've eaten it, I feel like i want to vomit. It is my secret shame.

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it's not my all time favorite but a nice guilty pleasure is ye olde fish stick and cheese sammich on a roll. I saw the "recipe" on a box at the store once and HAD TO go home and make one. mmm.

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My standard meal when my husband is traveling is whole wheat angel hair pasta with marinara sauce from a jar and lots of cheese - Parmesan, chevre, feta, whatever I happen to have on hand. And lots of minced garlic. I never get tired of it!

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I do a bowl of rice, top it with some "fried dace" out of a can - you can get this at asian markets - along with the dark rich black beans in the can, and drizzle the rice with some of the oil in the can, a good quality soy sauce, dark sesame oil, and sometimes a chili sauce/paste or oil. Nuke for a minute. While it is in the nuker change into fuzzy pjs and make a nest on the couch with a snuggly blanket. Take bowl out, tuck self in, FALL UPON AND DEVOUR... oh my god the unctiousness of this makes it seem like someone spent hours preparing it... hao xiang ah! Umami like you couldn't dream up. it is SO bad for you probably though... preservatives, msg, salt, MMM MM GOOOOOD. there's another chowhound messageboard about this somewhere...

my college roommate had a thing with chef boyardee's and sriracha.

my boyfriend's mom does chicken ramen with frozen mixed veggies, chili garlic paste, and a bit of peanut butter.

my mom puts whatever chinese leftovers she has into a pot with water, little cubes of potato, some tomato and garlic, and makes a DELICIOUS soup out of that. a little chinkiang vinegar, some sesame oil maybe at the end. maybe there will be some other fresh additions to it, like a poached egg, or some greens, some rice or noodles (gua mian)...etc. AMAZING. sometimes this is what she serves for dinner and it's hilarious how people go crazy over it. "What is the recipe??!!" Lol....

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I adore this thread. My live-in boyfriend is a chef and when secretly buy packaged food I have to take the packaging to the dumpster immediately. 
One of my favorite alone foods is taco salad. Really only embarrassing because of how it looks. Cook ground beef with cumin, chili powder, onions & jalapenos, make pico de gallo and guac, heat up taco shells, etc. Mix the ground beef with cheddar & jack cheese while it's still hot so it gets all melty, add picante sauce (made in New Yawk City!), pico, guac, chopped romaine, broken up taco shells, and a ton of sour cream. Mix it all together into a gloopy disgusting-looking mess, eat in front of television. 
Another one is a sandwich of lightly toasted white bread, thickly buttered with cold butter (the toast should be cooled so the butter doesn't melt. this is very important.) with salami and romaine. YUM

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This wonderful, never-ending thread reminded me of my childhood love... full-fat cottage cheese mixed with full-fat sour cream. I think I'm going to pick some up on the way home.

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Campbells pea soup with buttered bread torn up and left till soggy.

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The super-lazy meal of late has been a package of natto, mixed with chopped scallions, eaten with buttered toast. Or toast topped with smoked sardines straight from the can.

And a beer.

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Hamburger stroganoff, straight out of my grade 7 home-ec book. Made with Campbell's cream of mushroom soup, which I keep in the pantry specifically for this treat. (Beside the Klik, but that's another story.) I eat the hot, creamy, slightly goopy stroganoff on papardelle, with lots of sour cream and so forth....it's still crazy good after all these years, I kid you not.

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Avid lurker here...but couldn't resist the urge to post. 

-Oatmeal(not instant) mix in butter, milk, sugar and a pinch of salt...while that cooks away...fry up tortillas in butter til they just start to brown. When the oatmeal is done, cut up apples and bananas and mix in...tear a piece of tortilla and dip in....so good!

-cook up some bush's baked beans with brown sugar, cinnamon and a little mustard...add sliced boiled hotdogs (or fried cut up spam if you're being fancy!) And serve with a slice of soft almost doughy white bread! Heavenly!!!

