Food Poisoning?

My mother was not a very good cook and totally embraced all convenience foods. She even used the boxed spaghetti dinner. I don't think they make that anymore. This was in the days before jarred spaghetti sauce. Mom was probably first in line at the grocery store when Swanson came out with the frozen TV dinner. She didn't want us kids cooking either. I was only allowed in the kitchen to wash dishes, so didn't learn how to cook (or turn on a stove) until I got married at the tender age of 19.

Now I am a fairly decent cook and enjoy tweaking recipes....BUT....there are a few hold-over covenience foods I have occasionally. Kraft Mac n Cheese, Hamburger Helper and my all time fav Riiiiiiiiiice-a-Roni the San Francisco treat, ding ding. Last night I whipped up some beef RR with a few additions of ground beef and veggies. It was pretty good. I forgot about the leftovers and it was over an hour before I put them in the fridge. Didn't think much about it.

Today at lunch I decided to reheat the leftovers. As I was putting it in the pan I took a small bite...sort of an odd smell to it, sharp and pungent. I stopped and sniffed the concoction in the pan and didn't really notice anything unusual. I took another small bite and again that odd smell/taste. Smelled the pot again, nothing. So I went ahead and heated it up, didn't really notice any more of the smell and it tasted fine, I think. A couple of times I hesitated as I was eating, but told myself it was just my imagination. Impossible for something to go bad that quickly. Right?

Two hours later.....it was NOT my imagination!!! Run for the bathroom. How could something spoil that quickly? My ground beef was defrosted in fridge and the veggies were fresh washed. What went wrong? I guess that one hour at room temperature was enough for it to go bad.

The good thing....I probably won't be able to eat Rice-a-Roni for a couple of years. Just thinking about it now turns my stomach. Aversion therapy