Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In an 8-by-8-inch baking dish, combine meat, carrots, celery, and onion.

In a medium bowl, combine dry onion soup mix, mushroom soup, water, ketchup, and mushrooms. Evenly spoon mixture over meat mixture. Cover and bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

For each serving, place 1/2 cup noodles on a plate and spoon about 1 cup meat mixture over top. Serves 6.

HINTS:1. 2 2/3 cup uncooked noodles usually cooks to about 3 cups.2. Can be cooked in a slow cooker on LOW for 6 to 8 hours.3. Good spooned over baked potato in place of noodles.

NOTES:1. I used the crockpot.2. I sauteed the carrots, celery, & onion in a nonstick skillet that had been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, before adding to the pot. -- My husband always requests that I do this.3. This was great!4. Next time, I may try just a small dash of Worcestershire Sauce in the sauce.

Each serving equals:HE: 2 Pro, 1 Brd, 1 Veg, 1/4 Slider, 13 Opt. Cal.6.4 Points316 cal, 8 g fat, 3 g fiber, 28 g prot, 33 g carb, 757 mg sod, 71 mg calcDIABETIC: 2 Mt, 1 1/2 St, 1 Ve

Description:"This just may be the easiest beef stew you ever prepare. It onlytastes like you "fussed" for hours."Source:"January 1998 Healthy Exchanges Newsletter, p. 6"

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 271 Calories; 8g Fat (25.3% calories from fat); 21g Protein; 29g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 42mg Cholesterol; 765mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 2 1/2 Lean Meat; 1 Vegetable; 0 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0