MPM--Healthy by Mistake Edition

Despite my cold, I actually got a lot of cooking done last week. I had borrowed How to Cook Everything Vegetarian from the library, Mark Bittman's followup to the book that taught me to cook.

I also did my pre-Thanksgiving-dinner (turkey breast, stuffing, cranberry sauce, etc.) for the church (and us). In a moment of inspiration and meat on sale (unlike the turkey--see below), I got the stuff for my favorite crock pot stroganoff, which replaced the chicken roll-ups. Since it can't be easier, I included the recipe below.

Rachael Ray's turkey shepherd's pie was a hit again, which was somewhat of a surprise, since I was sick and not paying attention. I only bought 1 lb of ground turkey (just as well, it was expensive) instead of the 2 the recipe calls for. So I thought I'd do some extra carrots and onions. I chopped them in the food processor (I was sick and looking for shortcuts). They were so little, they didn't look like enough, so I added more. Because they were chopped, my boys couldn't pick them out of the main dish, as they have sometimes been known to do. But they still enjoyed the flavor, and ate enough for dessert. (Well, one did, anyway. The little one is on a real strike here.) I also have a stuffy nose and added more pepper and Worcestershire than usual. Still a huge hit overall, and even healthier with the extra veggies. Bonus.

Meals for this week:

Monday: Asian Turkey Burgers that I never got to last week (recipe from Dinners By Design; I'll post it if they are good), salad, rice, carrots of unknown recipe (I have some cool rainbow ones from the CSA that I'm trying to do justice to), salad

Tuesday: freezer meal. Probably Trader Joe's flatbread, salad, and maybe the little veggie dumplings. Yum.

Wednesday: Pre-Thanksgiving fast. Kidding! Leftovers, though, as I'll be getting ready for the next day.

Thursday: Thanksgiving. I'm in charge of carrot mousse and a veggie TBD...and a birthday cake for my husband! He wants a chocolate chip cake. Any suggestions for recipes would be appreciated. For the TBD veggie, I'm toying with creamed spinach...though I seem to recall that wasn't a hit last time someone brought it. I'm also considering these brussels sprouts from 101 Cookbooks, or possibly her pumpkin salad recipe since I have a spare pumpkin from my CSA hanging around here, or maybe even her green beans with leeks since I love leeks, and who is eating the vegetables anyway, and don't the brussels sprouts serve you right for dissing the creamed spinach?! I digress.

Friday: Not-leftover leftovers from Thanksgiving. And really, pizza for the boys and something yummy for us as I'll be taking my husband out for dinner for his birthday to an undisclosed location.

Crockpot recipe below. Have a good week and a happy Thanksgiving! For more meal planning ideas and inspiration, head over to OrgJunkie's!

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Easy Beef Stroganoff (adapted from Fix It and Forget It for Entertaining)

1 can Campbell's Cream of Mushroom (lowfat works fine too)
1 can Campbell's Beef Broth
2 lbs stew meat (beef chunks)
1 container mushrooms, sliced (optional) (or get the container of presliced mushrooms, that works too)
1 cup sour cream (lowfat works fine too)
1 bag egg noodles

Combine soups in crockpot. Add meat.
Cook on high for 3-4 hours. Add mushrooms.
Cook on low for 3-4 more hours.
When you are getting ready for dinner, cook the noodles according to package directions.
When you put the water on, stir in 1 cup of sour cream to crockpot.
When noodles are done, drain well and add to crockpot. (Note: if crockpot is small, start with half a package of noodles.)
Stir to mix, and serve.
Variation: the original recipe calls for only 1 lb of meat, but that always feels chintzy to me.
There might be healthier noodles you can use but I haven't found any that work well yet. If someone else has success let me know! Meanwhile, egg noodles were on a big sale this week so that was inspirational.