Paprika Beef Stroganoff

I happened upon this recipe on a night when I didn't have a meal planned. I had beef, onions, peppers, mushrooms, sour cream, Worcestershire and the spices needed when I started thumbing through old issues of Light and Tasty. This was a perfect fit for what I already had on hand and it turned out to be a tasty, low-fat meal.

The recipe calls for 2 lbs of boneless beef top round steak. I used this can of beef. Check out the beef canning process here. The canned beef just saved me a step and provided a more tender alternative.


Saute the onions and peppers until tender.


Now add the mushrooms and cooked beef. Cook another 3-4 minutes.



The sauce ingredients: beef broth, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, prepared mustard, paprika, bay leaf, dried thyme, and pepper. In my opinion, the thyme didn't do this recipe any favors. I'd leave it out next time.


Mix the sauce ingredients together.


Add the sauce to the beef and veggie mixture. The recipe instructs to bring to a boil and then cover and simmer until the beef is tender. Since my canned beef is already tender, I brought the mixture to a boil and then simmered until the egg noodles that I served with the mixture were cooked.


Now mix flour with 1/4 cup of beef broth. Add to the Stroganoff. Return the mixture to a boil and then cook and stir for about 2 minutes, until thickened.


It wouldn't be Stroganoff without sour cream. Add 1 cup of reduced fat or fat free sour cream. Remove from heat and stir until the sour cream is incorporated into the Stroganoff mixture.


Serve this savory Stroganoff over egg noodles.


Paprika Beef Stroganoff from Light and Tasty Magazine

2 pounds boneless beef top round steak, cut into thin strips
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons canola oil, divided
1 large onion, sliced
1 large green pepper, cut into strips
1/2 pound sliced fresh mushrooms
1-1/4 cups reduced-sodium beef broth, divided
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
3/4 cup sherry or additional reduced-sodium beef broth
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
2 teaspoons paprika
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 package (12 ounces) yolk-free noodles
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup (8 ounces) reduced-fat sour cream

In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, cook beef in 1 tablespoon
oil until no longer pink; drain and set aside. In the same skillet, saute
onion and green pepper in remaining oil for 1 minute. Stir in mushrooms; cook for
3-4 minutes or until tender. Stir in 1 cup broth, tomato sauce, sherry or
additional broth, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, paprika, bay leaf, thyme and
pepper. Return beef to the pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer
for 40-50 minutes or until meat is tender. Cook noodles according to package
directions. Meanwhile, combine flour and remaining broth until smooth; gradually
stir into beef mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until
thickened. Discard bay leaf. Remove from the heat; stir in sour cream until
blended. Drain noodles; serve with stroganoff.

One serving: 3/4 cup stroganoff with 1 cup noodles Calories: 414 Fat: 10 g Saturated Fat: 3 g Cholesterol: 74 mg Sodium: 360 mg Carbohydrate: 42 g Fiber: 4 g Protein: 36 g Diabetic Exchange: 3 lean meat, 2-1/2 starch, 1 vegetable, 1 fat.

WW points: 8 points per serving

Zippy Chicken Soup

Need to warm up on a cold winter night? This Southwestern style Zippy Chicken Soup will do the trick. It's the perfect follow up to last night's New Mexico-Style Pizza, because you can use the rest of the chicken, corn, and cilantro, and cheese from the pizza recipe.

Let's do a little chopping. First seed and finely chop a jalapeno pepper, then two tablespoons of cilantro, and finally, 1/2 lb. of chicken breast.




Here they are, all ready to go, the chopped cilantro and jalapeno, diced tomatoes, rinsed black beans, and chopped green chilies.

Now, put the chicken in the pot.

Dump in the tomatoes, black beans, green chilies, cilantro, cumin, and chili powder.

Oh yeah, and corn. I forgot the corn. 2 cups of frozen corn.

And now pour in the broth. Then bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Combine cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of broth and stir until smooth.

Add the cornstarch mixture to the soup and cook and stir for another couple of minutes until thickened.

Lookin' good....

All right, now ladle it up and top with some corn chips, sour cream, and a little cheese. Quick (must be why they call it "zippy") and easy, low in fat and calories, and most importantly, delicious!


My preparation methods varied a little from the recipe below, but the ingredients are the same. Reminds me of high school math class. As long as you get the right answer and show your work, you'll get it right.

Zippy Chicken Soup from Light and Tasty Magazine

1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth, divided
2 cups frozen corn
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (10 ounces) diced tomatoes and green chilies, undrained
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
3 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon cornstarch
18 tortilla chips
Shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend, optional

In a large nonstick saucepan or Dutch oven coated with cooking spray, cook chicken
over medium heat for 4-6 minutes or until juices run clear. Set aside 2
tablespoons of broth; add remaining broth to pan. Stir in the corn, beans,
tomatoes, jalapeno, cilantro, chili powder and cumin. Bring to a boil. Reduce
heat; simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Combine the cornstarch and reserved
broth until smooth; stir into soup. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes
or until thickened. Top each serving with tortilla chips. Garnish with cheese if
desired.

