Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

On this chilly, blustery day in Vegas, slow cooked comfort food seemed the way go to.  I found the most amazing slow cooker cookbook at the Barnes & Noble: Busy People's Slow Cooker Cookbook by Dawn Hall.  Each recipe is seven ingredients or less and is very easy to prepare.  Although not all of  the recipes are low-calorie, Dawn uses healthier ingredients whenever possible.  Each recipe includes full nutrition information, too, which is great.

I made a couple of substitutions to increase the protein in the dish and add a few more nutrients.  It's delicious and tasty fare!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of uncooked elbow macaroni (Dawn recommends Mueller's brand.  I used Barilla Plus because of the extra protein, Omega 3s, and fiber.)
• 1 14-ounce can fat-free, low-sodium beef broth
• 1 12-ounce can roast beef
• 2 teaspoons of minced garlic
• 1 6 1/2-ounce can of mushroom stems & pieces
• 1/2 cup of non-fat Greek yogurt (Dawn uses fat-free sour cream in her recipe.  I increased the protein by subbing Greek yogurt.)
• Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

• Spritz a slow cooker with non-fat olive oil spray.
• Turn the cooker on high. Put the pasta and the beef broth in the cooker, making sure all the elbows are covered with the broth.
• Cover and cook on high for 1 1/2 hours.
• Stir in the roast beef, minced garlic, mushroom, and Greek yogurt.
• Cover and let sit for 5 minutes or until everything is heated through.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Serving size: 1 cup
Makes 7 servings

Nutrition stats for Dawn's recipe are below.  Mine will be higher in protein and fiber and lower in sodium.  The calories should be the same.

• Calories: 183
• Fat: 4g
• Carbohydrate: 22g
• Fiber: 1g
• Protein: 15g
• Sodium: 825mg