Beef Stroganoff

I LOVE beef stroganoff. There is something about the salty beef sauce mixed with wonderfully delicious sour cream that gets my taste buds all excited. It is one thing I ask my mom to make when I am home. Well the one savory thing I ask for. ;) This is a recipe that is based off a few different recipes. It is a crock pot recipe, but you can brown the beef in a pan with some oil, add everything, and let it simmer until blended. That is how my mom would make it. Of course she didn't add mushrooms because we don't like mushrooms*, but hubby does so that's a sacrifice I have decided to make.

Ingredients
2 lbs cubed/sliced beef roast
Salt and pepper
1 can cream of mushroom soup* or 2 cups sliced mushrooms
2 beef gravy packets (or beef bouillon cubes dissolved in water)
1 1/2 cups water
1 diced onion
2 Tb Worcestershire sauce (opt.)
1 1/2 c sour cream

Place gravy packets and water into pot and mix well. Add beef, onion, mushrooms, Worcestershire sauce and mix. Salt and pepper to taste. Cook on low for 8 hours. Add sour cream and serve over rice or egg noodles (or potatoes if you are from Idaho). Enjoy!

This is from the next day at work, which is why the lighting is gross.

VARIATIONS
*Cover beef cubes/slices with flour in a bag with salt and pepper and add 2 cans of beef broth/consumme instead of gravy/bouillon and water. The flour is to help thicken the sauce. I will do either/or depending on what I have in my cupboard. I think they are pretty interchangeable but my mom thinks consumme is the only way to go.
*Cream of mushroom obviously will make this creamier. If/when I do a double batch I will probably do both i think that will be the perfect balance of mushroom and cream.
*If you don't like mushrooms, my family substituted cream of celery and that worked too. My mom doesn't add in the cream of whatever anymore, but I like the extra creaminess.

Microwave Score: 4.5 microwaves well, but the sauce is thicker when you microwave it.
Freezer Score: haven't frozen it, not sure I would want to just cause the sauce might separate or something.
Jake Score: 4 He really likes it. "Would eat it again."
Overall Score: 5.0 I'm biased. and Jake knows when I make stroganoff, I must have leftovers or there will be consequences, so he's good at sharing.