Easy One Dish Beef Stroganoff

I had bought a container of plain yogurt a few weeks back when I thought I needed it for a recipe. It turned out I didn't need it IN the recipe - it was for an optional dip that went along with the recipe. Oops - I didn't read that closely enough.

Since my husband and I are trying not to buy food we won't eat (we've had a problem with food wasting in the past), I knew I had to find a recipe to use the yogurt in before the expiration date.

Sure, there were tons of dip recipes available, but I wanted to use it in a main dish, and I came across this recipe right here. It fit the bill and all we needed was some steak because I actually had everything else in the house.

The only modification I made was using a beef bouillon cube instead of a can of beef broth since we didn't have that in the house and I didn't need it since I had the cubes. I also used sirloin steak instead of the beef top round steaks. (We honestly just bought whatever was on sale!)

This was a very, very easy recipe to prepare and I honestly think it took me about a half hour start to finish, so it is possible to make this after a day at work.

It turned out really well and both my husband and I enjoyed it immensely. We recommend it!

Ingredients:

3/4 pound boneless sirloin steak, 3/4 inches thick
1 (10.75 ounce) can Campbell's® Healthy Request® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 (14 ounce) can Swanson® Beef Broth (or 2 beef bouillon cubes)
1/2 cup water
1 medium onion, sliced
3 cups uncooked medium egg noodles
1/2 cup plain yogurt
Chopped fresh parsley (or dried parsley)

Directions:

Slice beef into very thin strips.

Cook beef in nonstick skillet until browned, stirring often. Remove beef.

Add soup, broth, water and onion. Heat to a boil.

Stir in noodles. Cook over low heat 10 minutes or until noodles are done, stirring often.

Stir in yogurt. Return beef to skillet and heat through. Garnish with parsley.

So easy - and with one dish too! Enjoy!

Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry with Whole Grain Rice!

So two weeks ago I received a coupon in the mail for a FREE (!!!) pouch of Uncle Ben's Ready Rice. I really love free products! (I digress). Anyway, with this coupon came a recipe for a beef & broccoli stir fry.

It used sirloin steak and scallions, but i just substituted ground beef and regular onions because, well, I had that in the house. (I could have bought the other ingredients when I went to get the rice but I didn't read the recipe all the way through! Ha! It still worked.)

Anyway, this recipe is QUICK. You can definitely make this after work for a nice, hearty and healthy dinner.

I'm going to post the original recipe with my substitutions in parentheses. This should honestly take no more than 15 minutes to make total. This recipe serves 4.

Ingredients:

1 pouch Uncle Ben's Ready Rice (I used the Whole Grain Medley. I guess you can use any rice but the beauty of this is how fast it cooks.)
2 cups broccoli florets, blanched (I actually did not blanch them, just left them as is)
1/2 pound beef sirloin steak, thinly sliced (I used 93% ground beef in thick chunks)
2 TBSP soy sauce
1 tsp minced garlic (or 2 cloves of garlic)
4 scallions, thinly sliced (I chopped up half of a small onion)
1/2 cup water

Directions:

In a large skillet, pour a dab of your favorite cooking oil and saute the beef until browned.

Add the garlic, scallions, broccoli and soy sauce - saute for 1 minute.

Squeeze the pouch to break apart the rice, then open the package and add the rice and 1/2 cup water to the skillet.

Cook until rice is hot and combined with the other ingredients.

Enjoy!!

Chicken, Sweet Potato and Apple Skillet

So, today's recipe comes to you from the place where I am employed. Every quarter, we get a company wide newsletter. It talks about what goes on in our two facilities in New York and North Carolina, has some random tidbits of information, news about employees, etc. Recently I noticed they have been including a recipe as well.

I am not sure who comes up with the recipes, or where they get them, but the one in April's newsletter seemed interesting.

It was for a chicken, sweet potato and apple skillet. I knew I would have to change it up a little because the original recipe (see picture below) called for bacon and brussels sprouts, two foods I do not eat. I figured I could substitute broccoli for brussels sprouts and just leave out the bacon entirely.


I also knew I would substitute green apples for the golden delicious because I only like green apples.

