🤯 Genius CHEAP MEAL HACK Makes Amazing Budget Meals in Minutes! | Tasty Extreme Budget Meal Ideas
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- Опубліковано 19 сер 2023
- If you're always in a rush but still want a delicious meal on a budget, you've come to the right place. Today, I’m sharing a cheap meal hack, an easy ingredient, that makes a fantastic start to endless cheap meal possibilities! As a busy mom, I’m all about finding clever ways to make easy, cheap meals. Cooking on a budget can be time consuming, especially cooking from scratch, but with 3 school age kids, plus a business and a household to run, sometimes I’m tight on both time AND money, and I just need a shortcut for easy meals that won’t break the bank.
This video contains 2 tasty recipes using this cheap meal hack, PLUS lots of ideas for how to use this little miracle ingredient to get tasty, nutritious meals on the table for your family the quick and easy way.
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This little shortcut can be the jumping off point for super easy and cheap family meals! What's your favorite box mix variety, if you're a fan?
The stroganoff hamburger helper btw idk if anyone else has done this?? As kids we cooked the pasta, fried it like chips..
Put butter with the hamburger, cooked it with a tomato or a can of crushed tomatoes.. added the seasoning packet and milk ..cooked it down and used it as dip 😂😂😂 you can put pico and guac on top or eat it as is..
Weird yes! 😳But was soooo fun and sooo good 😂😂😂
I LOVE all of your videos! Especially easy meals! Unfortunately, with the allergies we ,have we can't do pasta or any wheat 🤦♀️. THATS A PAIN
I like the Cheesy Enchilada one!
Love your idea, that you don't need a bunch of seasonings & convenience. These would be great buyout/meal-in-bag. I myself prefer scalloped potatoes, over the stroganoff flavor, so I'm thinking of using it to how you did. Inspiring!
@@ginadowd1713 she does have a video of making it from scratch. Maybe you could find alternative ingredients to make your own, there's a cook cook called 'Dinner Is In The Jar', by Kathy Clark. Just a thought
When my sister and I were kids, Hamburger Helper was a super special treat! My Dad really didn’t like it so every time he went out of town for work, our Mom would make us things like Hamburger Helper and Macaroni and Cheese. It was even more fun because we were allowed to eat in front of the television on TV trays! I honestly think my Mom was grateful and relieved sometimes for the absence of our usual, traditional family dinner! 🌻😊💕
Feeding our families is such a big part of life! The meal planning, the budgeting, the preparing, the cooking, the cleaning up after. 🙃
I LOVE this hack as a single elderly woman cooking just for me!! One box & a smaller casserole dish… cook once & eat twice. Or cook once and feed the grandchildren on the evenings that I watch them for their parents. My favorite HH are the tuna ones. But also the beef stroganoff and Italian shells.
I had half a can of cream of mushroom leftover from another recipe so I decided to throw it in with our Hamburger helper just to get rid of it. My husband loved it so much, I make it that way every time now!
When I make hamburger helper I always like to use two boxes of helper, only one pound of meat, and throw in a handful of onions and frozen peas, carrots, or broccoli depending on the flavor. ❤
That's a great idea!
Add ins rock
We use the Lasagna Hamburger Helper with Morningstar Farms Crumbles to keep it vegetarian. 😊
Thanks for the ideas!
I adore the realness of these meals! Some days you have time to chop and stir and do everything from scratch but some days it’s a throw and go day. Thank you for giving space to both options on your channel❤️
Thank you for the encouragement, you captured my goals for this channel perfectly!
When my kids were little, Hamburger Helper was a go to meal for me. Everyone loved it and it was super fast and easy to make. I love how you doctor it up to make it even tastier!
So glad I'm not the only HH fan out there! Thanks for watching!
Great ideas. I don't eat meat or dairy, so the soup sounds like I could adapt it pretty easy. Canellini beans instead of pepperoni, add a bag of frozen onion and pepper mix, canned mushrooms and frozen spinach. Instead of the sour cream, I could add a vegan version or blend some of the beans to add creaminess. Thanks for the idea! I make the au gratin potatoes from Aldi with canned diced ham from Walmart for my husband on a busy night. I usually add a green veggie to make a one pot meal.
I actually looked for the frozen pepper/onion mix when I shopped for this video and my grocery store was out. I think that and all the other ideas you mentioned would be great additions!
