Did your Mom (or does your Mom) ever make Hamburger Helper?

[AwakeAtLast]

I'm sure someone's Mom made it once in awhile!

What were your favorite flavors? My sister and I ate the hell out of the Potatoes Stroganoff and the Wagon Wheel stuff.

It is one of the very few prepackaged things that I make, but when I make the regular Stroganoff, my picky eater will inhale it and ask for seconds.

How about you?

[LeftyFingerPop]

1. Please...

don't talk about my mom that way.

[LeftyFingerPop]

2. By the way....

Go Colts!!

[AwakeAtLast]

10. Thank you!

I have lived near Indy for the better part of 15 years, so I have followed them for awhile.

[LeftyFingerPop]

12. Congratulations on their win....happy for you and your town. n/t

[deepthought42]

36. Go Ravens

:P

:hide:

[Breeze54]

60. I'm a Mom and I used it a lot but not

my Mom. I doubt it. She always cooked from scratch.

My kids loved it and my son buys it on occasion and

makes it still. He loves it, especially the Stoganoff.

edit:

Posted in wrong place. Sowwy! ;)

[Bjornsdotter]

3. Never ever

....thanks Mom, I owe you one!

Cheers

[Lyric]

4. Oh yeah.

We lived on the Lasagna kind--I can't stand it now. We make it sometimes, when we need something hot and cheap and filling. ThinkBlue1966 likes Potatoes Stroganoff, but I like the Taco-flavored kind. :)

[Poiuyt]

5. My mom never cooked. My dad did all our family's cooking

He made his own version of hamburger helper (his own recipe)

[lost-in-nj]

6. CRAP

I used to make it alot
my family loved it...
now you know why everyone moved????
not really

LOL!!!!!!!!!!


lost

[AwakeAtLast]

11. Oh yes, I know it's crap

but it is crap that a scrawny, picky 5 y/o will actually eat. She will turn up her nose at something I make from scratch, then devour HH.

:eyes: I'm hoping someday she will realize what she turned away!

[suzbaby]

7. That was pretty much all my mother cooked.

Mom never did have much talent in the kitchen. :shrug:

[SeattleGirl]

8. Ate more than my share of it when I was growing up, Blech!

Can't blame mom, though; there are 5 kids in my family (grown up kids now), and though mom and dad both held paying jobs, there wasn't a lot of money, so she did what she could to make sure we had food to eat.

[AwakeAtLast]

13. My Mom used it as "catch her breath" meals

when time was just too short. I hear ya! :hi:

[cobalt1999]

9. my mom was the worlds worst cook

ANYTHING prepackaged was preferred to her made from scratch, inedible, over cooked, sometimes undetermined, meals. Amazingly, she could screw up Hamburger Helper too, but we'd get excited when it was being served because we knew we'd be able to eat dinner that night.

[ironflange]

14. Nope, Mom never did

She was an old-fashioned farm girl, everything was scratch. Same with me, I make HH type things from scratch. Just about as easy, and a million times better.

[LaraMN]

15. On rare occasion. I always picked the hamburger out of it.

My sister picked the noodles out.
We were weird.

[AwakeAtLast]

16. My 5 y/o leaves a lot of hamburger, too!

:)

[Elidor]

17. I cook it for myself now

But I change it pretty drastically. I cut waaaay back on the meat (or substitute tofu) and add lots of fresh onions and tomatoes and mushrooms and olive oil and spices to taste. And I substitute half-and-half for milk in the cheeseburger version. You can get a pretty good homemade pizza taste going if you use a little imagination.

[Adsos Letter]

18. Yes, indeed, we ate our fair share of it...

...along with Sloppy Joe's...

I can't remember any of the flavors other than the Stroganoff, though.

Wait...seems like there was some kind of "cheeseburger" flavor, too.

????

:D

[Richard Steele]

19. Yup- the Stroganoff and the original "cheesburger" flavor were my faves.

I've tried a lot of the new flavors- they just aren't as good.