So, over the weekend I purchased the ingredients I didn't already have in the house and set about making this dish. In my opinion, unless you are a wiz at chopping and dicing, leave a good hour and a half for this recipe. I wouldn't make it after coming home from work! It was easy enough once everything was peeled, chopped and diced though.

I decided to make some whole wheat couscous to serve with the meal. In the end, it came out okay...I don't know if I let something cook a little too long or if it needed the bacon for the extra flavor...but to my husband and I, we really felt like it needed some sort of sauce. I know, I know. This was a recipe for heart health (or so said the recipe in the newsletter). But, it needed a little something extra. I'd really have to sit down and think about what I could put on top of it if I ever make it again.

So, here is the recipe that I used (the modified one) - enjoy! And if you make it, tell me your thoughts on what I can add to it!!

Ingredients:

1 LB boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2" cubes
4 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 cup broccoli florets
1 medium sweet potato (abt 8 oz) peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 3/4" cubes
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
1/8 tsp salt

Directions:

Season chicken lightly with salt and heat 2 teaspoons of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.

Add the chicken and cook until lightly browned and cooked through - about 5 minutes. Transfer to plate.

Return pan to heat and add remaining 2 teaspoons of oil. Add broccoli, sweet potato and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.


Stir in apples, garlic, thyme and cinnamon. Cook 3 minutes.


Pour in 1/2 cup of the broth, bring to a boil, and cook until evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add reserved chicken and remaining 1/2 cup broth.


Season with salt and black pepper as needed. Cook until hot, about 2 minutes.

Mandarin Chicken Skillet

I don't know if any of you watch Chopped on the Food Network, but we love that show over here. For those who don't know about it, the basic idea is there are 4 contestants to start. They each get a basic full of the same mystery ingredients and they need to cook an appetizer using all of the ingredients in the basket, plus anything else they want from the pantry area. The worst dish in the appetizer round gets chopped, and then the 3 remaining contestants get a new basket for the entree round. It then goes to 2 contestants for dessert and then one of them wins $10,000.

Well, it is always interesting to see the ridiculous items in each basket and what people do with them. I have actually learned about a lot of foods and techniques through this show.

But anyway, I sort of have to challenge myself now to use things that are in my pantry before they go bad. My husband and I have slowly been cleaning out every crevice of our house - kitchen cabinets included. I came across a few food items that I didn't even know we had, and I don't want to let them go to waste. Instead of combining all 4 into a dish (that probably would have been nasty), I took one item and just searched online for recipes using it. This ingredient was Mandarin Oranges in a can. Yeah, I know they are yummy on their own, but I wanted to use them.

I found THIS recipe on AllRecipes.com and thought it sounded good. I had to change it slightly though because 1) we had no broccoli in the house, 2) my husband isn't a huge mushroom fan, 3) we didn't have orange juice concentrate and 4) I later realized I didn't have chicken bouillon.

HAHA! At first I was like, um, why am I making this. Then, I figured out some substitutions, so I now present to you, Mandarin Chicken Skillet the A way.

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped asparagus spears (I used the frozen Trader Joe's spears I had)
1 tablespoon butter
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast meat - cubed
1 cup edamame
3 teaspoons flour
2/3 cup water
1 (11 ounce) can mandarin orange segments - reserve juice separately!
1/4 cup sliced green onion
splash of orange or citrus flavored vodka
1 tablespoon of a mixture of salt, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika **

** you could use 1 cup of chicken broth instead of this seasoned mixture.

Directions:

Steam asparagus and edamame for a few minutes - set aside.

Heat butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Saute chicken in butter until browned. Remove from skillet and set aside.


Stir in flour, water, mandarin orange juice and seasonings (or chicken broth). Heat to boiling.

Stir and simmer for 4 minutes. Return chicken and mushrooms to skillet and stir in orange segments, green onion, edamame and asparagus. Add the splash of vodka. Heat through and serve immediately.


This recipe makes about 4-6 servings.

My concoction actually came out pretty well! My husband really enjoyed it when he got home from work. I was quite pleased with myself.

We had some leftovers and I found that the best way to heat them is to put everything back into a covered skillet with a splash of water to let it heat up, instead of microwaving it.

Enjoy!