Yield: 6 servings

One serving: 1-1/3 cups with 3 tortilla chips (calculated without cheese) Calories: 194 Fat: 2 g Saturated Fat: 0 g Cholesterol: 24 mg Sodium: 752 mg Carbohydrate: 29 g Fiber: 5 g Protein: 17 g Diabetic Exchange: 2 starch, 2 very lean meat.

WW Points per serving: 3! Just 3!

New Mexico Style Pizza

My husband and I fell in love with New Mexican food about 6 or 7 years ago while visiting my sister who was living outside of Albuquerque at the time. On the first morning of our visit my sister and her husband took us to the Village of Corrales, to the Calico Cafe where the waitress inquired whether we would like our eggs with green chile sauce, red chile sauce, or "Christmas" style (both sauces). One taste of those chile sauces and we were hooked. Corrales is a charming little village with some artsy shops (pottery, jewelry, copper, etc.) and good food. So if you're ever in Albuquerque....

A couple of years later we managed to find a New Mexico style restaurant by our townhouse in Columbus, Ohio. Of all the places to find New Mexican cuisine. I was pregnant with our first daughter at the time and I craved that stuff. Heartburn be damned!

Then, last weekend as we road-tripped back to Indiana, I lounged in the passenger seat perusing recipes for the meal plan. I was staring at this recipe, trying to make up my mind when I heard,"Oh. New Mexico-style pizza!" My husband was looking at the recipe (and driving) He sounded pretty excited about the possibility, so I added it to the "maybe" pile. I'm always happy to change up our Friday night pizza routine, and this recipe quickly went from "maybe" to "definitely". I am NOT sorry. This pizza was absolutely delicious. I am exercising a great deal of restraint to not get up for another piece as I sit here typing about it.

The recipe calls for a pre-baked thin Italian bread shell crust. I forgot to grab one of these at the store this afternoon, so I rolled out a tube of Pillsbury Thin Crust Pizza dough onto a baking sheet and pre-baked it at 425 degrees for 6-8 minutes.


Next I mixed up the sauce. Actually, my daughter mixed up the sauce, I just measured the ingredients for her. Here they are: salsa verde, lime juice, cumin, oregano, and salt.



The recipe also calls for 2 cups of shredded, cooked chicken breast. At about 5 pm tonight, I was 3 aisles from finished with my big bi-monthly grocery shopping trip. I realized that by the time that I filled my list, waited in the Friday-night- before-Super Bowl check out lines, loaded the car, drove home, unloaded the car, and put all of those groceries away...there was no way I was going to have time to cook chicken breast, assemble and bake a pizza, and keep two small children happy. So I bee-lined for the deli and tossed this into my cart. That's right, a rotisserie chicken. And let me tell ya, the pizza was better for it. That rotisserie chicken was so flavorful and tender and juicy that it made an excellent topping for this pizza.

I shredded the breast for the pizza and saved the drumsticks and the thighs for any picky children who might decide that mommy's new take on Friday night pizza was "not her cup of tea"


I sliced 3 green onions.



Spread the salsa verde sauce onto the pizza crust


and topped the pizza with the chicken, green onions, 1/2 cup of corn, and cheddar cheese.


Bake at 450 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of minced fresh cilantro.


Serve it up with some sour cream. Please. Try it. You will NOT be sorry.


New Mexico-Style Pizza from Light and Tasty Magazine

1 prebaked thin Italian bread shell crust (10 ounces)
1-1/2 cups salsa verde
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
6 tablespoons fat-free sour cream

Place crust on a pizza pan or baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine the salsa
verde, lime juice, cumin, salt and oregano; spread over crust. Top with chicken,
corn, onions and cheese. Bake at 450° for 8-10 minutes or until heated
through and cheese is melted. Sprinkle with cilantro. Serve with sour cream.

Yield: 6 slices.

One serving: 1 slice with 1 tablespoon sour cream Calories: 285 Fat: 7 g Saturated Fat: 2 g Cholesterol: 45 mg Sodium: 923 mg Carbohydrate: 32 g Fiber: 2 g Protein: 23 g Diabetic Exchange: 2 starch, 2 very lean meat, 1 fat.
WW Points per serving: 6

Wild Beef and Rice Medley

Just seeing if you all are paying attention. This is actually the post for Beef and Wild Rice Medley. Now, I've seen a steer go wild, and I've heard of a mad cow, but I'm pretty sure that you'd be hard pressed to find cattle that have not been intentionally bred, herded, and cared for in some way...even way out on "the range". I promise that I didn't venture into the Ohio Wilderness in camo and drag this beef back to my house. So it's wild rice, not wild beef tonight. Moving on...

