Cookie sheets double as lids.

When it comes to cooking, my general philosophy is if it takes longer than five minutes to make, it's just really not worth it. I'd be completely content just living off of frozen dinners for the rest of my life, since they take a maximum of six minutes to cook and they're pretty healthy. But they get kind of pricey when you buy a bunch of them and I'm on a fixed income when it comes to groceries.

So, I'm forced to actually cook real food some of the time. I just cycle through the same recipes; BBQ biscuits (recipe courtesy of my mother), pasta, breakfast tacos and Hamburger Helper. That's about it. As I have pointed out before, I lack a lot of things normal people keep in their houses. As you will soon find out, I will go to extreme lengths to avoid buying these things.

To make Hamburger Helper, you mix all the stuff together in a pot and boil it, and once it's boiling you turn down the heat and cover it. Only one of my pots, which actually belongs to my roommate, has a lid. The pot is too small to hold the Hamburger Helper, so I always use my frying pan, which is the perfect size. Every single time (about once a month) I make Hamburger Helper I'm faced with the challenge of finding something to cover the pan with. I've tried using bowls, but they're all too small. I've tried using two bowls, but that leaves gaps that let out a lot of heat. My trial-and-error method has paid off, because I've found the perfect solution.

Cookie sheets. They are large enough to cover the whole pan and don't leave open gaps for heat to escape. They do take up a little more space than necessary, but it saves me approximately $10 and a trip to the store, so it's worth it.

The best thing about Hamburger Helper is that it's supposed to be for families, so the leftovers last me three or four days and it only takes about three minutes to heat up!