BACKSTORY
My elementary school had a cafeteria where lunches were made from scratch by a lady named Mrs. Fo (pronounced F-oh) and her staff. There were dishes she made that I loved and then there were others that I was forced to eat because the teachers watched us.
If we didn’t eat enough of our food and tried to escape, they would turn us back around and insist we not waste food. There was a table by the exit were all the kids who didn’t eat enough would be seated because they got caught. On the days I loved the food, I would look back and feel bad for the kids sitting there.
I remember vividly choking down food by drinking my milk with it to mask the taste. Sounds so ridiculous now but that trick worked. Another thing I remember was I hated milk but the only way you could get juice was with a Doctors note and I most definitely didn’t have one of those.
One of the dishes I didn’t love in elementary was called Hamburger Macaroni. I don’t exactly know why I disliked it to be honest. Ironically, I love the heck out of it now. I remember learning a trick from my friend Eric B, he would stuff the food in his milk carton when the teacher wasn’t looking. I took that trick and ran with it. Every time we had Hamburger Macaroni half of mine went into my milk carton because they didn’t check how much milk you drank. Ahhh to be young and rascal again.
FAST FORWARD
Anyhow, as I got older and started cooking for my family, I started to make lists of things my kids might like to eat. I pulled that Hamburger Macaroni dish from my memories and tested it out on them. Kids love Mac n Cheese. Why wouldn’t they love this? Which i’m guessing is what Mrs. Fo thought as well.
Surprisingly all of my kids loved it growing up over a mound of rice because rice is a staple in our home. As young adults, they tolerate it and roll their eyes when they see what’s on the menu. I can only get away with making this once a month or else my hubby and I are the only ones eating it.
It’s one of my favorite Lazy Girl dishes because it’s easy and nostalgic. Do you have foods from your childhood that you hated then but love now? This is mine & here’s the recipe below:
xo
Hamburger Macaroni
Ingredients
- 1 tray of ground beef
- 1 box of Mac n Cheese any brand
- 1 small can of tomato sauce
- 1 T garlic salt
- 1 T onion powder
- S & P to taste
Instructions
- Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil
- Prepare the macaroni according to directions on the box
- Reserve the cheese packet on the side
- When macaroni is done, strain and set aside
- In the same pot you boiled the macaroni in, brown the ground beef
- Season with garlic salt, onion powder and salt & pepper
- When ground beef is browned add the cooked macaroni, sauce packet and tomato sauce
- Simmer 5 minutes
- Serve over rice, rolls or a salad
Sister! Totally did the food in the milk carton trick! Hahaha! This hamburger macaroni looks ono – gonna try it cuz my boys love da “Helper” box! Take care sis! xoxo, Linda