Feed ‘em fast, feed ‘em healthy. Real food doesn’t have to mean hours in the kitchen every night. This is basically hamburger helper, but with real food ingredients and no weird powder.
I doubled this recipe to feed our crew. Serves 4-6, cooks up in half an hour or less!
Ingredients:
1# ground beef
1 box whole wheat pasta, 13-16 oz. (shells are great in this because they hold the beefy sauce)
onion
8-16 oz. mushrooms (I like lots of mushrooms!)
half and half or other milk
Flour
garlic, chili powder, pepper, whatever spices your family likes.
Directions
Put a pot of water on to boil. (Note the time – dinner’s late, I’m running behind, and I need something fast before the hordes gnaw through my leg.)
Cut up the onion, and cook it with the ground beef in a pot.
While the beef is browning, cut up the mushrooms. I take Alton Brown’s advice and wash them with running water. It’s faster than individually wiping them. When the water boils, add the noodles.
If you used a chub of meat, you might skim some grease off. Usually natural and grassfed beef is pretty lean and doesn’t need to be drained.
Introduce the mushrooms to the beef. Oh, I think they’ll get on so well together, don’t you?
Throw a handful of flour right over the meat and veggies. Stir it all in and cook for a minute or so. You’ve just made a roux out of the fat and flour.
Add cream or milk, enough to make it saucy. Remember your ratio is 8 times as much milk as flour. So, 1 1/2 – 2 cups for a handful of flour should be about right.
Stir it around and let it thicken. Add salt, pepper, spices to taste.
Your noodles should be done by now. If you want to make it a complete meal, toss in some frozen vegetables in with the pasta for the last couple of minutes of cooking. Drain noodles, stir into meat. For a stroganoff effect, stir in some sour cream.
Dinner is served!
Linking up!
Karen (1)
Raso @ lasagnarec... (1)
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
uhm uhm! mouthwatering.. now im really hungry…
Sounds wonderful and doable this evening! One question: I cannot have flour (gluten). Would cornstarch work? Rice flour? I have gluten free fusilli pasta that should do nicely. Thanks.
Cornstarch will work, but in that case add the cornstarch to the milk or cream, then add to the pot.
We are free of almost everything in this meal. But my mouth is watering. So now I am going to sit down and figure out how to make it with the alterations. Tonight I know what we are having for supper.
Well the basic recipe is infinitely adaptable. Cook meat/protein, add veggie, add liquid for sauce (milk, broth, tomato), add cooked starch (noodle, rice, barley, etc.)
You might be interested in this article:
Real Food Alternatives for Wheat and Dairy
That looks yummy!
I made for supper, with the addition of frozen peas. Yummo! Hubby said it needed something, so he added A-1 to his serving. He adds A-1 to everything. LOL.
Glad you liked it! My husband adds Tony Chachere to everything. He doesn’t even TASTE the food first. Drives me nuts, but in a fond sort of way.
I made this today! Very good, and pleased everyone in my house!
Also? I love Tony Chachere’s. I have a can that sits next to my chair.
My family loves Hamburger Helper & Tuna Helper. I like them too, but will not buy them anymore because they are prepackaged & full of crap. Thanks for posting this – it looks yummy! I need to google & find lots more recipes like this!
My cooking is very similar to yours, but I drain my meat (get rid of all the extra fat) and then add the garlic, onions, mushrooms. I also used to add a lot of dairy: half and half, milk, cream, sour cream, yogurt. Now, I add mashed sweet potatoes, spinach or butternut squash. These vegetables have a lot more vitamins and minerals and calcium too. And for a touch of freshness, I add chopped cilantro or parsley.
Like you I am not a fan of hamburger helper at all. Actually I have never even tried it. In my house, our motto is “If it’s packaged, it’s probably junk.”
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