Goulash. Whatever it really is.

The past couple of weeks (or more) had us eat out quite a lot. Or have food delivered. Because I have been SO TIRED. I have missed cooking. I still cook, but not as often as before moving to our new place.

Then my friend, Rhea, sent a picture of the food she cooked. It looked so good, and suddenly I wanted something good to eat and cook. I thought of what I had in stock and what I could make out of them. Ta dah! Goulash!

Goulash! I love saying "goulash"

I was confused what goulash really is since it simply looked to me as macaroni in beef tomato sauce. It looked special when I see it in Pinterest. I searched for it again and found a recipe from Pip and Ebby that I think I could make. I had most some of the ingredients.

Very easy to prepare

I did not have diced tomatoes in can, so I used fresh tomato. And since I did not want to transfer and store extra tomato sauce, I used the whole can and changed the ratio of diced tomatoes to the sauce. I did not have Italian seasoning, so I substituted with dried basil and dried oregano (in 50-50 portions).  I did not have yellow onion, so I used regular purple onion. Then I just had to add cheese.

The recipe calls for two pounds (or almost a kilogram) of beef, but I only had roughly 150 grams of ground beef. Obviously I had to scale the recipe. See my slightly tweaked version below.

Waiting for it to cook. What's in store for me?

Turns out it really is just macaroni in beef tomato sauce. Goulash. Just another name. Rich in flavor and texture, it is good to have for lunch or dinner. I made this for snack. Not a good choice for an afternoon snack if you're having steak for dinner.

Almost ready!

Now that I've tried Pip and Ebby's Best Ever American Goulash, I think I'm ready to venture out to other versions or try to make my own. For now, enjoy my slightly tweaked take of their recipe. Head out to their site for the real one. :)

print recipe

Some Kind of a Goulash

by September-21-2017

A slightly tweaked version of a macaroni pasta in beefy tomato sauce recipe from Pip and Ebby

Ingredients

• 150 g ground beef
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 can (8 oz or 227 g) tomato sauce
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 tsp dried basil
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1 slice Edam cheese
• 120 grams or 2 heaping cups macaroni pasta
• 1/2 cup water
• salt and peper to taste
• 2 tsp olive oil (optional)

Instructions

1. Brown ground beef in a pan over medium heat.2. Drain excess oil. Alternatively, add olive if no oil came out from browning the beef. Proceed to saute onion and garlic.3. Add diced tomato, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, dried herbs and water.4. When the sauce boils, add the pasta. Simmer for 16 to 18 minutes (how long actually will depend on the pasta that you use).5. Add cheese and mix. Add salt and pepper to taste to finish the dish.

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 22 mins Total time: 27 mins Yield: 2-3

Something for Me

I have recently created my third Instagram account. I think it's too much. But... my original, personal IG account has now been mostly about Mateo. He has dominated my life and my social media accounts. I want something that will be all about me or the the photos I take. So the new account is something I said will be a momentary (and illusional) respite from motherhood.

I tried to take a nice photo. This is the best I could do. More practice needed.

Last Saturday, we went to East Coast Park to have some fun. Of course it was about Mateo. Again. Our family day (with Ninang Yeye) has been always about Mateo. I was busy looking after the little one and trying, really trying, to get a good picture of that active boy.

Then I remembered about my desire to appreciate more the beauty of the places I visit, or food that we eat, or whatever it is that somehow is a part of my life. So I paused for a bit. I tried to see the life in the playground. It was refreshing!

The moon was beautiful against this big tree. I could not capture it in this photo. But I enjoyed that moment, especially with Mateo having lots of fun with Reymond.

It seems I have forgotten about stopping to appreciate the world I am living. I saw other parents so immersed in their kids' lives, especially those with younger ones. I saw pieces of me in their desire to capture their moments, make their children do their best, and simply create memories. I tried to take photos of the liveliness. "Try" is the word.

At dinnertime, I briefly remembered to take a photo again. I instantly took a couple of shots of the prata that Mateo was eating. I had to do it quick. Mateo knew I wanted to take a picture, and he wanted to play mess with me by eating his food real fast or grabbing my phone.

My little Mateo loves food and eats a lot. We almost always barely have time to take a photo of the food before eating it.

Before going home, I once again stopped in my tracks to take pleasure in what's around me. In the midst chatters and activities, I enjoyed some sense of peace and solitude. I was happy that I could still do that. I can still find serenity in the world's frantic runs. Perhaps peace really comes from the heart.

The place was busy. I embraced the moment, and still found solitude and satisfaction amidst the chatters. That's Ninang Yeye, btw.

I have made a new IG account as a simple exercise to bring back my interests before I had Mateo. Yet, the first four posts so far are laden with stories that involve him. Ah, motherhood. It really changes a person. All for good, though. All for the best.

Easy Sardines Angel Hair Pasta

Pasta is one of the easiest food I cook that I find delicious and satisfying. Unlike champorado or a simple cheese sandwich, it can be a complete meal using almost readily available ingredients that aren't too processed.

Easy to cook, almost no-prep pasta dish

I was super happy to learn that angel hair pasta (or the one that I bought) can be cooked in ONLY TWO MINUTES. That's a time saver and a sanity saver from an ever hungry Mateo. It takes longer to wait for water to boil.

