Lightened up cheeseburger mac casserole

So back in the day, when I was first starting out cooking, I was a fan of making the Hamburger Helper meals. They were relatively easy, one pot meals and all you needed to add was raw hamburger.  Of course, they are based on sauce partially coming from a powder and they all processed out the wazoo, but hey, a cook's gotta start somewhere.

Because of this, I have a special place in my heart for when someone "fancies up" what could have been a Hamburger or Tuna Helper meal (sometime I'll post my take on Emeril's tuna tetrazini).  

This is another of those recipes.  However!  This particular recipe also shows the importance of always reading the online comments of those who have tried it before you.  Sometimes people's postings just show that they are idiots that don't know how to cook but sometimes they are quite valuable.  This recipe is from Hungry Girl and I actually saw her make it on her show.  On the show, she threw everything in a crock pot and 8 hours later on low/4 on high, it came out looking tasty.  But if you read the reviews of practically everyone who has made it, it comes out as disgusting mush.  This has to do mainly with some slow cookers running hotter than others (I found I couldn't even cook meat in my old one on high without it coming out tough!) but it's good to know.  Other commenters on the FN site mentioned that they had just cooked everything on the stove top and it worked out much better.  So, I took that route.  I also made a few substitutions based on the ingredients I could find/already had available.  And it turned out delicious!!  If you do want to make it her way, be my guest....but don't be surprised if you get mush at the end.

My version of her cheeseburger mac casserole

Ingredients

5 oz. (about 1 1/4 cups) uncooked elbow macaroni (I used a mix of whole grain macaroni and quinoa macaroni)
16 oz. raw lean ground turkey (I used 93% lean)
3 tbsp. ketchup (I have the fancy "unsweetened" ketchup)
1 chopped onion
Two 10 oz. frozen cauliflower and low-fat cheese sauce (like the kind by Green Giant) packages (the original recipe calls for one 24 oz. pack but I searched 2 stores and they didn't have that size)
1 wedge The Laughing Cow Light Creamy Swiss cheese

4 oz shredded Cabot 75% reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese
2 scallions, thinly sliced
salt and black pepper
Hot sauce (optional)

Preheat your oven to 375.

Combine the turkey and onion in a saucepan over medium heat.  Meanwhile, cook your pasta to al dente in another pot.  Stir the turkey and onion until both are cooked through thoroughly.  Take your frozen cauliflower packages out of their boxes, cut a hole in the plastic pouches, and microwave them till heated.

Once the turkey and onion are cooked, add the ketchup to the pan and stir well.  Then carefully stir in your Laughing Cow wedge, green onions, cauliflower and cheese sauce, and pasta.  Add salt and pepper.  Add in all but 1/4 cup of your shredded cheese.  Then, pour the entire mixture into an 8x8 glass baking pan.  Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and bake until melted and gooey, about 15 minutes (or you can save this step and serve it right then and there).

We ate it with a bit more salt and pepper to taste and some hot sauce!  It was delicious.

Not the prettiest picture ever, but you get the idea.