Easy Beef and Noodle Skillet

Every once in a while I like to try to make things easy on myself.  I can’t let it become a regular habit because someone needs to freak out, worry, and then do things the hard way. If I don’t stress, who is going to?

Speaking of stress, maybe it’s just cost of living down here, but hamburger is not as cheap as it used to be.  I remember it being used a lot more when I was younger because it was the cheap alternative to other meats, same with chicken.  You can still get leg quarters inexpensively, but…I need to stop.  If I continue down this rant the next thing I’m going to be doing is yelling at some kid to get off my lawn.  (Remind me to tell you the story of my friend B and Night Ranger at some point.)

Ok, enough of the beef I have about the price of beef and onto the good stuff.  I am sure that most of you have had Hamburger Helper at some point.  Maybe it’s because of an exhausted mom or maybe because you were bachelor who didn’t really cook.  It doesn’t really matter.  It’s a thing that exists and I’m not judging (much), I mean we’ve all done it.  (Except maybe me, I’m not sure I actually have ever purchased a box of Hamburger Helper or any of its offshoots.  I have made it before, though.)  It’s easy, convenient, and pretty versatile. 

If you think about what that magic box contains, though, it’s pretty basic.  There is some carbohydrate (noodles or rice) and a seasoning packet.  You have to provide your own browned hamburger and whatever veg you may want in there.

How would you feel if I told you that you could basically make your own seasoning “packet”?  There are a bunch of recipes online that you could use, but why would you use those when you could use this one?  (Hint: Because in order to make this one really delicious, it requires a lot more herbs, spices, and salt than this recipe says.)  This is a good jumping off point.  

Once you have the seasoning made, you can use that to make one of three delightful dishes.  (There is enough seasoning to make all three.) I chose to make the Beef and Noodle Skillet to start.  It’s a lot like hamburger stroganoff, but as bland as you imagine food coming from a place where ketchup was considered spicy.  Honestly, when I made this exactly as written in the recipe, I realized that there was no way I was going to be able to serve it to my family and get them to eat it.  It’s too bland.  Since it was already sort of like stroganoff, I added lots of garlic, some paprika, some Worcestershire sauce, and a bit of sour cream.  

All in all, this is a great idea if you can get the seasoning right.  It’s nice to have something like this on hand for quick meals when you don’t have time to make something like Chicken Tetrazzini, Frazzalene, or Sausage Bean Casserole.  The advantage of making it yourself is that you know everything that is in it and can easily adapt it to your family’s preferences.  I have enough of the Hamburger Dinner Mix to make the rest of the recipes suggested, but the next time I make a seasoning “packet”, it will have a lot more flavor.  

If you are still reading at this point, let me tell you about B and Night Ranger.  When we lived in our old town, every summer there was Riverfest.  It was a classic carnival, activities, food, and music-type affair where most the bands could no longer get work anywhere except these sorts of small town festivals.  Bands on the way down, not usually on the way up.  One year, Night Ranger was going to appear.  You know their song “Sister Christian” and that’s about it. For years, I had told my friend B about which acts were performing at Riverfest since music was one of things we bonded over.  

The year Night Ranger came to town, I IM’d him to let him know.  He responded with disgust.  “I wouldn’t go see Night Ranger if they were playing on my lawn.” He typed back to me.  I hesitated wondering how to respond while the icon that showed he was writing something else came up.  “Except to tell them to get off my lawn.”  The image in my head of him going out and shaking his fist at Night Ranger cracked me up, but also made me realize that I kind of want to have a lawn concert.  That’d be so cool.  

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