When I was a student, I used to create (imho) wonderful concoctions straight off the supermarket shelf, often just a mixture of tinned goods, though sometimes I had to cook some pasta.
I used to invite fellow students round to my digs for supper and they thought I was a culinary genius.
Beef & Bean Stew was one hit. A can of Heinz beans and a can of Baxters Irish Stew mixed into the one pot. If you like, add a sprinkling of frozen peas to the pot as it cooks. Delicious.
Turn that into Beef & Beef Pie by transferring the mix into a baking dish, covering it with a slice of frozen pastry and sticking into the oven for a few minutes.
Campbells soups were a godsend, because if you only add half the water recommended on the instructions most of them make great sauces.. Buy some already cooked chicken from the local fast food place, take the skin off and cover in Campbells soup. If in doubt, you can't go wrong with Cream of Mushroom
Campbells soups also make great dips, much better than the salsa rubbish you buy in jars. I was doing this in the early 80s long before it became a craze to use Campbells soup.
