Just Genious

I have a new favorite blog it's called Chickens in the Road. You simply must check it out if you like to craft or cook. The one new genious thing I'm loving is that she demystified Hamburger Helper. http://suzannemcminn.com/blog/2010/01/03/homemade-hamburger-helper/ I LOVE this idea!! Who doesn't want to have shortcuts on nights where everyone is coming and going (like tonight-Emma's piano lesson in Eureka at 4:00). Gotta love a fresh, home cooked meal on the table in 30 minutes without preservatives or MSG. You control the salt, and you control if you want it to be brown rice or whole wheat pasta.

A week or so ago, we tried the Chili beef taco which uses rice instead of macaroni. Emma declared it her favorite rice of all time (which is something concidering her love for homemade chicken rice a roni http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/chickenricearoni.htm). It does call for some Fritos on top after the standing time, but I didn't have any and substituted tortilla chips and it was still delicious. Another substitution I made was that I used taco seasoning instead of chili powder as the only chili powder in my cabinet is a dark, hot chili powder. Again, it was delicious and that is the beauty of homemade mixes, do what you want!! Another great thing about homemade mixes is that you arn't a slave to the box's servings. You can double the recipe, cut it in half, change it to feed your family.

So I made 4 mixes for later: Beef Stroganoff, Cheesy Jambalaya, Cheeseburger Macaroni and Cheesy Beef Taco. I also made a Salisbury mix for tonight. What are you having for dinner?

ETA: I tried the Salisbury today. I already changed the amount of noodles called for in this recipe. One and one-half cups of flat noodles didn't seem enough so I measured two cups and it was perfect. When I measured the elbow noodles, they were heavier so I did measure one and one-half cups of elbow noodles. Also, it seems to me that Salisbury has a sort of beefy gravy so I substituted 1 tablespoon beef boullion for 1 tsp salt. You could substitute beef broth and use 2/3 cup powdered milk instead of the liquid milk too. All in all, it was a big hit.