Ah, the ‘60s. An era filled with The Beatles, hippie music, moon landings, and the effort to put as much gelatin as possible into the American diet. We may scoff at the bizarre creations housewives with too much free time managed to cook up, but all of us would be lying if we said we haven’t been curious what chicken salad trapped in jello would taste like. Fortunately for you, I was curious enough to actually try these recipes. Unfortunately for me, I was curious enough to actually try these recipes.

I’m a boy, I live in a household where my mom is cooking and my dad works. But for my own family, I want to know how to cook so that my wife doesn’t have to deal with the hassle of cooking while I sit in the living room watching TV and drinking beer. For this project, because  I have dyslexia, therefore cookbooks add an extra level of difficulty to the project. So instead, I turned to the expert: my mom. I’ve seen her make this meal ever since I was five, and I know from experience that it is delicious food. So it only made sense that now I would learn how to be the creator of such a fine dish.

When you move out of your parent’s house, your life will most likely be completely turned upside down—stressing about budgeting for food, clothes, rent, and debt. Luckily, I am here to ease your transition, at least for food, so you don’t end up like the person in our cover photo. I will give you several recipes to make good and quick food for under $5–some for breakfast, lunch, and dinner–and critique some of the recipe’s taste. You will need access to at least a stove/microwave for these meals.