-fried egg, thick sliced bacon, buttered toast with a dollop of strawberry jam...perfect breakfast sandwich

-strawberries with brown sugar and sour cream (cold or broiled)

-big bowl of spaghetti and meatballs then top it off with a few teaspoons of sugar

-leftover cold potroast

-haribo original gold gummi bears chilled in the fridge

Weird but yummy guilty and highly classfied pleasures

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<sound of delurking>
OK, here goes...

Butter Pecan Frozen Yogurt topped with maple syrup and a *little* Hershey's Chocolate Syrup
Sliced all-beef hot dogs, browned with chopped onions and then mixed in with scrambled eggs
Chef Boyardee Beef Raviolis (avoid the big cans, they're mostly tomato sauce)
Grilled Spam & Cheese - grilled cheese sandwich with a slice or two of well-browned REGULAR Spam and the hottest dijon mustard I can find. 
Homemade clam dip - canned chopped clams mixed with cream cheese and a few drops of Lea & Perrins, that's it
Trader Joe's Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels (salted, please) dipped in jelly and eaten when nobody's around.
Fried Scrapple covered with syrup (Maryland thing)

Now is when I recommend that the squeamish look away...

Hormel Pickled Pigs Feet - in the jar so you can admire the skin, bone, fat, tendons, etc. Salty, jellied, vinagered splendor.

Now for my big question: After all these culinary confessions, will no one admit to eating Vienna Sausages??? Costco sells a ton of these and I've never seen anybody even go near them or look directly at them. Are Vienna Sausages the food equivalent of porn where you only buy them when nobody's watching? I, of course, would never touch those damn things. Just saying.

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I am more and more secretive of an eater because of the large varieties of this type of food I can categorize this way in my diet. It can be anything. In particular, coldwater fish-head like salmon, halibut, black cod, and other messy foods that don't look polite eating in front of other people but taste heavenly rich & satisfying. 

Otherwise, it's McDonald's drive through chicken mcNuggets. FRESH MADE!

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For me it's sometimes how I eat the food. I sometimes think it just tastes better using your hands to pick up a grilled chicken breast and dipping in sauce. I also like to lick my plate or bowl after a delicious meal. I would not do this in front of others, though.

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First off, spinachandchocolate, I wish my husband had your polite sensibilities (he will lick a plate, bowl, or any other kind of eating vessel in my presence – never in public, I hope) then again he also chews with his mouth open in front of me. Guess there is something to be said about being comfortable enough with someone to eat the way you want to in front of them.

That being said, when I have the opportunity to dine alone (which is very rare) I tend to treat myself to something that would cost way too much money to feed a crowd. So I will stop on my way home and buy a HUGE 3 pound lobster and steam it up, melt some butter, boil a potato or two, and go to town! The scraps go in the garbage before anyone else gets home – no evidence!

If I am sick I will order Wonton Soup – that’s my go-to feel better soup, and eat it by the gallon.

If I am lazy and alone, I will make Pillsbury frozen personal pizzas – deluxe of course, topped with a monstrous handful of mozzarella cheese, baked in the convection microwave, two at a time!

Seeing as I am the only cook in the house, it doesn’t happen often that I end up cooking only for myself, so I try to take advantage of it wherever I can. I will make things like the lobster, stuffed pork chops, prime rib steak, stuffed baked taters, fancy salads, cabo salads, seafood, etc. Does that make me a bad person? I hope not, I just like to spoil myself, seeing as everyone else in the house gets spoiled with my cooking on a daily basis.

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yeah processed cheese. My sister's friend worked in the plant where its made. It's pretty gross stuff, but I still love it. I keep a couple of blocks frozen for emergencies or when I'm real lazy. I used to keep some in the fridge but not anymore its to visible there.

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In a similar thread, ("Spouse is away, so what to saute'" or something like that), I offered anchovy pizza. Love the stuff.

But just last night as I was rooting around in the back of my pantry, I came across a can of Austex tamales and thought of this thread . That's right, I said a "can". And they're wrapped in wax paper for goodness' sake!

See, despite my tamale sleuthing credentials, (thread on Houston board), I keep a "can" of tamales on hand for ...

Now get this...

Tamale Casserole. My paternal grandmother's tamale casserole to be exact.

