Healthy Goulash

After being with Mike (who is German) for over 5 years now, I finally decided it was time to try cooking one of our favourite meals...goulash! I called up his mom to ask for her recipe (because hers is soooo tasty). I pretty much couldn't use any of the ingredients she was telling me...so I had to improvise. The recipe I found online that I planned to use was an authentic Austrian goulash, whereas his mom's is a Hungarian goulash. I warned Mike before trying it that it wasn't going to taste like his moms, but to keep an open mind!

My first attempt at goulash

Here is the original recipe I found for the authentic Austrian Goulash.

Mike's moms recipe was a little different:
1 lb stewing beef
2 tbsp oil
2 onions chopped
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tbsp worchesterchire
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp cornstarch & 2 tbsp water to thicken

So the issue I had with the first one was that I couldn't find the Hungarian paprika, so I just added a bit more regular paprika.
I had a few issues with the second one, in that I didn't want to use half the ingredients. Here are some of the changes I made, but I incorporated both recipes:

• I used EVOO to brown the beef instead of a vegetable type oil
• Instead of brown sugar I put a couple squeezes of organic honey
• I didn't use vinegar
• I didn't use the cornstarch to thicken
• I used whole wheat egg white noodles

In the end it actually turned out quite well. It's a nice hearty beef "stew" that will definitely fill you up!