Sausage Stroganoff

If you've read my blog for any length of time you must know by now that in our house, sausage is king. We love sausage in pretty much any shape or form. So, when I decided to do a stroganoff today for dinner it shouldn't surprise you all that much that it was sausage that I reached for, instead of lean ground beef or ground turkey. I don't have step-by-step photos, alas, because I was preoccupied with taking photos of my preschooler parading around in my high heels (yes! really!), but I do have an end result photo. This dish isn't all that healthy but it is comfort food at its finest. And after a rough couple of weeks (I've just been really swamped both at home and work), I needed some major comfort food.

Sausage Stroganoff
16 oz. egg noodles, cooked per package instructions
1 pound Italian sausages, casings removed
3/4 cup diced onion
2 4 oz. cans mushrooms, drained
1 cup light sour cream
Splash of wine (I used Riesling)

Spray a nonstick pan with cooking spray. Add the onions and sausages. Break up the sausages into chunks. Cook the onions and sausages until the meat is cooked thoroughly. Add the mushrooms and sour cream. Stir. Add the egg noodles to the pan, followed by a splash of white wine, if necessary. I added this because the noodles were a bit on the dry side. You can sprinkle with parsley, if you like. This would actually make it taste pretty good, I think!



Et voila!

It tasted really good. My middle child had three - count em, THREE! - servings. He loved it. As I said, sausage is well loved in my house.

Beef Stroganoff

A couple of days ago my dad gave me some mushrooms he wasn't going to be able to use up before they went bad. I instantly thought of stroganoff (I had been craving it for a week or so). I had half an onion and a tub of sour cream in my refrigerator that were in the same predicament as dad's mushrooms.

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 1/4 cups sour cream
1-2 cups sliced mushrooms
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 cup beef broth (I made from bouillon)
16 oz. package pasta



Chop the onions. You can also slice them; it just depends upon how you like them in your stroganoff.



Put the ground beef, mushrooms, and onions in a skillet. Add the garlic powder.



Then, add the mustard.



See? All happy in the pan.



Break up the meat and brown it.



While the meat is browning, combine the sour cream and the beef broth.



The ground beef is browned, so put the sour cream/broth mixture into the skillet.



Once the water is boiling, add the pasta. You can use whatever pasta you have on hand. I only had rigatoni but normally I'd use egg noodles or rotini. Also, you won't use all of this pasta so you can either cook half a bag or do what I did: put the cooked pasta in a freezer bag to be added to a dish later (soup or stew).



Simmer the stroganoff sauce until it has thickened nicely.



Add a tablespoon or so of dried parsley if you feel like it.



Serve with a salad and you have a nice, quick dinner!

Chicken Stew

I found a recipe similar to this on the Kraft Foods website. I modified it to fit our taste buds.

Ingredients:
2 lbs. chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, cut into bite-sized pieces
16 small red potatoes, halved
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can full of milk
1/2 cup Italian dressing
16 oz. bag frozen mixed vegetables
sour cream



Put the chicken into a dutch oven to sauté. (Next time I'll do this in batches so they'll brown.)



After the chicken is cooked, add the potatoes.



Next, add the Italian dressing.



Add one can cream of chicken soup (contrary to what is pictured in the ingredients photo).



Pour milk into the can and then put it into the dutch oven.



Now, add the mixed vegetables.



Mix together, bring to a boil, then simmer for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.



Add about three tablespoonfuls of sour cream. Stir to incorporate into the soup.



Serve with biscuits!



This soup was very good and a bit reminiscent of tom ka gai (Thai chicken soup). I will definitely make this again!