There's something about Mums, a little happy marriage tip and my version of Goulash

Hi my beautiful friends, 

How are you all doing? 
I am going to be talking about 2-3 different things today, few thoughts that have been building up inside me from the past few days. First on my list today is my Mum or most mothers in general. 

1) Super-awesome and super-human Mothers 

Mum Dad at their wedding reception in Mt. Abu

It was my Mum's birthday few days ago. Her name is Shobha or Shobs or Shobu or Mumma. I remember when I was a kid, she used to give me a hard time, like all mothers usually do. She used to be after me to study, to not lie, to not get my clothes dirty, to keep the house clean etc. I was an average kid at school when it came to studies, not so academically bright and so she had to put in lots of extra effort to make me do well. I used to be pretty scared of her actually specially when I used to come back home all muddy or used to not perform so well in my tests. I used to be so annoyed (You know how it is when you're a teenager!). 

When I look back now, I realise that all that I am today - as a person and as a professional, is undoubtedly, because of her. If it wasn't for all those numerous scoldings and thrashings (yep lots of them), I wouldn't have ever felt the need to work hard or to become a better person. Shobs, like most mothers, has sacrificed so much for her children, it's unbelievable. I really don't know how they do it. 

At their 25th wedding anniversary

Her life has always revolved around us, she would never buy new clothes, never go out for dinners or anything... nothing. It was always about us. She is a working woman and an excellent home-maker too! I look back now and realise I have never, in all these years, heard her saying that she was tired or sick or fed up (she does grumble a lot but who doesn't). I wonder if women these days (including me) will be able to become even half as amazing as our mothers are. It is very difficult to be so strong yet be so giving and selfless. Let's take an honest moment to think about how much our Mums have done for us and be grateful. Remember, it is not so important to go and verbally say a Thank You, what's really essential is to acknowledge in your heart that you're grateful and keep her in your prayers :) 

2) Compromises - how much is okay and how much is not

In a perfect world, there would be perfect marriages with a perfect man and a perfect woman, with equal compromises and equal adjustments! Let's face it, this is far from being a perfect world and we are far from being perfect people! So how do you make your relationships perfect? Or at least somewhere near perfect. 

You have to make adjustments. You have to compromise. BUT, both of you. 

Women, generally have a pretty compromising nature. We may be strong independent professional women but we really, somewhere deep inside, are big fat softies! (You know you are :D) 

And often we keep adjusting, without realising how much. We make so many compromises each day, at work, at home, and we don't even realise it. Sadly, nobody else does too. And then one day, you just burst. When you burst, you look back and it's an oh-fck situation! You recall all your adjustments one by one, and feel shitty and angry and then wonder why you did it. 

To prevent this from happening it is very crucial to know when to stop...which adjustment is okay and which is not... how much to compromise and when to put your foot down. Sometimes, let's be honest, we do it simply because we're too lazy to find a mutually benefiting solution and feel its easier to just "adjust". So next time someone asks you "Thoda adjust karle yaar" or to "Compromise a bit", DO NOT FALL INTO THAT TRAP! Take a step back and do a quick analysis and think if its worth it or not, is there any other solution? Is there really a need to have a situation where one of you needs to compromise? Also, sometimes you have to say No and put your foot down! And don't feel guilty about it later, it's really okay. It is okay if sometimes you put your foot down and not be so nice :)

*Quick disclaimer -  This has nothing specifically to do with me and Dan. This is something that happens in almost all households and with almost all women. I don't mean to say that men don't adjust. They do. But a majority of them still don't or probably don't feel the need to. Maybe if we give them a chance they might. Who knows.You understand what I mean? 

3) There is nothing simpler and awesome than a one pot meal! 

Goulash is a very popular and hearty one-pot dish that originated in Hungary and is also very popular in many parts of Europe. However, different places have, over the time, developed their own versions of the popular Goulash. It's a soupy macaroni kind of thing with veggies and mince. (Actually beef mince but I used chicken mince since I had that already). But do not expect the flavour to be like that of a normal mince and mac. The taste is very different. Here is my quick tweaked recipe of Goulash:

1 kg chicken mince (or beef, whatever is available)

1/2 kg macaroni (or elbow pasta)

3 onions (fine chopped)

2 capsicums (fine chopped) 

3 tomatoes (fine chopped)

1 and a half cups of black olives (I use this much coz I love olives in my food, you can reduce this amount according to your taste)

1 cup tomato puree

1 cup tomato ketchup

half cup red wine (use balsamic vinegar if you don't have red wine, slightly less than half a cup then)

3 tablespoons soy sauce 

4 cloves of garlic

2 bay leaves

Oregano

Red chili flakes

Pepper

Salt

(You can add some peas too or any other veggies that you like!) 

Take a big pan, put some olive oil (2-3 tbsps roughly) and put in your mince. Remember this is a one pot dish so you will need a big pan! When your mince is cooked thoroughly, put in your garlic and onions. Drizzle some more oil. If you feel your onions are sticking to the pan, it's okay, Just keeping giving it few stirs with your spoon every few minutes. Once the onions start getting that golden tinge, add your capsicums. After 2-3 minutes, add your wine and give it a thorough stir. Remember to scrape through the bottom and the sides of the pan. Let it cook for 2 minutes. Now you have to add a bulk of the remaining ingredients. Add your soy sauce, tomatoes, puree, ketchup, olives (and any other veggies) salt, pepper, chili flakes and oregano (I used the chili flakes and oregano packets from Dominoes because I always have so many, you can use whatever is available. You can add as much oregano as you want, I used 4 packets of oregano and 3 of chili flakes). 

Stir nicely and make sure everything is mixed well. Put the 2 bay leaves now and add a cup of water. Simmer and cover for 5 minutes. (If you're using beef mince, you'll have to cover and keep for at least 20-30 minutes)

Add you macaroni now and another half a cup of water. Mix and cover again. (You don't have to cook the macaroni before-hand. It'll all cook together in this pan) Let it all cook for at least 10 minutes. You will, however, have to keep checking after every few minutes to prevent the macaroni from sticking to the bottom, which can happen easily because we're using really less water. 

Once your macaroni is al dente, you know it's done! Check for seasoning and add more salt, pepper or oregano if needed. 

Serve hot with garlic bread. I did not have the bread required to make garlic bread so I used normal white bread. Mix half a cup of butter with 2 crushed garlic cloves and a tsp of oregano. Put it into the microwave for melting. This will be done in a few seconds. You will want to melt it totally though so its easy to put it on the bread. Take a non-stick pan, brush this butter mixture on both sides of the bread and put it on the pan (remember to not put any garlic pieces though, that can be very unpleasant). Let both sides get nice, golden and crisp. 

Tada...

We also went for a quick Easter weekend to Mount Abu. More about that on my next blog.
This is all for now people. 

Hope everyone is having a good week. 

Love you all to the moon and back. 

Ciao for now :)



*P.s, this was such an emotional kinda blog. I feel pretty light though :)