One can of Austex tamales, One can of Wolf Brand Chili, ("How long's it been..."), and chopped onions and cheese to taste.

Build it in layers and bake until bubbly. My son won't touch it. But once in a while, I just hafta make it.

I've tried using "good" handmade tamales and homemade chili, (which I am somewhat famous for), but it just isn't the same. 

It just isn't as good.

I suppose I'll have to turn in my ChowHound card now. It's been fun....

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a few things i can think of right now. Really good cheese and bread, canned sardines, especially the small lightly smoked ones, smoked oysters with crackers, smoked duck breast, smoked salmon, so yes i like smoky foods. I often add smoked paprika and capers to the smoked seafood. But there is something i do no one does as far as i know: I dice up taro into very small pieces. The taro has to come from big taro roots with striking purple veins, not the tiny korean or japanese ones as they are nearly flavorless. cook it in the microwave for a few mins with water. then i mash up the taro with a fork or spoon somewhat, add fast cooking oatmeal, microwave again, stir in some sugar, a very tiny pinch of salt, add a little milk to cool it, and there, a really delicious, nutrutious fast and warming easy dessert. btw i eat this particular oatmeal on the thin side, enough oats to bring out the taro fragrance not enough to kill it. so basically i am using oatmeal as the main body as well as thickener but taro as flavouring. I have tried splenda to replace sugar and it worked. I would imagine perhaps condensed milk or coconut milk would do well too. The thing is I always eat this thing myself, and unless there is already a can of condensed milk or coconut milk already open, I never wanted to go through the trouble to open them just for this purpose. Another very simple thing i like that I doubt most people like as much as I do is oven roasted hazelnuts, I think they have the best texture of all the nuts. I like other nuts a lot too, but almonds, a little hard, chestnut, well, somewhat like a woody potato, brazil nuts...not buttery enough, macadamia nuts are too oily, walnuts are too soft and pecans are too crashable and a tad too oily, cashews are too milky.

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It has vastly more to do with being alone so Mr. can't smell it, as these are two things he truly objects to that I adore. Mashed sardines in mustard sauce on Ry-Krisp with a dab of horseradish and pepper added for mashing; and sauteed chicken livers done medium rare, with onions and fried eggs and ketchup. ; )

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I eat a lot of guilty pleasures when I'm alone; fried spam & eggs (or spamghetti), canned sardines in olive oil/onions/garlic/lemon with rice, smoked oysters, straight out of the tin, fried chicken livers, and a salad with a super potent dressing made with garlic, lemons, olive oil, and salt-- blended to creamy perfection.

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Bacon with mayo and cheezwiz on white toast. Sometimes I substitute fried spam for the bacon. If I'm feeling ambitious, I add a fried egg and a side of Doritos.

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I have another one: wash potato(s), keep skin on but prick, put in microwave for two minutes at a time, then a minute at a time after semi-cooked, turning over in between taking it out till it's do. Cut open, slather with butter, sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder. OR after you take it out of the microwave (this time don't cook it ALL the way), cube and fry with oil/butter and whatever spices you want for delicious homefries!

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great thread
no crazy combos or anything exotic
but I have been know to slice up a hillshire farms kielbasa, put it in a casserole, cover with KC masterpiece BBQ sauce, top with shredded cheddar and bake. 

Then I will thrown on a game, open a cold beer and eat the keilbasa rounds with a toothpick.
I also love smoked oysters from a can-on crackers with chopped red onion and cream cheese.
And I always keep two packages of stouffers deluxe french bread pizza around for those really lazy days.

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Yes! When I am alone, I treat myself to my own version of Beanie Weenies using Van De Kamps pork n beans, sliced hot dogs, brown sugar, catsup, and a squirt of mustard, and some pepper. Yummy! :-)

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Ok, you guys are gonna laugh, but my secret pig out is steak ums, my husband says they smell, my dog won't touch them, I would die before I fed them to my kids but late at night when I get the munchies and hubby is working the graveyard shift, three or four times a year I indulge, fried with onions, kraft sliced cheese and on toast with ketchup, GOD I AM ASHAMED !!

