Beef Stroganoff

By special request of my daughter, I made Beef Stronganoff the other day.  It mystified me to some degree, because I have only made it once or twice that I can recall in her childhood, and I wasn't sure where this Stroganoff urge was coming from!?!  Nevertheless, off I went to find a great recipe.  My one rule was NOT to use canned Cream of Mushroom soup.... ick, I just wanted to make it all the way from scratch.  It was so much better than the canned stroganoff variety!

The kids and my husband loved the finished dish, so here is the best of the recipes I found online combined here.  Once again... I have to point out that Beef Stronganoff is a homely looking dish, so I apologize for the ugly food!

Serves 4-6 people  

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2  pounds beef sirloin steak, 1/2 inch thick 

8  ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced (2 1/2 cups) 

2  medium onions, thinly sliced 

1  tsp garlic, chopped  

1/4  cup butter

1 1/2  cups beef broth (from 32-ounce carton) 

1/2  teaspoon salt 

1  teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 

1/4  cup flour 

1 1/2  cups sour cream 

1 Tbsp Horseradish

1/4 cup parsley, minced

4-5 cups hot cooked egg noodles 

Cut beef across grain into about 1 1/2x1/2-inch strips. Set aside.

Slice Onions in thin strips.

Don't make the mistake I made, use the biggest skillet you have, or even a dutch oven, my batch almost over flowed all over the place!

In a large skillet, cook mushrooms, onions and garlic in butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender; remove from skillet.

Cook beef in same skillet until brown. Stir in 1 cup of the broth, the salt and Worcestershire sauce. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 10 minutes until tender.

Stir remaining 1/2 cup broth into flour; stir into beef mixture. Add onion mixture; heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in sour cream; heat until hot (do not boil). Serve over noodles and sprinkled with chopped green onions or parsley for garnish.

Cake Pops- Lollipops

I'm sure you've seen these cake pops at Starbucks, they are just so darling!  I wasn't really prepared for these to taste SO good.... I'll admit I don't even like cake most days, but these are super tasty and satisfying.  It almost takes like "cake fudge"... hard to describe, but dense and yummy. The good news is that one cake pop is lots less calories and fat that a traditional serving of cake. This recipe is so ridiculously easy to make and will make a lot of people in your life, both kids and adults, happy!  I'm going to make these again for a family function or a picnic. 

There are a couple recipes for cake pops out there on the Internet that call for frosting instead of the cream cheese below, so feel free to substitute 1 cup of frosting for the cream cheese if that appeals to you.  It will make the cake pops even sweeter, so be prepared for a sugar rush if you go that route. Either way, it would be best to store these in the refridgerator before serving.

Makes 36-48 pops depending on the size.

Ingredients:
Cake Mix, any kind, made per instructions (oil, eggs) 
8 oz cream cheese, softened
Candy Coating, available in lots of colors
Chocolate
Sprinkles

Also need:
Lollipop sticks, but popsicle sticks would work too
Styrofoam block
Treat bags, if desired.

Make a 13×9 cake. Any flavor you like, just follow the instructions on the box. Let it cool. Crumble the cake into your mixer, or a large bowl and then add the softened cream cheese.  Mix on medium speed until the cake is totally incorporated into the cream cheese.  It will look a lot like playdoh or modeling clay.  Put the mixture into the refrigerator for 15 minutes.


After refrigerating, form the mixture into balls using a cookie scoop to maintain uniform size. Then place a lollipop stick into the top of each cake ball. Pop them into the freezer for about 15 minutes.

While waiting, start melting your candy melts on very low heat, or in the microwave. 

After 15 minutes in the fridge, dip and swirl each pop into your candy melt. I used a large serving spoon to swirl the pop into and to use to add coating in places where it needed it.

You will have to give each pop a couple of taps on the side of your pan to get all the excess coating off.  Don't go too fast, or you'll have the coating dripping down your lollipop sticks and that will make you crazy!!!

Once you’ve got an even coating on the cake pop, place the stick into a Styrofoam block while the candy melt shell hardens. Add the sprinkles while the coating is very wet, otherwise they won't stick.

I used little treat bags and ribbon to make sure that each one was individually packed and easy to give.  Make it cute with a little ribbon and you are ready to go!



Think how cute these would be in a basket for Easter!  Add the styrofoam block to the basket and tuck in your cake pops.  This would make a great hostess gift or bake sale item too!