Summer Hibernation?

It's been a little quiet around here (other than Mallary, that is). We haven't gotten mail in THREE days, that's NEVER happened. My inbox has been a little empty, other than Gap telling me what their sales are, the phone hasn't been ringing like I live in Grand Central Station anymore, and I've noticed commenting on blogs (not just mine) has been less than normal. I went to the playground by myself, and I even joked with some of my friends here that they were hibernating.

But, I guess I have been too, tucked away in my little workroom. It's usually 5:45 before I realize I haven't even started dinner yet. I'll even set the meat out to make something and forget about it. When I am working I kind of lose track of time, my kids usually remind me when it's time for snack, etc. This week I sat some beef out to make some yummy cheddar meatloaf, and at about 5:50, I looked at the time and realized John would be home soon so I hurried and put the hamburger in the skillet and then tried to think of what to make with it with the ingredients I had on hand. I wasn't really sure what I was making, but I started dumping, (when John walked in the door, he was like, "What are you making?" and I replied, "I'm not really sure.") and it ended up being just like a hamburger helper, but better. (SIDE STORY: My mom always cooked from scratch, and never made stuff out of a box. Then I went to college, and went crazy on all those boxed meals and ate hamburger helper often. Finally, I got grossed out, and have not eaten it since.)

My kids loved it! We liked it too. It's so funny, Mallary will eat most everything, if she feels like it, but she LOVES casseroles. So they ate this stuff up. It's not fancy, but it's easy, and made from staples that I always have in my pantry.

Here's the ingredients to make your own hamburger helper:

1 lb. hamburger (browned)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can of tomato soup (I might have even added a small can of tomato paste, I can't remember, but I think it would be fine either way.)

3/4 c. sour cream

Cooked noodles (add as much as you like to make the desired consistency)

onions, garlic, salt, pepper to taste

cheddar cheese

Mix all together, bake at 350 until bubbly. (I should add, depending on how many noodles you mix in, if there are a lot of noodles not covered in sauce, bake the casserole covered and take off the last few minutes to prevent having crispy noodles.)

There you have your easy summer hibernation meal.