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Lean Cuisine mac & cheese with ketchup and parm from a green can.

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Taco Macaroni. Taco meat filling with Kraft Dinner. The funny thing is I thought I invented this when I was a starving student. My teenage daughter found an old picture of me and friends eating it and asked me to make it. A couple of months later she came home from school and said this really cute boy was having it for lunch. Turns out after his dad thought he invented it as well. If they ever get married at least I know what to get them as a shower present. Maybe his dad will go halves! :P

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I don't cook homemade meals as much anymore because my husband dislikes so many foods.

But the one thing I love is an old 1950's snack my mom made for us as kids, which she got from her mom.

Bananas with mayo and peanuts. Split bananas lengthwise, spread mayo and sprinkle peanuts (whole or chopped) on the bananas. True comfort food reminding me of my mom who made all our meals, our clothes and even doll clothes for our Barbies. She's still the hardest working mom I
know at 71.

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I can't believe I'm about to admit this to anyone. But hard salted pretzel chunks quickly pan fried in butter are divine. If you need some protein, pepperoni slices on the side work great. Wash down with several bottles of Miller Lite.

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It seems sort of sacrilegious that this is my first ever post... But I couldn't resist.

I cannot think of a single thing that I am ashamed to eat in front of people... But there are a handful of things I only eat when I am alone. Either because my husband won't eat it, or I'm feeling supremely lazy.

Skettios with meatballs.
Egg drop soup from a packet.
Ramen with a really yolky poached egg or two.
Kettle corn.
As much good bread and butter as I can stuff in my face before I feel sick.
Totinos with extra parmesan.
A whole box of classic Kraft Mac & Cheese, with too much butter.

Mmm... Tasty preservatives!!

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I would eat a couple tablespoons worth of condensed milk, straight from the can.

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It's not what so much, as HOW much. I will make clam dip with philly, a can of clams and some worchestershire, s&p. With a bag of kettle cooked chips.

All gone.

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I can't call it a dish, per se, but I had a fondness for Dinty Moore beef stew for quite some time growing up. I think they changed the recipe since then, the beef is more like mushballs now, sadly. 

Frozen potstickers can be wonderful, but I wouldn't keep eating them a secret.

My big one is spaghetti cooked, mixed with sauce and sliced pieces of mozzarella (lots) and then slightly microwaved to melt but DEFINITELY NOT LIQUEFY the cheese gently. It's a plate of pure butt-and-gut food and oh so tasty.

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I don't know that I eat anything particularly odd when I'm alone but I don't eat at the table then so I tend to put everything in a bowl together either layered or crammed in next to each other. I love fried potatoes, an over-easy egg, and diced tomato layered or broiled fish on top of buttered noodles or potatoes and canned green beans (I divide the can of beans with the dog) or peas. Those are normal home-alone meals for me. I also eat a lot of cheese and fruit with really good bread.

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Sauteed chicken livers on toast. I like chicken gizzards too, but with rice. Also, canned tuna mixed with rice and furikake, sometimes with canned corn. Oh my, broiled canned sardines with paper thin slices of onion. Smelly cheese and crackers.

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Buttered toast with raspberry/strawberry jam and a heavily-peppered scrambled egg...so good. As a little kid I always put jam on scrambled eggs, it's such a good combo.

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Neat topic. I've got a couple....

First, I like to make kraft mac (also will eat the whole box) where just before I stir in the cheese powder I drop about a spoon full of barbecue sauce on the macaroni and mix it in.

Also, cheez whiz sandwiches.

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things im ashamed to admit:
-canned sloppy joe mix+cheddar cheese+chips (especially tortilla or sour cream and cheddar) to dip
-deli turkey rolled with cheese
-cottage cheese (by the quart)
-ice cream (by the gallon.... as a meal)

did i really just do that?....'s
-jar of JIF+spoon (the whole thing)
-natures valley bars by the boxfull
-thin mints (sleeves at a time)
-tomatoes+salt+pepper... so many tomatoes.

not ashamed to admit it, but wouldnt tell my fitness friends:
-cinnamon sugar toast (nomnomnom)
-kettle corn (so much kettle corn)

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A sandwich made with pimiento cheese, sliced sweet pickles (vlasic gherkins for me, please), and the softest, cheapest white bread known to man.

