You're About to be Redirected to the New Home of Ground Control to Major Mom: What Does "Natural" Taste Like???

Last Sunday I took both boys to the grocery store. Dave was working at the train show, so I just took both boys along, which is rare for me. I typically go during the week when I only need to take, at most, one of the boys. So it had been a while since I took both Jacob and Timmy. They weren't poorly behaved, but I was inundated with "Mommy, can we get X?"..."Mommy, can we get Y?"..."Mommy, can we get Z?"

Among the items they asked for was Hamburger Helper. Jacob actually cracked me up during his sales pitch, since he even took the time to mention the Box Top for Education at the top of the boxes. While it isn't the most nutritious meal out there, I guess it beats a Happy Meal, right? I remember having Hamburger Helper as a kid. It was okay, but not at the top of my dinner-preparation list.

Here's the one I let Jacob choose. Why not? This can be one of our "sometimes foods", right? I had hoped he'd choose one of the more Italian-themed flavors, like the lasagna-style, but this is what he picked.

If you can't read the label, the description of the flavor is "Pasta & Naturally Flavored Sauce Mix".

What in the world is "Naturally Flavored?" Staring at the packaging didn't give me any insight. It looks like a cheese sauce in the picture, but it turns out it isn't really. Looking at the ingredients, I didn't see anything that indicated milk products. Sugar, beef stock and dried onion and garlic jumped out as a hint to the flavor.

Patricia's Hypothesis: It's going to be a standard beef gravy with the pasta and beef.

So this will be our dinner tonight -- I'll leave a comment this evening and let you know how it turns out. I picked up some 96% lean ground beef, so I know this will be a low-fat meal, at least.

Speaking of Hamburger Helper, who else remembers the jingle from the 1980s where the slogan was "Hamburger Helper helps the hamburger help HER...." Ha ha! Not "help HIM"...."help HER".

Because what man would cook this, right? I found the commercial on You Tube, so enjoy!