“just by looking into their carts”
or their at their waistlines.
As I went off to college my well-to-do aunt gave me an All-Clad 1.5 qt. saucepan and an 8” frying pan. Needless to say I was disappointed, expecting a fat wad of cold hard cash. Looking back best gift I ever got. As I lived on peanut butter, ramen, oatmeal, black beans and rice, grilled cheese, etc. My friends knew I could cook so they brought over the ‘gourmet’ stuff. I cooked it and ate it for free.
One college kid said that he took a class in Chinese cooking, which turned out to be a Bonanza. Said he could damn near go a week using one pork chop and plenty of stir fry veggies.