Like they said in Ghostbusters, "something from my childhood, something that would never harm me!"

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Aw, I'll cop to Le Seur Peas, mixed with mayo, salt and pepper, minced onion, cubed Velveeta,, and shame.

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"Shrimp Wiggle": béchamel, frozen peas, 2x cans of tiny shrimp, all over crushed saltines. It's something that's been in my Maine family for years.

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For some reason this topic reminds me of the opening chapter of Jessamyn West's "Cress Delehanty", where the twelve-year-old heroine, alone in the house for the day, makes a lunch of a mud-colored, mud-textured mixture of condensed milk, sugar, and cocoa powder.

As for me, I heat Campbell's Chunky Chicken-Broccoli-Cheese soup and pour it over a baked potato.

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When I was single, it was a big bag of potato chips and freshly made Lipton's Onion Soup Mix dip (fresh so that the freeze-dried onions were still crunchy).

Now, it's Kraft Macaroni & Cheese deluxe dinner--the kind with the cheese sauce in the pouch. So salty and fatty and so good.

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For me it's a container of lemon hummus and a bag of tortilla chips or a jar of corn/black bean salsa and tortilla chips, or a jar of chunky peanut butter and a spoon (especially with some baby dill gherkins).

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Years ago I beat a brain tumor and the second round of radiation took away my ability to taste and smell. I was losing weight fast and weak all the time, and had to find a low-effort way to "trick" myself into tasting stuff by making things scalding hot and interestingly textured.

To this day the back of my cupboard is never without La Choy or Chung King Chicken Chow Mein. You know the kind that comes in two separable cans? I would quick-heat the HELL out of it and scatter hard Chinese noodles over the steaming mass. It kept me alive and I will always be grateful for the effect of all those water chestnuts, baby corn, and squiggly sprouts. I rarely eat it now, but I like knowing it's there.

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Sourdough bread from the bakery (like especially when its slightly undercooked) ripped off in chunks and dipped in mayo! I don't need the rest of the sandwich!

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New one just discovered....canned crab meat mixed with edamame. Some how the saltiness of the crab works well with the edamame! Don't ask HOW I came up with this one!!

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Tuna fish sandwiches dipped in cream of mushroom soup...

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I know this is old, but I love it! Let's see:
Nachos: Tortilla chips sprinkled with pre crumbled feta and doused with white vinegar. Heated to perfection. 
"Cookie dough": Peanut butter mixed with sugar until it ceases to be gooey. (If you add an egg it actually makes good cookies).
Also, spongebob shaped Kraft Mac & Cheese with extra parm. And while we're being juvenile, pair it with some A&W root beer straight out of the 2 liter bottle.

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eggo minis covered in peanut butter and syrup. sometimes they dont even need to be warmed--- actually enjoy them with the slight frozen chill and crunch

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"Shit on a Shingle": An army mess hall version of chipped beef on toast. The version I was exposed to involves the use of, among other ingredients, ground beef, evaporated milk and beef bouillon. It really doesn't taste quite right without those three elements. There's no substitution of "better" ingredients that matches the flavor combination. The only ingredient substitution that works is whole wheat for the white bread. My husband loves it too. I can eat it every day.