Another great video. You are a blessing to everyone you encounter. May God continue to bless you and your family.
You are so kind, thank you for the encouragement!
@@SeeMindyMom aw, thank you. That's who I am outside of UA-cam. You're welcome.
You can make chili Mac with canned chili and a box of velveta & shells. It’s quick, kid & husband approved & filling with a side of veggies. I’m going to try both recipes because I’m in a rut of the same old same old. Have a great week!
Oh that's a good idea on the chili mac for my emergency meals bin, too!
Mindy!!! I just want to say I always "like" your videos before watching them. I know I'll love them all so I do it before I forget! You have helped my family and I tremendously....thank you!!!
I think cream of broccoli soup would have been another great choice for the ham and potato stroganoff meal. It's hard to find and I think only Campbell's makes it but it's really worth the extra money imo.
Oh that’s a great idea!
Broccoli 🥦 works for EVERYTHING
I have used the Rice A Roni box mixes for years in the same way you use Hamburger Helper. As I cook the Rice A Roni I always cook a pot of plain white rice to add and extend the dish, plus I always find the box mix too salty, seasoned, etc. I add protein or beans or both at the end, spinach or broccoli or mushrooms or peas or corn, plus some of the white rice and extra seasoning if needed and mix well. My whole family and my kids loved it.
Oh that's a great idea! I also really like Rice-a-Roni! I grew up on that stuff!
I've been doing the same for years with Vigo yellow rice. Some beans, tomatoes, corn and it's an inexpensive one pot meal. Some added Tex-Mex fixings: cheese, sour cream, avocado, salsa... and dinner is done. Chicken tenders in the oven, or even a can of chicken or some rotisserie chicken directly into the one pot is an easy added protein when time and budget allow. We rarely buy seasoned rice on its own anymore, as we've all become comfortable with seasoning our own plain rice, but we still keep them on-hand for a quick dinner in a pinch.
Watch the sodium level in the hamburger helper. I have my daughter making a homemade hamburger helper. It helps.
I appreciate these quick meals. I have two boys that go to school in 2 different cities, work full time, have an hour commute 1 way and get up at 3:45 everyday to start the day. Cheap and filling and easy helps so much. I just wanted to say that I am grateful for these. Thank you.
Thanks so much, I really appreciate the kind words. :)
Just reading your schedule made me more tired! 😮 No wonder you can use some quick meals. Kudos to you!
@Christina-ve2tv lol. Thanks. True though. I could use all the help I can get!
@@lilapacheco4826 I can imagine!
Our favorite Hamburger helper is the Cheesy Enchilada, we put it in a burrito wrap and we add cheese, black olives and tomatoes, yummy 😋
I like that one, too, and that’s how we eat it also, or with tortilla chips.
I love all these short cut recipes I bought a book to wright them in I have teen age kids these will help football season here thanks mindy❤
Glad I could help!
I'm European and I always thought that Hamberger Helper was just seasoned breadcrubs, that you'd add to ground meat to make meatballs or meatloaf 😁 We do gave meal kits, but they are named after the resulting meal, like "lasagnette", or Hawaian bake" or the like.
I've been buying the GV version, and any form of a hydrated potato box for years and making one pot meals with them. I've always done this with side pastas and rice (I just usually have to do it with two boxes for my adult family.). Very easy and convenient. Your added protein and vegetable and done. I've even had success with Dollar Tree, too; the last time I did one I was lucky enough to find a rare twin box of au gratin potatoes and made a chicken and potato casserole with it from a handful of rotisserie meat. Very budget friendly.
I thought about the box potato mixes, too! I’m thinking about those for my emergency meal bins and figuring out a potato soup recipe.
I love a potato based dinner. Potatoes are my comfort food. I'm braver doing my own HH pasta versions (thank you, Mindy) and don't feel they're anymore time-consuming, but the dried/instant potatoes are real time savers to working with raw potatoes.
If you want it for an emergency bin, there are recipes out there for "potato soup mix in a jar" if you want to explore that path. It might be nice for mom's looking for lunches that would be easy for kids to make on their own, too. @@SeeMindyMom
My apologies to Brick, in advance, lol.
I didn’t grow up eating Hamburger Helper. Combo of picky siblings and a very budget conscious Mom. I have made homemade versions though, which my family likes. I really enjoy cooking from scratch and most days I have time to do so.
