I'm at about 26 weeks pregnant and I'll just say that it's greatly affected my desire to cook until pretty recently...in other words, I've been making pretty stupid simple meals with one motive in mind, to fill the bellies of the hubs and my sweet little girl while being able to hopefully stomach it myself and feel nourished.
It's actually been a pretty awesome adventure to see how quickly and simply I can come up with a dinner when time isn't on my side and there are several ingredients which would trigger my gag reflux immediately (garlic was an inconvenient ingredient to have an aversion to. We're friends again though, garlic and I :)...
So I want to brag about my recipe for 'Organic Hamburger Helper' real quick. The idea of buying a good ol' box of Hamburger Helper with that nasty powdered whatchamacallit was so, so tempting but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I had to come up with a way to make what I was craving (simplicity but also actual hamburger helper) healthy and quick. If you have kids you can go ahead and thank me now because this is some really, REALLY good grub on the cheap and Phae went totally nuts for it.
Organic Hamburger Helper
1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon tomato paste (I buy the double concentrated kind in a tube. Very convenient)
1 can stewed italian style tomatoes (Phaedra requested that I chop them roughly in the food processor so there weren't big chunks of stewed tomato in the dish. Either way is fine, really)
1 box of macaroni pasta or bow tie...fun shapes are fun
Salt and Pepper to taste
shredded parmesan cheese
Boil a large pot of salted water for the pasta and put a large saucepan over medium high heat and drizzle with olive oil.
Add the meat to the saucepan to brown. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Once your water is boiling, add your pasta and give a stir. When the meat is almost cooked through, add your tomato paste and stir into the meat. Then add your stewed tomatoes. lower your heat to medium-low and continue to simmer the meat with the tomatoes. When the pasta is al dente, add it to the saucepan and toss everything together. Sprinkle the dish with a generous, yummy amount of cheese (I liked Parmesan but you can use any kind you and your kids like). This meal is yummy and well balanced with a nice green salad! Happy easy eating!
