Let them eat Hamburger Helper®

1.1k points · 123 comments · view on lemmy.world

123 Comments

Tm12@lemmy.ca · 87 pts · 305d (4 replies)

Powdered Cheese is ass. Eat the rich.

fsociety@sopuli.xyz · 8 pts · 305d (1 reply)
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Tm12@lemmy.ca · 14 pts · 305d

You haven’t had the right recipe. You need a lot of acidity to cut through the richness.

FosterMolasses@leminal.space · 5 pts · 305d

You say that like the two are mutually exclusive.

I'll enjoy mixing the meat of the rich into my artificially-cheesed hamburger helper, thank you very much.

Gladaed@feddit.org · 2 pts · 304d

Eat is ass. Powdered cheese the rich!

lennee@lemmy.world · 49 pts · 305d (14 replies)

wtf is a hamburger helper and how is it helping me making hamburgers

LadyMeow@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 48 pts · 305d (6 replies)

It…. Doesn’t help make hamburgers.

Hamburger helper is a boxed spice mix, you also need ground meat, then you brown the meat and add the seasoning mix. You end up with sorta a taco meat (different flavor of course) that you can then eat, mix with pasta.

It’s…. Fine? But it’s pretty depressing in this context.

lennee@lemmy.world · 19 pts · 305d (4 replies)

it sounds depressing tbh but i never had it so take my opinion with a big bag of salt

Tm12@lemmy.ca · 18 pts · 305d

Have eaten it. It’s depressing. I think it’s like 1600 kCal for the mix and ~0.5kg of Lean Ground Beef.

Edit: Big bag of salt included. You will feel bloated for days.

arrow74@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 305d (2 replies)

It can be okay. I like to add peas and depending on the type beans. Just to make it a bit more nutritional

Madzielle@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 304d (1 reply)

Goulash is better, and just as cheap. Fuck national corpo scum.

mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 6 pts · 304d

The problem with goulash (and soups in general) is the time commitment. A struggling parent often doesn’t have an hour to wait for soup to boil. Hamburger Helper comes together in 15-20 minutes, tops.

JamieDub86@piefed.social · 3 pts · 305d

So it helps hamburgers?

jordanlund@lemmy.world · 34 pts · 305d

Hamburger Helper is a boxed pasta mix you add to ground beef to increase the volume and "make it go farther".

TBH, it's not awful.

HumanOnEarth@lemmy.ca · 27 pts · 305d (2 replies)

It's because Americans on the whole think "ground beef" is "hamburger". Like the lettuce is "salad" thing.

They need an anthropomorphic glove to sell them on the idea of adding a protein to a carbohydrate so they can manage to feed their families.

NOT_RICK@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 305d

I only eat greens cause if I don’t that green giant will go from jolly to angry and nobody wants that

FosterMolasses@leminal.space · 4 pts · 305d

Lmao this is the sickest roast I've ever seen of my college ex, thanks

Hopefully he's finally learned how to cook.

Forester@pawb.social · 12 pts · 305d

It is a shelf, stable pasta and cheese mix that you are supposed to mix with a pound of ground beef to make an easy stove top meal. Tldr it's kind of like Kraft dinner but different cheese.

mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 304d

It’s basically mac and cheese with cut up hotdogs in it. Or like carbonara, with beef instead of ham. You brown some ground beef (hamburger meat, if you have never cooked anything fancy before and only know it as “that stuff you use to make hamburgers”). Then once it’s browned, you add some water, maybe milk or butter if the particular box calls for it, and the pasta+seasoning mix from the box. It basically turns into some variation of macaroni and cheese, with ground beef added.

TBH, it’s actually not awful in terms of taste. It’s as “peasant food” as peasant food can get; cheap, filling, easy to make, absolutely loaded with calories, and hopefully not awful tasting. It’s awful for you, and you’ll probably feel awful after eating it. But it checks most of the boxes that a broke and overworked parent needs to be able to feed their kids a hot meal 15 minutes after they get home from work. Just swing by the store on your way home, grab a box of Hamburger Helper and a pound of ground beef. Now you’ve fed the whole family for like $8 total.

ms_lane@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 304d

It probably helps to understand 'hamburger' in this sense is very low quality minced/ground beef*

*might be 'beef'

Evil_Incarnate@sopuli.xyz · 33 pts · 305d (1 reply)

In Finland, there is a dish called "Nistipata" or "Junkie's pot". It's the cheapest macaroni with the cheapest mincemeat. Gourmets add ketchup.

scarabic@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 303d

Sounds like a perfect comparison.

