Healthier Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff was not something that I grew up having as a child. I did not even try it until I was in college. I really had no idea what I was missing.

My husband on the other hand did grow up having Beef Stroganoff and told me it was one of his favorite meals as a child.

I knew I had to come up with a way to make it a little healthier than the original version, so here is my rendition.

Healthier Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients:

1-1/2 lbs Stew meat
1 Large carrot
1 Medium onion
2 Garlic cloves
1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
1/4 Cup water
1 Can healthy request cream of mushroom soup
2 oz Fat free sour cream
4 oz Plain Greek style yogurt (you can use 6 oz of sour cream and skip this ingredient if you like)
1 Tsp pepper
1 Dash olive oil
Cooked egg noodles



Heat lightly oiled skillet to medium and add meat and vegetables. Cook for 2-4 mins, just to get a light brown on the meat. You are not trying to cook the meat through just sealing in the moisture and creating more complex flavors.

Combine cream of mushroom soup, sour cream/yogurt, worcestershire, garlic, and water.

Add meat and vegetable mixture to crock pot. Top with cream sauce and cook on low for 5-6 hours.



Serve on top of egg noodles.

*This serves about 4 people, please adjust amounts if you have more members in your family.

Pumpkin Prune Muffins

Please don't let the name fool you. These Pumpkin Prune Muffins are delicious.

I was a little nervous about making these muffins with prunes, but they really did turn out great.

I happen to have several bags of prunes around the house because of a huge sale over the summer on Sunsweet prunes at my local grocer. I came across a Cranberry Pumpkin Muffin recipe on one of my favorite blogs and thought maybe I can substitute chopped up prunes instead of cranberries.

Here are my small changes to the original Cranberry Pumpkin Muffin recipe. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Prune Muffins

Ingredients:

2 Cups of unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 Cup brown sugar
1 Tsp baking soda
1 Tsp cinnamon
1/2 Tsp nutmeg
1/2 Tsp salt
1 Cup pure canned pumpkin
1 Cup of Sunsweet prunes, chopped
1/2 Cup oil
1/2 Cup skim milk
1/4 Cup molasses
1 Egg

Preheat oven to 350°.

Mix all dry ingredients together in one bowl. Mix all wet ingredients together in a separate bowl. Mix wet ingredients with dry ingredients until well combined.

Grease muffin pan with butter or cooking spray. Pour muffin mixture into pan about 2/3 full. Cook for 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into muffin comes out clean.

*This recipe is for about 20 muffins. I made only 12 really large muffins instead.

What is up with the rolls?

If any of you are wondering I thought I would explain why I have bread rolls pictured in so many of my pictures on the blog.

Well, a few weeks ago my husband took part in a local fundraiser. At the local fundraiser they served barbecue, slaw, potatoes and bread rolls. Although the fundraiser was a success they had an enormous amount of rolls left over. My husband volunteered to take 6 bags of rolls off their hands.

We froze most of the rolls, but have been trying to use them as much as we can (without consuming too many carbs). Therefore you may see them quite frequently on the side of our main course.

Our Dinner Menu Plan

Our Dinner Menu Plan

Monday - Crock Pot Zuppa Toscana with fresh bread (Thank you Dawn for the inspiration of this menu item; recipe coming soon!)

Tuesday - Baked Refried Bean Taquitos, Rice with Vegetables and Cooked Bananas

Wednesday - Slow Cooker Lasagna with Side Salad

Thursday - Vegetable Hamburger Soup with Rolls

Friday - Lentil and Cheese Loaf with Sweet Potato Casserole and Green Beans

Saturday - Leftovers

Sunday - Homemade Pizza and Salad

Lentils and Cheese Loaf

With the increase in meat prices it is especially important for our family to have a strict grocery budget. I could easily spend all my budget on meat and produce alone. Therefore, creating two to three vegetarian meals a week really does help to stay within that grocery budget.


My meat lovers of the family were pretty skeptical of this Lentils and Cheese Loaf. Each of them surveyed it over and over again before then taking a bite. I would not reveal what it was that they were eating until after a few bites. I was pleasantly surprised that no one said they did not like it. My husband said it is no replacement for traditional meatloaf, but was a great vegetarian substitute.

