Back on the Wagon

Well, I took my first fall... I got busy, then sick... and jelly beans are evil.  Especially the sweet tart and the starburst jelly beans... evil... just evil.

So I'm back on the wagon and I kicked it off with a delicious dinner.  Hamburger Stroganoff with Whole Wheat egg noodles and broccoli.  Below is the delightful meal!!

Ingredients:  8 oz of medium whole-wheat egg noodles, olive oil, extra lean ground beef (I used 98% lean), onion, garlic, mushrooms, flour, low-sodium beef broth, salt, pepper, reduced-fat sour cream, and dry sherry.

Start with the egg noodles.

Boil the water, salt it, and add the pasta.  I used about 1/3 of the bag.  Boil it for six minutes -- firm but done.

Drain it, rinse it with cold water, and toss it with a bit of olive oil to keep it from drying out.  I then put it on the back burner with the lid on to keep it warm.

Heat some olive oil in a pan.

Add the hamburger.  When you use the extra-lean hamburger you have to add the oil to cook it in because of the low fat content.  Olive oil is a MILLION times better for you than animal fat.

Cook it, stirring to break up the meat for about four minutes or until browned.  I like the extra-lean because it breaks up really easy.

While that's cooking, chop your onion.

The recipe calls for 1 cup of chopped onion, 1 t of garlic, and 8oz of cremini mushrooms.  I don't measure though -- so I just used half an onion and some garlic.

Stir it together and cook until the onions are translucent and the mushrooms and cooked.  I added a bit of salt and covered it so that they would sweat a bit and cook faster. 

 

Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of flour.

 Cook for 1 - 2 minutes stirring constantly.  It cooks the flour a bit and breaks down the starches.  

It calls for 1 cup of low sodium beef broth, but I ended up adding about 1 1/4 cup.  

Bring it to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 1 - 2 minutes until slightly thick.  Salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.

Stir in 3/4 cup of reduced-fat sour cream and 1 tablespoon of dry sherry. Stir together.  

This is what it looked like.  It was so yummy!!

I also made broccoli to go with it.  

Cut it into bite size pieces and rinse.

I cooked it in the rest of the can of beef broth and about 1 table spoon of garlic.  I heated up the broth/garlic until it was slightly simmering.  Then I added the broccoli.  It gets such a BRIGHT green, it's so pretty.  I then covered it and let it cook for 4 - 5 minutes until fork tender.  IT WAS AMAZING.

It was really simple to make.  And it was SOOO good.  If I had some I would have tossed the egg noodles with olive oil and poppy seeds.  It just adds a little flavor and is very TASTY!!

Now for the good news:   Approximately 370 calories -- for the entire meal!