Beef Bechamel (and peas)

 

So I had no idea that my homemade hamburger helper had a fancy French name until one of the nurses at work told me so.  I googled it, and apparently it's the mother of all French sauces, made with butter, milk, seasonings, and flour.  I used to make this all the time as a new bride because it's 1)fast 2)cheap and 3)easy.

First, I cooked a little less than a full pound of crazy cheap hamburger.  It was a 2.8 pound pack for $5.51, and I cooked roughly a third of the pack ($1.84).  I browned it in a half a stick of butter (25cents, real butter), a splash (1/2 cup?) of milk, one beef boullion cube, a heaping teaspoon of garlic, and, to be honest, I didn't measure, but shook on what looked good in the realm of salt, pepper, thyme, basil, paprika, rosemary, and just a dash of cayenne pepper.  In a separate pot, I boiled 1/2 pound of spaghetti (50 cents, baby!) with a Tbsp of vegetable oil (to keep it loose without constant vigilance). 








When the burger was cooked, I scooped it out with a slotted spatula and put it in the pot with the strained spaghetti.  That left me with just the cream sauce, which I thickened with flour.  I just added a teaspoon at a time, mashing it in (still on low heat) with a slotted spatula.  Since it was still a little lumpy, I poured it into a cup and used a hand-held drink mixer.  When it was still a little runny (you don't want it too thick in the pan - it's a cream sauce, not a gravy) I poured the meat and spagetti back in and stirred it all together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, because I wanted something green to go with this, I microwaved a half a pack of frozen peas (90 cents) in a glass bowl, with some butter and just a dash of dill.  (Trust me, this tastes Awesome.  Or try it yourself.)  So, as I said, I haven't made this in years, and the kids were a little skeptical of this mystery food.  They started by eating their peas. 

Only when they had no choice did they dare to touch the pasta. 

 

 

 

 

 

But then....

 

 

Sooooooo gooooooood.....

 

(And dessert was applesauce)

 

 

So our total for tonight's dinner was: Hamburger ($1.84), Pasta (50 cents) Sauce (butter was 25 cents and was the most expensive part, we're gonna call the whole sauce 50 cents' worth), Peas (90 cents) and 1/2 jar of applesauce (Lucas had a cereal bowl, the rest of us had 6-oz dessert bowls) (1/2 of $2.35 = $1.18).  Total = $4.92

 

 

The best part of tonight's dinner:

The kids tried something they've never had before, and they actually liked it.