"Healthy" Beef Stroganoff

I'll be the first person to admit that way too much of my money goes towards eating out. Sure - I'm a food blogger, but if there are no leftovers in the house - chances of me trucking home over the lunch hour to stand by my fridge and marvel at the (lack of) possibilities for noontime nosh? Slim to none. Everyone at my job is basically on a first-name basis with the Jimmy John's delivery man, the people at China Star shrink in fear when I show up with a list of orders in hand and I have been known to spend an ungodly amount of money for Noodles & Company. My current favorite? The beef stroganoff with braised beef. But you add in a drink with that, that's about $8. I could be spending that money on shoes. So I was particularly thrilled when I found this recipe the other day at EatBetterAmerica.com. It looks like my favorite beef stroganoff and it has to be a hell of a lot cheaper than eating out.

If you are wondering about the presentation of this dish, I am so showing off the awesome plate that my sister-in-law bought me at Gordman's. The entree itself falls under the "I taste really great, but I'm pretty homely" category, but I had to show off this awesome plate! Thanks Amanda! xoxo

"Healthified" Beef Stroganoff
adapted from EatBetterAmerica.com

1 1/2 lb boneless beef sirloin steak (**I used a medium sized sirloin ... a bit shy of a pound.)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion (1 large)
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
2 cups beef broth
4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 pkg sliced or whole button mushrooms
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
6 cups hot cooked medium egg noodles

First - take about a tablespoon of olive oil and saute your mushrooms in 12-inch nonstick skillet. Saute them until they are brown and then remove from heat. While your mushrooms are cooking, prep the other ingredients: Cut the beef with the grain into 2-inch strips, then cut the strips across the grain into 1/8-inch slices. Cook beef in skillet for 4 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until brown. Add onion and garlic to skillet; cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in 1 1/2 cups of the broth, the Worcestershire sauce, basil, salt and pepper. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is tender. In small bowl, mix flour and remaining 1/2 cup broth with wire whisk until blended. Add to skillet. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute.

Stir in mushrooms and ketchup; cook until thoroughly heated, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream until well blended. Serve over noodles. Garnish with fresh chopped chives if you have some in your garden that need to be utilized before the first frost.

NOTES SECTION: This recipe originally called for canned mushrooms, which I have come to determine taste like arse. So I substituted fresh ... I cut my own because I'm a martyr ... if you want to be even quicker, spend the extra 20 cents and get the pre-cut beauties. You will be a happy camper if you do.

Who out there is still chopping their onions and garlic by hand? (All of the foodies are raising their chef's knives ...) Here is my confession - I SUCK at chopping onions. Even worse at chopping garlic (unless you like substantial pieces of garlicky goodness in your food ...). So I've been using my grandma's small food chopper/processor when there's something that calls for an entire onion or more. Call me lazy ... for this recipe, I just tossed the garlic clove with my onion and gave it a couple rotations in the processor. Perfect!

FINALLY ... I don't know if it was because I'm at the end of my Worcestershire sauce or not, but DAMN my sauce had a kick to it that I wasn't entirely appreciative of. I wasn't a fan of the ketchup either - I put it in there because it's my hubby's favorite condiment. In the future, I'm going to either cut the Worcestershire to 2 tablespoons or omit that entirely. Not going to add the ketchup in the future either.