Kevin's Watch

aliantha wrote:I used to make it a lot when the kids were little. Beef stroganoff and the lasagna one were the best, iirc. I would usually make it with ground turkey instead of hamburger, to cut the fat content. But yeah, it's still Chemical City -- chock full of sodium and unpronounceable bits.

I haven't made it a long time now and I don't miss it.

Speaking of near-starvation: this stuff and Kraft mac & cheese (or the store equivalent) were staples for us for a long, long time.

I don't remember eating the stuff, even in college. I did eat a lot of kraft mac and cheese though. 33¢ a box.

had it a few times. easy and cheap to just make pasta out of a box on your own.

Lucimay wrote: or...i put tuna and peas in mac and cheese, which is really good too!

My friend made me try this once, and it's far better than it has any right to be. And it's cheap too.


As to HH, I've had it a few times, but it isn't anything I'd want to eat often. The Cheesy Tuna and Broccoli helper stuff isn't bad at all. I think I might have a box in the back of the cabinet for when money is low. I also have two packages of Ramen noodles in the cabinet for the same reason.

My parents used to make their own HH

Ground beef cooked with Kraft Dinner and a can of Campbells tomato soup.

Although they'd make regualr HH every now and again.
Once, while I was working at an oil refinery, I came home after an evening shift and heated up the leftover HH..I was working in diesel fumes all day, it tasted like...well...diesel.

A few months later, they made it again..it still tasted like Deisel!!

You Canadians. . . calling Macaroni and Cheese "Kraft Dinner." I'd forgotten about that.

I'm a big fan of both Hamburger and Tuna Helper. Good stuff!!

Wyldewode wrote:You Canadians. . . calling Macaroni and Cheese "Kraft Dinner." I'd forgotten about that.

If it's regular macaroni noodles with grated chedar cheese..I'll call it mac n cheese.

But out of a box, its kraft dinner (NOT KD either!!)

When I first got married, I killed myself cooking for my husband, and very rarely got any positive reinforcement. About a year and a half into the marriage, I said f*** it, and bought a box of hamburger helper.

He loved it. He raved over it.

I don't know what that says about my cooking.

Lady Revel wrote:When I first got married, I killed myself cooking for my husband, and very rarely got any positive reinforcement. About a year and a half into the marriage, I said f*** it, and bought a box of hamburger helper.

He loved it. He raved over it.

I don't know what that says about my cooking.

Pretty sure that says more about his taste buds than it does about your cooking... The girls' dad was a big Hamburger Helper fan. Plus it was one thing that he knew how to make when it was his turn to cook dinner.

I agree with aliantha; it's his taste buds, Lady Revel. I could be generalizing, but I have the impression most guys prefer saltier-tasting food, if given the choice. I mean, really saltier-tasting food (I'm guilty of that preference myself). And we all know prepackaged foods come loaded with salt. So I'll bet your husband was basically raving about the salt content.

Awwwww....thanks guys!

I feel better now, really!!

I think Mom tried out that stuff on us many year ago when it first came out. I recall the family beset by hives, scabies, ear infections, bleeding from the bowels and gums, blurred vision , extreme flatulence, nausea, heart palpitations, hair loss, runny nose, dandruff, finger cramps and warts, that very evening. Mom never served it again. But Dad liked it.

Lady Revel wrote:Awwwww....thanks guys!

I feel better now, really!!

Aren't you just the cutest thing!

..Those colorful squeezable emoticons; anybody think of putting sound with them? Yea, they could be like an accordion. Squeeze them once and you get, " wheeeehh",. Change the placement of the different colors and squeeze again, you get,," whhaaaahh." Heck , anybody could become a hot Zydyco player, " WHEE-ah-HAAh WHEE-ah-HAAh WHEE WHHEE HAAH HAAH..That'd be happy and helpful. Maybe there's a Lawrence Welk out there?..or a Weird Al? That'd be so cool. Hey, just trying to help.

Hamburger Helper - Helped Her (1983)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=c87VzSOdI04

Yes, HH is a sodium grenade with a cheesy-pasta pin.

I was raised on it - except on those days when Mom needed to get rid of leftovers, and made her own version, which she called goulash. This is one of those mythical dishes where a can of Veg-All seems like a good idea beforehand, but gives you a skillet full of meh.

That we survived all those packaged foods is a miracle, exceeded only by the regard which I hold for her in raising us all so well on so little. Thanks, Mom!

dw

I think every family had a version of goulash except ours. My mom would make chop suey instead. It's a great way to make a very little meat and a lot of vegetables very tasty and filling.

..this is odd..Mom use to make " Hungarian Goulash" from scratch..that is,,not from left overs..As I recall..oh my! I just got a taste of it from my memory..heavy on the tomato and bell pepper, meat, noodles (flat , 1/2 inch wide and pretty long) with a lot of darkish seasoning and grated cheese on top. I could go for some of that rite now.

I think the closest thing to that my mom made was chilli mac. She'd make chilli and serve it with macaroni noodles and cheese and onions on top. It was pretty tasty. Sometimes she would make it chilli spaghetti instead.