glowingfish

I can't relate to the microwave dinner problem, & indeed find my access to cheap high-quality microwave food to be one of the silver lining blessings of the present, which suggests that it may be geographic (unless you're having post-covid taste impairment.) Is Trader Joe's a thing in your present landscape?

(Edit: I guess "cheap" is relative, I just remembered not everyone has food allergies so it's possible you're buying food in a tier that simply hasn't been accessible to me for a decade and a half. But I'm getting good quality stuff for say < $4 a meal via Trader Joe's or Saffron Road brand, and for those of us who can't have gluten it's also been the golden age of giant boxes/bags of oven-cookable frozen breaded chicken and fish, lately.)