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March 5, 2018 · Leave a Comment

Homemade Hamburger Helper

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Dinner· Lunch· Recipes

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Back in college, Hubs and I used to make boxed meals like Hamburger Helper and Tuna Helper all the time.  It was before we had Bookworm, but even afterwards we would still fall back on a Helper boxed dinner of some form from time to time.  While it made dinner infinitely easier, it wasn’t healthier by any means.  The amount of sodium in one serving is simply insane.

After Monkey’s migraines were linked to MSG, we had to cut out foods with MSG and its sodium sisters in the ingredients list.  Have you seen how many foods on the shelves of your local grocery store have some form of glutamate or guanylate in their ingredients list?  I know I was shocked when I started reading the sides of packages.

Homemade Hamburger Helper

But I’ll be honest with you… there are times I miss the ease and simplicity of a really fast meal.  A type of meal that I can just pull out of the pantry, make it, and have it on the table in under 30 minutes.  Enter the homemade hamburger helper.

The first time I made it, I was pleasantly surprised!  It turned out really creamy, really filling, and the best part of all was that I knew exactly what I put into the meal.  Every single ingredient I could pronounce.

It even reheats really well for lunch the next day!  What could make this recipe better?

How about that you can use whatever you have on hand?  Last time I made this, I had just under a pound of leftover meat from nachos the night before.  I reheated them a little bit in the skillet before adding the rest of the ingredients.  And it was still just as tasty!

I’ve also used a pint of our homemade tomato sauce, and reduced the milk and beef broth to 1 cup each.  It’s really versatile, and can use whatever you have on hand.  Don’t think that you have to go buy these ingredients because they’re on the list.  Get creative!

Homemade Hamburger Helper

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 tablespoon dried, minced onion
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/2 tablespoon parsley
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 1 1/2 cup beef broth {I use Better Than Bullion* for beef broth, which I can get for $4 at my local Wegmans}
  • 1 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 cup tomato sauce {I use half a pint of my homemade tomato sauce}
  • 2 cups elbow macaroni
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

  1. In a skillet over medium heat, heat oil to crumble and brown beef.  Drain any excess fat.
  2. Add minced onion, garlic powder, smoked paprika, parsley, salt & pepper, beef broth, milk, tomato sauce & elbow macaroni.  Bring to a bubble, stirring occasionally.  Simmer for 10 – 12 minutes, or until noodles are tender and liquid has become a nice creamy sauce.
  3. Stir in cheddar cheese.

Serves 4-6

Homemade Hamburger Helper

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makingcentsmatter

makingcentsmatter
Only you can determine what your financial goals a Only you can determine what your financial goals are. If that means you're adding money to your savings account, or contributing to your retirement, while you are paying off debt, then so be it!⁠
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Do what looks right for you and your personal finances.⁠
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The trick to meal planning is to make it predictab The trick to meal planning is to make it predictable. But predictable doesn't mean the same thing week to week. You could have a chicken meal, a soup meal, a pasta meal, a leftovers meal, a family favorite meal, and so on.⁠
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We always try to go with themed days, but some weeks are so hectic the theme is literally "fast". Thankfully that hasn't been the case lately.⁠
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I can only hear about my extended warranty I never I can only hear about my extended warranty I never purchased so many times. 😣⁠
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March Debt Paid numbers are in!⁠ .⁠ House: $51 March Debt Paid numbers are in!⁠
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House: $511.13⁠
Citi: $0 – this has a residual $3 in interest charges since payoff, due in April⁠
D NelNet: $100⁠
K NelNet: $100⁠
K Chase: $600⁠
Explorer: $336.27⁠
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Total Paid in 2021: $8,258.84⁠
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Extra Payment: There isn’t one this month since we were $25 away from zeroing out the budget for our February 15th monthly paycheck. That $25, and monies left from our January 15th paycheck, covered our OOP costs for Hubs’ filling. We also have some savings goals coming up that need to be met, making our debt payments a little lower for the time begin.⁠
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The battle for who can charge what tonight is abou The battle for who can charge what tonight is about to begin. 😬⁠
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My kids run off with my charger, plug it into one outlet 5 feet from where they found it like that particular outlet is the only one in this house, and then proceed to fight over who can charge their device first at night.⁠
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Then they get grumpy when it's their turn and it's not the proper input cable. #itwasmychargerfirst #dontlikeitgofindyourown⁠
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A needs his wisdom teeth taken out. I've talked a A needs his wisdom teeth taken out. I've talked a bit in our February Budget Check-In about how much of this I think we'll owe, and you can check that out on my YouTube channel if you're interested, but I wanted to say here...⁠
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To the mother with little kids struggling to get your finances in order, it will get better. I wish I could have heard those words years ago.⁠
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Nearly 10 years ago we were facing a $1,400 out-of-pocket portion for A's Phase 1 orthodontic work (I looked it up after I uploaded the video... we had a $1,400 portion).⁠
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It was a lot of money for us at the time. Our kids were 6, 2, and 3 months old. I don't think we even had $500 in savings, and I just left a part-time teaching job because it wasn't paying the part-time daycare bill, so paying our portion in full was just a dream I didn't think was achievable.⁠
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I was even stressing about the monthly $100 payments. We were so strapped. It was our breaking moment to start cutting costs and budgeting more effectively. We've learned a lot in that time period.⁠
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What we've learned is that it does no good to stress about it all the time. Life happens. All you can do is try to plan ahead, and if it's something that's unplanned, readjust. It won't always be easy, especially at first, but it will be worth it.⁠
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Nearly 10 years later, we are still paying off our debts. Student loans suck. But I see this bill as a reminder of how far we have come. Seeing a bill like this doesn't stress me out like it used to, and I know we can easily create a plan that can get it done and out of the way.⁠
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Will it delay our debt-free date more? Yes. But it's not worth stressing over. Life happens, readjust, and continue on down the path. It's called a journey for a reason.⁠
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It's almost payday! Here's how our variable budget It's almost payday! Here's how our variable budgeting categories are working out for the pay month.⁠
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Food is looking good this far into our paycheck, probably because miscellaneous - which includes eating out - took a hit with unexpected purchases. Pet is low for this time of the month, and Household is spot on.⁠
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Fuel looks like it'll be lower than last month (yay for weeks of snow days & delayed school starts), and Therapy had one more appointment than initially planned.⁠
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Garden, Dental, Medical & Propane are not included in these estimates so far because those expenses are coming from sinking funds. Once we're done with the month and review the budget, I'll move over the total amount spent from those sinking funds.⁠
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How's your paycheck budget coming along?⁠
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Automating your finances makes saving money and bu Automating your finances makes saving money and budgeting more convenient, and therefore easier on you. Out of sight, out of mind, right?⁠
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What's one thing you can automate this week to make your finances easier?⁠
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Me? I'm going to set up our sinking fund transfers to automate every payday (the 15th of every month). Our bank set up a feature on their app where we can schedule savings transfers now, and I'm going to take advantage of it!⁠
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Oh my word... our miscellaneous category has gone Oh my word... our miscellaneous category has gone a smidgen overboard this month!⁠
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I foresee a goal for March's paycheck to at out less than twice. That's where this category went awry. $99.16 of it went to eating out. 😑 Some of it was avoidable, but not all of it. Having to drive to multiple appointments in one day during snow squalls and rearranging our whole day was one of those unavoidable instances.⁠
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Tracking our expenses - much like a budget review - is vital to sticking to your budget!⁠
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