[AwakeAtLast]

20. And hey! Did you know that now there is no trans fat!

I actually think it tastes a lot better. Can't imagine what was in it before! :scared:

[Richard Steele]

21. No, but I know those 2 are actually vegetarian if you leave the meat out.

Most of the other flavors are not.:(

I think I was the last person on earth to
find out about Transfats, so I'm way behind
on knowing where they are!

[Nickster]

31. Oh yeah, the cheeseburger one was great.

[datasuspect]

22. we had "helper helper"

when dad drank the grocery money

[RebelOne]

23. This mom used to make Hamburger Helper all the time

when my kids were young. Being a divorced mother of two, I wasn't supporting 2 children with no help from the ex-husband, so we had to eat on the cheap.

[MissMillie]

24. no... she would try to make a homemade version

and it was perfectly tasty. I tried the boxed stuff later in life and decided I liked mom's version MUCH better.

We didn't have a lot growing up, but my mom always tried to make sure the food on the table was delicious and healthy. We always had fresh veggies and fruit, and if dessert was served, it was almost always homemade.

[terrya]

27. My mom made this stuff she called hamburger pie

Basically, it was browned hamburger, then she would add green beans, then she would add tomato sauce, covered with mashed potatoes and then baked for a little bit. I think she was trying to go for a version of Shepherd's Pie. But it was quite good.

We weren't fabuluously rich, so we couldn't get high priced stuff for meals. But she did very well with what she had.

[AllegroRondo]

25. I dont know why the call it Hamburger Helper

it does just fine on its own!

[redqueen]

58. :)

vacation? or is that raising arizona?

either way :)

[Arkansas Granny]

26. I used to cook it occasionaly when I needed a quick meal after

work. There was a kind of oriental rice one that the kids liked and I could add extra veggies to it and make it taste pretty good.

[Wiccan Warrior]

28. I'm partial too Cheese Burger Helper

With sauteed mushrooms, onions, red and green peppers with a whisper of garlic =)

[AwakeAtLast]

42. Welcome to DU!

Enjoy this great site! :hi:

[Wiccan Warrior]

52. Thanks

I have been watching this site for about 6 years now, cause my roomate is on it so I figured ..eehhhh why not :applause:

[AwakeAtLast]

53. Wow! A 6 year lurker

That is amazing! How could you read posts and shout at the screen for that long? ;)

At least that's what made me sign up. :D

So then you probably already know the crazy stuff about DU, like Mr. Moran and GD flamefests.

Would that make you an old-noob?

Glad you're here!

[Wiccan Warrior]

56. Oh the creaming was fun

it was until I started throwing stuff at the monitor is where it got hairy...:argh:

[Left Is Write]

29. No.

[SacredCow]

30. Every now and again....

but one of my college roommates made the "cheeseburger macaroni" flavor sans-hamburger when we were short on funds. I couldn't stomach it.

[Gormy Cuss]

32. Only once.

My mother tried it because our neighbors we raving about how good and cheap it was, cheap being the important characteristic in my neighborhood and hamburger was about the only beef that most families could afford. It was far too salty for her tastes but she knew how to cook from scratch and made much better stuff from scratch. Same thing with Shake-n-Bake ---she made her own batter mix and cut up a whole chicken because at that time whole chickens were always cheaper than buying parts.

[Richardo]

33. Mom? No. Me? Yes, last night as a matter of fact

The "Stroganoff", to which we add lime juice, fresh parsley and diced red bell peppers. :9

[TheProphetess]

34. She sure did and we loved it

Almost always had the cheeseburger mac. We had lots of crappy food that I still kind of crave every now and then (like Kraft mac and cheese and cheap salisbury steak).

BTW, we're in Indiana too (not as long as you have been - only since October). Over in the Western part bordering Illinois. Hi neighbor! :hi:

[AwakeAtLast]

44. Hi backatcha!

Near Terre Haute?

I go through there all the time on my way to my Mom & Dad in So. Illinois.

I said above that HH was one of the few prepackaged meals I make. Kraft Mac and Cheese is the other.

