Think for a minute about the many combinations and permeations of meals that you can make with tomato sauce, hamburger, onion and your choice of starch, vegetables and seasonings. From chili to tacos to sloppy joes to lasagna. So many good choices.
One of the dinners I looked forward to as a child was Hamburger Helper. It was advertised as a quick meal that your family would love. It was heavily advertised on TV and so it was something we often asked mom to make. I had believed it was first marketed back to the 1960’s but in researching I discovered it was first on the market in 1971.
What was it? Why a meal in a box, almost. In the box was a package of dried noodles and a powdered seasoning or sauce. Once you browned a pound of hamburger you added the sauce and noodles and some water. Then just cover for a few minutes and voila dinner was ready. It made the frugal housewife’s standard protein, hamburger, into something special. It was said to help stretch a pound of hamburger to feed a family of five. And at well under a dollar (65 cents when launched) a package helped the inflation hit food budget of the middle 1970’s stretch too.
The company also marketed Tuna Helper and Chicken Helper and offered a variety of different Hamburger recipes as well. Although the cheesy beef varieties were my favourite. I will admit that you really didn’t need to buy the package you could recreate it from your spice rack and a few noodles and sauce. But it was new and cool when I was a kid.
Children of the 60’s and 70’s may remember the glove mascot for Hamburger Helper called Lefty. Apparently it scared many young children. Anyway, if you are too young to remember Hamburger Helper there are many recipes online if you want to make your own Hamburger Helper from scratch, minus all the chemicals in the original. It seems you can still find Hamburger Helper in stores today if you want to try it.