You're right, that fat kid looks positively cadaverous, wheezing away in front of his monitor.

The sad part is, any American with a freezer, a small toaster oven and a small frying pan can eat a great freshly-prepared meal for about a dollar. It really helps if you like chicken.

I've seen frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts for as low as $1.30 per pound, if you buy 50 pounds of 'em. That's about four chicken breasts per pound, cost per serving not even 35¢. In human-sized purchases of two or three pounds, that stuff is still only about 50¢ per serving.

Salt, pepper, a little bit of oil -- sauteed chicken breast always hits the spot.

For starch, have a white potato, sweet potato, or some rice. You could pick up a sweet potato for about a nickel. A little butter on that might add another nickel. If I were the fat kid, I might think about skipping the butter but in small portions, fat is where the flavor is.

Probably you'd want another vegetable, and here is where canned vegetables help with the budget. What's a can of corn these days? Sixty cents or so? There are probably at least four servings per can.

One could do the same with that chicken breast (mmm, chicken parm!), some spaghetti and a jar of sauce, or make his own sauce with a can of diced tomatoes. A dollar makes a lot of delicious, healthy meals if you're willing to put 20-30 minutes of your own time into it.

I'm pretty well off myself, so I'm not into the dollar-per-serving homecooked meal out of necessity. Rather, as I've learned to cook I've come to realize that the cost of restaurant meals basically means paying off someone else's staff and mortgage costs, plus a nice profit for them. I'd rather keep the money for my drug habits, thank you very much.