Remember when I told you my mom was an every now and then, cook something from the can kind of cook? Well amongst her recipe box of frozen dinners, fish sticks and taco kits was another gem, Hamburger Helper. Who doesn’t love some boxed goodness with an oven mitt smile. As I mentioned before, my mom is the sweetest and I love her cooking, her Hamburger Helper dinners were some of my favorites. I simply haven’t picked up a box myself in ages, in an effort to cook from fresh ingredients as much as possible.

The other night the nostalgia cravings hit me again. I saw a commercial for Hamburger Helper and the classic cheesy hamburger version was all I could think about. That with a big dollop of sour cream. I blame the nostalgia on the baby, maybe it’s feeling miserable that makes me want to curl up in my mommy’s lap and eat some of a childhood favorite, but really it was probably just the commercial and my recent need to eat everything I see.

Since I no longer cook things from a box, most of the time, I gathered some inspiration online and went to work. A beef, cheese and noodle bake is nothing new, if you Google it you’re sure to find 100s of recipes, so this isn’t innovative by any means. I approached this dinner the way I approach many a dinner, taking an old favorite and making a few swaps here and there and using better ingredients when possible to up the nutritional value, next time around I may even sneak a few more veggies in. The end result? Craving satisfied, family satisfied, successful dinner. I’ll be keeping this one around for a while.

I hope you love this recipe as much as I do and be sure to come back tomorrow for the ‘Oh, Hey Girl!’ Link-up.

Have a great day!

-Brooke

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