Replacing the Hamburger in Hamburger Helper

This is pretty tricky. Is there a Pre made nutritional information on the HBH? If so I would use that, Then I would add the Blackbeans, corn and Salsa. And Hey dont worry about cheep food! I ate a $.50 chicken burritto..... and I didnt see any chicken inside it either!

Okay, so I know that HB Helper is not the healthiest thing to eat, but we're broke and I have like 6 boxes of the stuff that I haven't touched in a while because I would keep it around as a "last resort" food. Well we're down to our last resort until pay day. So last night for supper I made the Cheeseburger Macaroni variety and instead of using hamburger meat I used black beans, because my hamburger meat was frozen and I was in a hurry. Then I added corn and salsa. It's surprisingly good and it's probably destroying my calorie count, but I need to know how to input it into my food diary.

I would appreciate any tips. And please don't criticize me for eating that stuff. We're super broke. We used to eat it on a weekly basis because it's cheap. But I have six boxes of it and we haven't had any since April.

No judgement here. You do what you have to do.

I so wouldn't beat yourself up about eating it. You choose a healthier protein so other than the sodium in it, it wasn't too bad. They have The Hamburger Helper in your food database, maybe just use the one with the lean meat. You'll see that even the regular isn't going to blow your entire calorie count.

You are doing a great job and being a great mother. Maybe you can use the noodles and create your own pasta with a little dressing and the corn and beans next time. Taking out the packet of sauce would make a difference because that is where the sodium is. Congratulate yourself for finding a healthier way to make the Hamburger helper.

First and foremost, do not be embarrassed about going with your "last resort" food!! I can definitely relate. Time to use all the information on this site to pull together a filling and healthy meal! Like you said, you already know it's not the healthiest, but you can make it healthier!! I like the posts aboout using beans and stuff. Also, you can use ground turkey or ground chicken. You can also add any veggies you have around - bell pepper, onions, zuchinni, squash, etc. All these are summer veggies and are relatively cheap right now. Use the BOX nutritional information w/o the meat and then add the info for anything you add. Divide by the number of servings and you got it. Be careful about the sodium content! Push water, water, water....

Good Luck and let me know what you decide to do!

Kimberly

I so wouldn't beat yourself up about eating it. You choose a healthier protein so other than the sodium in it, it wasn't too bad. They have The Hamburger Helper in your food database, maybe just use the one with the lean meat. You'll see that even the regular isn't going to blow your entire calorie count.

Great advice: don't trip on it, just look to make better options available as a last resort next time.

I will suggest that you could probably have made it cheaper by just buying macaroni as a staple and then using a little milk, butter and spices to "mimic" as hamburger helper is pretty much just that.

Not only is it cheaper, it's actually better for you because you're not opting into the extra weird stuff that might be in the boxes. So next time you are stocking the pantry, look for the ingredients that are usually in the boxed versions.

We've always "healthied" ours up by replacing the ground beef with half ground turkey/half chopped veggies. We use carrots, cabbage, bell peppers, and celery. We do the same thing with Manwich.

I would do the nutrition info for "as packaged" and then add in what you ate on top of that.

I completely understand on being broke and eating Hamburger Helper... I credit that for the reason I started gaining weight in the first place! We only had money for junky food. Even now with double the money we had back then, we are barely making it buying fresh fruits and veggies. I could get Hamburger Helper for 25 cents a box if I coupon and then stock up on meat when it is on sale... there are no coupons for fresh or frozen produce.

Dont feel bad, we have all been in that position. I am in the same position myself- sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. Sounds like you made a pretty good compromise. I would just add the dry mix then add the other calories to it. You know what we all have days when we go over our calories, so if you did, tomorrow is a new day. Dont sweat it.
I dont like hamburger helper myself,(but my daughter loves it) so we compromise. I mix together a package of dry macaroni(cooked), hamburger(cooked), onion(browned),a little cheese, salt, pepper and I have homemade hamburger helper. She loves it. Then there isnt all that "processed food stuff in there) All of those ingredients I usually have on hand.

Good job on working with what you had and improving it! There's a website I have used before that has frugal recipes - they are back to basics and don't use too many ingredients. It is hillbillyhousewife.com. Funny name, but I did find it helpful and tagged it as a favorite so I can go back to some of the recipes. For anyone who uses the angel food boxes, they have recipes there that work with each box's ingredients. I think it's a neat idea.