No Box Cheeseburger Macaroni

So with it being the end of the month (and payday doesn't come until the last day of the month aka I'm a poor teacher for real right now) I was trying to think of more budget friendly meals to have this week.  I was walking down the aisle at Wal-Mart last night and came upon the Hamburger Helper.  Now, I hadn't eaten HH in about 10 years (i.e. college) but I remembered looooving Cheeseburger Macaroni.  I picked up a box, thought about it, but decided I could probably make a much healthier version for about the same price.  So after a bit of googling what spices go into it (literally, in the middle of the aisle, blocking the boxes of mashed potatoes) -- thanks, Food.com -- that's what I did.  Oh, and it's totally Simply Filling friendly for those of you on that train.

No Box Cheeseburger Macaroni

Servings: 4

Serving Size: 1 cup

Weight Watchers: 9 PP / serving

Ingredients

1 pound 93% ground beef

1 1/2 cups (or 6 oz) uncooked whole wheat elbow macaroni

1 cup of hot water

2 cups of fat free milk

1 cup of fat free shredded cheddar cheese

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp sugar

1 tbsp cornstarch

Directions

Brown the hamburger meat in a really large pot.  Drain the grease when cooked, then throw it back in the large pot and add all the spices (including the cornstarch and sugar), water, milk, and pasta.  Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Lower the heat so it is simmering.  Cook until the pasta is done.  Add the cheese and stir until melted.  Makes about 4 servings if you dish out 1 cup per serving.  And it's delish!

Skinny Chicken Tetrazzini

You know what I love?  My mama's cooking...more specifically, my mom's chicken tetrazzini, which is definitely not Weight Watchers friendly.  Good news though -- my mom and I revamped the recipe this past weekend to make it skinnier and ALMOST Simple Start friendly.

Skinny Chicken Tetrazinni
Servings: 8
Weight Watchers: 8 PP / serving

Ingredients
1/2 cup diced bell pepper
1 medium diced onion
1 small jar of mushrooms
1 small jar of pimento
1 cup of fat free chicken broth
2 cans of 98% fat free cream of mushroom
3 cups of diced chicken breast (cooked -- just boil it!)
1 small box of whole wheat spaghetti (cooked!)
8 oz fat free shredded cheddar
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Saute onion and bell pepper in broth and simmer until tender.  Add the cans of cream of mushroom as well as the jar of mushrooms. Add the cooked chicken and pimento.  Fold in salt, pepper, cheese, and spaghetti.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

The only thing not Simply Filling friendly is the cream of mushroom -- I'm doing SF right now and gave myself 1 point per serving when I had this earlier today.