My friends and I like to go all extravagant sometimes. One kilogram of cheese, three bags of nacho chips, a pack of mince and three avocados to make guac, two sour cream tubs and a salsa jar. There are no expenses saved, no going back once the guac is being made, no skimping on the cheese. It's all in.

And then it's not just nachos. It's a layer of chips, of mince, of cheese, with another layer of chips, of mince, of cheese. Grill it in the oven until the ooey gooey goodness of the cheese is a light gold, and then dollop that guacamole, sour cream and salsa all over its ass.

I can assure you this is not a regular thing – only every now and then when the occasion arrives.

Luckily there is a much healthier nachos option that I much prefer, because it is lighter, cheaper, and vegetarian/ vegan.

My mom has to feed my brother, which is the equivalent to feeding an all-male swimming team. That boy chows. She will often buy three cans of beans and a can of Mexican/ Indian style tomatoes that he can have on toast as a snack in between his meals.

The one night, she found a bag of nacho chips in the cupboard, and so she decided to use my brother's snack in the dinner.

It went down well and we could have a delicious meal at an affordable price, that didn't coat our entire nervous system in LDL Cholesterol.

We also had an avocado that we smashed and lightly sprinkled with salt, pepper and some lemon juice.

I can also suggest, for the more experienced grocery shopppers and cooks, to add a little salsa to the meal, as well as some plain yoghurt or vegan yoghurt if you're missing that sourcream element.

For the vegans, you know the drill, you can rather drizzle cashew cream over the beans in place of the cheese.