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i miss the OP, caroline1. happy new year, caroline. well wishes to you from someone who has enjoyed your posts, and this thread!

on topic -- but of course -- my easy dish is doctored up instant rmen noodles. i probably add more stuff in than they put in the manufacturing process: green onions, lemongrass, shrimp paste, cilantro, sesame oil, stirred up egg.

~~~~~
ps, on the creamed chipped beef on toast, my aunt billie first made it for me, on toasted bread, and i liked it. still make it every four or five years, with chipped beef and butter roux plus milk. it is awfully salty, though.

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I have NO idea how I ended up on this site ~ a link to soggy bread, maybe? ~ but I have been laughing for the last hour! What a fun thread, Caroline1! 
My fav lazy, home alone meals, trying not to repeat...
~Ritz crackers with peanut butter topped with applesauce
~Pasta n Peas (or lima beans); mush the peas, add olive oil and "evil green can parm" *lol*
~Claussen Hearty Garlic pickles and creamy Jiff
~Berry Frozen yogurt with calorie-replacing dark chocolate syrup. yep. for dinner. :)
~Garlic cheese and herb biscuits. Possibly with a cream cheese spread, if I don't have to make it!
~Cheezit's dipped in whipped cream cheese
~Chili, Chips n Cheese; canned chili, shredded cheddar, dollop of sour cream built on a dorito, one heart stopping chip at a time.
I'm sure there are more atrocities to my health, but these are my go-to nosh ons.
Looking forward to the rest of this site and more of your posts :)

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A stickler for presentation and cooking from scratch with fresh ingredients when others are around, left on my own I make up a batch of frozen mashed potatoes, some sweet corn and a pan of Bisto gravy granules (any flavour). Mix the lot together and then....blush...eat right out of the pan to save on washing up!

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Cube sharp cheddar. Wrap in pieces of canned crescent roll dough. Soak in bottled Italian dressing. Bake. Inhale. Repeat.

A go-to comfort mixture from when I was a kid: Instant Quaker Oats (uncooked), mixed with cinnamon, brown sugar and melted butter. Basically just a big bowl of uncooked fruit crisp topping. Sometimes I dip apple slices in the mixture to try to make it "healthy" :)

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I like a peanut butter sandwich(crunchy peanut butter) with full strength molassas. Sometimes with a banana sliced lengthways.

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I love this thread so much. :O So many sinful, guilty pleasures that sound so good! Mine are pretty trashy, but I lovelovelove them. So comforting.

Stouffer's French Bread Pizzas
Peanut butter and sugar sandwiches
Peanut butter and Mrs. Buttersworth, mixed together and spread on white bread
Spaghetti-o's poured over white bread and eaten with a spoon
Cornbread crumbled in a glass with milk poured over the top

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Two words: Pork Rinds.

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Split a banana lengthwise. Spread one half with crunky peanut butter, the other with Nutella. Sandwich together and cut into bite-size pieces. Wash down with a glass of milk. Great for breakfast!

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My secret meal is hot dog "pinwheels": sliced hot dogs rolled up in flattened and sliced Crescent rolls, baked and dipped in mustard. Yum!

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very un-houndish of me, but my go to guilt-free snacks are 


green beans tossed with soy sauce and garlic powder, then steamed in the microwave (its embarrassing how often this happens

arctic zero "ice cream". it might not have the best flavor or texture, but it gets the job done for a little while... and ya can have the whole pint for the same caloric count as a half cup of the real stuff.

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Papadum. 
Very thin bean curd wafers about the size of a round tortilla. You might have had em at an Indian restaurant.
I make them by frying them just about 20 seconds on each side and then sprinkling with a dash of salt. .50cents worth creates a pile of fried papadum about a foot tall.
I top them with whatever is on hand ... curried onions or chutney etc if I'm lucky ... otherwise anything from salsa to sour cream to tahini.
A $1 package, fried up, will keep you munching for an hour.
Fried like this they are *Ridiculously* addicting. Indian crack.

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Kimchi. I buy it in a jar from a Korean grocer and I keep the jar hidden in the back of the bottom of the second refrigerator in the garage so the family won't know I even have it. I sneak it when I am home alone.

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My husband discovered this when he lived in Australia for a year. It sounds a bit odd, and it's not very healthy, but it's sooo addictive: Ramen Omelettes. 

Take a bag of chicken ramen, and squish the noodles into smaller pieces. Cook in a smaller amount of water, and add season packet (I add only half or three quarters because of the salt content). At this point most of the water should be gone. Put in a medium bowl and cool down the noodles a bit.

