Make it for less Monday

Make it for less Monday will be a repeating post on how to make popular foods at home.  It will include recipes modeled after restaurant meals or processed foods.  In an effort to healthier living and thicker wallets, make it for less Monday will feature recipes that have less calories and cost less money than their popular counterparts. 

When the husband and I first moved in together I did not know how to cook for the life of me.  Rice-A-Roni, Top Ramen and Hamburger Helper were staples in our home.  Over the past six years I have slowly developed a love for cooking and also realized that pre-packaged meals are not so good for you…  Out went the overly processed, pre-packaged meals.  This was definitely for the best, but here is the problem – we really liked hamburger helper.   Nothing homemade could possibly stand in for that powdered cheese mixture, until I did some research.  Turns out, there is a way to mimic the delicious cheesy goodness with REAL ingredients. Though the cost of making this particular recipe is approximately the same as the prepared mixture, this healthy alternative at least better for you and most of the ingredients are staples in my home so all I needed to purchase was the ground turkey. Without further adieu, here is a recipe for home made hamburger helper:

Ingredients:

1 pound ground turkey (you can also use ground beef if you prefer the taste, but note the nutritionals will be different)
1 cup hot water
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups macaroni (I used piccolini because I had it on hand, you can really use any type of pasta you like)
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Dry ingredient mixture:
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon paprika

*To make this recipe easy you can mix all of the dry ingredients into a Zip-loc bag and have on hand when you are ready to make this recipe.

 Brown hamburger in a skillet.  Once browned, drain excess fat if using ground beef.  If using lean ground turkey, leave the juices in the pan.

 Add cup of hot water, milk, pasta and dry ingredient mixture.

 Bring mixture to a boil, reduce, cover and let simmer for 8 minutes, or until pasta is done.

 Add cheese and stir.   (If liquid has cooked off you can add a little more milk for a creamier sauce.)

Replace cover and simmer for 4 more minutes.  

Uncover and remove from heat to allow sauce to thicken.

 

 Enjoy with a big salad.

Or do like my usually picky husband, who couldn't wait to grab a plate... :-)

Cheers,
    A