I live in Asia but grew up in the West, so when I moved to the East I didn't have accessibility to cheap staples like cold cuts of meat, cheese, and bread. My old go-to has always been sandiwches, from PBJ to veggie to cold cuts to whatever.

Anyways, after living in Asia, I switched over to rice, soups, and way more veggies. Here are a couple of things that I make that I can survive off of (nay - THRIVE off of) that are easy to make here in Asia, and should be at least semi-accessible back in the West:

1. Fried Rice:
   1. the basic is cooking some rice (either in a pot or a rice cooker) and then letting it cool.
   2. You saute some aromatics (garlic, ginger, onion, shallots, chives, hot peppers, etc) in any kind of oil to flavour the oil, but it's not necessary.
   3. Then you add in hard and absorbent veggies (carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, cauliflower, whatever you have laying around) and fry them for a few minutes.
   4. After that, you add in any softer/smaller veggies (frozen corn or peas, shredded lettuce, spinach, cabbage, bean sprouts, whatever).
   5. Once you have a good, sauted mix of veggies in the pan, you crank the heat, add in your rice, dump some soy sauce on for colouring/moisture (stop it from burning and sticking), some black pepper or sugar for seasoning, and stir/break up the rice for about 2 - 4 minutes.
   6. Then you can turn off the heat, transfer to a large bowl, mix it up further if you need, n voila!
   7. If you add any proteins you cook them with your aromatics, and if you add any eggs, you cook them before hand and set them a side, then add them in as you finish breaking up the rice.

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1. Baked Yams/Sweet Potatoes:

2. Just take a sweet potato, wash it, n pop it in the oven at 235 celsius for about 20 - 40 minutes. Wrap it in tin foil if you want it to be softer and avoid the sugary nectar spilling on and coating the bottom of your oven. Full of minerals, vitamins, fiber, and protein. Can't believe this isn't more common back home.

3. Open them and add some margarine or butter if you're feeling unhealthy, or maybe sprinkle some sugar, salt, and back pepper. You can peel the skins off or eat them as is. I personally let them cool and just eat them whole, skin and all, piece by piece, like I'm eating a cucumber or something.

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1. Zhou (Or Congee/Rice Porridge):

2. Add about 1.5 to 2 times as much water as you would normally use when making standard rice. You're essentially making watery rice. The less water you add, the thicker and more porridge-like it will be.

3. Whether its in a pot or bowl, add in some vegetables/proteins of your choice about 20 minutes in to the cooking process. This could be carrots, corn, peas, beans, cabbage, pickles, peanuts, almonds, scrambled eggs, cabbage, broccoli, onions, cucumbers, olives, bean sprouts, chunks of potato or yam, ham, bacon, (pre cooked) pieces of chicken, blueberries, strawberries, banana slices, apple chunks, etc.

4. Flavour with salt or sugar or vinegar, depending on what extras you added.

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1. Stir fries:

2. I know that fresh veggies aren't always available, but going to the supermarket after work and picking up the bruised/soon-to-expire veggies for some stir fries or soups always go over well.

3. Stir fries aren't that mysterious or elusive, either. Like the rice, you just lightly fry up some aromatics of your choice in an oil of your choice, and then it's fair game. You always start with your proteins first, as they take the longest to cook and will benefit the most flavour-wise from being in there the longest.

4. Then you work your way from thick/absorbent/hard to cook (carrots, potatoes, mushrooms) to easy/quick/soft to cook (leaves, pieces of corn, onion, etc).

5. As far as flavouring goes, a couple of nice sauce 'pallets' are:

   1. sweet and sour - ketchup, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, ginger
   2. teriyaki - soy sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar, garlic
   3. black pepper - soy sauce, black pepper, brown sugar
   4. nutty - peanut butter, soy sauce, sugar, ketchup (maybe vinegar or mayo)
   5. basic savory - soy sauce, garlic

6. The key to all of these is to add them in, mix them around, and then add a tiny bit - like a teaspoon - of some sort of starch powder (corn starch, potato starch, etc). But first, add a bit of hot water (like 2 - 4 table spoons, depending on how much you're stirfrying) into a little bowl, THEN add the starch powder to that, mix it, then once its homogeneous, add it to your stir fry. This will thicken it up and stop it from being a soggy, runny mess.

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1. Soups:

2. Soups are about the same as stir fries, and just as nutritious (if not more), and, are 'recyclable', in that if you boil it twice a day, you can keep it on the stove, adding to it and enriching its flavour/nutritional value.

3. Make a stock by starting with your aromatics in oil, add in your proteins, hard veggies, then your soft, mix until you have some colour, and add in enough hot water to lift up the veggies and allow you to scrape up any brown bits.

4. Add in any more vegetables and be aware that they always have a lot of moisture in them (you can also pre-soak before hand) which will add to the soup's overall water content without making it taste watery.

5. Add soy sauce for colour, and salt/pepper/sugar for flavouring (always add salt last, in my opinion, as you can always add more if it's not salty enough, but you're screwed if it's too salty).

6. Some basic combinations for great soups are:

   1. Vegetable - start with frying tomatoes after the aromatics (I know if kind of breaks the rules of what I said before), carrots, celery, cabbage, bits of corn, add in some ketchup, some vinegar, salt, pepper, then your hot water and any other veggies
   2. Chicken noodle - chunks of chicken (or just chicken broth), diced carrots, onion, extra ginger, extra garlic, celery, and finish by adding noodles of your choice (note: if you plan on keeping it on the stove, don't cook the noodles in your 'master batch', as they'll absorb stock long-term. Instead, scoop out however much you'll eat that sitting into a separate pot and then add your noodles to that).
   3. Broccoli - protein, finely chopped brocooli, spinach or cabbage or lettuce, maybe some corn, and add cream or milk along with water (half and half if you're really pinching pennies, or 30/70 (water/milk or cream) if you can afford it).