Comfort Food from the Pantry

Jan here, talking about comfort food.

Why is comfort food so important to us? Because it give us both physical nourishment and emotional satisfaction.

I don't know about you, but I'm craving some emotional satisfaction right about now!

One of the meals I made regularly when our children still lived at home was cheeseburger macaroni, "Hamburger Helper" style.

Forget that box! This recipe is full of healthy ingredients, but still gives that "in the box" convenience. The only things missing are the not-so-nice ingredients and the spendy price tag.

You can make a seasoning blend to have on hand - just add it to your fresh ingredients. (I'll give you the recipe later.) But I don't make this very often anymore, so I just make one batch at a time.

Oh, and you can use your Instant Pot, too! I'll include directions for both stove-top and Instant Pot cooking.

"Hamburger Assistant" Cheeseburger Macaroni

ingredients:

(serves 4-6)

1 teaspoon seasoning salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 Tablespoon dried parsley

1 Tablespoon dried onion flakes (or 1/4 cup fresh onion, minced)

1 cup beef stock (or 1 teaspoon beef bouillon granules and one cup water)

1/3 cup dry milk powder (or 1 cup milk, or 1/2 cup evaporated milk + 1/2 cup water)

(*note - you only need 1 cup of liquid total, so keep that in mind when adjusting your ingredients)

pepper to taste

1 pound hamburger, browned

1 cup uncooked macaroni

1 14-16 oz. can chopped tomatoes (not drained) 

1 cup shredded cheese

First of all, I've given you some alternate ingredients - we're cooking out of our pantry these days!

You can also substitute chicken for the ground beef - just be sure to also substitute chicken broth/bouillon for the beef.

On the stove top, use a large skillet to brown the ground beef, then add the rest of the ingredients, except the cheese. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the macaroni is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Stir in the cheese.

Using your Instant Pot, brown the ground beef using the saute function. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the cheese,) stir, and seal the lid. Change from the saute function to the pressure cook function, and cook on high for 5 minutes. Do a quick release, then add the cheese, stirring until everything is blended.

Since this is a family-sized meal, I froze half to serve at another time.

I mentioned making the seasoning blend ahead of time - This was a lifesaver when everyone was at home and I was short on time (and energy!):

Seasoning blend:

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon garlic powder

2 Tablespoons dried parsley

1/3 cup dried onion flakes

3 Tablespoons onion powder

1 Tablespoon seasoning salt

1 2/3 cup dried non-fat milk powder

3 1/2 Tablespoons beef bouillon granules

Mix together and store in an air-tight container.

When making your "hamburger assistant" meal, use 1/2 cup of the seasoning mix, 1 pound hamburger, 1 cup water, 1 cup uncooked macaroni, and 1 can chopped tomatoes. Stir in 1 cup shredded cheese for your last step.

Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.

So that's our pantry meal for this week. How are you doing? Weathering the "shelter-in-place" orders? 

We used Facebook's video messenger capabilities to have a bit of a family reunion last week. Five couples, three states, two time zones. It worked great.

What creative ways have you used to keep in touch with your favorite people?

And before we go, I have to share a gratuitous puppy picture:

Sam at 13 weeks, Jack at nearly 10 months

Please excuse the state of my office floor - raising puppies is messy business, as I'm sure you all know!

And Sam is growing fast - just compare today's picture with this one from four weeks ago:

Sam at 9 weeks

Crazy, isn't it? Where does the time go???

Jan Drexler is an author by day who is addicted to counted cross stitch and sauntering through the Hills with her dear husband and their puppies - goofy corgi Jack and baby border collie Sam. You can find Jan's books and other fun things on her website: www.JanDrexler.com.