On 7/17/2014 9:14 AM, sf wrote:
> On Thu, 17 Jul 2014 09:18:06 -0400, jmcquown >
> wrote:
>
>> On 7/17/2014 7:15 AM, Ophelia wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> "Julie Bove" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>>
>>>> It's an all in one meal. Contains a starch such as potatoes, rice or
>>>> pasta. All of these things are precooked and dried. You brown your
>>>> own ground beef, then add the dried sauce packet, some water and your
>>>> starch. Cook for a few more minutes and it's done.
>>>
>>> It sounds dreadful!
>>>
>> It is pretty dreadful. Especially since it's so easy to make something
>> very similar from scratch with your own good ingredients.

Easy if you know how to cook. Plus, it will be more expensive in many
instances. Making that cheezburger macaroni HH involves a dollar for
the box and a few dollars more for a pound of ground beef. Making a
superior home made version involves buying a package of macaroni and
several assorted varieties of cheese and some milk, besides the ground
beef. Making the potatoes stroganoff version at home requires buying a
few potatoes, some beef stock or bouillon, and some sour cream,
besides the ground beef. Plus the additional time spent peeling and
slicing the potatoes. There are people who can't or won't be bothered
to spend the extra time and money to achieve a better product. And
there are those who just prefer the packaged version.

>>
>> Jill
>
> Emulating anything Hamburger Helperish doesn't sound very good either.
> I think the only people who would use the product or make something
> similar at home must make a lot of noodle laden casseroles.
>

You say that like it's a bad thing. : -)

HH and the like are a success because they provide a quick, good
tasting hot meal for people who don't know much about cooking -
especially kids. If you're a kid tasked with getting a meal on the
table, odds are you'll start by fixing simple meals like these. If
your parents aren't interested in cooking at all, you probably won't
progress much beyond it. And for anyone who has a lot of hungry mouths
to feed, and not much money to spend, noodles, potatoes, rice and
beans are the answer, usually in the form of a casserole.