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Out of the Box
Today I feel like sharing a secret—I use those no-name-brand Hamburger Helper knock-off box mixes. There I said it. For a homestead homecookin’ gal that could be a shameful secret. Not for me.As with most recipes I do a bit of tweaking and so I want to share how I take a boxed mix and tweak it to homemade yumminess.
The 3 box mixes we use the most around here are: cheeseburger macaroni skillet dinner, lasagna skillet dinner and stroganoff skillet dinner. All 3 call for using 1 pound of hamburger, the boxed mix, water and milk. Simple and cheap (I purchase brand @ 89 cents a box). I would also like to add that these are absolutely super to have on hand for a quick meal (cooks up in less than 20 minutes) and really, all you need to have on hand is the box mix, milk and burger meat- easy stuff to have on hand at most times.
Okay- here’s where I begin tweaking- instead of hamburger I use one of the following: ground turkey (much cheaper and a healthier option- I get a pound of ground turkey for 79 cents @ Aldi’s), ground sausage (especially yummy with the Lasagna skillet meal and adds a bit of zest to the cheeseburger) or if we have some left over beef from a roast I’ll use it for the stroganoff.
I add approx. a cup of sour cream to the stroganoff and a 4 oz. can (drained) of mushrooms. To the cheeseburger meal I add crumbled bacon (save a few strips each time you cook it– crumble it and store it in your freezer) and top it with shredded cheese. For the lasagna I just add shredded cheese to the top (once when I used sausage for the recipe I also added a couple tablespoons of pizza sauce that were left in the fridge- yum-o).
We usually serve the skillet meals with a side salad (plus garlic bread with the Lasagna). Quick and easy.
Let’s break it down:
Stroganoff- box mix 89 cents, ground turkey 79 cents, 1 ½ cups milk 22 cents, 1 cup sour cream 50 cents, can of mushrooms 49 cents= $2.89
Lasagna- box mix 89 cents, ground sausage 1.99, 1 ½ cups milk 22 cents, ½ cup shredded cheese 40 cents= $3.50
Cheeseburger- box mix 89 cents, ground turkey 79 cents, 1 ½ cups milk 22 cents, ½ cup shredded cheese 40 cents, crumbled bacon (“free” because I count the whole cost of the bacon when we cook it the first time- I don’t have this worked out to a per slice cost)= $2.30
These skillet meals will feed our little family of 5 one meal with just enough left over for Mr. Steady’s lunch the next day.
And now you know my little secret. *wink*
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2:12 PM, 2007-Jun-20 .. Posted by Barefootcountrygirlwe share the saaaaaame dirty little secret!! We must be properly beaten and hung out on the line! LOL! No really, I love those days knowing I'm going to make an easy "hamburger-skillet" meal for dinner that night! It's so easy and cheap, that it feels like a night off from cooking (almost). You have some great ideas that I may just borrow from you!
For the cheeseburger skillet meal, I add some sweet corn niblets which makes it sweet and adds some color, and I serve it with cornbread and honey! YUM!!
So I raise my glass to from-the-box-skillet-meals, a homesteaders night off!!
Rachael
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2:46 PM, 2007-Jun-20 .. Posted by KittyThere is a web site that you can go to to get all these types of products homemade recipes. I will have to look for it tho and get back to you with that info.
But I use several of these recipes, like ham burger helpers and sloppy joes. It's all the homemade taste but still very easy and not all the guilt. LOL
Kitty
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