Monday Dinners - Beef Stroganoff

Beef stroganoff over egg noodles

Since my work schedule changed and is now back to normal, my new dinner recipes will be from Mondays instead of Tuesdays. I realize I haven't posted a dinner recipe in a while -- don't worry, I haven't had to wash any dishes in the meantime. There were a few that didn't work out and weren't worth posting. I pretend to know what I'm doing in the kitchen, but alas, sometimes it simply doesn't work.

The following beef stroganoff recipe received a thumbs-up from five other hungry bodies that are usually hard to please. The best part about it is it's simplicity; as long as you have access to a grocery store and a slow cooker, you're good to go. Put it in before work -- or before you sit on the couch all day -- and you'll have a satisfying dinner with almost no effort.

Ingredients:

2.5 lbs beef stew meat (for six people)
1 cup chopped sweet onion
2 cans (10 3/4 oz. each) condensed cream of mushroom soup
8 oz. sliced mushrooms
salt and pepper, to taste
8 oz. cream cheese
8 oz. light sour cream
egg noodles

Combine the stew meat, onion, soup, mushrooms, salt, and pepper in the slow cooker. Mix before turning it on low heat. Let mixture sit for 8-10 hours.

After you come home to a kitchen permeated with the mouth-watering scent of slow-cooked beef and sauce, boil salted water to cook the egg noodles. (You can use other types of pasta or rice, but I've found that egg noodles capture the flavor of the stroganoff well.)

Cut the cream cheese into cubes and add to the mixture. Stir until melted. (Be careful because the beef will be so tender that it will fall apart if you stir too violently.) Then stir the sour cream into the mixture until blended.

Serve the stroganoff over the egg noodles, and enjoy! I served it with a side caesar salad; steamed or grilled vegetables would also go well with it.

For the original Betty Crocker recipe, click here.