Spam. Oh yeh.

One of my favorite meals as a kid when Mom and Dad were absolutely broke only I didn't know it was baked Spam and canned sweet potatoes. Mom would put the rectangle of spam in the center of a glass pie plate, and empty a can of drained sweet potatoes around it. She'd make a syrup from water, brown sugar and vanilla flavoring, pour that over, and pop it in the oven for 20 minutes to heat through. A can of peas sprinkled with nutmeg was the typical side dish. I thought it a meal fit for kings.

Working with the poor as I do, I know this is still considered a fine meal by many.

I don't remember mac and cheese mixes when I was a kid. Mom made mac and cheese with velveeta. Mac and cheese was always a side dish unless Mom splurged and cut hot dogs into bite-sized pieces to stir into the finished product.    If there wasn't meat then it wasn't a meal in our house in the 50's.