Thrifty Eats: Homemade Hamburger Helper
Jun. 9th, 2019 07:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
calzephyrThe search for thrifty eats is on-going. We spend a ridiculous (to me) amount of money ok food for two adults. Part of the problem is living in the middle of the prairies and relying on the United States for fresh food imports. The cost of fresh produce can really fluctuate depending on the season. In the past I have paid $5 for a cucumber in winter and just recently a bunch of celery was $5.99!
Hubs asked for Hamburger Helper this week and I balk at buying it because to me it's just fancy Mac and cheese. We had all the ingredients in the cupboard anyway except ground beef.
My recipe is loosely based on this one from Jo Cooks. Mine is 460 calories per 387 gram serving and makes 6-8 servings.
I browned the ground beef in the oven to save room and time for prepping the other ingredients. I omitted the chicken broth, forgot to add the garlic, added more vegetables and used my homemade pasta sauce. I also used a packet of burrito seasoning and a few dashes of hot sauce. Definitely a winner I would make again!
As I am using Cronometer to calculate my recipes, everything is in grams instead of volumetric measurements.
212 grams rotini or other fun shaped pasta
85 grams frozen spinach
988 grams marinara sauce
200 grams marble cheese, shredded
1 medium carrot
1 stalk celery
1 packet Old El Paso burrito mix, prepared
1 average tomato, chopped
478 lean ground beef
dashes hot sauce
Basically you brown the beef and onions, prepare the pasta, boil the carrot and pasta, nuke the spinach, prepare the burrito seasoning and mix it all together in a 9x13" pan. Bake it in the oven and then cover it with cheese.
Hubs asked for Hamburger Helper this week and I balk at buying it because to me it's just fancy Mac and cheese. We had all the ingredients in the cupboard anyway except ground beef.
My recipe is loosely based on this one from Jo Cooks. Mine is 460 calories per 387 gram serving and makes 6-8 servings.
I browned the ground beef in the oven to save room and time for prepping the other ingredients. I omitted the chicken broth, forgot to add the garlic, added more vegetables and used my homemade pasta sauce. I also used a packet of burrito seasoning and a few dashes of hot sauce. Definitely a winner I would make again!
As I am using Cronometer to calculate my recipes, everything is in grams instead of volumetric measurements.
212 grams rotini or other fun shaped pasta
85 grams frozen spinach
988 grams marinara sauce
200 grams marble cheese, shredded
1 medium carrot
1 stalk celery
1 packet Old El Paso burrito mix, prepared
1 average tomato, chopped
478 lean ground beef
dashes hot sauce
Basically you brown the beef and onions, prepare the pasta, boil the carrot and pasta, nuke the spinach, prepare the burrito seasoning and mix it all together in a 9x13" pan. Bake it in the oven and then cover it with cheese.
