Poor man's Hamburger Helper? Seriously?

[MomOfOneFunOne]

My daughter has been wanting Hamburger Helper. Well, for one, we're vegetarians and for another, we don't eat that kind of processed "foods."

 

So, I told her we could go to the store too look at the boxes and then she could try to replicate it with real food. We were browsing the boxes and another family came along. My girl and I were talking about the different "flavors" and what it would take to make it. And btw, the ingredients list did't help. She chose one that looked good on the box but it just said "sauce" not what kind of sauce. We read the ingredients and still couldn't tell. So she chose another and we talked about what she'd need and how she'd do it.

 

As we walked away to go get her stuff, I heard the mom snort/chuckle/kind of laugh thing and say, "Poor kid, stuck with poor man's hamburger helper."

 

Poor man's Hamburger Helper? All I could do was laugh myself. I didn't look back or comment but I just thought, what could be poorer than regular hamburger helper? I'm not criticizing those who choose to have HH but honestly, isnt' it something chosen b/c it is so cheap? My grandmother would buy HH meals b/c she was uber frugal. My girl's meal, while not exactly resembling anything in the HH aisle, was quite a bit more than a box of HH and a lb of hamburger.

 

Poor man's Hamburger Helper . . . :tongue_smilie:

[smrtmama]

My mom used to make homemade hamburger helper all the time when we were growing up -- mac n' cheese + ground whatever (beef or turkey) + cream of mushroom soup. You can break those all down into homemade ingredients to get to the heart of the HH "recipe." ;)

[Closeacademy]

There are ways to make it without the actual hamburger helper. For cheeseburger macaroni:

 

hamburger

noodles

a cheese that melts easily

maybe add tomatoes

 

You could really do it with a lot of the varieties. All you need is hamburger or tuna or chicken, noodles and then you make a sauce to go with it:

 

white sauce with herbs of your choice

cheese sauce

tomato sauce

gravy

etc.

 

Hope this helps.:001_smile:

[Julie in CA]

Maybe try this for ideas? I've made some of them, and they're pretty good. Obviously you'd make your own substitutions. ;)

http://chickensintheroad.com/cooking/homemade-hamburger-helper/

[calandalsmom]

Im not sure what is so baffling about either hamburger helper or the homemade variety. I never had the box of it in my life but was brought up on my mom's "american chop suey" which some call Johnny Mazzotti and others call chili mac.

 

 

Its hamburger, tomato sauce, and macaroni. Cheese, onion, and mushroom all optional. For a vegatarian you could use something like TVP or probably better would be a firmish veg cut in a dice. Carrots would work.

[AndyJoy]

Thanks for the laugh! Seriously, what was she thinking? Besides the fact that her comment was rude, HH goes on sale for 99 cents here!

[Snickerdoodle]

As we walked away to go get her stuff, I heard the mom snort/chuckle/kind of laugh thing and say, "Poor kid, stuck with poor man's hamburger helper."

 

Because we all know HH is the quintessential food of the upper classes. :lol:

 

Sheesh. What an awkward grocery store moment.

[MamaT]

My mom used to make something similar to hamburger helper, and now when I make it the kids call it Mema's casserole. It tastes much better than hamburger helper!

 

1 1/2 pound ground beef

1 lb. cooked medium shell pasta

1 can tomato sauce

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can water

1 cup shredded cheddar

salt/pepper

2 tablespoons chili powder

 

Mix it all together in a 9x13 Pyrex dish and cook it for about 30 minutes on 350. It is one of my kids' favorites.

[justasque]

The third grader next door was over today, and was *amazed* to see my dd grating cheddar cheese onto her pasta. "Your shredded cheese is homemade?", she asked. Wow. Then I remembered that a friend of mine, a mom, was asking me all about the 2 lb block of cheddar we buy. I didn't quite get it, but now I'm wondering if she doesn't usually buy cheese this way either.

