Winter Night Stroganoff & Roast Chicken

After a few days of allowing J to handle dinner, letting me rest my aching back, I have made a couple of cozy winter dinners. Both of these require plenty of cook time, but neither is much prep at all. Last night, we had beef stroganoff with egg-style noodles (no actual egg, so our fledgling vegan could eat them), peas and Italian bread. The night before, it was roast chicken with veggies, salad and sourdough. The chicken was a departure from my usual olive oil & butter slather, instead using broth and orange juice. I didn't enjoy the chicken skin as much as I usually do, finding it soggy rather than deliciously crisp, but the meat was incredibly juicy & flavorful. This is my adaptation of a Swanson recipe:

Wednesday Night Chicken
3-4 lb. roaster
2 tbsp. butter, melted
4 potatoes, cut in eighths
1/2 package baby carrots
About 1 & 1/2 c. butternut squash chunks (I subbed this for celery in the original recipe...it's what I had around)
4 small onions, quartered
1 tsp. rosemary
Salt & pepper
1 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. orange juice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Rub butter all over chicken. Put in roasting pan with vegetables. Sprinkle with rosemary, salt & pepper. Mix broth and orange juice and pour half over chicken. Roast 1 hour. Add rest of broth mixture. Roast 30 minutes, or until done. If a vegan is dining with you, simply put more of the veggies in a small baking dish & put it in to roast when you put the chicken on, with a mixture of veggie broth & orange juice. When you add more broth to the chicken, add a piece of tempeh, seasoned with salt, pepper and rosemary, to the veggies. Drizzle with veggie broth and bake 1/2 hour.

Slow Cooker Stroganoff
2 lb. round steak, cut in 1 inch cubes
2 minced cloves garlic
1/4 c. flour
Salt & pepper
1 small onion, chopped
4 oz. sliced baby bella mushrooms
3 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 c. milk
2 beef bouillon cubes
8 oz. cream cheese, cut in chunks

Put steak in ziploc bag with flour, salt & pepper and shake to coat. Put beef in crockpot with everything but the cream cheese. Cook on low for 6 hours, stirring occasionally. Half an hour before serving, stir in cream cheese. Stir until melted and allow to finish cooking. You can halve this recipe & cook only 3 hours on low. If a vegan is dining with you, get a pack of faux beef strips from Trader Joe's (or wherever you like to buy vegan products). Chop half a small onion and a clove of garlic. Saute until softened in a skillet with a little preheated olive oil. Add 4 oz. sliced baby bellas.Season with salt & pepper. Add a drizzle of vegetable broth, a splash of soy milk, a dash of soy sauce and a sprinkle of flour. Cook until heated through, with a slightly thickened sauce. J & Pie both loved this treatment & he had it right on top of his noodles just like our stroganoff.