Kleenex and Beef Stew

I'm home today with a little sickie 3 year old. He has a cold. No fever, just sneezing and coughing. He woke up and said "I don't feel berry good - I stay home today". Poor little toot. It's 10:30 and we've had breakfast and made playdoh pizza and cake. Wonder how many points are in playdoh? hmmm....

Last night I made a nice little beef stew. One of my FB friends asked if it was a Pioneer Woman recipe. Nope, it's a Weight Watcher recipe. Joe kindly asked me to lay off the pioneer cooking since we don't burn 5000 calories a day working a ranch. So we'll save her recipes for the weekend, I guess. Boo.

This is a nice recipe, but I will admit, I added some flour at the end to thicken it up. It was soupy. The onions were terrific, and I added mushrooms - they were awesome too. It was 9 points a serving, which is about 450 calories. The kids liked it - I just gave them noodles, beef and the cooking liquid. I also served my favorite salad - mixed greens, blue cheese, craisins, candied pecans and balsamic vinaigrette.

Winter Beef Stew
recipe from weightwatchers.com

1 spray(s) cooking spray (I used olive oil)
1 pound(s) lean sirloin beef, such as boneless beef top sirloin, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
2 tsp canola oil (I used olive oil)
1 large red onion(s), cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
2 medium garlic clove(s), peeled, smashed
5 tsp red wine vinegar
1 piece(s) bay leaf
1/8 oz thyme, fresh, about 3 sprigs (no thyme on hand, used fresh rosemary)
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup(s) apple juice, or sparkling apple cider
1 cup(s) canned beef broth
2 medium carrot(s), thinly sliced
2 cup(s) cooked egg noodles, kept hot
2 Tbsp parsley, fresh, minced

Coat a large nonstick heavy-bottom pot (also know as a Dutch oven) with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat for 30 seconds. Add beef; brown beef about 2 minutes per side. Remove beef from pot; set aside.

Heat oil in same pot. Add onion and garlic; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in vinegar, bay leaf, thyme, salt and pepper. Pour in apple cider or juice, and stir up any browned bits with a wooden spoon. Add broth; bring to a simmer. Add carrots and beef, cover pot and reduce heat to low; simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Remove bay leaf and thyme sprigs.

To serve, spoon noodles onto individual serving plates and top with stew; sprinkle with parsley. Yields about 1 cup of stew and 1/2 cup of noodles per serving.