Cabbage Rolls and Stuffed Peppers!

I love cooking and also preparing meals for future use in the freezer. My mom has taught me much of what I know about cooking, and today I had the pleasure of working with her in her kitchen, preparing LOTS of cabbage rolls and stuffed peppers! To start off, mom and I had purchased the peppers and cabbage from the farmers market, and they all looked so beautiful. Mom grew up eating cabbage rolls and stuffed peppers and she has continued making them for our family. I have many wonderful meal memories of eating these things.

Here's the recipe, along with how we changed or altered things:

Haluptsie (pigs in the blanket, or cabbage rolls) (From Mom's German cookbook) (serves 6-8 adults)

Mix the following ingredients together:
2 lbs hamburger (I like Lau_ra's Lean Beef, 4% fat - no antibiotics or hormones)
1 large onion chopped fine (I think I used 2)
1.5 cups precooked rice (we used brown rice, and we used 6 cups)
salt, pepper, garlic powder - season to taste (you can't taste it though as the meat is raw, so season moderately but well - I estimated about 2 teaspoons or more of pepper, same with the garlic powder, and probably 1 teaspoon celery salt & Lawry's seasoned salt combined)
*We also added a jar of spaghetti sauce to the mixture! I like Ra_gu 7 herb. And after you've dumped out the jar, put some water in it and shake it up and then add that to the mix also.

Blanch 1 head of cabbage by removing heart and placing leaves in boiling water until limp. (We just cut out the "heart" and then put the whole head in the pot, covered it up, and checked it in several minutes. Then the leaves start pulling off as they cook...you kind of have to do it in stages as they're ready to come off.) The put the leaves in a bowl until ready to use.

Place a heaping tablespoon (or more - really, I think we did probably 1/2 cup or more) of the meat mixture on each leaf and roll up.

Place in heavy kettle or roaster.

Pour the following mixture over the cabbage rolls: 1 can tomato soup and 2 cup tomato juice.
(OR, you can use 2 cans of tomato soup)
(OR, how I like it is with some diced tomatoes and spaghetti sauce from the jar)
(OR, Mom said you could use some stewed tomatoes over the top)

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 1.5-2 hours or until cabbage is soft and meat is done.

STUFFED PEPPERS!!! (serves 6-8 adults)

*Make sure to parboil the peppers for about 3-4 minutes after you've cut them, or leave them whole.

Use the same meat mixture as for the above cabbage rolls EXCEPT fill the cavities of whole green peppers, or cut peppers in half length wise and fill. (or you can take the peppers and cut them in half width wise, just trimming off a bit of the stem but leaving it on mostly until after you cook and serve - then whoever is eating it can cut off the stem)

Pour tomato juice and tomato soup or spaghetti sauce over all and bake at 350 degrees until peppers are soft and meat is all done. (approx. 1.5 hours)

You can also add shredded cheese over the top and place back in oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is golden once the peppers are all cooked.

Freezing Instructions:
If you decide you would like to freeze some or all of your cabbage rolls or stuffed peppers, you would place them on a cookie sheet or in a pan (lightly grease the pan if you want things to come out easily) and place them into the freezer for an hour or so until frozen. Once frozen, you can remove them and place them into a Zip_loc freezer bag or into a lightly greased pan and cover with tin foil and place inside of a freezer bag. Also, you would leave the sauce over the top until you actually cook the rolls or peppers - do not freeze with the sauce over the top.

**This recipe made TONS! We had about 12 peppers that we halved, so 24 stuffed peppers - they were HUGE peppers. Then we had enough mix left over to make about 20 cabbage rolls.

Everyday Cassoulet

I'm SO excited to be subbing for a cooking group through my church this coming week! We each prepare 12 meals, and bring 11 to swap with the other 11 members of the group. I can't wait to see what we'll be eating in the coming months! It will be fun to have my freezer fully of yummy meals.

The meal that I prepared is one of my favorites and has been a great company meal here in our home.

Here it is!

Everyday Cassoulet by Melody (& Bet_ty Cro_cker Cook_book)
651-695-1252 if you have questions!

1 lb. Po_lish or smoked sausage (1 giant link…or add 1.5-2 for more meat – I did 1.5 for the group), cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces
(*I always use smoked turkey sausage – Tar_get has a generic one that I used for the group, and there’s a natural version at health stores.…)
1 can (15-16 oz.) great northern beans (or cannelini), rinsed & drained
1 can (15-16 oz.) kidney beans, rinsed & drained
1 can (15-16 oz.) black beans, rinsed & drained
(*For the group, I cooked up 3 bags of each type of bean and that almost covered it, cost MUCH less, and then there is no added salt from the beans…I did end up using just q couple of cans)
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce (or the 29 oz. can if you double it)
3 medium carrots, thinly sliced (1.5 cups)
(*I ALWAYS add more – I think I did 5-6 carrots per meal for the group)
2 small yellow onions or 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced & separated into rings (or diced)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped (or put through the garlic press…and can add another clove if you like garlic)
½ cup dry red wine or beef broth (I put about 1 cup of beef broth per meal)
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar (you can also use pure maple syrup if you would rather not use sugar)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh or 1.5 teaspoons dried thyme leaves (I did generous tablespoons of the fresh thyme…and have tried dry and it does work fine, but doesn’t have quite the same yummy flavor as the fresh)

Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Then pour into an ungreased casserole/lasagna pan (I prefer my lasagna pan because the sides are taller and this casserole is really bubbly) & cover with lid or foil. Bake 1 hour 15 minutes OR until mixture is hot & bubbly & carrots are tender. (I usually end up baking it for about 1.5 hours, and I usually place the pan on top of a baking sheet since it sometimes bubbles over the sides.
I like to serve this dinner with a crusty loaf of bread and a dark, leafy green salad topped with fruit. It’s VERY hearty and people usually love it even if they don’t like beans! ENJOY!!!

Singermama is back!

Blogging has not been a priority for me lately - did ya notice? Honestly I haven't missed it all that much. I've been much more into Face_book, reading other people's blogs, and just life itself to take the time to blog on my own blog. But ya'all, I'm back! :) Here are my random thoughts...

I'm practicing voice again as I'm preparing to do a recital in October with a colleague of mine who plays French horn. I think it will be a ton of fun! Recitals are such incredible experiences...they take TONS of work and dedication to prepare for, but they are so rewarding to do! My plan is to resurrect some music that I've done in the past so that I don't have to learn everything from scratch. And the fact that I get to share the program with my friend will help a LOT! Much less work for me.

Recently, I reopened my Be_th Mo_ore online Bible study through Life_way.com. They have online Bible studies!!! SO fun! And they're great for busy mamas, because let's face it, we rarely have moments to ourselves. So the fact that I can do my study in segments that only last about 10 minutes at a time is VERY convenient! Hooray! The one I'm doing is titled "Liv_ing Beyond Your_self." I'm very inspired so far. When I was in grad. school in Texas, I had the privilege of attending Be_th Mo_ore's Sunday school class at Ho_uston's Fi_rst Ba_ptist Ch_urch. That was an incredible year and a half of my life, being at that church and in that class. The Lord used that time to help me grow and learn much about Him. When I moved back to MN, I greatly missed being at that church and in Beth's class, but I also felt like it was a good season in my life that I would always be grateful for. And since then, I've been able to listen to some cd's from the class and read some of her books, and that has been nice to. And I've been reminded that it is good to learn from other teachers too! The Lord has blessed MANY teachers of His Word out there, and I'm thankful that we can learn from them. Every now and then though, it is nice to have me some Beth time. :) She not only makes me laugh hysterically with her southern ways, but she also has incredible insights into the Lord's Word, and I feel like God has gifted her immensely.

On another note, we've been very busy around this house lately. Three of the four of us have had our birthdays in the last few weeks - Erik turned 40, I turned 32, Bug Girl turned 3, and then in two weeks my Buzzy Boy will turn 1! And Erik and I had our five year wedding anniversary. Hallelujah! We made it through five years! I'm looking forward to so many more with my love.

Bug's birthday was fun. She had two parties - one with family and one with little friends, but both had the D_ora the Ex_plorer theme. VERY fun! Bug loves D_ora, and often requests D_ora videos. We had Enchilada Casserole as our main dish and everyone loved it. There were two pinatas - one for each day, and the kids went nuts and had so much fun!

Erik was supposed to have a surprise party for his birthday, but due to a few different reasons, it ended up not being a surprise. In the end, that was okay though, because I really needed his help getting ready for the party. There were approximately 80 people there and it was a ton of tun! We held the party up at the park near our home, and people from all areas of Erik's life were there - family, college, and of course, BSF. He spent MANY years in BSF, both as an attendee and as a leader, so it was much fun for him to reconnect with his "peops."

We've had a lot of illness in our home the last several months...colds, pneumonia, flu...and I think we're finally over it. At least I hope so! I'm really glad that we can have a reprieve from the illness. People who deal with chronic illness or disease of any sort must have a hard time without reprieve...I cannot imagine.

I must go and rest while kiddos are napping...chicken, wild rice, carrots, cream of mushroom soup and homemade chicken broth are brewing away in the cr_ock pot for dinner. I can't wait!

$15 meal...or two or three or four!!!