:D

[TheProphetess]

46. Yes, we are very close to Terre Haute

I think EstimatedProphet was chatting with some other DU folks nearby, too. We're going to try planning a meetup sometime in July, I think. We'll PM you when we know more. Cool!

[AwakeAtLast]

54. That would be awesome!

:bounce:

[ceile]

35. Never.

But I make it for myself now. Love the stroganoff and the Mexican flavors.

[skygazer]

37. My mom was a typical 50's housewife

We never ate anything out of a box and in fact, I never ate fast food until I was 14 or 15 and had some with friends. I was introduced to Kraft Macaroni and Cheese at a friend's house as well.

Everything was made from scratch when I was a kid and I felt like I was missing out when I saw the stuff my friends were eating. :rofl:

I used to make that stuff for my kids but I avoid it now - way too much sodium and other crap in it.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

38. no

[Debi]

39. Mom didn't, but as a single mom my son and I ate it often

Then we found out my son has high blood pressure :scared: do you KNOW how much sodium is in that stuff?? Storganoff and Cheeseburger were his favorites.

[UrbScotty]

40. She used to (nt)

[ikojo]

41. Yes, she had a bunch of kids to feed...it was cheap

and stretched. We lived on a lot of pasta, potatoes and an occasional roast.

Food that stretched and filled.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

43. Yes, and I occasionally make it too

I love the Cheeseburger and the Chili Tomato. I am, however, trying to avoid meat, so it may become just "Helper."

[Missy Vixen]

45. My mom made Hamburger Helper

I can't remember what my favorite flavor was, but since my husband LOVES it, we've eaten the Cheesy Enchilada and the Lasagna varieties more than once. I'm wondering if the preservatives in the HH cancel out the organic hamburger we're using as well...

Julie

p.s. Despite the Hamburger Helper, my mom was an amazing cook. I guard her recipe box like Fort Knox.

[bleedingheart]

47. yes my mom did...and I made it once...and it gave us indigestion

don't know if it was the particular flavor ...but boy...it was unpleasant...

[NaturalHigh]

48. My mom didn't make it much...

but my wife makes it all the time. The lasagna is probably my favorite, but I won't turn away the cheeseburger or stroganoff. Also, the Chicken Helper fried rice is good stuff.

[xmas74]

49. Every so often

but it was more the offbrand offered by the store than the real HH.

I used to make it before I had my daughter. I made it whenever my cousin came over to eat-it was one of the few things she'd eat. My daughter doesn't care for it.

[BarenakedLady]

50. No

She never did. I do though sometimes. I make mine vegetarian. :)

[Roon]

51. I love hamburger helper!!

I still eat it today...my fav is cheeseburger helper.

[B3Nut]

55. Good quick, cheap dinner

and not hard to make. My wife sometimes makes it, and I made it the other night. I like the Cheesy Italian Shells and the Tomato Basil Penne ones a lot. Crack open a tube of Pilsbury crescent rolls and bake those up while the HH simmers, and you've got dinner. Not haute cuisine by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a hot meal that fills the hole for not much cash, and a breeze to toss together.

But my best cooking takes place on the grill, I love grilling out.

Todd in Cheesecurdistan

[Rising Phoenix]

57. chesseburger flavor

[YellowRubberDuckie]

59. My mom did...

It went a long way and we always had left overs...for my drunken father to stand in his underwear in the open fridge eating it with a spoon. My childhood wasn't like most kids'...
Duckie

[Scooter24]

61. It looks disgusting...

I don't know why, just something about it doesn't look right to me. I'm sure it tastes ok, but I'll pass.

[mitchum]

62. My mom made a from scratch version called slumgullion

[TommyO]

63. My mom did, and I do!

It's a convenience food, but when I have the time I make my own home-made "helper" that is sooooo much better. It can consist of whatever I have in the house that's usable in a one-pot meal.

[TOhioLiberal]

64. Yes my mother made it...

...she never drained the hamburger, though. I've been know to make it from time to time as well.