Easy Beef Stroganoff

After some flu, an extended trip back home, and a busy, but great weekend I am finally back in Maryland and ready to cook! This weekend I was given a great CrockPot cookbook from my boyfriend's awesome mom. I then thought it would be a wonderful idea to attempt to read all 500 pages on Sunday night. Well before I fell asleep in the pages, I happened to stumble upon a recipe (complete with photo) of Beef Stroganoff that looked beyond yummy. [I'll admit that I was also tempted by the lack of crazy, weird ingredients- just 5 normal, average ingredients!] So yesterday I headed off to the grocery store to purchase what I needed, only to come home and realize that the stroganoff required 8-12 hours to cook (ohhhh the downfall of reading and choosing recipes at 1 am). Since I had no desire to enjoy Beef Stroganoff at 3 am, I prepped the beef and set an alarm for this morning to finish the preparations. After continuing to read the CrockPot cookbook I stumbled across no less than three Beef Stroganoff, cleverly disguised with names such as "Autumn Delight," "One-Pot Beef Supper," etc. I decided to combine the recipes together to create my own recipe, "Easy Beef Stroganoff" and I've made some adjustments based on how mine came out.

Easy Beef Stroganoff

3 pounds Beef, cut into stew sized pieces
1 cup Sour Cream
1 envelope dry Onion Soup Mix
10 oz Baby Bella Mushrooms, sliced
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup (I used two, but I feel like there was WAY too much gravy)
1/2 cup White Wine

Throw it all together in the CrockPot (except the mushrooms) so it's all evenly coated, then top with the mushrooms. Cover and cook on Low for 8 hours. Serve over noodles, whole wheat pasta, or brown rice.

**OPTIONAL** - The night before I cooked the stroganoff, I put all of the beef cubes in a gallon sized ziplock bag and evenly coated it with flour, garlic powder, onion powder, and parsley to flavor as well as tenderize the beef.

I served the stroganoff steaming hot with al dente whole wheat rotini- YUM!! The beef literally fell apart in my mouth, and the rich gravy had a great onion/mushroom flavor. The only problem I had was that the stroganoff cooked itself to the side of the CrockPot, which I didn't even think was possible. I know now that it is very possible, as evidenced by the soaking CrockPot in the sink. (This is the reason I now recommend cooking for 8 hours- NOT 12 hours - as long as the beef is cooked, of course.) This is definitely an easy meal to throw together, and perfect for a chilly fall evening. Without a doubt I'll be making Easy Beef Stroganoff again!

Dietetically Yours,
Lorilyn