[RamonaQ]

Bleh. I grew up on HH. My mom HATED cooking, and that was what she made almost every single night. Needless to say, my sis and I are total self-taught, always cook from scratch gals-- my mom is completely baffled. :)

 

Good for you for creating a whole food version!

 

Anyhow, the one thing that I really did miss was Manwhiches (I misspelled that, right?). But, I recently found a great substitute in Cynthia Liar's "Feeding the Whole Family" using tempeh, served on whole wheat buns.:D

[AndyJoy]

The third grader next door was over today, and was *amazed* to see my dd grating cheddar cheese onto her pasta. "Your shredded cheese is homemade?", she asked. Wow. Then I remembered that a friend of mine, a mom, was asking me all about the 2 lb block of cheddar we buy. I didn't quite get it, but now I'm wondering if she doesn't usually buy cheese this way either.

 

At my grocery store, store brand pre-shredded cheese is actually cheaper (and obviously more convenient) than block cheese.

[justasque]

At my grocery store, store brand pre-shredded cheese is actually cheaper (and obviously more convenient) than block cheese.

 

Wow, interesting! It's *way* more expensive per pound at my local store. And there's a huge 2 lb store brand block'o'cheddar that's a really good deal - even better than the smaller blocks.

 

My main problem, though, is whenever I get the pre-shredded kind I end up choosing the one with a big hunk 'o' moldy cheese in the middle of the bag. :confused: No matter how much I check in the store, I always seem to choose the wrong one!

[robsiew]

:lol::lol: That's exactly what I thought when I read your post title... Poor Man's HH??? What is she thinking? :D Probably good you just shrugged it off! That comment was not worth the breath it would have taken to refute it! ;)

[Nakia]

That's pretty funny. I haven't bought a box of Hamburger Helper since the first year or so of my marriage, when we were both in college and dirt poor. So, yeah, I definitely think one of the reasons people do buy it is because of the price. It's certainly not the superior nutritional value or the taste. :lol:

[Mrs Mungo]

At my grocery store, store brand pre-shredded cheese is actually cheaper (and obviously more convenient) than block cheese.

 

I agree, the same is true at our grocery store, especially if there is a coupon (and there usually is). My kids still get grating practice for Parmesan and such though.

 

The HH thing is crazy! What a nutty comment.

Edited September 13, 2010 by Mrs Mungo

[Nakia]

Bleh. I grew up on HH. My mom HATED cooking, and that was what she made almost every single night. Needless to say, my sis and I are total self-taught, always cook from scratch gals-- my mom is completely baffled. :)

 

Good for you for creating a whole food version!

 

Anyhow, the one thing that I really did miss was Manwhiches (I misspelled that, right?). But, I recently found a great substitute in Cynthia Liar's "Feeding the Whole Family" using tempeh, served on whole wheat buns.:D

 

We must have the same mother. It's funny you mention Manwiches. I grew up on those too, and I still love them. For shame! :) I might buy a can of that stuff once a year or so, just to remember the good ole' days. :lol:

[Gwenhwyfar]

So, yeah, I definitely think one of the reasons people do buy it is because of the price. It's certainly not the superior nutritional value or the taste. :lol:

 

ummm....some people do actually like it. ;)

 

(dh and both kids love the stuff here.)

[Nakia]

ummm....some people do actually like it. ;)

 

(dh and both kids love the stuff here.)

 

Oops, sorry. :blushing: My husband would eat it if I bought it and fixed it. My kids have never had it.

[Gwenhwyfar]

Oops, sorry. :blushing: My husband would eat it if I bought it and fixed it. My kids have never had it.

 

i'm not a very good cook ~ i'll be the first to admit it. :laugh:

 

but they really do like hh. (and the sloppy joe stuff mentioned above)

 

i tried doing a homemade hh type thing once with whole wheat pasta & sauce and everything... they didn't like it. at. all. boooooo.

[gingersmom]

My mother would never buy it but I had a friend in high school whose family ate it regularly. I thought they were super lucky.

