Beef Stroganoff, the fun and easy way

I must be a real freak of nature, because cooking this meal has me so excited. It really doesn't take that long to cook, but I've been doing things gradually just because I so love puttering in the kitchen. After getting up early and having my coffee on the patio, I went on to the store and bought the ingredients. They didn't have what I was looking for in a sirloin steak, but the very nice lady in the meat section offered to cut one for me. I was given a choice of 3 steaks, and I ended up with the perfect one. Dinner is set for 6ish, but at 4 I couldn't stand it anymore. I went ahead and cut the steak. This is very important. You have to cut it against the grain, and you don't want any tough fat pieces in there, so it did take some time. Jr Walker and his Allstars carried me through this process, first with Shotgun (a song excellently redone by Gerald Levert on the videography Standing in the Shadows of Motown), then I switched the IPOD on over to Pucker Up Buttercup, then What Does It Take, and finished with These Eyes. The man could blow a sax like nobody else. The meat went back into the fridge, with the trimmings saved in the freezer for making broth later. I poured the peas left over from yesterday into a pot to heat up later, and noticed that SOMEBODY had eaten almost all of the sausage out of it, so I cut up a little more, sauteed it and added it to the pot of peas. I'm talking about purple hull peas here, and if you aren't from around these parts, you probably don't know what I'm talking about. They are similar to blackeyed peas, but a million times better. All you need to make a meal is the peas, well-seasoned, and a pan of cornbread (the cornbread must be crumbled onto your plate, with the peas and pea juice ladled on top), add some pepper sauce, and you've got supper.
Anyway, that's done, so I'm having a beer, with music on the IPOD in the kitchen, and Sirius on the patio, so I'm a happy camper at this point.

Ok, this is how ridiculously easy this meal is to make: slice about 1 lb sirloin steak into thin pieces, cook in a hot pan with a little oil. You may have to do this in batches, because you want a little sear on your meat. Take the meat out and set aside. To the pan add about a cup of water and stir to deglaze the pan. Add 1 pkg beefy onion soup (the dry stuff), 1 can cream of mushroom soup, mix well, and when it begins to simmer, add the meat. Cook this for about 10 minutes, turn off heat, stir in 1/2 cup sour cream and serve. I doubled this recipe today, and I got a little too much water in it, so I'm simmering a little longer to get rid of the water. These measurements are not set in stone, if it seems to need more water, add it, but remember that the sour cream will also add volume at the end, so don't go overboard.

It may seem odd that I am making a semi homemade meal, knowing I love to cook from scratch, but I have made the "from scratch" version, which calls for a buttload of ingredients, and I honestly can't tell the difference in taste.

Enjoy! (Kool and the Gang is on the tv---gotta dance!)