Decent food is essential for your wellbeing. Unfortunately, with the way most work can be, there aren't many options - between salt / sugar-filled frozen meals, preservative-laden "instant food", and candy bars / chips / soda, one might have a hard time finding something decent.
Don't get me started on cutting into 10% of your paycheck every day trying to order takeout or restaurant food (make that 20%).
For this reason, I decided to make this guide, so that you too can make semi-decent food, and save a few bucks too.
I started by purchasing three essential items - a hot plate at the local thrift store, a decent enameled mug at the local outdoors store, and a spoon / knife / fork at the dollar store. Microplastics are not a particular delicacy for me, and so, I figured I'll go with enamel and steel for my "kitchen".
The stove cost me $13.00, and was a barely-used, single-burner unit, with great heat output. Mug was $8.00, and was the "World Famous Chili Mug" from PeaveyMart (a local farm supply store.)
With just those two items, here is a list of foods you can prepare:
Having a hot plate enables one to boil food, which removes the need for hyper-processed, ready-to-eat foods - instead of microwave ramen, we can get a decent bundle of real udon; instead of having to heat oatmeal in a plastic cup, we can just boil some water and add normal oats, with your choice of toppings. Canned chili tends to be a bit healthier than the bagged / frozen stuff - it's not perfect, but it'll certainly be better than a bag of chips.
You can even make your own rice to have with beans. Opt for a small sauce-pan if you wish.
I personally love boiled eggs - hard-boiled, soft-boiled, any-boiled, I'm very fond of them. Having chickens helps, as it means an effectively inexhaustible supply. Delicious, healthy protein, and perhaps a few bananas or apples to polish it off.
Unless you have a guaranteed source of clean water, I recommend grabbing a gallon jug of the stuff from home - I grab mine from our well, which works great, and doesn't smell like a pool.