Sweet 'n' Tender Cabbage Rolls

Picture from Taste of Home magazine

Erin and I found this recipe in Taste of Home magazine. We made it together and it is one of my new favorite meals! Basically, they are meatballs wrapped and cooked in cabbage and a delicious sauce. The hardest part about making them is wrapping them in the cabbage leaves, but it is also kind of fun. It is cooked in a crockpot and so it works perfectly if you prepare them the night before and cook them the next day. If I were feeding a family, I would probably make two batches. For just the two of us, Erin and I made one batch but only cooked half of them. We froze the other half and cooked and ate them several weeks later. They froze well and tasted great even the second time around!

By the way, the reason I say the mushrooms are optional is because I don't like mushrooms. I don't think that I'm a picky eater, but after nearly three decades of trying things and trying them again, there are a couple of foods that I am confident that I don't like (e.g. mushrooms & olives).

• 1 large head cabbage


• 2 eggs, beaten


• 1/2 cup milk


• 2 cups cooked long grain rice


• 2 jars (4 1/2 oz. each) sliced mushrooms, well drained (OPTIONAL)


• 1 small onion, chopped


• 2 tsp. salt


• 1 tsp. dried parsley flakes


• 1 tsp. dried oregano


• 1 tsp. dried basil


• 1/2 tsp. pepper


• 2 lbs. lean ground beef

Sauce:

• 2 cans (8 oz. each) tomato sauce


• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar


• 2 T. lemon juice


• 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Cook cabbage in boiling water just until leaves fall off head. Set aside 14 large leaves for rolls. (Refrigerate remaining cabbage for another use.) Cut out the thick vein from the bottom of each reserved leaf, making the V-shaped cut.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, milk, rice, mushrooms, onion and seasonings. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Place about 1/2 cup on each cabbage leaf, overlap cut ends and fold in sides, beginning from the cut end. Roll up completely to enclose filling.

Place seven rolls, seam side down, in a 5-qt. slower cooker. Combine the sauce ingredients, pour half over cabbage rolls. Top with remaining rolls and sauce. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees.