Can I let you in on a little secret? I religiously meal plan every Tuesday and do my grocery shopping on Wednesdays. And every Sunday prior I have the same conversation with Dear Husband. It usually goes something like this:
Me: What meal do you want on this next week's menu?
Him: I don't know.
Me: Babe, you've got to help me out and pick at least one.
Him: Pasta.
Me: What kind of pasta?
Him: Spaghetti.
Me: We had spaghetti last week.
Him: Fine. Pasta.
Me: BABE!
Him: I don't know! What's on sale?
Me: *bangs head on table*
At some point after the banging of my head I was able to wrangle an answer out of Dear Husband. And this week he requested Hamburger Helper. Well, a copycat of Hamburger Helper. And that brings us to today's dinner: One Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni and Brown Butter Garlic Honey Carrots.
The main dish, the One Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni, comes from Holly over at Spend With Pennies. For me, this was just an okay recipe. But before you dismiss it I have a bit of a bias as I'm not a huge fan of Hamburger Helper and as this recipe tastes exactly like Hamburger Helper, it doesn't score high on my personal food-o-meter. But if you do like Hamburger Helper then this recipe is for you! Dear Husband really liked it and it's well reviewed on the Spend With Pennies website.
I vaguely recall my mom making Hamburger Helper early in my childhood but those boxed, processed meals were replaced with more home cooking as I got older. I don't remember if I liked it as a child or not. But I do remember that once in college I was feeling nostalgic and bought a box and wasn't a fan.
The breakdown is as follows: The total cost of the meal was $7.25. The cost of each serving was $1.81, at four servings. And there are 676 calories per serving. Because this one is a copycat recipe of something you can buy in the store, I also did the math for the original Hamburger Helper. And when you buy the box it works out to be $6.00 for the meal, and $1.50 per serving, at four servings. The nutrition label claims there are only 320 calories per serving, at five servings. I'm honestly not sure how they manage such witchcraft. Even if you use a really lean ground beef it still should end up in the five hundreds as far as calorie count goes. I can only think that they don't use real cheese, which is the second highest calorie contributor in the homemade version. Anyway, it doesn't really matter. If you want to save money and calories you're better of using the boxed version. But if you're trying to cut out the processed, chemical laden foods the homemade version is the way to go. I'd give this 3 Wooden Spoons, but keep in mind Dear Husband did rate it higher than I did.
Now for the side dish. I chose Brown Butter Garlic Honey Carrots from Bee at Rasa Malaysia. I adore this recipe. But I also adore carrots in general. In fact, this recipe earned a place in my recipe box a while ago. Garlic and butter are a match made in heaven and the honey adds just a touch of sweetness. These carrots come out perfectly every time I've made them. Dear Husband, who repeatedly voices his displeasure at the fact I include vegetables in his diet, likes these just fine. High praise by his standards, hahaha.
The breakdown of this recipe looks like this: The total cost to make this side dish is $1.67. And the cost per serving, at three servings: $0.56. Super budget friendly. The calorie count is estimated at 205, but honestly it might be less. The recipe calls for a quarter cup of butter to saute the carrots in, which I factored it the whole amount, but there was a decent amount of butter left in the pan so the actual calorie count might be lower. Anyway, not the worst calorie count for a veggie side dish.
Anyway my lovelies, continue on your own cooking adventures and let me know what you try. Much love, Hailee
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