To make it stretch further I'll use 1 lb of meat for 2 boxes or if it's a pasta dish I'll just add extra pasta to one box. I also like to add a can or 2 of veggies to stretch it out. My favorite flavors are anything with potatoes!
Great tips!
I have only used half a pound of meat for each box of HH for years too. It started because my daughter and I are not big meat eaters. We like it but it was too much and we were picking some of it out when eating. So I started using half. It seems like more than plenty and saves money. 😄
Mindy, thank you so much for all the great ideas on feeding a
family on a budget. You are amazing. Thank you for all you do.
I know you are a very busy mom. Thanks so much for sharing.
These are a little pricier, but for other vegetarians, a package of RightRice plus some frozen veggies makes a good quick meal too. I like the creamy Parmesan risotto version and some frozen spring veggies. It’s made from lentil and chickpea flours too, so it has added protein. It feeds my husband, myself, and my young son. If you have a can of navy or cannellini beans, that will also stretch it!
My sons are adults now and they still request Hamburger Helper for dinner. We buy every kind and also the store brands. I also add ingredients or make my own from scratch. Hamburger Helper is probably the most requested meal at our house. I have to admit that I’m not really a fan of Hamburger Helper myself but it’s so easy and convenient to make a meal out of it. I love your videos. I get such great ideas.
The stroganoff is my favorite but I usually just make it from scratch. My hubby's favorite is the tuna tetrazzini.
Hamburger Helper when I was a kid was an elite meal, lol. My mom made it all the time and while I do make from scratch similar dishes now, my daughter always loves when mom comes home with the Helper as it is a favorite for her too. But they are also usually SO cost efficient too. I know i frequent Meijer and Kroger and both often have them on a buy five save $1 per box or even $1 a box at times so, super inexpensive and great in a pinch. And really, the fact you can use any protein with them is great as well. Will definitely be trying these out soon!
I agree on the price point, especially when you can find them on sale! I used to clip coupons regularly and could get them four around .75 a box! If I hit a sale just rate I can get them for a $1 a box, but usually at least as low as $1.25.
I love this idea. The soup especially looks good. I also loved your idea to use these meals as travel meals. I recently did a longer road trip and while I'm not super proud of this, at one point I did make beans and rice in my slow cooker on the bathroom vanity of a motel. To be fair, the vanity was outside of the bathroom. Anyway--it was just a box of rice mix and a can of chili beans and water. And it cooked in the slow cooker in about 2 hours.
Stroganoff, beef pasta, four cheese lasagna are 3 of our family favorites.. come in handy to get through a tight budget week or tight on time day.
HH💖 For more protein I add in cottage cheese...about 1/2c to anything cheesy. My go to lunches have been HH style pasta meals. (using the GV cheesy shells, ground beef, taco seasoning, and blended cottage cheese).
When the kids were little and times were tight, I used to throw a couple of handfuls of pasta in to stretch it. The husband and kids never noticed.
I did the same thing, and still do sometimes!
I can't wait to try this ham casserole. I bought the ingredients for it. Yummy.
i liked the tuna and chicken helpers when i was in my 20s lol
I found value size boxes of name brand hamburger helper at the dollar tree a few months back for $1.25! It had 2 whole boxes in 1
Stroganoff and the Taco rice mixes were my go to.
Appreciate you so much! We just moved to Texas from Colorado and all I have is pantry staples so needed this video so much. Thank you for taking the time to share your recipes. Always so helpful. God bless you!
Glad I could help!
I use two boxes of the Kraft Mac& Cheese to make a very large portion of chili Mac. I touch it up with Rotel, Mexican seasonings, ground sausage( has more flavor than beef), onion, garlic, etc. If you have any ends of creamy cheese( velveeta or Gouda), throw that in too. This makes enough to serve around 10 to 12 large portions. I also add in Mexican blend cheese if I have it. Serve with a salad and Ranch dressing and some crusty bread…dinner is done. If I have time I make a box yellow cake, poke it with holes while just a little warm and pour sweetened condensed milk over it and let cake soak it up in holes. Then top with crushed pineapple, then cool whip and top with some lightly browned shredded coconut. I do this early or night before so cake can set up. Now you have enough for dinner, leftovers and dessert for couple of days. We love the hamburger helper in the beef stroganoff…though my son can eat the whole box as one meal ! So, I have started making mine from scratch. Not that hard and to me does taste better…but if I am out of everything needed to make it can not go wrong with a $1.28 box of HH.