 

One night I had him make it for me. I spent hours in the bathroom.

 

The thought of hamburger helper makes me ill to this day (30 years later).

[Jean in Newcastle]

 

As we walked away to go get her stuff, I heard the mom snort/chuckle/kind of laugh thing and say, "Poor kid, stuck with poor man's hamburger helper."

 

 

 

I would have said "No, healthy person's hamburger helper. Have you seen the ingredient list?" (That is if I had thought of this in time. I would have probably had to run after them to give the last word after 10 min. of thinking of what to say!)

[MomOfOneFunOne]

Well, if you really want to get into humiliating confessions of the culinary type, I used to love, Love, LOVE, Vienna Sausages. Pre veg days, of course. I used to eat vienna sausages and drink pickle martinis in my parent's martini glasses and use a toothpick to pierce the pickles and drink the pickle juice.

 

But Hamburger Helper . . . Please, I have standards.

 

One food my mom used to make was chicken a la king. The "a la king" was from a can and was the the most disgusting thing ever to go in my mouth. It was like canned vomit. So hideous. My dad loved it, though, so we had it fairly often. We didn't have it but they did. I got sent to my room with vienna sausages and pickle martinis. Sometimes a few crackers to make it a balanced meal.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

I would have said "No, healthy person's hamburger helper. Have you seen the ingredient list?" (That is if I had thought of this in time. I would have probably had to run after them to give the last word after 10 min. of thinking of what to say!)

 

:lol:

 

Why don't those little quips ever come on time???

[Emmy]

The third grader next door was over today, and was *amazed* to see my dd grating cheddar cheese onto her pasta. "Your shredded cheese is homemade?", she asked.

 

years ago my niece was at our house enjoying some cookies I had baked. She asked me why my cookies were different "shapes" and not all perfectly round. Then I realized she had never had homemade cookies that weren't slice & bake. :D (totally off topic but related to your comment!)

[Gwenhwyfar]

 

But Hamburger Helper . . . Please, I have standards.

 

 

 

i'm hoping this is meant with humour?

 

i realize some of you might be fantastic cooks who make everything from scratch and have a husband and kids who just gobble it up ~ but not everyone is, and not everyone does.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

i'm hoping this is meant with humour?

 

i realize some of you might be fantastic cooks who make everything from scratch and have a husband and kids who just gobble it up ~ but not everyone is, and not everyone does.

 

After I confessed to the vienna sausages and pickle martinis AND THEN say I have standards you ask if I meant it with humor?

 

um, yes, it was a comment meant to be full, brimming, yes, even overflowing with humor but I guess it wasn't.

 

Sorry.

[Gwenhwyfar]

After I confessed to the vienna sausages and pickle martinis AND THEN say I have standards you ask if I meant it with humor?

 

um, yes, it was a comment meant to be full, brimming, yes, even overflowing with humor but I guess it wasn't.

 

Sorry.

 

:laugh:

 

i don't always read people that well, esp in text form.

 

vienna sausages are the little mini hot dogs in a can right?

 

i think i'm a wee bit sensitive on this topic because my cooking skills aren't exactly awesome and sometimes when people get on with the whole 'oh MY family would NEVER eat THAT kind of FAKE food' stuff... mehhhh. y'know?

 

alphagetti kids can homeschool too. :D

[Nakia]

:laugh:

 

i don't always read people that well, esp in text form.

 

vienna sausages are the little mini hot dogs in a can right?

 

i think i'm a wee bit sensitive on this topic because my cooking skills aren't exactly awesome and sometimes when people get on with the whole 'oh MY family would NEVER eat THAT kind of FAKE food' stuff... mehhhh. y'know?

 

alphagetti kids can homeschool too. :D

 

Oh, no worries. One time we had a thread here about all the things our children had never eaten or heard of. It was full of things like Twinkies and HH (that my kids have never eaten) and things like McDonald's and frozen nuggets (which they have had). It was actually kinda funny. I do have a weird sense of humor though.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

As a vegetarian, and long, long, time vegetarian at that, I shouldn't say this but . . . if you've never had vienna sausages, you really ought to try them at least once.

