The milk and water forgot to show up to the earlier scheduled photo shoot! Drama Queens!
Ingredients:
1/2 - 1Lb Ground Beef (I used 3/4# because that's what we had on hand. I don't like a ton anyway)
2C uncooked Pasta
1/2 Med. Onion, diced
1C Milk
1 1/2C Hot Water
1 1/2C (or 1 Can) Cream of (any kind) Soup
2-3T Sour Cream
Garlic Powder
Lawry's Seasoning Salt
Black Pepper
Salt to taste
I started by chopping my onion. I always chop extra to put
in a container to use over the next few days. For some people,
on busy days, this can sometimes be the deciding factor between
making something from scratch or ordering out! I say do it now!
And don't throw away those ends!
Throw them in your stock bag for later! By the way, I highly suggest
not adding the celery leaves to the bag. They look really gross and slimy.
Back to the recipe. Because I knew my son would not tolerate a
bunch of raw/half-cooked onions, I decided to throw them in with
the ground beef at the very beginning. I also seasoned my beef as
normal at this time. For me, this includes garlic powder, Lawry's
and ground pepper.
Once well-browned, add in 1 1/4C hot water.
Then dump in 1C Milk. Any kind will do. I just happened
to have whole milk leftover from making pudding.
Next, add in your can of cream of (any kind) of soup. OR.......
you could make this fabulous recipe for Cream of Anything Soup
on a day when you have more time. TRUST ME! It's worth it!
Okay, let's not talk about how gross this looks, LOL!
Mix thoroughly and add in your 2C of pasta. I used Penne Rigate.
Mix well and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Sounds just
like Hamburger Helper, no? Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer
and cook as long as your pasta directions say to, stirring occasionally.
The Penne took about 12 minutes. If you're using
macaroni, it may only take about 8 minutes, so read the label.
After the time is up, check your pasta to see if it's al dente. If not,
cook a little longer, checking periodically. Remove from heat and
stir in 2-3T Sour Cream, depending on taste. Give it a taste
and add some salt and pepper as desired. I found that because I used
homemade soup, I needed to add about 1/8t of salt. Set aside 5 minutes to thicken.
Serve up with a quick salad with some homemade
croutons and a homemade roll and you're ready to go.
Note: this was my hubby's plate. He asked me where the
rest of the dressing was?! I told him it was my 'beauty shot', so
I couldn't let the whole world know think you're a total
salad dressing glutton, now, could I? LOL!
(Yet another test to see if he's really reading this. Love you, honey!
He's not reading it, trust me)
Notes:
This was reallllly yummy! My husband and son horked it down! It tasted like Hamburger Helper, but better because it wasn't so engulfed in sodium! I actually do like the flavor of Hamburger Helper, but I can't really enjoy it because of all the salt. Maybe I'm just weird. I have not looked up the actual numbers, but if I had to guess, I'd say HH has probably 90% more sodium! Update: I was wrong. It's 84% more! I checked! Be prepared to be shocked!
Sodium in Homemade:
Beef 225mg
Pasta 0mg
Milk 120mg
Milk in (homemade soup) 90mg
Water 0mg
Broth in soup 0mg (I didn't salt mine, but I suppose there could be some residual salt from when the chicken was cooked, but I have no way of knowing that number. I always go easy on salt)
Butter (unsalted) 0mg
Onion 0mg
Sour Cream 0mg
Salt added at the end (maybe 1/8t for the whole batch) 287mg
Total sodium in whole batch: 722mg, so 120mg per serving! That's great! (Of course, some people might salt theirs after it comes to the table. That's just a matter of taste that I cannot account for)
Sodium in store bought:
Beef 225mg
Pasta 0mg
Milk 120mg
Water 0mg
Seasoning Packet 4150mg!!!!!!
Total sodium in whole batch: 4495mg, or 899mg per serving!!! That's 50% of your daily allowance right there, and that's if you're not on a salt-restricted diet. I noticed the box said it made 5 servings, not 6. I added an extra 1/3C of pasta than the HH has in theirs, so mine actually made 6 servings. (In case you're wondering why I used differing serving amounts for each) You can eat a whole batch of mine and get less sodium than in ONE serving of HH. Crazy!
I had not made this in the past because I wasn't certain I could make it for less than HH costs. Let's compare!
The whole batch
3/4Lb Ground Beef $1.77
1 1/2C Homemade Soup 18c
1C Milk (Aldi) 12c
1 1/2C Water -0-
2C Pasta 23c
Spices maybe 2c
1/2 Onion (Aldi) 7c
3T Sour Cream (Aldi) 11c
Total: $2.50 for six servings! Not bad!
The whole batch of store bought Hamburger Helper:
Hamburger Helper (let's use Stroganoff since this is the closest) $1.79
3/4Lb Ground Beef $1.77
2C Milk 24c
1C Water -0-
Total: $3.80 for six servings. Costs 50% more!
For just the products that would make up what comes in a box of HH:
1 1/2C Homemade Soup (since I cannot make a packet of powder) 18c
2C Pasta (Aldi) 23c
Spices 2c
1/2 Onion (which is technically optional) 7c
3T Sour Cream (also optional) 11c
Total: .61 CENTS!
Store bought HH: 1.79. That's 3 times as much as it cost me to make 'the box' at home.
Yessss! I always thought I could never make it as cheap as HH costs, but I really can! And it tasted so much better! I just can't believe how much sodium the food companies put into the food today to make up for flavor from not using real ingredients. Try some today and let me know what you think! (Please try the homemade soup recipe. you'll be glad you did!)
This was actually very quick to put together. Had I had my beef precooked and frozen like I often do, it would have taken me about 15 minutes from start to finish. As is, it took me just over 20 minutes. I'd say that's pretty darn quick for a good, homemade dinner.
This sound and looks soo good, will have to give it a go! I'm with you I don't like all that sodium in my food either.
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