When I was newly married and had very little kitchen, these came in very handy!
That’s for dinner tomorrow, I have a canned ham and helper in my go-to meals, all I need to do is grab sour cream and throw in frozen peas!
Thank you! These will make plenty of leftovers. ❤
Stroganoff has been a long time family favorite. And when I’m feeding a large group I add extra noodles.
I love the Italian shells kind. I use little smokies instead of hamburger lol.
So many possibilities and ideas here. Some people may not be able to tolerate the sodium content so be aware of that. But for a quick low cost side dish or an occasional meal great ideas.
I used a cheesy lasagna for the soup recipe and replaced two cans of navy beans for the pepperoni. It was super delicious! I cooked it on the stove simmer 25min, added the noodles covered and removed from heat for 7 minutes. Thank you for the great idea!!!
Those are great ideas. I grew up eating like that and so did my kids. Now that I live alone I still do it. I add canned meat to my pasta meals along with veggies too.
My favorite hamburger helpers are the stroganoff and one that I can't find anymore: Salisbury. I usually will add sliced baby Bella's to the stroganoff and frozen peas to the Salisbury.
Thank you for the video! 👍
Thanks for all of the creative ideas you come up with! I have learned SO MUCH from you!!
My 3 staple HH meals are Spaghetti, Cheesy Enchilada, and Chili Macaroni. They are classics for me
I am that mom I guess that never cooks boxed meals. Only Mac n cheese on occasion. Never really thought about that! That gets me thinking, what if you did a frugal dinner plan using zero processed food? Fun!
Wow, that potato and ham casserole shortcut is such a great idea. I love that kind of casserole but I'm always put off by the time and effort of thinly slicing the potatoes. Hoping we have that type of Hamburger Helper in Canada. (The U.S. has a lot of grocery products Canada doesn't have.) Thanks for the tip! ❤
Beef pasta and Cheeseburger Macaroni are the favorite in our family. But we do reach out and try different flavors from time to time.
Thank you for all you do! It is much appreciated! 😄
The crunchy taco and the cheeseburger hamburger helper are my families favorites. For the crunchy taco i add black beans and rotel then top with shredded cheese. For the cheeseburger i add onion and rotel then top with diced pickles.
Oh, I would not have thought of the pickles, but that makes sense!
It's so good!
I’m trying the ham casserole with boxed potatoes. Thanks!
Cheeseburger hamburger helper is one of my favorite comfort foods 😋
So good!
Going to try.
My favorite Hamburger Helper is Cheeseburger Macaroni ❤
Looks great!
The stroganoff and potatoes n stroganoff are my favorite.
These are so much healthier the way you made them. This gives me some ideas for pot luck meals. Thanks!
when I was working (I'm retired now) I made these meals because it gave me time to tend to kids homework, make lunches for the next day etc. It only takes a few minutes to get it in the oven. and then I felt I gained 1 extra hour. and we sit down for dinner. and I was not as stressed just walking in the door and thinking OH NO i forgot to plan dinner. I did cook from scratch. most of the time, BUT there are days/weeks when you need a short cut. So I always doctor up the pre made boxes.I also use the rice a roni and pasta roni. and I add meat and veggies to them cheese burger Mac, and stroganoff,
My kids LOVED double cheeseburger macaroni and tuna tetrazzini in lent.
I love Hamburger a helper meals and you have great ideas to change it up ! That potato and ham casserole looked amazing !!! Thank you Mindy !
Hi Mindy! Thanks for the recipes! They all look great! I hadn't thought of taking a box of hamburger helper and adding stuff to it! Great idea!
Thank you! Glad I could give an idea!
Brilliant!!!
These are great meal ideas for vacations too!
I totally agree!
Tuna helper too .
Beef pasta is my favorite flavor. I’m also fond of the cheeseburger macaroni.
This is really helpful because we live in an RV and cabinet space is crazy limited so I don't really have a lot of room to have a bunch of pantry staples on hand so making Hamburger Helper style meals from scratch isn't really an option for me. I've never thought about adding ham to the potato HH. My son prefers ham or chicken over beef so this is definitely going on the rotation 🙂
Oh, that's a good point! They would be good for limited storage situations!