 

They aren't hotdogs . . . it's some kind of processed meat though and it's in some kind of slightly viscous liquid that when cool, is gelatinous and can become a solid. If nothing else, this would make a good science investigation. count it for school credit.

 

I forbid you to be sensitive about your cooking. Cook with love and let that be the end of it.

 

But if you love your family, you won't make them eat canned chicken a la king. :tongue_smilie: that's a joke.

 

:grouphug: to you and the love you give your family in so many ways!

 

Oh, and my kid isn't the one who'd never eat that stuff. Refer back to my original post . . . we were there looking at the HH b/c my daughter was begging for them!

Edited September 13, 2010 by MomOfOneFunOne

[Chelle in MO]

After I confessed to the vienna sausages and pickle martinis AND THEN say I have standards you ask if I meant it with humor?

 

um, yes, it was a comment meant to be full, brimming, yes, even overflowing with humor but I guess it wasn't.

 

Sorry.

 

I thought it was the funniest thing ever! Really! That's totally my sense of humor.

 

:D

 

My extremely-talented-at-cooking-from-scratch neighbor once brought over a beef noodle dish. It was delicious and several of us scarfed it up. I called her to find out how to make it and she said it was Hamburger Helper! I had NEVER had ANY H.H. I bought it a few times before I decided to look at the ingredients. No more now. :tongue_smilie: I buy plenty that isn't healthy, but not that.

[Nakia]

As a vegetarian, and long, long, time vegetarian at that, I shouldn't say this but . . . if you've never had vienna sausages, you really ought to try them at least once.

 

They aren't hotdogs . . . it's some kind of processed meat though and it's in some kind of slightly viscous liquid that when cool, is gelatinous and can become a solid. If nothing else, this would make a good science investigation. count it for school credit.

 

I forbid you to be sensitive about your cooking. Cook with love and let that be the end of it.

 

But if you love your family, you won't make them eat canned chicken a la king. :tongue_smilie: that's a joke.

 

:grouphug: to you and the love you give your family in so many ways!

 

Oh, and my kid isn't the one who'd never eat that stuff. Refer back to my original post . . . we were there looking at the HH b/c my daughter was begging for them!

 

Great post! My oldest dd had Vienna Sausages once and she thinks they are the BOMB! She just doesn't get why I refuse to buy them. The gelatinous liquid on top didn't seem to bother her. Apparently, she just dumped them in a bowl, poked them with her fork, and chowed down. :svengo:

[Joker]

I haven't bought HH since the beginning of my marriage and we ate so much of it then that I can't stomach the idea of more. I will admit to missing fried Spam though. :tongue_smilie: My gma used to make it for me all the time and every once in a while I really get a craving for some.

[Nakia]

I haven't bought HH since the beginning of my marriage and we ate so much of it then that I can't stomach the idea of more. I will admit to missing fried Spam though. :tongue_smilie: My gma used to make it for me all the time and every once in a while I really get a craving for some.

 

Oh jeez, you had to remind me of Spam. YUCK! If I don't watch my husband, he will still buy it. :D

[MorganClassicalPrep]

What timing... DD and I had HH for dinner TONIGHT! :lol: Beef stroganoff. Yum.

 

I am (1) a horrible cook, (2) have a horrible memory (lets not list everything I've burnt, including a pot of water, and setting some ramen noodles on fire..) (3) an extremely picky eater. I often feel inadequate on these type of posts... you guys are so intimidating!! :lol:

 

DD is probably lucky she's still alive. :D I'm donig good though... she eats MUCH better than I do. In fact her lunch for tomorrow is salad, grapes, yogurt, and a mix of pretzels/choc chips/peanut butter chips/and marshmallows that we make a batch of once a week. And all that was her choosing!

