Tuna sandwiches. Just the tuna, some mayonnaise to keep it together and bread. I’ve gone days on end without eating nothing but tuna sandwiches.
This thread is like a list of the foods I grew up with. Except for the shrimp toast stuff.
My entry - Potted meat. They don’t even bother to name the animal - it’s just “meat”. I guess this could be called pate’, then folks would gobble it up. I throw away the little layer of fat on top then spread the meat on white bread. Mmmmmm, I may have to get some for lunch.
Many have mentioned Tuna sandwiches. I didn’t know they were low-end. I love tuna and eat a lot of it.
A few years back a woman that I know had her son go off to a fancy prep school. I sent him a care package and one of the things I put in was those tuna packets with crackers so you can make an instant snack.
He said: Mom, is this cat food? Did (Uncle) Khadaji send me cat food?
What kind of kid never saw tuna in a can before?
My low-end comfort foods:
Kraft Macaroni and Cheese
Hamburger Helper ('specially the Lasagna flavor… which has no lasagna flavor whatsoever. Mmm!)
Hormel’s bean-less chili with saltines crushed over it
An entire can of black olives… and I like to wear 'em on my fingers before I eat them!
Cheese in a can. Yum. Especially between two Sour Cream and Onion Pringles. It isn’t my comfort food, it’s my drunk food.
Mozzarella sticks.
Trader Joe’s mini beef tacos.
Kraft Mac and Cheese - loved it when I was 5, still love it now.
ETA: Almost forgot - ranch dressing on anything and everything.
Ramen! Specifically, chicken flavor Cup Noodles.
Tuna casserole, especially if made by my ex-MIL. I lost the recipe, but hopefully she’ll let me have it again (we get along well enough that I visit them once a month or so.)
Quaker chocolate Granola Bites (is that low-end?)
Underwood deviled ham, in the tiny can, mixed with mayo.
Vienna sausages
McDonald’s 99 cent double cheeseburgers
Jack in the Box’s Bacon Cheddar Potato Wedges, or “heart attack potatoes,” as I call them. I don’t have them more than once or twice a year, but they’re great with sour cream and, for me, two Lactaid pills on the side.
And, last but not least, Coke. Better yet, cherry or vanilla Coke, if available.
Miracle Whip. Don’t bother me with any devil spooge real mayonnaise crap; I want the tangy zip. Light Miracle Whip, even. I wouldn’t say I love it, since I don’t put any creamy stuff on most sandwiches, but if there’s creamy stuff needed, it has to be Miracle Whip.
Good old french canadian Pâté Chinois (Shepherd’s Pie) – hamburger, cream corn, mashed potatoes. Maybe some peas in with that hamburger/onions… but that’s about it.
Yay for comfort food.
Oscar Mayer bologna sandwich on white bread with Miracle Whip. It was the most frequent sandwich packed for my school lunch when I was a kid.
I love Velveeta and Miracle Whip. I also love Cream of Chicken soup mixed into various casseroles. In fact, for dinner tonight I’m making Dorito Pie:
half a can of cream of chicken & mushroom soup
half a can of kidney beans
half a can of Rotel
leftover mushrooms & onions
ounce of Velveeta
crushed Baked Tostitos
cook up mushrooms & onions
mix canned goods into pot until hot
pour goop into oven-safe dish
put cheese on top
put crushed chips on top of that
bake at 350F until cheese is melted, about 15 min.
Yummy stuff.
Pringles Potato “Chips” when Food 4 Less (or “Food” 4 “Less”, if you prefer) has them for a dollar a can.
Except the dill pickle-flavored ones.
Manwich. I can make a good sloppy joe from scratch, but there’s no point when I just dump Manwich sauce over some browned beef and dig in. Something about it hits the “just right” spot for me.
RR
[Karl Childers]Well, let me think… I was thinkin’ I could use me another couple cans o’ that potted meat if ya got any extry.[/Karl Childers]
RR
Fourthing or fifthing Kraft Mac and Cheese - the more nuclear orange the better.
Chipotle. Mmmm.
Tacos from a box.
Speaking of Jack in the Box, I nominate “heroin tacos.” They are those 99 cent tacos that don’t even seem to be real meat, with a few shreds of lettuce, some salsa and a processed cheese slice inside the tortilla.
We always called them “heroin tacos” because when you eat one, you just about puke and swear you’ll never eat another. Then, about 40 minutes later, you have GOT to have some more of those tacos! 
Bush’s beans or campbell’s pork and beans, with sides of scrambled eggs and either bacon or sausage, toast optional
love me some ramen noodles too, with cabbage and hot sauce
I grew up eating a lot of these things (potted meat, Vienna sausages, Hamburger Helper) but haven’t eaten most of them in years. In the meantime, I moved to the Philadelphia area and acquired a new low-end food love, scrapple, which like most of the foods already mentioned is both delicious and bad for you. Okay, I know that many may argue with my use of the word “delicious”, but imagine for a moment if it had been invented by Italian rather than German immigrants; then, instead of scrapple, we would be talking about “polenta alla maiale” and it would be served in fine Italian restaurants.
I really, really like white zinfandel. I’m a horrible person, I know it.
Are you or your parents originally from West Virginia, by chance?