Fitter Fave Foods - Hamburger Stroganoff

Around my house, I used to cook a lot of Hamburger Helper. Husband loved it and it was fast when we were running short on time for dinner, etc. However, in an effort to eat a little bit better and to eat less boxed dinners, I have been trying to find some super delicious homemade ways to make them instead. Last weekend, nothing was sounding good so I whipped up the one box of helper that I had left in my pantry...the flavor? Beef Stroganoff which was one of husband's favorites....I say was because well...

it was disgusting. 

One bite in and my husband said "You should get mom's stroganoff recipe to make. it's really good" and I knew I would never make boxed stroganoff ever again. Challenge accepted. Now, normally, I would do exactly that and just get her recipe to redeem myself but she is on a very well-deserved vacation and I was not about to call her about something as silly as a recipe! :) So, I did a little research and tried to come up with one to make on my own. Risky...but I did it. I was trying to find something that could be "(almost) as good as momma's" but kind of healthy to fit in to our healthier eating plan. The recipe I made was based off of a Cooking Light recipe, found here. (I made quite a few changes to make it husband friendly-he doesn't like mushrooms so I left that our and added some Worcestershire sauce for flavor)

Homemade Hamburger Stroganoff

8 ounces egg noodles ( I went wrong here...I didn't have enough so I used just macaroni noodles.not as good!)

1 pound extra lean ground beef

2/3 cup finely diced onion

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 cup fat free beef broth (I used what I had on hand which was "Chef's Cupboard Beef Broth" from Aldi

3/4 cup fat free sour cream

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

• Cook pasta according to package directions. Rinse under cold water and drain. Set aside. 
• Brown beef in non stick skillet over medium high heat until brown. Add onion and garlic to pan and cook for about 4 minutes or until most of the liquid evaporates.
• Sprinkle beef with the flour and cook 1 minutes; stirring constantly.
• Stir in broth and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes or until slightly thick. Add salt and pepper to taste
• Remove from heat and stir in sour cream. Toss sauce with pasta and serve. 

I served this with some fresh roasted carrots (other recipe in next post) and all in all, it was a hit. I think where I went wrong was the noodles. While the elbow macaroni were fine, it is just one of those things where this tastes better with egg noodles so I will be sure and do that in the future. I also think you could get away with using less hamburger here...like even 1/2 pound instead and save the other half for another meal. This dish makes a LOT and even though Husband and I ate probably more than we should have, we still have more than plenty left over for me to have for lunch today and probably tomorrow. If you are cooking for just two people, you might even half this recipe if you aren't big on eating leftovers (Husband is not).

Turns out cooking homemade is just as fast as making the "convenient boxed stuff" and the taste is no comparison. Lesson learned!!