Hubby gave me one of the best presents for Valentine’s Day… a night off from cooking!   And even more exciting was that he was uber secretive about the whole thing, forbidding me to peek into the shopping bags, leaving me to wonder what concoction he was going to cook up.

Hubby decided to make a dish he’s been wanting to share with me for awhile now… his recipe for goulash!  While normally made with beef, hubby skipped the cow and added in bell peppers instead.  We paired the veggie goulash with some homemade garlic wheat bread I had made the previous night in our bread machine.

I had to smirk while we were eating the goulash, because I noticed that hubby didn’t use any spices, aside from adding in some garlic.  This is funny because nine times out of 10, hubby adds pepper to nearly everything I cook, so I couldn’t resist razzing him a bit about that!  He admitted that a traditional goulash would have used some Paprika.

Hubby wanted to share his recipe with everyone, so here it is!

Veggie Goulash

2 – bell peppers (red or green or combo of both), chopped

1 – onion

1 – 28 oz. can stewed tomatoes, with liquid

1 – 15.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, with liquid

3 – 15.5 oz. cans kidney beans, with liquid

Half pound elbow macaroni, cooked and drained

Saute veggies in a bit of oil till soft.  In a large pot, mix together tomatoes and beans and begin to simmer.  Add soft veggies to large pot, along with cooked elbow macaroni noodles.  Simmer till warmed through.  Since hubby was stingy with his spices, feel free to experiment with your favs!

We finished off the night with Strawberry Shortcakes, compliments of my hubby.  He mashed sliced strawberries and mixed them with raw sugar, serving it over a biscuit, topped with soy whipped cream. Deelish!

My only contribution of the day was baking pre-packaged cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  I found them at Aldi’s and couldn’t resist since they came with pink icing… I mean, come on… who can resist cinnamon rolls drenched in hot pink icing?!? LOLOL