Stroganoff

Down to the bottom of the barrel as far as groceries go this weekend, yet I couldn't get my lazy butt to the store knowing that the minute I step outside I'd melt in the sweltering heat of 100 plus temperatures. Instead I came up with an oven/stove free recipe in which I did little to no work because lets face it, even with the a/c running full blast it was too hot to even think about cooking! And because my husband is such a great provider we had a freezer full of axis and whitetail to use up instead of beef (something of which I rarely have to buy), so instead of your typical beef stroganoff. I made venison stroganoff.

Crockpot Venison Stroganoff

Ingredients:
1 to 2 lbs of cubed venison (or beef)
1 small yellow or red onion (doesn't really matter)
1 small can of mushrooms
1 packet of onion soup mix
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup of flour
salt & pepper to taste
3 cups of egg noodles






Set crockpot to low, either 8 to 10 hours depending on your time needs.

1. Combine flour, salt and pepper in a shallow dish. Coat meat in flour mixture and place of bottom of crockpot.
2. Slice onion into medium thick rings or half rings and add to crockpot.
3. Open, drain and add mushrooms to crockpot.
4. Add soup and dry soup packet, gently stir together to cover the meat.
5. Once meat has browned to the bottom of the pot, mix all ingredients together freely scraping up the bits to add flavor, continue cooking and occasionally stirring.
6. 30 minutes prior to serving add the sour cream and continue cooking, while preparing the noodles.
7. Once noodles are done, plate and serve over the noodles. Garnish with parsley if you desire.

This turned out to be a super yummy dinner and while not heating up the house, the aroma of a home cooked meal was intoxicating. I would also go so far as to say this was a very healthy meal. Venison is known for being a much leaner meat than beef thus there was less fat. I always use 98% fat free creamed soups and light sour cream in all recipes and I have made the switch from flour pastas to whole wheat pastas of which the difference is unnoticeable. The sauce tastes great and is very rich, which means a smaller portion is all one can take of this meal. And smaller always means better in terms of overeating. I hope you and your family enjoy this meal as much as mine did.

*Picture is from cookinglight.com, I could never dream of taking such a great picture and if I had attempted to take a picture of this meal it would surely have looked like dog poo or vomit and non so appetizing.