My problem: chicken drumsticks are very cheap - like five bucks for enough I can divide up and make three meals out of. I marinate them in different hot sauces, then I can wrap them in foil and put them in the oven. For extra dopamine I eat them with blue cheese sauce.

The other cheap options are things like velveeta with canned chicken or fish, or chef Boyardee ravioli.

I don’t like eating meat or dairy for the clear ethical reasons and would like to go vegan. I was vegan for about a year or so, but I also have the kind of ARFID where I will let myself starve if there are not those kinds of “high dopamine” foods available.

I’d like some kind of close, cheap, easy approximation. When I was vegan, I had the financial resources to buy a lot of prepared food that met that quick/stimulating need, but I no longer have those resources to do so.

The closest to making something like that work for me is soy curl + coconut milk + curry seasonings. I don’t have the capacity to eat vegetables most days - this is not healthy, but I also physically cannot force myself to do so.

I know lentils are good and don’t require soaking, but I cannot get them to taste good. Indian restaurants make them perfect, but I can’t do it myself.