WanderWisley@lemmy.world · 33 pts · 305d (5 replies)

Hamburger helper is good yes, but I’m in the mood for eating the rich yum!

HappySkullsplitter@lemmy.world · 33 pts · 305d (4 replies)

WanderWisley@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 305d

bluemoon@piefed.social · 9 pts · 305d

almost like you need to seize the means of distribution to have democratical rights upheld

ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 304d

Good thing it's Lemmy and not Reddit, so save for a few instances, you can say that.

Mrkawfee@feddit.uk · 2 pts · 304d

Fuck Reddit

Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 33 pts · 305d (2 replies)

Is this some marketing campaign or something.

Why am I suddenly seeing so many posts mentioning some cheap American junk food I've never even heard of before?

Gloomy@mander.xyz · 16 pts · 305d

Might be that it's because Lemmy is such a small place. We had the hamburger helper meme in all yesterday and now people are posting about the general concept.

booly@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 304d

It's a couple of different factors at play:

  • Sales of this particular product are up and Fox News, the largest and most influential conservative media source, ran a story about it as if it's a sign of the nostalgic return of something today's old people remember from their youth.
  • Most younger people correctly recognize that this trash is actually a bad sign for the economy, because it reflects a shift down market where people are opting to make this stuff instead of the more expensive option of restaurants or takeout.
  • Consistent with worsening economic conditions, the price of beef in the United States is skyrocketing, so that the product itself is changing the label to recommend replacing the beef (which customers would ordinarily buy separately) with something else, like cheaper hot dogs.

The political and economic discussion is happening in the United States, and that generally means that it spills out onto the internet where national borders are less significant for where conversations might end up.

SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world · 28 pts · 305d (10 replies)

HappySkullsplitter@lemmy.world · 19 pts · 305d (3 replies)

Try with acorn shells!

Quexotic@infosec.pub · 3 pts · 305d (2 replies)

I hear a acornmeal is pretty healthy. Hard to make though

AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 304d (1 reply)

Just put all the neighborhood squirrels on leashes and dig up the ¾ of the nuts they forget about.

oftenawake@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 7 pts · 305d (4 replies)
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SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 304d (3 replies)

but I hear it's peeepulll

Bearlydave@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 304d

Maybe even peo-pulp!

Blackmist@feddit.uk · 2 pts · 304d

It's OK, it's from that new factory in El Salvador. It's not like it's real (i.e. white) people!

scarabic@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 303d

Made by the people, of the people, for the people! Where’s your patriotism??

M0oP0o@mander.xyz · 1 pts · 304d

That is more expensive then beef! And an abomination so foul that even god would look away.

njm1314@lemmy.world · 25 pts · 305d (8 replies)

Hell who can afford hamburger meat anymore?

brown567@sh.itjust.works · 21 pts · 305d (5 replies)

Box of Hamburger Helper with a suggestion to swap ground beef out for hot dogs. Posted with a caption suggesting this is a compelling indicator of a second Great Depression

Quexotic@infosec.pub · 4 pts · 305d (4 replies)

We use tofu now. It's cheaper

BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 304d (1 reply)

Red lentils would be a good replacement, and you can still get them in bulk at a somewhat reasonable price. For now.

If you want them to taste more like ground beef, give them a pan quick fry with a bit of soy sauce and worcestershire before incorporating into whatever you’re making.

Quexotic@infosec.pub · 2 pts · 304d

Thanks! I appreciate the tip!

I'll try that soon.

Mrkawfee@feddit.uk · 3 pts · 304d (1 reply)

Plenty of Soy around I hear.

