Tastefully Tuesday - Fake-Out Hamburger Helper Lasagna Bake

Growing up, we ate Hamburger Helper at least once per week. It was a natural transition to feed the meals to my own family. But as my boys grew older, their appetites grew bigger. One box, even when accompanied by a salad and garlic bread, didn't go very far in feeding a family of four.

Then one day while grocery shopping I complained to my husband, "I don't know why we're still buying this. It's just egg noodles and sauce, and your sauce tastes a lot better than what's in this box." Duh. It was like watching light bulbs alight over each other's heads. We put the boxed dinners back on the shelf and grabbed ingredients to make our own instead.

Making your own dinners takes the same amount of time as the boxed version. You get more food for less money and it not only tastes better, but it's also healthier. You can cater the ingredient list to respect family members with allergies. It took us a few tries to tailor the recipe to our family's taste, but now we're able to cook this without even looking at a recipe.

Ingredients

• 6 cups of uncooked egg noodles
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 3 cups of spaghetti sauce
• 2 pounds of meat, ground or cut into chunks
• 3 cups of shredded "white" cheese of choice
• 1 small container of ricotta cheese

Directions:

1. Prepare pan of boiling water that is an appropriate size to cook the noodles.
2. Add butter and wait for it to melt, stirring slightly.
3. Once noodles are cooked, strain and reserve.
4. Cook your meat. It could be hamburger, steak, chicken, pork, sausage - you can even use leftovers from earlier meals that are taking up space in the fridge.
5. Assemble ingredients in layers in a rectangular baking dish (Ours is a 9" x 13" deep dish baking dish.) as follows:
   
   TOP OF DISH
   2 cups shredded cheese
   1/3 container ricotta
   1 cup of sauce
   1 pound of meat
   1/2 of the cooked noodles
   1 cup shredded cheese
   2/3 container ricotta
   2 cups sauce
   1 pound meat
   1/2 of the cooked noodles
   BOTTOM OF DISH
   
6. Bake at 350 degrees until the cheese on top is melting and gooey.

And there you have it! Serve with garlic bread and a salad, and your favorite beverage. One thing I really like about the recipe is its versatility. You can use more or less sauce, depending on your family's tastes. You can leave out the meat and use egg-free noodles for a more veggie-friendly version. I'm not a fan of veggies but have been known to add zucchini, carrots, and some other fresh-from-the-garden ingredients to my own pan of the dish. I'd love to hear if you've tried making your own version of Hamburger Helper before, and what variations worked for you!