The body crapped out on me midweek this past week, so my cooking excursions have leaned heavily on shortcuts. So I made goulash – the Midwest variety, which is ground beef, tomato or spaghetti sauce, pasta, and whatever else strikes your fancy. Only instead of caramelizing the veggies separately from browning the ground beef, I said pretty much, “Screw THAT!” and threw it all in the pan at once to cook. Added salt & pepper, browned it; then poured in jarred marinara sauce and cooked penne pasta.
Photo above is proof of what you can do almost in a single pan, without apologies. The pasta was cooked separately but I’ve been known to cook that in with everything else.
It’s all about working with what you’ve got, stocking what you need, and keeping it simple. Kids, DO try this at home! Trust me!
On to the cheesecake part of our repertoire for the day. But this isn’t the sort that needs a fork (unless you’re kinkier than I am.) I don’t remember who originally shared it, but this page shows a bunch of young men dressed in national costumes.
Take the whole “national costumes” thing with a grain of salt. While some genuinely are versions I can believe are authentic, others are wild interpretations. For example, the US representative is dressed as Superman. American as heck? Sure. But not what I’d consider our national attire. I suspect Mr. Sri Lanka, who is beautiful, isn’t wearing a historic representation either, though, no matter how you look at it.
And I looked at it from several angles, for quite some time.
Ahem.
I’m more intrigued by some of the gentlemen who were covered up. The careful folds and subtle tone-on-tone of the Japanese man’s kimono are understated and wonderful, the overall detail on the Indonesian man’s costume is stupendous, and the Vietnamese man’s costume probably surprised me the most. After our part in the Vietnam war, we as a nation have a picture of Vietnamese people who are poor, plain, terrified of color, and without any discernible style. The Vietnamese man’s headgear alone is proof of how wrong we are. I can’t even begin to imagine how long it took to create what each of these young men is wearing. Other than the Superman costume, which is probably made in China and sold on Amazon.
Today I rolled through Target for a coupla things. Nothing too pricey. Returning the belt I bought for hubby because he needed a size up, grab some paper towels, a box of tea, and a few other small things on the list. And it only cost me a little under $100.
Oops.
Only not too oops, because hubby unmentionables got added to the list just before I left home, and the total included replacing the belt with a more expensive belt, etc. Instead of telling me when he needs stuff (or, you know, buying it himself), my other half waits until I ask him what in his wardrobe is crumbling into dust – or something more odoriferous. I see his stuff, obviously, but now I’m not doing laundry I rarely notice how truly bad it is until it’s several steps into decomposition. Shoes and outer clothing, yes. His disability dictates we monitor the condition of his shoes, for example, and we literally stock up 2-3 pair at a time of his favorite work boots.
Oh hell. I’m the oblivious one, and he’s too stubborn to say something about it.
Man oh man, you were all over the place with this entry. Good to know about your husband’s undies and expanding waistline of course, but the cooking adventure was the most interesting part for me. AND NOT THE CHEESECAKE PART OF IT. Sheesh. Women. Pigs, all of ya. Anyway, good on ya’ for whipping up that goulash the way you wanted, damn the printed instructions! That’s the mark of a good cook, and I tip my stained white toque at you. One pot meals ROCK, and yours looks terrific. You go, Lei! xoxoxox
Umm… I never use printed recipes when cooking main dishes. The only exception is when making something new (such as the lamb dish you shared). Been doing the cooking thing long enough I know the basics. Everything else is just a tweak.
For baking I use a recipe at least for the starting point – usually. For a homemade salad dressing, I’d probably use printed instructions, other than for a vinagrette. I like experimenting with flavors, depending on mood and what’s in season.
Oh yeah, one other thing.
You? Stubborn??
I never said I was stubborn. I said hubby was. I never pretended *I* wasn’t stubborn!
I’m too stubborn to admit I misread it 🙂
I like the way you cook and the way you think. Yes, Men do expect their women to be like Moms and take care of all those unmentionables, etc. At least you know they are new and clean in case of an accident. Remember Mom always saying wear clean underwear “just in case”.
When I cook, I am ALL about doing it the easy way. I buy my veggies pre-chopped whenever possible, but prefer them fresh. SO glad when Safeway opened nearby, because I can get almost any fresh food there pre-chopped. Makes my life easier and our diet vastly healthier. (Safeway is what it’s called here – don’t know which name they use out your direction. They bought out Piggly Wiggly, Thriftway, merged with Albertsons, and bought out at least a few Kroger stores.)
The ironic part on the clothes is my husband is a fussy dresser for a guy. He likes looking nice, likes decent skivvies and so on. He isn’t one of those men who prefers the decrepit to something new. But other than when things disintegrate in earnest, he doesn’t tell me.