An Easy Dish After a Crushing Blow

I admit, I'm devastated today by the Patriots loss yesterday. It would have been so much easier if it wasn't for the perfect season, or if it wasn't lost with 36 seconds left on the clock. I love my Pats, and always will. I have avoided the news all day. I tried watching BBC World News America this morning while getting ready for work, but even they had a segment about the game! This is one time I'm glad there is an election going on and it's saturating the news, it makes it easier to avoid being reminded of last night. I know it's only a sport, and I'm just a fan and not a player, but when you love a team so much, it's heartbreaking all the same. Note to news stations: hometown fans would have liked to see House, not continuing news coverage something so depressing. That would have been a sole point of comfort last night, since I couldn't sleep well and was in shock anyway.

But this is a food blog, not a sports blog, so I'll end my rant and get on with the food.

I did not feel like cooking tonight, so I was looking for something quick and easy to make for dinner. I had bought a couple of cans of Rotel the other day because I've heard good things and never tried it. I'm starting to get better at eating spicy foods since my boyfriend likes curry and I wanted to try it to see if it was good. I found a recipe for Rotel Goulash.

I liked it. I thought it was spicy, but drinking a soda with it took care of the burn. My boyfriend thought it was ok. He doesn't really like uncooked tomatoes, or tomatoes that haven't been cooked for a long time, so I think that if I were to make it again I would have to cook the tomatoes for a lot longer than the recipe calls for. He also didn't like the heat in it, strange since he loves curry and liked the Mexican Mashed Potatoes I made a while ago. We both feel that this is a different type of spicy than curry. Curry is spicy in a thick, creamy kind of way...this was spicy in a light way. I hope that makes sense, it's difficult to describe.

Rotel Goulash

1lb. ground beef
16 oz. of tomato sauce
20 oz. of Rotel
8 oz. of elbow macaroni
1/2 cup shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
salt and pepper

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook macaroni until al dente.
   
2. While macaroni is cooking, brown the beef in the skillet. If there is a lot of juice, drain.
3. Add the tomato sauce, Rotel, macaroni, salt, and pepper. Simmer 15-20 minutes.
   
4. Shred cheese over macaroni and heat until melted.