[Joker]

Oh jeez, you had to remind me of Spam. YUCK! If I don't watch my husband, he will still buy it. :D

 

If I don't buy Spam my dh can't buy Vienna sausages so we've been in a standoff for a few years. Neither of us wants to see the other food in our house.:D

[Jean in Newcastle]

:laugh:

 

i don't always read people that well, esp in text form.

 

vienna sausages are the little mini hot dogs in a can right?

 

i think i'm a wee bit sensitive on this topic because my cooking skills aren't exactly awesome and sometimes when people get on with the whole 'oh MY family would NEVER eat THAT kind of FAKE food' stuff... mehhhh. y'know?

 

alphagetti kids can homeschool too. :D

 

For my family (and I think many other families on this board) we wouldn't be so strict on the no fake food stuff if we didn't have a boatload of food allergies. But having said that - I love candy corn, ho-hos, and hot-dogs. So we're not always so healthy! (Even if we pay for it.)

[Retired]

We do not have HH for dinner but my boys do the grocery shopping for lunch supplies, they love HH stroganoff, spam and macaroni, and other foods in the processes category. I do homemade dinners. My youngest (13) likes to cook and has learned how to do some home made stuff.

 

My boys don't like cold lunches so this is there quick hot lunch. I do not eat the stuff.

[Chelle in MO]

I love candy corn, ho-hos, and hot-dogs.

 

And here I was just wondering what to fix for dinner tomorrow night!

 

;)

[Alphabetika]

My mom used to make something similar to hamburger helper, and now when I make it the kids call it Mema's casserole. It tastes much better than hamburger helper!

 

1 1/2 pound ground beef

1 lb. cooked medium shell pasta

1 can tomato sauce

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can water

1 cup shredded cheddar

salt/pepper

2 tablespoons chili powder

 

Mix it all together in a 9x13 Pyrex dish and cook it for about 30 minutes on 350. It is one of my kids' favorites.

 

 

MIL made this for us right after I had dd#1. She called it Hamburger Surprise. She brought it straight to the birthing center and the nurses would microwave portions for us since we had to stay for a couple of days. I was so hungry for protein I could have eaten the whole 9X13 myself. :tongue_smilie:

[Mom in High Heels]

Oh jeez, you had to remind me of Spam. YUCK! If I don't watch my husband, he will still buy it. :D

 

LOL! James Bond loves Spam and I think it is the most vile thing in the world. I refuse to buy it, but or Christmas this past year I put 3 cans of it in his stocking and you would have thought they were cans of gold. He was so excited and fried some up for breakfast that morning. Yuck!

 

We went to the Luxembourg Military Museum last Dec. when we did the Battle of the Bulge Memorial Walk and they have a huge display of the foods soldiers had from WWII. There were several unopened cans of Spam and the tour guide told us they could still be eaten and taste the same if opened today. ICK!

[Jamee]

We went to the Luxembourg Military Museum last Dec. when we did the Battle of the Bulge Memorial Walk and they have a huge display of the foods soldiers had from WWII. There were several unopened cans of Spam and the tour guide told us they could still be eaten and taste the same if opened today. ICK!

 

 

My dad is a Spam fanatic, but it was not allowed in the house for this reason alone. His dad had had TOO much of it durning the war.

 

As for the HH, it's ok, but we just come up with stuff on our own. And cheese, we only eat good chedder here, so whenever the boys saw the individually wrapped American while we were back in the states, they kept calling it "fake" cheese. (they did agree that it was great for grilled cheese though.)

[~cindy~]

I'm not even sure what Hamburger Helper is:confused: I don't think we have it in Australia. Sounds nasty!

ETA I googled! I would have thought with a name like hamburger helper it was something that bulked out hamburger mince but it seems no:)

Edited September 13, 2010 by ~cindy~

[Mad Jenny Flint]

I enjoyed your humor immensely on this thread.

 

And, for the record, I am one of those "from-scratch" cooks, but didn't grow up that way- my favorite meal growing up was Hamburger Helper!

