Unstuffed Cabbage
Many years ago I was invited to dinner at my cousin’s house. She served a dish called “Stuffed Cabbage”. I had never tried it before, but with one bite, I fell in love! I have always enjoyed Italian foods, and this particular dish was delicious.
I asked for the recipe, which my cousin was happy to share. I attempted to make it a few weeks later, and quickly discovered there was a lot more work to it than I had thought.
I’m what you might call a “lazy cook”. I prefer meals where you throw everything in one pot and call it dinner. It’s a good way to clean out the leftovers in the fridge too, only you seldom get the exact same taste twice. Still, I’ve never had any complaints about my cooking. (Maybe it’s only because I make them wait until they’re so hungry, anything would taste good.)
Well, I decided that instead of spending all that time to steam the cabbage leaves, prepare the meat mixture and roll it up in the leaves, then put it in the sauce to cook, you guessed it…I just put all of the ingredients into a crock pot and turned it on, calling it “Unstuffed Cabbage”. I let it simmer for several hours while I went about taking care of other matters, like playing with the kids.
Unstuffed Cabbage has now become one of my favorite meals, and has even been requested on occasion at our church potlucks. Of course everyone laughs when I tell them I came up with the idea because I’m a lazy cook. But it is the truth. It’s not that I mind cooking at all, I just usually have a lot of other things going on that require my attention (and I’ve burned a lot of dishes that require too much tending to).
It occurred to me recently that my recipes such as Unstuffed Cabbage, allow me to multi-task as well as save time, money, energy and space. And I really like those ideas! I’m actually thinking about creating a cookbook for other lazy cooks too. It might make a great gift item. What do you think? Any ideas for a good title? Got any suggestions for saving time or money, etc. you’d like to share? I’d love to hear your ideas!
One more quick note: In an effort to better organize my time, I’ll be updating my posts here on Wednesdays and Fridays.
And since it’s Friday, as promised (I know, I’ve missed a couple of weeks) here is this week’s #TBSU (The Blog Scratchers Union) List:
http://livingthescottishdream.wordpress.com/
http://pacificparatrooper.wordpress.com/category/introduction/
http://healthadvocation.wordpress.com/
Take a look and if you see any blogs you like, please follow and share! If you have any blogs you’d like to recommend, #TBSU is free to join and easy to share. Or if you prefer, I can add your suggestions to my lists too…the more the merrier!
Have a great weekend, and God bless! – Amber
AmberLea of Alaska's Blog 
Hey, Sis! I just bought some cabbage today–can you give me the recipe for the Unstuffed/crock pot recipe? Please?? Also–have I lost what’s left of my mind–where’s that post about the Bible Emergency Numbers? I’m going to die of embarrassment, if it turns out it was on another blog…. I love one-pot meals too, so we definitely have a few things in common! God bless you Big–love, sis Caddo
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Hi Caddo! I’ll be happy to give you my recipe! It’s really easy (especially since I don’t really measure anything, lol) As for the Bible Emergency Numbers post, that was on my other blog – http://faithhopeandmiracles.com/2013/01/04/sound-wisdom/ I separated my blogs into 3 different themes, to help me keep things more organized. (Lol, I need all the help I can get in being organized. If I was a cat, I’d be one of the goofy ones, chasing my tail in circles all the time.) Now onto the recipe:
1 lb (approx) hamburger, cooked (or you can use leftover meatballs)
about half a head of cabbage, cut into large bit size pieces
large handful of chopped onion
large handful of chopped bell pepper
3 TBS of crushed garlic
1/2 – 3/4 cup uncooked rice (white, wild, brown, whatever you like)
1 cup corn (optional)
Spaghetti sauce, enough to cover all ingredients (this can be homemade mixture of tomato paste, tomato sauce and spices, or I sometimes use Hunt’s spaghetti sauce, about 3 large cans Italian sausage flavor)
Just put everything into large crock pot and cook on high until beginning to boil, reduce to low and ignore for about 2 – 3 hours (or longer if you’re busy). It’s done when the cabbage is tender & limp. Leftovers keep well in frig or freezer.
I do hope you enjoy, and please let me know how you like it. One problem I’ve had is that sometimes with all of the ingredients, I end up overfilling the pot, so you might need to reduce the amounts. My crock pot is a 5 qt.
Hope you have a wonderful week, and God bless! Love & hugs, sis Amber
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Hi Amber–bless your sweet heart! Thanks–both for the recipe (I’m so jazzed to make it tomorrow!), and for reminding about the other blog. I knew my 60-yr old memory was getting dull, but feared I’d lost my mind entirely at the “tiny” New Year’s party last week! You sound like me, about cooking–we both like one-pot meals, and I tend to overfill mine too; so now I know that I can come to you for recipes–yippee!!! God bless your week–hug the boy, and yourself–love, your “old” and silly Big Sis Caddo!
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PS: I’ve clicked to “follow” these 2 blogs now–so maybe that will help my aging brain!!!
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Hi Sis Caddo. You are very welcome for the recipe and I really hope you like it! We had an Italian style potluck after the Sunday service and I got “fussed” at for not bringing unstuffed cabbage this time. I’ll know better next time. Now I’m actually having a craving for it, lol. Guess I’m going to the store today for cabbage. Hope you have a very blessed and joyful week! And Christian says thanks for the hugs too! God bless!
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