Quexotic@infosec.pub · 2 pts · 304d

EXACTLY! Apparently I'm going to be a soy boy? 🤷‍♂️

Someonelol@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 8 pts · 305d

It jumped 30% in three months in my area.

Kolanaki@pawb.social · 6 pts · 305d

you technically don't need the hamburger to have the helper. 🤷‍♂️

Rhaedas@fedia.io · 20 pts · 305d (2 replies)

Nice assumption that people can afford the hamburger needed. Boxed mac and cheese is more likely, or if milk and butter is also too costly, ramen.

billwashere@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 305d (1 reply)

Must be with they started putting “try it with hot dogs” on the package.

M0oP0o@mander.xyz · 1 pts · 303d

Even though hotdogs by weight are more then ground beef (the people who make the food don't understand food apparently) and make a terrible add. Hamburger helper is not even a good price on its own, its like a $3 sidekick. Boxed mac and cheese can be found for about a $1 (sometimes) and can be made with just water and margarine (its not good but most of us have had to at some point). If you want to add hotdogs to a box of stuff its going to be the mac&cheese, not the helper. To make a box of helper in my area you are looking at $10 at best ($3 for the box, $5 for the meat and $2 for the milk), and it feeds maybe two people.

This is the let them eat cake moment, but much stupider. Beans and rice have almost doubled in price in the last few years here, that is an indicator of a crisis. This is not any way even a band aid, hamburger helper is just an easy meal for busy people who still want something hot, not in anyway cheap.

BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 304d (1 reply)

Beef is unaffordable and hamburger helper is more expensive than buying the basic ingredients.

slaneesh_is_right@lemmy.org · 2 pts · 303d

You can just order a hamburger via uber eats™ for only 30 dollars. Youtubers told me that's really smart actually

wirebeads@lemmy.ca · 16 pts · 305d (6 replies)

America is a rancid and failed country. 99% of their population don’t see the empire crashing before their eyes, but the rest of the world has noticed and China will come out as the dominant fiat currency for decades

fluffykittycat@slrpnk.net · 16 pts · 305d (2 replies)

What about the Euro? That's also a good contender for reserve currency. Maybe they won't be one but 3 or 4

explodicle@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 305d (1 reply)

That raises a question - what's better, easier commerce with a financial powerhouse, or easier commerce with the country that makes everything?

fluffykittycat@slrpnk.net · 4 pts · 305d

No one's gonna have the prominence america had, relative to other countries. So a basket of currencies is possible, or even different currencies for different industries

mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 304d

I’d argue that about half of the population sees it. But most of them didn’t vote, because they were either disenfranchised or just didn’t think it would be this bad, this quickly. And they can’t afford to take time off of work to protest, because they’re all already living paycheck to paycheck.

explodicle@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 305d

Americans would sooner switch to Bitcoin than Chinese money.

rayyy@piefed.social · 2 pts · 305d

China will definitely win out as the #1 world power while Russia will have the satisfaction of knowing they were the architects of the US collapse.

AdamBomb@lemmy.sdf.org · 15 pts · 304d (6 replies)

Ground beef? In this economy?

buttnugget@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 304d (5 replies)

Try it with hot dogs!

ms_lane@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 304d (2 replies)

Try it with Lentils (until they're too expensive too...)

m4xie@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 304d (1 reply)

The soy China no longer buys?

ms_lane@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 304d

Time for some cheap Soy burritos for the Cyberpunk setting.

bitjunkie@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 303d

This makes me so fucking mad. It was already garbage poor people food, but the fact that food manufacturers are acknowledging that it may be too expensive to use the meat that is in the fucking name without actually doing anything to reduce prices is mind-bogglingly callous and/or tonedeaf.

M0oP0o@mander.xyz · 2 pts · 304d

Oh look at fancy pants over here! We would be lucky to afford monkey wieners.

YurkshireLad@lemmy.ca · 13 pts · 305d (1 reply)

You can’t afford to have your cake, so you can’t eat it.

arrow74@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 305d

I mean that was the case back then too

Kintarian@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 305d (5 replies)

Can’t afford hamburger. It’s tuna helper now.

HugeNerd@lemmy.ca · 8 pts · 304d (3 replies)

The good tuna isn't cheap either. I don't want the quasi cat food from a can.

M0oP0o@mander.xyz · 4 pts · 304d (2 replies)

The bad tuna is out of reach due to price, Beef is about $5 a pound here (the amount needed for a box of helper) and even the bad tuna is almost $2 a can now. You need about 3 cans to make the amount needed so even the quasi cat food is more then beef.

HugeNerd@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 304d (1 reply)

If you have a restaurant supply store in your area, and you can deal with enormous quantities of food and have ways to freeze what you make, they sell 4 pound cans of white tuna that are 2/3rds the price per pound of smaller cans. Or split with friends, I don't know. Or try Walmart, they stepped up their grocery offerings, at least in Montreal, and boycotting the USA and Israel BAD aside, we gotta look out for ourselves first.

M0oP0o@mander.xyz · 6 pts · 304d

I have tried to buy the giant cans of tuna before, as a single individual it is a terrible idea. Tuna freezes like shit, and when its bad its both ends bad. I used to eat quite a bit of the crappy cans of tuna when they where under a $1 per. But last time I was in the store the off brand "cheap" tuna was $2.25 (same price as the canned chicken oddly).

I just point out that beef (at least in this part of Canada) is cheaper then tuna per 100g. These "saving" recipes are often out of touch and out of date.

gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de · 2 pts · 304d

in my experience the cost of fish in general depends a lot on how closely you live to the sea. i lived close to the sea for a few months during a job, and fish was really cheap there. can't say whether it's the same for the US.

MisterD@lemmy.ca · 10 pts · 304d (1 reply)

We need Billionaire Helper when we start eating the rich

beejboytyson@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 303d

Luigi just gave them some help.

nectar45@lemmy.zip · 9 pts · 305d

Life is so fucking fair

LadyButterfly@reddthat.com · 9 pts · 304d (15 replies)

What does Hamburger Helper taste like? I'm English

Notyou@sopuli.xyz · 13 pts · 304d (1 reply)

Poverty.

LadyButterfly@reddthat.com · 5 pts · 304d

Yep sounds like it

harsh3466@lemmy.ml · 9 pts · 303d

It tastes like being poor.

Trainguyrom@reddthat.com · 7 pts · 304d (2 replies)

It's like taco meat mixed with Mac and cheese but with less flavor to both. Honestly anyone's just better off making taco Mac

beejboytyson@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 303d (1 reply)

Taco Mac? So do I spice the meat like taco meat and just add cheese? I'm intrigued 🤔

Trainguyrom@reddthat.com · 2 pts · 303d

So usually when I make Taco Mac I use leftover taco meat and mix it with box Mac and cheese. It's kinda a default leftovers meal for us since the kids will actually eat it and with good taco seasoning it tastes pretty good to us grownups too

ProfThadBach@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 304d (7 replies)

Well what you do is take some hamburger mean and fry it up. Not as patty form but more like taco meat. There is a season pack that is pretty much taco seasoning and there is elbow mac in the box. After you put eh season in and stir it around dump the mac in and stir it around then add some water and let it simmer for a while. I was poor as a child and ate a lot of this shit. It was cheap and was designed to stretch hamburger meat out. There are different flavors but it all taste the same. When I was in the military we called it chilli-mac. Same shit. If I am hungry I will eat it if offered but I will not go looking for it.

LadyButterfly@reddthat.com · 5 pts · 304d (2 replies)

So it's just instant macaroni cheese mixed in with beef? That really is poor man food.

hateisreality@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 303d

Well it's not all cheesy flavored but it's essentially flavor *paste seasoning and noodles to be mixed with a pound of ground beef. For example beef stroganoff is gravy noodles

Blackmist@feddit.uk · 2 pts · 304d

Except you have to provide your own beef mince.

I think I'll stick to lasagne.

