Rain, Rain...Not Going Away

Today I woke up and I was ready for fall. For the past few weeks I have been anxiously awaiting a drop in temperature, but not quite ready to let go of summer. There is just something about summer that is freeing, the days are longer and for me there seems to be a little more free time. This morning however, I was ready for a change. I think all the rain this weekend made me feel all cozy and lazy and ready for fall. I am ready to begin a new season of cooking and baking. I am ready to slow cook a stew or chili all day to serve with some warm cornbread from my cast iron skillet. I am ready to bake fall pies, cookies, and cakes that will fill my kitchen with the smell of cinnamon. I am ready to sit out on the patio with a glass of wine and not sweat to death. I am ready to wake up to early morning daylight for my morning runs, (but today I slept in until around 11am and didn't even get out of my pajamas until around 4pm, oh well). I am ready to tailgate every Saturday of SMU home football games. I am ready to watch football with Brian every night of the week... (Well, not really quite ready for that yet, but I am working on it.) If only I had overcome the lazy bug and armed myself with some hearty ingredients this weekend, we could have sat down to a classic Sunday comfort meal to watch football and listen to the rain. That didn't happen because I was way too lazy and didn't make it to the grocery store. I am leaving town on Wednesday and will be gone for 10 days, so I did not feel the need to stock up on groceries, however I was able to whip up a comforting stroganoff that I made with ground turkey to lighten it up and that really hit the spot. (No, I don't mean the kind from the box...GROSS!) By the way, I made just enough to serve the 2 of us, but feel free to double this if you want to make enough for 4 servings.

Turkey Stroganoff Kasey's way (2 Servings)

Ingredients

1/2 lb egg noodles

1 Tbls unsalted butter

1/2 lb ground extra lean turkey

1 tsp garlic, minced

1 cup chicken stock

1 1/2 tbls ketchup

1 tsp salt

freshly ground pepper, to taste

1/2 onion, finely diced

3 oz mushrooms, sliced (you can use either white button mushrooms or baby bellas)

2 tbls flour

4 oz sour cream

shredded cheddar cheese for topping

Directions

Bring large pot of water to a boil. Add some salt to the water and toss in egg noodles. Cook until noodles are al dente.

Melt butter in non-stick skillet until melted. Add turkey and break up with a wooded spoon. Cook until the turkey is browned and cooked through. Add garlic, 3/4 cup of chicken stock, ketchup, salt, pepper and onion. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cook covered for about 8-10 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook another 5 minutes or so. Whisk flour into remaining 1/4 cup of chicken stock and add to skillet. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and stir until sauce has thickened. Gently stir in sour cream. Add egg noodles and toss to coat them completely with the sauce. Serve hot and top with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese.