Lightened Up Crockpot Stroganoff

When my brother and I were little, our dad lived on a boat. It wasn't a huge boat, but it was an awesome boat! We went back and forth to the Channel Islands. We jumped off the top of it, gauging the swells as they rocked the boat back and forth. We watched Police Academy movies, versions 1 through 197. We listened to gulls, we watched the fog roll in, we played cards and we ate stroganoff. 

Stroganoff was about all my dad cooked, and he made it from a Hamburger Helper box, and he called it Pop Slop, but we loved it. I've been making several non-box versions of stroganoff for years, but this one is particularly good. And it's a lot lighter than a lot of other recipes, but keeps all of the creamy, rich sauce - the best part of the meal!

Lightened Up Crockpot Stroganoff - adapted from years of practice and Cooking Light
Prep time - 20 minutes. Cooking time - 7 hours
Serves 4-6

1 pound bottom round steak sliced thin (I found meat sliced for Carne Asada works great and it's already sliced thin)
1 cup chopped onion
12 ounces chopped mushrooms, about 3 cups
1/4 cup chopped parsley, plus more for garnishing
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon dried dill
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 cups liquid - I use a combination of red wine and beef stock
1/2 cup sour cream
1 pound cooked egg noodles

Slice meat, mushrooms, onions, parsley and garlic. Add everything to the crockpot. 




In a small bowl mix liquids (if you don't want to use wine, just use more liquid) and mustard. Pour over the meat and veggie mixture and sprinkle on dried dill, salt, pepper and flour. 

Stir everything to combine.

Cook on low heat for 7 hours. Turn off the crockpot and let the meat mixture sit for 10 minutes. Stir in sour cream and more salt, pepper and parsley if needed.

Serve over hot cooked egg noodles and enjoy!

This is another great recipe for cooking ahead on weekends to prep for busy work weeks. I love being able to start a meal before lunch, enjoy the day and have a nice meal ready in the evening!

My tiny gentleman loved this meal too. He's a good eater as it is, but rich and creamy noodles is totally his thing. 

Things made this time last year…
Faux Pho

Homemade Chewy Granola Bars

Zucchini Chips with Dill Tzatziki

Recipe REMAKE...Braised Beef Short Ribs

What is not to love about a piece of beef short rib that falls off the bone and melts in your mouth?  I mean…really!  I decided to modify my Beef Short Ribs over Penne recipe and just make the short ribs for Christmas day.  I was over turkey and ham after Thanksgiving so I wanted to do something different that was sure to please.  And, IT DID!

The slight modifications involved adding veggies.  I added carrots and celery to the braising liquid to add more flavor and substance.  Unlike the other recipe, I did not shred the meat after cooking and did not serve it over pasta.  Actually, I picked all of the spare ribs out of the pot, and spooned the veggie mixture over the short ribs to keep them moist.  Then I added a desired amount of cooking liquid.  These were a great addition to our Christmas meal!  It just goes to show you how one recipe can be used in different ways.  Get creative in the kitchen NPC-ers!

Braised Beef Short Ribs

Ingredients:

4lbs beef short ribs

salt and pepper

¼ c olive oil

1 large onion, diced

1c chopped celery

1c chopped carrots

3 cloves garlic, minced

6 whole, peeled, canned San Marzano tomatoes

1c red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon

3 tbsp Dijon mustard

2c beef stock

1 tsp crushed red pepper

Place an oven rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven.  Preheat oven to 350F.

Season ribs generously with salt and pepper.  In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  In batches, add ribs and brown on all sides (about 8-10 mins).  Remove ribs and set aside.  Add the tomatoes, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic.  Cook, stirring frequently for 2 mins.  Add the wine and mustard.  Bring mixture to a boil and scrape up brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Return ribs to pan.  Add stock, stir gently, and cover the pan and place in oven for 2 hrs until meat is fork-tender and easily falls off the bone.

Note: I slightly reduced the cooking time from the pasta recipe.  I wanted them to be tender but not quite falling off the bone since the short ribs were not going to be shredded.  Feel free to cook longer if desired.

Remove ribs from the cooking liquid and place in a large serving dish.  Using a slotted spoon, scoop veggies out of cooking liquid and pour over short ribs.  Season with salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste.

Recommendation: Make these with mashed potatoes and pour some of the cooking liquid over the beef and potatoes.  Oh my gosh, YUM!

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Hi everyone!  I’m back!  Antoinette, that is :).  Thank you all for bearing with me while we reduced the number of recipes that the NPC team posted.  It was really helpful to me after the birth of my daughter on November 13^th.  I am pleased to say that we are both healthy and happy!  Now, I’m finally ready to get back to cooking.  Being a mom is hard work!

One of the first meals I made as a new mom was this Slow Cooker Pot Roast.  I obviously needed something that was super quick and hands off since I was taking care of a newborn.  This was perfect.  It’s one of those dishes where you just throw everything in the slow cooker and let it do the work!  How can you go wrong?

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Ingredients:

Salt

Pepper

Cooking spray

1 chuck roast

4-5 red potatoes

2 large carrots

3 celery stalks

1 small onion

1 package onion soup mix

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 tbsp minced garlic

¼ c water

Season roast with salt and pepper.  Heat a large skillet over high heat.  Spray pan with cooking spray.  Sear  (brown) roast on all sides.  Set aside.

Tip: Browning meat seals the exterior and keeps it juicy during the long cooking process.

Chop red potatoes, carrots, celery, and onion into large chunks.  Add to slow cooker.  Sprinkle veggies with salt, pepper, rosemary and half of a package of onion soup mix.  Add minced garlic. 

Place seared roast on top of veggies and sprinkle with remaining onion soup mixture.  Pour water over roast. 

Cook on high heat for 6 hours or to desired doneness.  Beef should pull apart easily with a fork.

Braised Beef Short Ribs over Penne

I’m somewhat of a short rib fiend.  No…seriously.  If I go to a restaurant and they have any form of short ribs on the menu, then I’m probably ordering it.  Obviously, it’s not something you can indulge in very often since red meat is loaded in saturated fat, but red meat also has iron, which is important for all of us.  AND…since I’m pregnant, I can use iron as an excuse to have just a few more beef short ribs than usual :)

As many times as I have had beef short ribs at restaurants, I have never actually made it myself.  So, I looked for a recipe online.  Lo and behold, I found Giada’s short ribs over penne.  The reviews were great, and the ingredients sounded intriguing, so I didn’t look any further.  Giada never lets me down!  I did make some slight modifications to her recipe, but overall, it doesn’t require any changes.  My version is just a little more simple to make, which I’m sure you’ll appreciate.

Braised Beef Short Ribs over Penne

*slightly modified from Giada de Laurentiis

4lbs beef short ribs

salt and pepper

¼ c olive oil

1 large onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

6 whole, peeled, canned San Marzano tomatoes

1c red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon

3 tbsp Dijon mustard

2c beef stock

1 tsp crushed red pepper

1lb penne pasta

¼ c grated Parmesan

¼ c chopped fresh parsley

Place an oven rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven.  Preheat oven to 350F.

Season ribs with salt and pepper.  In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  In batches, add ribs and brown on all sides (about 8-10 mins).  Remove ribs and set aside.  Add the tomatoes, onion, and garlic.  Cook, stirring frequently for 2 mins.  Add the wine and mustard.  Bring mixture to a boil and scrape up brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Return ribs to pan.  Add stock, cover the pan and place in oven for 2 hrs and 15 mins or until meat is fork-tender and easily falls off the bone.

Tip: Make sure to use a plastic or wooden spoon to scrape up the brown bits so you don’t scratch the bottom of your pan.

Remove ribs from the cooking liquid.  Remove the meat from the bones and discard the bones.  Using 2 forks, shred the meat to desired thickness.  Stir the shredded meat into the sauce.  Season with salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste.

Modification: Here’s where I made a big change.  Giada’s recipe calls for a smooth sauce.  After removing the ribs, she puts the sauce in a food processor and then returns it to the pan.  I thought this was too much work and unnecessary.  I don’t mind some lovely chunks of tomatoes and onions in my sauce.  Once you stir back in the short ribs, it works perfectly.

In a large pot, cook pasta until al dente.  Fill serving bowls with pasta.  Top with shredded short ribs, grated Parmesan, and chopped parsley.

This was truly a restaurant-quality dish.  Save this one for a nice Sunday dinner or when you’re entertaining friends and you want to show off a bit.  It also is a little time consuming since braising is a slow-cooking method.  If you make extra, it warms up wonderfully so you can take portions to work for lunch throughout the week. 

Bon Appetite!!!

Thai Basil Meatballs and Mango Coconut Rice

I have really good friends. Like amazing friends! I got this recipe from my dear Jenny. We grew up together. We've been friends since we were but a glimmer in our parent's eyes. We've been through wonderful times, hard times, the best of times and some truly un-fun times. She is in my heart all the time. I only hope that I can help my tiny tot find and keep friends like this. Jenny's latest gift of friendship... meatballs. 

These meatballs are tangy, a little bit spicy (and I upped the spicy because we are into spicy and spicier) and totally flavor-filled. Coconut rice is not sweet, but the mango adds some juicy sweetness that the green onion balances out. I made up a quick cucumber salad and made a whole meal. 

Thai Basil Meatballs - recipe compliments of my dearest Jenny
Preheat oven to 400 degrees

1 pound of ground meat (I used 1/2 pound of ground pork and 1/2 pound ground beef)
4 cloves of garlic - minced
1 egg
1/2 roasted red pepper, chopped (I used jarred roasted red peppers)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1 lime zested, and half juiced
3 tablespoons flour

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Add minced garlic, egg, red pepper, soy sauce, fish sauce (fish sauce does not taste fishy! It's not gross either!) Sriracha, basil, lime zest and juice to a large bowl. Mix well. Whisk in flour. 

Add ground meat and using your hands, mix everything together until well combined.

Form into smallish meatballs (I got 20 meatballs out of one pound of meat.; each meatball was about 1 1/2 tablespoons) and place on a parchment lined, rimmed baking pan.

Bake 30 minutes or until internal temp reaches at least 145 for pork/beef mixture or 160 if you use ground chicken or turkey.

The original recipe called for 2 pounds of meat, but I cut it in half since it was just the two of us. 1 pound of meat fed two really good eaters a nice dinner and made a great lunch for me the next day.  

Coconut Mango Rice - recipe from Budget Bytes
1 1/2 cups dry jasmine rice
1 3/4 cups light coconut milk (1 15oz can)
1 cup of water
1 large clove minced garlic
dash of salt
1/2 cup chopped mango (I used frozen chunks that I diced)
1/2 cup chopped fresh green onion


Rinse rice well. Add rice, coconut milk, water, garlic and salt to a sauce pan with a cover. Bring to a full boil and then reduce to the lowest flame your stove has and cover. Let rice simmer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes turn the flame off and let the rice rest for 10 minutes. Stir in mango and onion while you fluff the rice.

**Update - I've been skipping the garlic and salt in this rice, and I like it better without those two ingredients. 

This was a totally new dinner to us and it's going in the rotation! It was delicious. I am going to try ground turkey next - and I'm going to experiment with coconut oil versus coconut milk to make the rice. I had a taster bite at Trader Joes using coconut oil and it was great. I like the calorie savings with the light coconut milk so I'll do some calorie math before I change it up. I hope you all like this one as much as we did!