*I would like to apologize for the horribly, blurry photos of this recipe. We desperately need a new camera.

Lentils and Cheese Loaf

Ingredients:

2 Cups of reduced-fat cheddar cheese
2 Cups cooked lentils (see packaging for cooking instructions)
1/2 Cup onion
1/4 Tsp pepper
1/4 Tsp dried thyme
1/2 Cup breadcrumbs
1/2 Cup Pepperidge Farm herb stuffing, crushed
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 Tbsp butter
2-3 Tbsp pasta sauce + extra for topping
*You can substitute tomato sauce for the topping if you like

Preheat oven 350°. Mix all ingredients together except for extra pasta sauce/tomato sauce used for the topping.

Transfer to a loaf pan coated with nonstick cooking spray. Cover and bake for 45 mins.

Heat extra pasta sauce/tomato sauce and add on top of loaf.



I have to say that this recipe was very simple. Definitely something you can make ahead of time and just pop in the oven.

I served the Lentils and Cheese Loaf with a side salad and bread.

Honey Mustard Rosemary Chicken with Vegetables

A really cool thing I learned about honey is that it is hygroscopic or attracts water. So when using honey in a recipe, foods will keep their moisture longer.

In this recipe the vegetables and chicken are cooked together with honey, therefore they tend to retain their moisture, instead of drying out.

I normally do not use bone-in chicken for this recipe, but Harris Teeter had an amazing deal last week for split-chicken breasts ($1 a pound). This recipe is good with chicken breasts (boneless or bone-in) and chicken thighs.

Honey Mustard Rosemary Chicken with Vegetables

Ingredients:

2-3 lbs chicken (remove skin if applicable)
1 Baking potato, peeled and cut into wedges
1 Large carrot, chopped
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and chopped
1/4-1/2 Onion, sliced
4 or more whole garlic cloves, skins removed
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Sprigs rosemary
4 Tbsp mustard
2 Tbsp honey
salt and pepper to taste



Preheat oven to 425°.

In a large bowl toss vegetables and fruit with oil, salt and pepper. Pour vegetable mix into a 9 X 13 baking dish. Arrange garlic cloves throughout the vegetables and top with rosemary.

Arrange chicken pieces on top of vegetable/fruit mixture and bake uncovered for 30 minutes.

Combine mustard and honey.

Remove chicken from baking dish and stir vegetable/fruit mixture. Place chicken back on top of mixture and coat with honey mustard.

Return to oven and continue to cook for 10-20 minutes or until chicken is cooked thru.


This is really a meal in itself, so I chose not to serve an additional side just some bread.

*Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by Shenandoah Growers Organic Fresh Herbs.

Creamy Vegetable Bow Ties

If you want an easy nutritious side dish to serve your family, try this Creamy Vegetable Bow Ties recipe.

I really used whatever vegetables I had on hand so you can customize it to your family's likes.

My oldest son asked if he could please have this creamy pasta for lunch at school tomorrow, yay!

Creamy Vegetable Bow Ties

Ingredients:

1/4 Box bow tie pasta, cooked
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tsp oregano
1/2 Tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 Tsp garlic powder
2 Cups fresh vegetable of your choice, chopped (I used carrots, green beans, mushrooms, and broccoli)
1 Fresh tomato, chopped
4-5 Tbsps low fat cottage cheese or ricotta
Salt and pepper to taste
Grated Parmesan cheese for topping

Prepare pasta according to package, drain and set to the side.

Heat oil in skillet over low heat and add oregano, italian seasoning, and garlic powder. Cook for about 2 mins.

Turn heat to medium and add all vegetables except tomato. Saute until vegetables are tender.

Add cooked pasta, cottage cheese and fresh tomato, heating thru for about 3 mins. Continue to stir until cheese has melted. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve and sprinkle each individual serving with parmesan cheese.

This was a great side dish, but would make a light vegetarian main dish as well.

For this particular night I served this pasta along side Refried Bean Taquitos and Broccoli and Cheese.