The Meal from Hell

This is not my recipe. It was created by my husband. I was inspired to post it because my friend, @merej99, posted some hamburger recipes today. (Yeah, so I’m a copycat, so what?)

You will probably figure out that this dish was based on Hamburger Helper, but it costs far less, and is just as easy to make. He created it when he was divorced from his first wife and had to feed his son and daughter quickly.
The food budget was tight and he haunted ShopRite’s annual Can-Can sale. One year he made a killing in Mac and Cheese (ShopRite brand, I’m sure!) so rather than serve just Mac and Cheese for dinner every night, he came up with this…

Ingredients

The following will feed 3 to 6 adults depending on their appetite and the number of extra ingredients you add (more on that later) so figure 6 adults or two young men/teenage boys. :)

1. 1 pound ground beef
2. 2 packages Macaroni and Cheese (these days with the shrunken size of a box of Macaroni and Cheese, you might want to use three! Last I looked, it was down to six ounces.)
3. milk according to Macaroni and Cheese instructions

Optional Ingredients

1/2 to 1 cup mushrooms, or one small can.
1/4 to 1/2 cup onion, chopped fine
1/4 to 1/2 cup shredded cheese of any type

Preparation

While you are waiting for the water to boil for the macaroni and cheese, take a medium-sized frying pan and brown the onions and mushrooms if you are using them. Once the onions have softened, add the ground beef and cook, stirring often, until the meat is completely browned.

By the time the meat has browned, the water will probably have boiled. Cook the macaroni and cheese according to package directions. Once it is ready, add the meat to the pot and stir it up.

At this point, you might want to add a little bit of shredded cheese (as listed above) to make the mixture a little bit cheesier.

Why “The Meal from Hell”?

My step-children swear that they were served this meal every night for a year. I don’t remember it that way, but I wasn’t there every night. To this day, my step-son says he hates it.

Our son loves it! He jumps for joy when we tell him that is “what’s for dinner” and he has learned to make it himself. He doesn’t like onion or mushrooms, so we do just the meat and mac when he’s joining us, but I think it’s a delicious, easy to make meal and love it just as much as he does.

Even with today’s prices, you can make a batch of it for $5 or $6. If you come up with an interesting variation, let me know!