simple supper-cabbage goulash

Until a few years ago, I would not touch anything that had cabbage in it other than a well made cole slaw. When  we made the switch to growing most of our own food, I had to learn to like it because it is such an easy crop to grow and if you have to purchase it, it is cheap in comparison to many other veggies.  It has become one of our staple foods and one of my favorite veggies of all to use in cooking because of its versatility.

Cabbage goulash  is one of my favorite meals that  uses cabbage as the main ingredient and it is a pretty cheap meal to make, especially when you grow all your own ingredients. In the recipe that follows,sausage and ground beef is used but you can use any variation of meat in it or none at all. My favorite meat in it is breakfast sausage but I have made it with chicken chunks, bacon even hot dogs so  be creative.  The recipe also calls for canned tomatoes but  it works well with fresh tomatoes too. I just whirl them around in the food processor for a minute and dump them in. Usually when I make it, I just serve it with a bread of some sort because a salad is not really needed.  If I need to stretch this meal or want a variation, I add a cup of rice and add the juice from the tomatoes then simmer. When I make it, this meal costs about 50 cents . If you  have to purchase all the ingredients, cost is about 5 bucks for 6-8  servings. (not my pic,  we ate it all before I thought about a picture )

 Cabbage goulash

8 ounces   sausage
8 ounces ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 (28 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped, juice reserved

2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
8 cups shredded cabbage or one large cabbage

Brown meat and onion, drain. Add remaining ingredients and simmer 20 minutes. Top with your favorite cheese.