Threeme2189@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 304d (3 replies)

Serious question, what's the difference between "hamburger meat in taco meat form" and ground beef? Because it sounds like ground beef to me.

hateisreality@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 303d

It is ground beef

bitjunkie@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 303d

Most people I know refer to it as ground beef when it's still in the tube/tray/whatever before being cooked. Taco meat is ground beef that's been seasoned, finely chopped, and browned in a skillet.

ProfThadBach@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 304d
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bobaworld@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 303d
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Capricorn_Geriatric@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 305d

As long as it ain't Avocado Toast, the right people will eat it all up.

SeeMarkFly@lemmy.ml · 8 pts · 305d (3 replies)

I don't know why they call it hamburger HELPER. It does just fine all by itself.

FauxPseudo@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 305d (2 replies)

Can you clarify if you mean hamburger is fine by itself or if the sodium packed box mix is fine without the hamburger.

One answer will probably have The Hague asking for your location.

bagele@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 305d (1 reply)

You don't get the joke.

FauxPseudo@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 305d

I definitely got it. But the joke raises ethical questions.

kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 7 pts · 305d

I say we're gonna get a revolution and things are gonna look very not pretty if the capitalists don't back off

Doomsider@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 303d

Jokes on them, I can't even afford hamburger anymore.

Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 304d (2 replies)

So you know how in North Korea the government tells its citizens to forage for grass and stuff? How long before we see that in the States?

booly@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 304d

How long before we see that in the States?

We're about 5 days away from federal food assistance being canceled for the month of November, so less than a week, maybe?

Rekorse@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 304d

I dont think thats a thing anymore, but there are tons of edible plants growing all around most people in the states. Sometimes youll hear about a recipe involving some random ground weed looking thing or dandelions or something.

But yeah foods sort of fucked right now, I'm lucky I live near an aldis.

Harbinger01173430@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 304d (11 replies)

Can't You americans eat eggs, chicken or fish instead?

SanicHegehog@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 304d

That would make the beef lobby sad.

ms_lane@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 304d

Eggs

I don't think they can...

Nalivai@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 304d (4 replies)

Those things cost money. Not a lot of people have those lying around this days

Harbinger01173430@lemmy.world · -1 pts · 304d (3 replies)

It's not hard to get money. Even third worlders can get that through formal work, informal work or crime.

Work smarter.

drunkpostdisaster@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 303d

Until the stores start closing down and people start losing their jobs.

Nalivai@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 303d (1 reply)

If you're poor, just stop being poor

Harbinger01173430@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 303d

Basically that's what they tell us in south America lol

multifariace@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 304d

They also make Tuna Helper.

Meant to be used with canned fish.

Starski@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 304d

Not everything is the same price everywhere in the world, and on top of that plenty of Americans do eat eggs, chicken, and fish. It's just that hamburger helper provides resources for a full meal at a good price, something must needed in a dying economy

lightnsfw@reddthat.com · 1 pts · 304d

Those aren't any cheaper.

SirActionSack@aussie.zone · 1 pts · 303d

There's no actual food shortage, Crushing people into poverty appears to be the objective. If You Want a Picture of the Future, Imagine a Boot Stamping on a Human Face – for Ever.

frankiehollywood@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 303d

I ate plenty of hamburger helper in my life….thought it was pretty good….

myfunnyaccountname@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 304d

Dude. Just so much winning.

TronBronson@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 304d

They can’t even afford hamburger to throw in there so I know this cap. How do poor people look at a big box of noodles for $1 and a small box of noodles and seasoning for $2 and buy hberger helper with no hamburger?

Sam_Bass@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 303d

w/o the hamburger of course

voytrekk@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 303d

I'm disgusted at the thought of eating hamurger helper. We ate it too often as a kid and it's just worse than kraft mac and cheese. I'd rather add hot dogs or chicken nuggets to the latter if I need to have a cheap/depressing dinner.

Hadriscus@jlai.lu · 2 pts · 303d

No joke it gives the same vibe as those Oddworld ads for some random processed food (à la Soylent Green) made out of the dug-up bones of their own people

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=249vWCD2neQ)

pleaseletmein@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 303d

Sick of winning yet?

drunkpostdisaster@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 303d

We are going to be the ones eating dogs and cats soon.

bobaworld@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 303d
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