Vegetable Helper

So tonight I was at the 99 Super Store (Armani Girl wasn't in ) and didn't have enough cash for my purchase. They have a $10 minimum for cards. Fortunately, I'd noticed they had a shelf of Hamburger Helper -- not Nameless Brand Ground Beef helper, but the genuine Betty Crocker article. I'm not a fan, but I know the kids' mom uses it.

Due to an unlikely and inconvenient succession of naps, we did not get out to the park until after 7 p.m., which meant getting home about 9 pm. They'd not yet had dinner. So I have to come up with dinner. I realize I have the HH, but it's nutritionally crap and I don't have ground beef anyway.

Then it hits me. Why hamburger? I quickly chop up an apple, a pepper, some broccoli and some onion, start to sauté it, then follow th HH instructions (having selected Tomato Basil).

It worked! The veggies were not terribly overdone (I'll omit the sauté step next time around), were still nutritious, and colorful. The 5-year-old stated that it was better than the stuff with the beef. Yahoo.

Now, I'm still not going to make it a mainstay. It's still loaded with crap ingredients, and more expensive that just cooking pasta and throwing on some tomato sauce. But barring that, it's not a bad one-skillet emergency meal.