You Can't Win Them All (Bison Cheeseburger Helper)

We just got back from a great weekend in Denver to celebrate a friend's wedding. Now we're back home and I didn't feel like going grocery shopping. So tonight I made a gluten and dairy free Bison Cheeseburger Helper. I saw a delicious looking recipe for Cheeseburger Macaroni by Kevin and Amanda on Pinterest and decided to make that tonight, with several modifications.

I used ground bison since I had some on hand and all of our ground beef is frozen. Last time I looked I couldn't find a packet of taco seasonings that were safe for Tommy. So I made my own seasoning blend. I'm still perfecting my vegan cheese sauce, but this version is way better than my last attempt. I also doubled the sauce and pasta. This is the first time I have correctly cooked gluten free pasta. It wasn't chewy or mushy. It actually tasted just like regular cooked macaroni. I used a white rice macaroni that I can buy in bulk at the local Winco.

I'm pretty excited about how this whole recipe turned out. It's delicious, hearty and full of flavor. Everything you would want in a bowl of hamburger helper, except made from scratch with no preservatives or questionable ingredients. I'm not thrilled about Tommy's reaction. As soon as I set the bowl in front of him he burst into tears. It's incredibly frustrating when he starts sobbing without actually trying the food. He eventually ate one bite of the meat and one piece of pasta. That was definitely a let down. This recipe is so delicious and easy to make that I was really hoping to add it to our regular rotation. For now I'll just file this recipe away to try again later when hopefully his tastes have matured a bit.

Bison Cheeseburger Helper

20 oz ground bison
2 cups dry gluten free macaroni
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
14.5 oz can chicken broth
1 can full fat coconut milk
1 cup water
4 oz can diced chili peppers, undrained
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp Frank's Red Hot Sauce
1/2 Tbsp potato starch
1 taco seasonings (see below)

1. Brown the bison in a dutch oven sized pot over medium heat. 
2. When the meat is done, add the tomato paste and taco seasoning and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
3. Add the diced tomatoes, chicken broth, diced chili peppers, and water. Bring to a boil.
4. Stir in the macaroni and cook for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. While the pasta cooks, in a small saucepan combine the coconut milk, nutritional yeast, Frank's and potato starch. Cook over medium heat, whisking continuously until thickened. 
6. After the 7 minutes are done, add the "cheese" sauce to the pasta dish. Stir to combine and cook for another 2 minutes.
7. Take the pot off the heat and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Taco Seasoning

2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1/2 tsp granulated onion
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl