Zippy Ground Beef Skillet

This recipe to me is the epitome of what I wish Hamburger Helper would taste like. Granted, I'm happy to say I made this without using any canned produce. The tomatoes have been plentiful on our sole tomato plant this week. It was amazingly fresh and lighter than I was expecting. The sauce didn't thicken after cooling as much as I would have liked, but next time I'll just add a little more cornstarch.

Ingredients:

Tomatoes from my lone tomato plant!

• 2 cups uncooked small tube pasta 
• 1 pound lean ground beef 
• 3/4 cup onion, diced   
• 3/4 cup green bell pepper, diced   (I actually used Red)
• 1 (28 ounce) can or 3 1/2 cups diced tomatoes, undrained 
• 1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced - wear gloves 
• 1 tablespoon honey 
• 2 teaspoons chili powder 
• 3/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 1 1/2 cups reduced fat sour cream
• 1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbsp cold water (for sauce thickening if needed)

Directions:

1. Start water to boil for pasta.

   

   Add Tomato

2. Dice onion, green bell pepper, & jalapeno.
3. Cook pasta according to package directions. 
4. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, cook the beef, onion and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. 
5. Add the tomatoes, jalapenos, honey, chili powder and salt. 
6. Bring to a simmer then reduce heat to low; cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
7. Drain pasta; add to beef mixture. 
8. Add sour cream. 
9. Cook and stir until heated through (do not boil).

Courtesy of Jessy at Tricks Chef's

After simmering for 10 minutes