For this recipe, I used a small can of Ayam Brand Sardines in Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Chilli. I removed the red chili when I cooked, which gave the dish just the right amount of spiciness for my toddler. Of course, other brand or type of sardines will do as long as it's in extra virgin olive oil.

The only "preparation" needed for this recipe is chopping the garlic. Alternatively, one can use a garlic press to make it even easier. However, I like the chunkiness of the garlic when I simply chop it using the trusted knife and chopping board.

When I give food to my toddler, I make it a point to minimize the salt (or sodium) content. Canned sardines already has added salt in it, so I refrain from adding even more salt to the sauce. When I'm being extra cautious, I don't even add salt to the boiling water for cooking pasta.

For an added nutritional boost, I sometimes add a little dash of moringa powder. Too much and it will become disturbingly overpowering.

As easy as one-two-three, this is simply a boil-chop-saute-serve dish. Cook the pasta. Saute the garlic. Add the sardines. Add the cooked pasta. I don't even find the need to use a strainer for the pasta. Use a thong to get most of the pasta out of the water, carefully drain water, then put the rest of the pasta in the pan.

I'm not sure if I could have done this dish with so much ease during my early days (or weeks or months) of cooking without a toddler. Perhaps just a little bit of ease, but not the quickness and dexterity that I have now. Sigh, motherhood made me a whole lot better, I think.

My hands were already full with hungry Mateo when I finished cooking, so I did not have the time or patience to serve this with shredded cheese. I'm guessing this will serve well topped with real shredded cheese (cheddar, perhaps?).

Here's the recipe. Serves one or two depending on your appetite. Enjoy!

print recipe

Easy Sardines Angel Hair Pasta

by agoodabad September-2-2017

A really quick to cook pasta using almost ready ingredients

Ingredients

• 120 g or 1 small can sardines in extra virgin olive oil and chilli
• 120 g or 1" diameter  angel hair pasta
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• water to cook pasta

Instructions

1. Cook pasta per instructions. While cooking pasta, prepare the sauce.2. Sauté garlic in extra virgin olive oil.3. Add sardines including the oil. Coarsely chop the sardines as you sauté.4. Season with pepper and dried oregano (and salt).5. Turn off heat. Add cooked angel hair pasta.

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 4 mins Total time: 9 mins Yield: 2

Domesticated Kate

I have never imagined myself to be doing or wanting to do house chores everyday (apart from cooking), but barring pain, I think I could be doing this every day.

We like to keep our house clean, including under the refrigerator. At least we try.

Since moving to our new, smaller unit, I've had a nagging desire to keep our place clean and orderly. That's very difficult to do with a toddler begging for my attention, wanting to do every little thing with mommy, or simply being playful and active. Even more challenging when I have to ensure I don't do excessive physical activities lest I deal with pain again. Moving and unpacking is already hard on its own.

This "domestication" made me want all those power gadgets to make cleaning easier: vacuum, robot vacuum, steam mop, and power scrubber. I have tried to sweep using the basic broom, but I ended up enduring pain. I settled with a regular vacuum. It is good, but Mateo always tries to get it from me. So now I have placed an order for a low-budget robot vacuum (in order to vacuum the place everyday while Mateo is sleeping).

One time this week I couldn't stand the stickiness of the floor anymore. So I mopped the floor. Twice. Because I wasn't satisfied with the first run. Maybe our regular mop (the flat one) wasn't good enough, I thought, so I instantly checked second-hand steam mops. Then stopped myself, realizing I've already spent a lot on these tools. In fact, another order is on its way: a power scrubber for the toilet (because manually scrubbing the tiles is too tiring). I got it on sale, and I hope it's worth it.

During this first month of trying to keep our place clean by ourselves, I got some valuable insights and lessons:

1. It is worth to buy a wet and dry vacuum. A regular dry only vacuum may be good enough, but it is better to get one that can pick up Mateo's food bits that end up on the floor. I hate sweeping the floor. I wish we paid more for this feature, but I'll settle for what we have. 
2. A $3.90 sweeper mop is a really good buy. You just have to be careful to choose one that rotates easily.





This is our value mop with the wiggly microfibre mop pad.



3. I find that washing the mop pad in the floor cleaner solution by hand is better than using a sprayer. When I use a spray bottle, there's a high chance the floor gets "cleaned" using a dirty mop. THIS IS ONE THING I DEFINITELY DID NOT SEE MYSELF DOING: washing the mop by hand.
4. It is difficult to use a dry flat mop pad on a floor sprayed with a cleaning solution. It is better to use a wet flat mop pad. Or maybe it's just our mop and our floor. 





My little helper: Mateo washing his car and the mop pads, and his own little mop.



5. A steam mop is not necessary. Thinking about it, I genuinely believe it's true.
6. A vinegar mop solution is as good as (or better than) a store bought mop solution. 
7. Use a dry mop after using a wet one, especially on wooden floors. 
8. The microfiber wiggly floor mop pad is good enough for everyday light cleaning. I don't know what that's called, but I find it can act as a broom and a mop at the same time. 
9. Always have a spare cleaning material for the little one. 





The flat mop pad and a spare microfibre cloth.

10. Take things easy. When tired, get some rest. It is better to have a messy house than a mommy (or daddy) in pain.

We now only have a few pieces that need sorting. I think I can safely say we're 90% done unpacking. This September will be a month to fine tune the little things and make our place more homey. Home sweet home! ;)