You've gotta love quick and easy one pot dinners. This recipe hit the spot on a cold January night and I got to use up some of the sirloin from my freezer.

I mixed the garlic powder, thyme, and cayenne pepper in a bowl.


Then I sprinkled the spices over 1 lb. of sirloin steak, cut into cubes. I cooked the steak in 1 tablespoon of oil until no longer pink.


While the steak sizzled, I chopped 1/4 cup of celery and julienned 1/4 cup of green pepper.


Toss the veggies in the skillet and cook for another 2 minutes.


Now for the hard part... dump in 1 package of wild rice mix, the seasoning packet, and the water. Whew. I almost broke a sweat.



Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 23-28 minutes or until the rice is tender.


Once cooked, toss in a small diced tomato and stir until heated. You're also supposed to sprinkle with chopped green onion, which, in my opinion, would have been delicious. However, I walked right past the green onions at the corner store (on a mission for milk) not even an hour before I made this and thought to myself, "I'm sure I've still got green onions." I didn't. Oh well, please imagine this with the green onions.


Dig in!



Beef and Wild Rice Medley from Light and Tasty magazine
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 pound boneless beef sirloin steak, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/4 cup sliced celery
1/4 cup julienned green pepper
2-1/4 cups water
1 package (6 ounces) long grain and wild rice mix
1 small tomato, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped green onion

In a small bowl, combine the garlic powder, thyme and cayenne. Sprinkle over beef.
In a large saucepan coated with cooking spray, cook beef in oil until no longer
pink; drain. Stir in celery and green pepper; cook 2 minutes longer or until
vegetables are crisp-tender. Stir in the water and rice mix with contents of
seasoning packet. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 23-28
minutes or until rice is tender. Stir in tomato; heat through. Sprinkle with
onion.

Yield: 4 servings.
One serving: 1 cup Calories: 327 Fat: 10 g Saturated Fat: 2 g Cholesterol: 63 mg Sodium: 626 mg Carbohydrate: 33 g Fiber: 1 g Protein: 26 g Diabetic Exchange: 3 lean meat, 2 starch, 1/2 fat

WW points per serving: 7

Cheesy Potato Soup

I have a new favorite potato soup! I served this along with chili at my daughter's first birthday party. I thought it would be good to serve two soups to cater to a variety of tastes, plus I wanted to make sure that there would be enough food to go around. Let me just say that this soup put my chili to shame. Guests were scraping the bottom of the pot for this soup while the chili just simmered away. Not that the chili was bad...usually it goes over well...this soup was just that good.

Get your peeler ready! I start out by peeling and cutting up 5 cups of potatoes.


Add in the water and broth.


And the onion, carrot, and bouillon. Bring it to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer for 8-10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.


Now for the red pepper and celery. Throw em' in and simmer for another 6-8 minutes.


This step may throw some of you for a loop. Hey- I didn't say it was diet or healthy potato soup. It's cheesy and creamy and delicious. Keep telling yourself those things as you add a cup of mayonnaise.


And as you cube 8 oz. of process cheese. And while you measure 1 cup of shredded cheddar and 1/2 cup of shredded Swiss. Keep thinking, "Cheesy, cheesy, cheesy!" You won't be disappointed.


Finally, add the potato flakes and pepper and mix well. Then remove the soup from heat and let it stand for 15 minutes before serving.


Yummy! I generously sprinkled mine with some chopped green onions before eating every last little bit.


Potato Cheese Soup

4 cups water
2-1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
5 cups diced peeled potatoes
2 large carrots, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon granules or 1-1/2 vegetable bouillon cubes
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
1 large sweet red pepper, finely chopped
1 cup mayonnaise
8 ounces process cheese (Velveeta), cubed
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/4 cup mashed potato flakes
1/4 teaspoon pepper

In a Dutch oven, combine first six ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat;
simmer, uncovered, for 8-10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in
celery and red pepper; simmer for 6-8 minutes or until tender. Reduce heat to
low. Gradually stir in mayonnaise until blended. Add cheeses; stir until melted.
Add potato flakes and pepper; mix well. Remove from the heat; let stand for 15 minutes.

Makes 12 servings.

Nutritional information- Do you really wanna know? Well okay, but if you just want to enjoy your soup and skip the guilt, then stop reading here.

One serving: (1 cup) Calories: 341 Fat: 25 g Saturated Fat: 9 g Cholesterol: 44 mg Sodium: 749 mg Carbohydrate: 19 g Fiber: 2 g Protein: 10 g

8 WW points per serving.