Add 3 (I add 4, which my husband thinks is too much) eggs to the noodles and mix up. Prepare a small frying pan on medium-medium low heat, and poor half the mixture in. Cover and let it cook until the top starts to set. Flip over, put cheddar cheese on half, and fold over when cheese is mostly melted. 

Recipe makes two omelettes, and I eat both. Way more than I need, but the stuff is way too good.

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My wife thinks it's gross but I love hot spaghetti with garlic powder and black pepper tossed in a small amount of Marie's Creamy Cole Slaw dressing. I think it's terrific.

Canned Sardines in oil will chase her out of the room and she complains about the smell of the kitchen trash until I tie it up and bring it out.

Same goes for large canned snails which I cook in garlic oil -- She retreats to the basement for some computer time until I'm done.

Those wouldn't be considered shameful indulgences but years back I used to make myself a pot of Stovetop Stuffing and dowse it in red wine -- Protip: Don't attempt to eat that if you have been drinking Blackberry Brandy -- Mess you up!!

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Go to breakfast: mushrooms (any and all), peppers, onions, stir fried, topped off with a little white wine. Then doused in Sriracha. Stir fry with 2 eggs. 

OR

Any meat (hot dogs, left over burgers, left over chicken), frozen potatoes or cubed potatoes, diced onions, diced peppers, anything else you want. All in a cast iron pan, throw in the oven for 35 minutes or so. For the last 5 minutes throw in some shredded cheddar & hot sauce. Serve hot. Made this for a friend and she loved it!

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This is bad,Try to never eat this around family or friends,usually alone,parents did it years and years ago,here goes lol............A Wish Sandwich lol slice of white bread with either ketchup,or brown/yellow mustard on them,just when im hungry,it's quick and easy lol

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A box of Kraft creamy mac and cheese with a can of Rotel mixed in...AND extra Velveeta. I know, I know....but its so good!

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Macaroni and Cheese from a box with added herbs and peas to jazz it up.

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Cream cheese frosting from the can.

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Eggs poached in strained bacon grease. It's ohhhh so good. I learned this technique from a Southern housewife nearing on 25 years ago, who served eggs this way to her family every morning. I think I've been able to allow myself to poach eggs in bacon grease perhaps three or four times since.

Another is a lightly-buttered baked potato topped with small curd chive cottage cheese. Not that it's necessarily bad, but the one time someone saw me eating this, I had to go into the whole explanation about how my parents were health food freaks in the 60s, which bores me at times. 

For the complete effect, the potato would need Saffola margarine instead of butter, but margarine has never once entered my shopping cart since moving out on my own. I'm rebellious that way. But gotta admit, the potato/chive cottage cheese combo is delicious, although chive cottage cheese is fairly difficult to find nowadays, so I don't eat this as often as I would if I could find this cottage cheese more regularly.

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Amy's blackbean burritos...two come in a carton and I usually eat both! I love the sauce, the corn and the little squares of tofu that are in these! Sometimes I add fresh shredded asiago cheese to the top when I'm done nuking them! If I'm really feeling my Cheerios, I also cut up fresh avocado and tomato and spritz these with lime juice and diced Vidalia onions...yum!!!!!

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cheese whiz on toast

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My riff on peanut butter and pickles is a sandwich made from fresh almond butter (a generous schmear) plus New Orleans olive salad (which I get from Central Grocery). 

Good on whole wheat or sourdough bread. Also good on crackers.

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Stovetop tuna casserole- One envelope of Knorr Pasta Sides Alfredo made as directed(well,, maybe a little extra butter) on the stove, with a can of well- drained tuna, and a handful or two of frozen peas and/or corn

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i just posted this in another thread:
i have been known to make nachos using fries as the base for myself at home in the past but i don't tell others cause of how sloth-like it seems!
sooo good, oven baked fries topped with shredded mexican style cheese, refried beans (if i have them), tomatoes, onions, jalapeno peppers and black olives with salsa, sour cream, guac on the side, maybe a little iceberg lettuce on top at the end...soooo good tasting, so bad for me!

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Trader Joe's fake chicken nuggets. The texture reminds me of certain kinds of fish roe.

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