Hamburger Stroganoff

Here's a major family favorite that my mom made a lot when I was growing up. It's a slightly different kind of stroganoff than what anybody else i know makes, but in our house we prefer this recipe over any other! Any stroganoff is good, in my book, but I have to admit that i do think this rendition is THE best. We'd eat it every week if we could!

1 pound ground beef/turkey
1 tsp. beef bouillon (for ground turkey)
--OR--
¾ tsp. salt (for ground beef)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. garlic powder
¼ tsp. pepper
1 can (8 oz.) mushrooms (liquid can be saved to brown meat in)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 bag (12 oz.) egg noodles, cooked
1 cup skim milk

DIRECTIONS:
In a large skillet, cook and stir the ground beef/turkey and onion with beef bouillon and mushroom liquid. Add water if needed. Cook until onion is tender and meat is done. Stir in flour, garlic powder, pepper, mushrooms, soup, milk, and sour cream. Heat through over medium-low heat and serve over hot egg noodles.

HEALTHY TIPS:
To make this meal a little bit healthier, I typically use fat free sour cream and Healthy Request soup to cut down on fat content. Ground turkey tends to be leaner than beef, and I honestly don't notice a difference in taste. I also get the yolk-free egg noodles. And the last time I made this, I used whole wheat flour instead of white. It didn't taste any different, and it hardly even looked any different.

OH BOY...waffles!

Here's some amazingly good waffles (you can NOT eat enough of these things) that are also quite healthy. It is the ONLY recipe I will ever use for waffles, because it truly is the best out there!

Oh Boy Waffles

Sift together the following:
4 tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. salt
1½ Tbsp. sugar
2¼ cups flour (I do ¼ cup wheat germ
½ cup whole wheat flour
1½ cups white flour)

Mix together separately:
2 eggs, beaten
2¼ cups milk
½ cup salad oil

DIRECTIONS:
Add wet ingredients all at once to dry ingredients, beating only until moistened. Bake in a preheated waffle iron (mine only takes a few minutes but each iron is different so keep an eye on it!) Sometimes it helps to using cooking spray on the iron the first couple times to prevent the batter from sticking. Makes 10-12 waffles. I always double the recipe and freeze leftover waffles to heat up in the toaster or microwave later (who needs Eggo's?!) You can also refrigerate batter for a few days and cook the rest later.

the best chicken recipe ever!

ok, i made this last nite so i figured i should share. it's an old family classic that everyone LOVES when they try it for the first time. a couple years ago our small group went on a camping trip for mother's day weekend, and this was one of the things we grilled at our campsite. one of our friends, upon tasting the chicken, declared that it was "sexy chicken"...and so the name has stuck, at least in OUR house.

SEXY CHICKEN

1 package boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 Tbsp. oil
4 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. honey
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
3 whole cloves
1 dash of pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Cut chicken into finger-type strips about 1 inch wide. This marinade is enough for 3-4 chicken breasts, so multiply proportions as needed. You can marinate for as little as a couple hours, but the longer the meat sits in this mixture the more flavorful and moist it will be. Letting it sit overnight is really the best. Cook the chicken on low heat (gas grill) about 3 minutes per side, twice. Cook until chicken does not feel limp anymore. If you are using a charcoal grill, you have to move things faster and keep the meat as high off the flame as possible to avoid burning it.

NOTE:
This recipe has been done in the oven and it does NOT come out the same. However, I just did this recipe last nite on the George Foreman grill and it was just as good as it is on the real grill. I also used breast tenderloins that were sliced very thin, so they cooked within a couple minutes and weren't dry at all! They barely marinated for 5-10 minutes, but since they were thin the flavor was still good. So you have options on the meat if you don't feel like cutting chicken tenders or don't have the time!

ENJOY!!!!