@@SeeMindyMom the same goes for spices. I tend to keep a few blends on hand but just don't have room for dozens of spice containers. You could do a few videos for us with limited pantry space!
I love the stroganoff one
For junior high lunch on game day, Id send with my sin for his lunch a 3 cheese utaluan noodle H.H. In a microwaveable zip lock bowl. Id keep them frozen in freezer. Pull whst hed like thaw overnight, he gad a large lunch to keep him full. Hes now a 6'3" college grad 100% on his own!😊
My family doesn't like hot tuna so we substitute canned chicken in the Tuna helper or a leftover chicken chopped up. Cheeseburger Macaroni is the all time favorite here would love to see a different recipe using that. Great video time to check my pantry for a box of Hamburger Helper that I can make into a soup.
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching!
Thanks for your videos thanks ❤😊
I absolutely love this idea. Unfortunately most of my family can’t have dairy but I believe this is a great starting point!!
Another awesome video, thanks 👍👍👍
Thanks for watching!
I'm all for cooking from scratch , but I gotta have hamburger helper once in a while ,my favorite are stroganoff and the pizza one...actually all of them 😊
Potato Stroganoff is my favorite
Cheeseburger Macaroni is our favorite!
Awesome ideas thanks for the videos ❤
Thanks for watching!
Great video ❤
The hamburger helper seasoning packets are certainly helpful. I recently bought the chicken fried rice hamburger helper box and followed the instructions and it was a fail! I ended up having some left over rice from the day before and some frozen veggies and tried the 2nd box of the hamburger helper and it was perfect! You can definitely use it to make homemade meals.
🌷 I am going camping and wild Alaskan blueberries picking this next weekend so bought some Wal-Mart beef stroganoff and a couple of other boxed helpers, tuna/ salmon helper, and pasta with herbs. I am going to add canned veg and canned meat at the very end of cooking. I will be doubling the pasta and swapping some of the pastas for quicker cooking options so thanks for the water quantity amount, 1c pasta extra & 1c water. 😊
Glad I could help! Yes, 8oz water for every 4oz pasta (4oz pasta is about a dry measuring cup for me, depending on the variety). :)
I used to love the beef noodles and cheeseburger ones when I was younger.
It would last me for a few days. Now it just tastes watered down to me 😮
great video as always!
Glad you enjoyed!
Hey Mindy, you’re amazing and inspiring! Could you do some instapot recipes instead of crock pot?
I'm not a huge IP user, but we'll see what the fall brings!
@@SeeMindyMom it makes preparing meat super quick and a big helper to a lot of people including me, 😊
I like the beef stroganoff best but honestly I enjoy all of them from time to time. I am single and they work well for lunch preps for me. I enjoy the tuna helpers probably even more :) I want to try both of these recipes!
Any that have cheese are "wonderful" according to hubby who grew up on them. We use them periodically when life is nuts. I purposely brown and freeze hamburger to make them extremely quickly.
My favorite kind is whatever is on sale. 😊
Net ides Mindy! I use to love the cheseburger one but over the years they changed the flavor. we still eat it rom time to time. we maily eat the strgonaoff one. I use italian meatblls sometimes in it instead of hamburger meat. and yes I have to add extra pasta as they have shrunk that too. thanks for your helpful videos!
I always go with the cheeseburger macaroni ones 😆
These look like 2 gem receipes!
Thanks! I appreciate that!
You’ve inspired me to try Hamburger Helper
I love Hamburger Helper but two of my four kids do not😢. I also like the Velveeta version. One of my favorite quick dinners is what my kids call dinner salad. I will cook a protein and then set up a salad bar on the counter so everyone can include their preferred veggies to their salad. The nice thing is I can cook the protein and chop veggies in advance on busy sports nights and then just set everything out when we get home.
I swear mindy your videos are so inspiring motivational! When I become a mommy I will apply some of your practice to my culture :) 😄
Good old fashioned cheese burger is my kiddos favorite.
Hard to best a classic!
Cheesy Ranch Burger is my husband’s fave
I love the video today.
I miss the sweet and sour chicken with rice Chicken Helper! I haven't seen it in a few years in my area.
My favorite Hamburger Helper is the Cheesy Enchilada. I use a pound of Jimmy Dean sausage instead of hamburger meat. We like to eat it scooped into tortilla chips.