Monday, February 4, 2013

Cabbage Rolls in the Crockpot

 * If you are here from Pinterest, Welcome! I have been asked for the recipe,
it is at the bottom in the comment section.

There are a ton of crockpot recipes flying around the internet these days & if you’re partial to Pinterest, I’m sure you’ve noticed. I also have noticed that a bunch of them are full of package mixes and lots of canned soup bases. I’m not sure about you, but I am trying to slowly get away from all of these processed things.
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Cabbage rolls are like my chicken pot pie I make… it’s a big comfort food for me.
Cabbage rolls drum up a whole lot of nostalgia in my mind and heart. Every year for Thanksgiving, my cousin would come from Alaska for a mini-reunion, this was her chance to get grandma’s cabbage rolls.
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As you can imagine we liked to go and do tons of stuff while she was visiting, which brings me to my point. Did you know that you can slow-cook cabbage rolls? I didn’t realize thing till my grandma told me a couple years back. I’m so happy to have learnt so much from her!
I’m sure you’ve already guessed that there is some prep-work before hand, but it is so worth it. Just pile those yummy little packages of stuffed cabbage in the crock with some kraut and tomato juice, turn on, and go. Go do some “running” as my grandma would call it. For you young pups out there, that’s code for “shopping, errands, etc.”
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The best thing about this idea? When you come home, it’s all done. It’s a meal in itself, no post-prep on this meal. We like to eat them with crescent rolls and cottage cheese. Cabbage rolls are just one of those meals that warms your belly and your soul in the middle of winter.

5 comments:

  1. I want to make this ,but it doesn't tell you what'sall in it ,nor how long to cook?

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    1. Monica- Sorry it took me a minute to get back to you. First thing you will need to do is take your cabbage leaves off gently and blanch them in a stock pot for a minute or two. For the filling I used a 16 oz. package of organic ground beef, about 1/2 cup of rice, a tablespoon of parsley, 1/4 cup of chopped onion, and I put in a few tablespoons of tomato juice as well, but you don't have to. Make the "balls" little enough that you can roll the cabbage around them. You will fold in sides first and then, roll up the rest. I use a whole large glass jar of sauerkraut, but if it was up to my husband I would use less. I put that in the bottom of the crock and pour the tomato juice over that, then place the cabbage rolls in and layer more kraut and tomato juice on top. I use about 3/4 of a plastic bottle of V8, but you might want to use less. Be sure that your cabbage rolls are covered with something (kraut or juice) otherwise the leaves will get dry and tough. Now I have a crockpot that just has "times" on it, i.e. 4 hrs. 6 hrs or 8 hrs 10hrs. I put it on the "low" one for 6 hrs. and check it around 4 hrs. If the cabbage is super soft, they are done. Let me know if you have any further questions, and let me know how they turn out :)

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  2. Well done Katrina! These look yummy! I made some with my mom over the weekend too. The taste and smell took me back to Bosnia and my childhood..Selma Lj

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  3. Down with processed ingredients! And up with super delicious food like this. I adore eating cabbage rolls.
     
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    1. Agreed 100%! I'm getting there slowly, but being a mommy & working full time, its hard to hang up the convenience foods.

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