Great When Baked But Mushy In The Skillet
I was never a fan of any of the Hamburger Helper meal starters until I tried the Mexican Crunchy Taco that someone made for a party. She used the box mix but after preparing it in a bowl (with precooked meat) she baked it in the oven. When it was completely cooked and the cheese was melted she put it under the broiler and the taste was amazing. When I saw the boxed mix in the grocery store I grabbed a couple to make it at home but it came out mushy and looked like a big bowl of slop. I read the directions again thinking that I did something wrong but I followed the instructions to the letter. I called my friend and asked her what I did wrong and that's when she let out a big laugh and told me that to get the same taste you have to bake it. That does increase the prep time by about fifteen to twenty minutes but the taste difference is night and day. If you want to add extra cheese to the top of it before you bake it, it does help the overall taste. The downside to the amazing taste is that each serving contains 720 milligrams of sodium. That's about a quart of what you should be eating every day and if you have more than the suggested serving, well, it can lead to problems if you have issues with retaining water. I will make this for parties and tailgating but I use two boxes and add extra things to it. As a boxed meal starter it isn't bad but if you want to improve the flavor you can add diced green peppers, diced onions and shredded cheese to the mix. When I bake this I use a large deep baking dish and bake it for about ten minutes then I add more shredded cheese and sliced black olives.
AlexFortune
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