I'm Not a Gourmet Cook, But I Try...: Pork Stew

Have I mentioned how much I love crock pot meals? Granted, about half the ones I've tried have kind've come out flat, but the ones that taste good, I love making again and again. The only problem is that you have to remember to prepare the night before. Pork stew is probably the most complicated crockpot meal I make. Beef Stew, Pot Roast...just dump a bunch of veggies in, put your meat on top, add seasoning, go. Chili....ok, chili is probably the most complicated to PREPARE. But chili is an experience with me. Pork Stew is probably easy enough to prepare, but there's noodles that have to be cooked seperate, gravy that has to be thickened. But it does taste real yummy. And I was suprised to see it wasn't all that bad in terms of calories and fat.

Pork Stew with Egg Noodles

1.5 pounds Boneless Center Cut Pork Chops
3 cans pork gravy
12 oz baby carrots
1 large white onion
8 oz mushrooms
3 tbsp corn starch
1/3 cup water
1 bag egg noodles

1. Trim any fat from the pork chops and then chop into bite size cubes
2. Add pork, baby carrots, and mushrooms to crock pot
3. Chop onion into small wedges and add to crock pot
4. Pour all 3 cans of pork gravy into the crock pot
5. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours
6. Boil a large pot of water (Dutch Oven size), then add egg noodles and cook until they are nice and soft
7. Once the crock pot is done, use a collander in a large bowl to separate the gravy from the pork and vegetables
8. In a separate bowl, stir the corn starch and water until they are a smooth mixture
9. Pour the gravy into a saucepan and bring to a boil
10. Add the starch mixture in slowly, stirring as it's added. You are finished when the sauce is thickened throughout
11. Pour the thickened gravy back into the crock pot

Per 2 ladles of stew and 1 cup egg noodles

430 calories
10 grams fat
48 carbs
36 grams protein

Notes:

• Hard to gauge the serving size on this. Originally thought it made 8 servings, but 2.5 of us ran through that stew pretty well in one sitting with no seconds
  


• I'm sure you could reduce the numbers with a different pasta