V is for Vegetables in Hamburger Helper

We like Hamburger Helper in our house. We REALLY like it. My daughter LOVES it. She's made it twice just this week. But, we also add vegetables to it. It's not just meat, sauce and noodles for us. 


First Deb made Beef Noodle Helper to which she added French-style green beans. It was delicious. Today she made Philly Cheesesteak Helper and added whole kernel corn and peas. I might have liked it better without the peas, but it's still good. It's not that I don't like peas, but they added a "sweet" to it that I'd have rather not had in something called Philly Cheesesteak.


Adding vegetables allows Hamburger Helper to be a one pan meal instead of having to dirty another pan to cook a vegetable separately.


Do you make Hamburger Helper (or something similar)? When you do, do you change it up in any way?

P is for Peas and Personal-sized Mac-n-Cheese

Peas - those little green balls of goodness that kids (and some dogs) avoid eating all too often. I've always eaten peas. It was one of those vegetables I was willing to eat as a child. I loved them nestled in my mashed potatoes - I'd make a small nest in which to place them and then cover it all with gravy. I also liked the peas and carrots that came in frozen TV dinners.


I still eat them with mashed potatoes and gravy and still enjoy the peas found in frozen dinners, but I also now enjoy fresh peas on salad. Although I tend to drown them with salad dressing, I enjoy biting into their little burst of sweetness as I'm eating my salad.


My mother would grind them with leftover roast beef and gravy into a meat mixture that she'd use as the base for Shepherd's Pie. The leftover mashed potatoes would go on top. You could never see what vegetables were in there and their taste didn't stand out, but their goodness permeated the entire dish.




Do you like peas? How do you enjoy them most?


Personal-sized macaroni and cheese came out a few years back. Just add water and cook the pasta in the microwave and add the powdered cheese and in less than five minutes you have a single-serve of cheesy macaroni. I'd never tried them before, but I did recently buy a four-pack of a generic brand to have for work. Now, I love mac-n-cheese, so I thought this would be perfect. And, it was - in a way. It was easy to make and had pretty good flavor (if you're a Kraft blue box fan, that is), but it wasn't very substantial. I just had another one and added a bit of shredded cheese at the same time as the powdered cheese and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm about to make another one. Considering it's 3PM and that's the only thing I've eaten today, I think one more isn't going to hurt.


Are you a Kraft Mac-n-Cheese fan? Even if you prefer homemade, do you ever enjoy that Blue Box treat?