 

My mom also served Chicken a la King but it was in those little boil-in baggies- frozen. This was in the days before microwaves really got going.

 

She cooked from scratch a good bit, but she also filled in the gaps with these little gems.

 

We all have different priorities. Maybe someone who doesn't do a lot of from-scratch cooking does something spectacularly well that I could never hope to do. I just really enjoy cooking. For me, it has definitely been a process. When my kids were little I made Hamburger Helper sometimes, and we had Sloppy Joes and things like that, and maybe one meal out of 3 was from scratch. Pizza night meant take-out or frozen.

 

Fast forward to now: we recently gave up one of my last strongholds of instant cooking: boxed macaroni and cheese (I used it for lunches sometimes) *but* I did just pick up a bag of frozen chicken nuggets yesterday. I cook from scratch about 6 meals out of 7. We don't eat much meat, and when we do it is chicken. Pizza night means I store homemade dough in the fridge for the week and top it with homemade sauce. All of this is to say, it takes a lot of changes for someone raised like I was to make it work, and if I didn't enjoy it *and take satisfaction in doing it*, there is no way I could do any of this sustainably.

 

So we all do our best. Don't compare. :)

[Joyofsixreboot]

I make our own HH because we can't afford the package. By the time I buy two boxes (at least) and add hamburger my own pasta w/a little meat and some sauce is cheaper. I've always thought all those 'mixes' are kind of a scam. Convenient but not all that cheap.

[Sherry in OH]

I don't have Hamburger Helper until I went to college. Then I thought, what's the point? A box of macaroni, a jar of spaghetti sauce, and some hamburger and your have the same thing. My mother frequently made that mixture. She called it goulash.

 

My husband was raised on HH. He still eats it at his mother's house.

[unsinkable]

Maybe try this for ideas? I've made some of them, and they're pretty good. Obviously you'd make your own substitutions. ;)

http://chickensintheroad.com/cooking/homemade-hamburger-helper/

 

I love her website!

[unsinkable]

You know what poor man's hamburger helper really is:

 

SOS

 

creamed chipped beef on toast

 

Made from scratch. It is scary cheap.

 

Food snobbery makes me so uncomfortable. My dad grew up hungry and one of my best friends in high school did, too. Both my dad and friend stole food to feed their younger brothers and sisters. I know both of them would have made and served HH with joy to their siblings if they could have gotten their hands on it.

[mrsrevmeg]

This thread has made me laugh! A few weeks ago my husband called on his way home and we were talking about our grocery list and he said we should get some HH. :blink: This is the same man who, when we first got married and I bought HH wouldn't touch it. The same man who knows his family has been trying to get away from processed foods. Our grocery store had it on sale buy-one-get-one. Plus, they had a coupon on their website buy three get $0.75 off. So we got it cheap. Nobody hated it, but nobody loved either. A few nights ago I made my own version. The homemade version cost more. I can't imagine calling it "Poor man's Hamburger Helper". :lol:

[Punchie]

You know what poor man's hamburger helper really is:

 

SOS

 

creamed chipped beef on toast

 

Made from scratch. It is scary cheap.

 

DH thinks I'm absolutely gross, but I love SOS. It was my favorite breakfast at military school and in the military.

 

As for the HH, I've only had it once, and while it was yummy, I'm in the boat that stuff in the box is usually a scam, and I can make it cheaper by purchasing the raw ingredients seperately. But in short, you do what you gotta do to feed your family. It might not be pretty, but any food is better than no food.

[Impish]

I don't know what SOS is (other than a help signal) nor chipped beef.

 

When I was a single Mom, working 3 jobs, HH was a godsend. Quick, cheap and easy. Kids loved it.

 

When you don't have your kitchen set up w/spices, etc, it can be very expensive to undertake any sort of 'recipe'. You do what you can to keep a roof over the head, clothes on the back, and tummies fed.

 

HH, hot dogs, whatever.

 

Although I admit to never eating Spam. Might have, if I'd known what the heck to do with it.