Yesterday I was feeling pretty lazy and tired by the afternoon. Everyone in this house is not feeling up to par this week. On Autumn and Kesa Day, Autumn started to feel sick during the afternoon, was sick all evening and had a fever all night. I was waking up with her every hour because she sleepwalks when she is sick so I could hardly sleep. Plus my sleep is still being disturbed as is with having a three month old.

Despite my lazy and tired feelings, I knew I wanted to have a hearty and healthy dinner so I summoned enough energy to make a yummy pot of goulash with enough leftovers for the next day.

Hearty & Healthy Macaroni Goulash

There is a little something for everyone in goulash. I like to add lots of veggies to mine to make it even more healthy. This recipe is great when you want to make a meal with enough leftovers for the next day and is fairly simple to prepare.

Makes one large pot of goulash, serves my family of four for at least 2 meals

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 cups (500 g box) uncooked whole wheat macaroni
• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 2 large or 3 medium carrots, peeled and grated
• 1 (340 g) package veggie ground round (I use Yves)
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
• 3 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons dehydrated minced onion flakes (optional)
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 2 teaspoons dried  oregano
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 (796 ml) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (156 ml) can tomato paste

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the macaroni as directed on package to desired tenderness. Meanwhile, heat the sunflower oil in a large pot on medium heat, add the onion and garlic and saute a few minutes until fragrant. Add the diced bell peppers and grated carrot. Continue to saute 5-10 minutes until the vegetables are soft. You may want to add a bit of water to the pot to help soften up the vegetables and prevent them from sticking to the pot, about 3 tablespoons.

Add the veggie ground round.

Next add the nutritional yeast, spices, salt and pepper, diced tomatoes and tomato paste and stir until combined. Cook an additional 5 minutes to soften the tomatoes and bring the flavors together.

Drain and add the cooked macaroni and continue to cook everything a few minutes more until hot.

We ate ours with a side salad, raw vegetables, bread and margarine. It was so yummy! The girls like to put ketchup on theirs.

Today I am going to take it easy and hopefully I will feel better tomorrow. At least I don’t have to worry about dinner. 🙂