Homemade "Hamburger Helper" pasta

This is my homemade version of "Hamburger Helper."

Ingredients

• 8-12 oz. pasta of your choice (I use rice pasta for me; this also works great with wheat pasta.)
• 3/4 to 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 to 1.5 cups of milk
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 2/3 cup shredded cheese
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 3/4 tsp. sea salt

Directions

1. Place pasta and milk in a saucepot. Bring to a boil gently, reduce to medium and cook until pasta is done. (Yes, cooking the pasta in milk really does make a difference!) It's important to cook the pasta gently so the milk does not scald.
2. Brown ground beef in skillet. Set aside when done.
3. When the pasta is done, add butter to saucepot and melt.
4. Once the butter is melted, add in the cheese, garlic powder and salt. Stir until mixed well and melted. Stir in cooked ground beef, too.
5. Once everything is mixed well and has a creamy consistency, you are set! Enjoy.

*You can use this same method for homemade macaroni and cheese. Simply omit the ground beef and garlic powder for macaroni and cheese.

This recipe is linked at Allergy Free Wednesday.