I just threw together a good old-fashioned Sunday beef pot roast in the slow cooker, and am SO excited to turn it on in the morning and come home to YUMMY DELICIOUSNESS!!!!!!!! The roast that I bought was a nicer cut, and cost around $11.50. But you see, it has MUCH less fat on it. I know that the marble fat is what makes the meat taste delicious, but I'm trying to be healthy here people! So, I browned the hunk o' meat in some evoo (that's extra-virgin olive oil, in case you haven't ever heard a famous cook with the initials RR throw that term around) and also some yellow onions. I much prefer yellow onions to white, and hardly ever buy white unless it is the only thing there. I seasoned the meat with garlic powder, low sodium salt and pepper on all the sides, and made sure that each side was browned before setting the meat in an olive oil covered crock. Then I washed up some little red potatoes, carrots and mushrooms and placed them on and around the meat. Note: I don't really like mushrooms, but my sweet Erik LOVES them, so every now and again I have to incorporate them into a meal so that his tummy is happy! Not much I love more than to make my man happy with a good meal! SO, in the morgen, I will add a few inches of water in the crock and set it on low and hopefully it will be done when we come home from church! When it is all done, I will make some gravy out of the juices. My mom taught me how to do gravy...just take the juices from the bottom of the pan and bring to a boil in another pan, or the original pan if you have removed the meat and veggies from that original pan...and then, you take some flour and cold water and mix up in the blender - I think it is about a half to one ratio...so, 1/2 cup flour to 1 cup cold water...I usually end up with several cups of water and a few cups of flour to make sure I have PLENTY of gravy. I like to have leftover gravy so that I can make pot pies and freeze them for later! The gravy really is a season to taste adventure. Once you mix in the flour and water mixture, making sure to only use as much as you need to for a good gravy consistency (I love thick gravy, so I have to add more of the flour), then you bring that to a boil. And then season with more garlic powder, salt and pepper. It's YUMMY!!! And I'm sure it's NOT healthy.

Onto the pot pies...cut up the leftover beef and mix with your favorite frozen veggies, or fresh veggies that you have chopped and cooked until tender - for example, I sometimes do a mixture of carrots, peas and potatoes...but you could do broccoli if you like that I suppose! Mix meat and veggies with leftover gravy, making sure that there isn't TOO much gravy, but just enough to keep things really moist. Place in glass or porcelain baking dishes, and cover with a pre-made store-bought pastry, such as a pie shell. That's what I usually use and I make it fit the pan by stretching and prodding it, and it works! If you want a real pie, you can put a pastry on the bottom of the pan as well...but if you're trying to cut a couple of calories out of an already calorie laden dish, then just use the pastry on the top. If you're lucky, you may have enough meat and gravy left over for several pies! I usually end up with two or three! And they freeze wonderfully, so you can pull them out for dinner some night when you don't want to cook. Bake at 350 degrees for around 1 hour and 15 minutes. Make SURE that you keep the crust edges covered with pieces of foil if you don't want burned crust! And you can even start the pie out for the first 30-45 minutes with foil covering the entire thing if you want to. I often do that, and then it helps to ensure that it doesn't burn.

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!

Cravings...

Pregnancy makes a person crave really bizarre things...like the traditional pickles & ice cream. Of those two, I have more often craved the pickles, probably because of the salt. And then there is my craving for grapefruit! I had that in my first pregnancy and I have it again this time. The iron craving happens to me at least once a week, if not twice, and I have to restrain myself from going through the Wendy's drive-thru lurking for a juicy cheeseburger. But I do give into that craving probably once every few weeks, the Wendy's burger craving that is. :) TONIGHT, I was craving chicken flavored ramen noodles! The bad for you, full of MSG, yummy tasting nooddles that I simply cannot get enough of lately. Once again, I think it is the salt that I'm craving. And it is precisely the salt which I should probably be monitering. My blood pressure is really great right now, but in my first pregnancy when I started to have some complications due to Preeclampsia, I had to virtually eliminate salt from my diet. It was SO hard! But I learned how to use really great herbs and spices in my cooking, and that helped. Seriously though, our nation is terrible with the salt consumption, and I'm one of those consumers! One of my friends who has to watch salt intake told me that we eat several times more salt, as a nation, than most of the rest of the world. No wonder we have so many health problems. Anyway, I need to make it my goal to make myself eat a healthier snack than chicken ramen noodles next time that craving calls! Apple, anyone?

Happy New Year!

Yippee! 2008 is here, and I can hardly believe it. We had a fun New Years Eve party in our new house with a bunch of friends. I made homemade macaroni & cheese, a huge Italian pasta salad, sweet & sour meatballs thanks to a recipe from my dear friend, and spinach & artichoke dip. Then people brought the rest of the food: salads, appetizers, desserts, beverages...it was great! We really enjoyed having such a group in our home and found it to be a nice way to make our home feel more "homey." Now this weekend we'll have my family over and next weekend Erik's family, so more entertaining is on the way. I really do enjoy having company. We also were able to get TONS of things put away before the company arrived for our New Years party which made a huge difference and lifted such a weight from my shoulders. There were boxes and stuff everywhere, and now most of it is at least more organized or else in its new home. I LOVE IKEA!!! We found some great bookshelves there to go with a stereo shelf we already had, and that really works well along a wall in our "music" room. It is fun to finally have a library spot set up!

I need to find some inspiration to write a Christmas/New Years letter. It seems that we always send ours in January, but that's fine with me. Christmas, well December, is such a busy time of year that I don't feel like I get to calm down until January comes.

I had the privilege of leading worship at church this past Sunday for "youth" week. It was really fun to help them learn their vocal parts and to play piano again for the service. I haven't played for a service in such a long time because I was recovering from some pretty yucky tendinitis. Thank GOD that it is healed now and I can play and do all my normal activities that my wimpy thumb wasn't able to do for over a year.

This is a really random post, but I'm just writing what comes to mind...

So take care, and have a wonderful start to your new year! I really want to post photos soon...