Hello friends! I just got back from a week in Missoula with wonderful family, great friends, and, of course, yummy food! As much as I love to cook, it was nice to have every meal cooked for me! The no cooking streak continued until Sunday, and, after almost a week and a half with no cooking on the brain, I wasn’t feeling too creative. After going through the cupboards, refrigerator, and freezer, I decided on hamburger helper. Wait! Before you judge or think “Food out of a box?! From Des?!”, it wasn’t the actual Hamburger Helper – it was my version, which is so easy and so much better!
Homemade Helper
1 lb turkey burger
1 onion, chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sour cream
Assorted spices (see description)
Egg noodles
Boil a pan of water and cook the noodles til “al dente”. Brown the burger with the onions until meat is done and onions are translucent. Here is where the “assorted spices” come in: I just kind of grab whatever sounds good to me and sprinkle it in (probably 1/2 tsp or less of each). This time it was Alpine Touch, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, Johnny’s Seasoning Salt, dry parsley, and chili powder. I definitely used more of the Alpine Touch & Johnny’s than anything else. I know it sounds like a lot of spices, but you can definitely use whatever sounds best to you. Dump in the can of cream of mushroom soup, fill the soup can with milk, and pour that in too. Let this mix cook for about 20 minutes on low heat (while the water is coming to a boil and the noodles are cooking). Add in the 1 cup of sour cream, mix well, and then add in the cooked noodles. Stir this all together and serve!
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This is another dish I picked up from my mom over the years, except I added the sour cream in to give it a more “stroganoff” taste. She doesn’t like to cook things from a box, and neither do I as we’ve learned from previous posts. Why cook from a box when you can use fresh ingredients and make it exactly how you like it? (Plus it is SO much better!) We both do a similar dish, but with tuna (aka Tuna Helper). So next time you’re at the grocery store and you reach for that boxed helper, STOP! and think of this recipe and how much better you could make it with your own ingredients and imagination!
Happy Dishing!
~Des
Dishing with Des 