Margaritas, Goulash and a Nightgown

I've had a mad craving for goulash lately that I had to appease. My mom made great goulash but I can't remember her recipe and since she's passed away I can't just call her. Bah! My last attempts were just not very good. So I've been perusing Pinterest,  All Recipes, and the Food Network and decided to do my own concoction. It turned out great!

This pic is while it's still cooking and the pasta hadn't absorbed most of the liquid yet. Normally I cook the pasta separately and don't remember if my mom did that or not. The pasta ends up too soft and falls apart. Talk about disasters. So this time I cooked the pasta in the sauce. I do know my mom used tomato JUICE and not sauce, and the one time I did use tomato sauce and it ended up tasting too much like spaghetti so I knew I had to go back to juice, like my mom's. I didn't use straight up Italian seasoning because I also felt that made it taste too much like spaghetti sauce, so I used basil and oregano only. I don't remember my mom using any seasoning like that. I think hers was just salt and pepper and garlic salt, but again, I don't really remember. (The dark thing in the top right of the pan is the bay leaf)


Here's my recipe:

1 1/4 lb ground chuck

3/4 large onion, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped

1 large can (46 oz)  tomato juice

1 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp granulated garlic

2 tsp dried oregano, placed in palm and rubbed into the sauce

2 tsp dried basil, placed in palm and rubbed into the sauce

1 bay leaf

2 tsp soy sauce

salt and black pepper to taste-quite a bit of salt though

1/2 box of beef broth

5 handfuls of elbow macaroni-not cooked (6 would be better)

First I cooked the meat until it was half cooked, then I added the onion and green pepper and cooked until no longer pink. Then I added all the other ingredients except for the beef broth and macaroni. I didn't even strain the grease off because ground chuck isn't that fatty and I also like the flavor that it gives. I let that simmer for about 2 hours while it reduced. You can tell by the picture it reduced quite a bit. Then I added the broth and let that simmer another 10 minutes. Then I added the 5 handfuls of macaroni. I had a bag of macaroni and don't know how many ounces 5  handfuls is! I just eyeballed it. I think 6 would have better but it still wasn't too runny even with the 5. I let it cook for about 20-25 minutes then served. It was really good and didn't taste like spaghetti at all. YAY! Jeff doesn't care for goulash but said it wasn't too bad. He said the green pepper needed cooked longer so I will add the green pepper with the meat at the beginning, then add the onion when halfway cooked. I'm really surprised the 2 hour simmer time didn't make the green pepper softer. I also like the onion to be visible in the dish and chop it slightly larger than a normal chop. Also make sure you salt it enough. I kept thinking it needed something until I got the salt to where it needed to be. Remember the pasta will soak up the salt from the sauce, so you need to add salt for the sauce and also the pasta.

Ava is snoring and every time I mute the TV and turn on the camera to take a video of her she wakes up. BAH!

Now for my 'Kind of Skinny Margarita'!!

Margaritas are the number one most calorific drink you can drink. And I LOVE THEM! That salt! That tang and TEKILLYA--my favorite liquor!! It's my perfect drink.

I figure one of my old margarita's probably had over 1300 calories in one drink. (I use a 1639 shaker glass - aka a 16 oz glass)

Here's how I make it now and it doesn't compromise on taste either.

First I salt the rim. I like a lot of salt, can you tell? heehee
Then I add one inch of tequila. Next I add a splash of Jero's sweetened West India Style Lime Juice (you can find it by the liquors in the store -it's a cocktail mixer), 1/2 cup of Jose Cuervo's Margarita Mix, and 3/4 cup of Diet Sunkist Lemonade pop. Then I top with ice. I leave out the Jero's sometimes, and also sometimes I use 1 cup of Diet Sunkist and 1/4 cup of margarita mix. It's the margarita mix that has all the calories. One shot of tequila has about 100 calories. Jeff says my inch of tequila is bigger than a shot so you could also just add a shot and reduce the calories too....but I LIKE the tequila. My liver doesn't but I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do!
Obviously I had to make some while posting this right? The diet Sunkist has NO calories so I have to be reducing the calories by at least 600. Instead of using 1 1/4 cups of margarita mix I am using 1/4 to 1/2, and replacing the rest with the diet Sunkist.
I've been making them this way for about 2 years and I actually like it better than with all margarita mix. The pop gives the drink some fizz and it just feels lighter in the mouth and on the gut. LOL


This 3 day weekend was so nice. Who decided on a 5 day work week anyway?? Who made that rule? I want to meet them and poke my fingers in their eyes. Boink! Boink!

I have a new bag of oils in vials. I think there's like 85 of them. Going to do a blind pick:


 Nightgown by Solstice Scents:

 Deep red in color. Cool.
 In the vial: definitely a floral. Feminine and light. Smoky. I can't tell what's in this at all.

On the hand: Red velvet and smoke. A mysterious sultry flower. This is some sexy stuff! Makes me think it's something Sofia Vergara would wear. Womanly bold yet soft and tauntingly alluring.

What's in this? NIGHTGOWN

Vanilla, White Chocolate, Tuberose & Tiare Flowers

Shake this perfume gently before use.  A sensual and very creamy floral fragrance, Nightgown evokes the image of a gorgeous satin nightie with lace trim. It fits like a second skin and is the perfect attire for lounging and snuggling. This perfume is the representation of the fabric itself: beautiful, plush, sweet and delicate with white velvety petals from exotic flowers that entrance you with aphrodisiac qualities. The floral notes are very creamy, well rounded and tame while still being detectable and not too heady, sharp or perfumey. The dominant notes are a vanilla accord blended with a touch of divine white chocolate. The floral notes are present on initial application and for some time on the skin though on the long term dry down they will recede and the vanillas and white chocolate will be predominant. If you like the vanilla accord in Manor and Snowshoe Pass, it makes a striking appearance in this blend! Nightgown is wispy, innocent and mysterious at once - like feathers and a gently strummed harp.
Wow, I didn't do too bad! I think the smoke aspect I got is the chocolate. I did get the florals in the vial, then on the skin it was wispy yet at the same time demanding to be noticed. A perfect blend of both soft and strong. A keeper!!