Lucky Food

OK, so I am back tracking a little - I haven't had time to publish pictures lately and so I am catching up today. I don't know about you, but life has been a little hectic with St. Patricks day, Spring Break, and then Easter all in one week. Yikes! My house is still trying to recover.

So, here is a recipe that we used for our St. Patrick's day dinner (with other green food items on the side) in lieu of traditional corned beef and cabbage. We opted for Cabbage Rolls - these were yummy and definitely could be used any time of the year. I got this recipe from my friend Jenny and she typically fixes these for New Years. So pick any old time or month to try out some cabbage rolls on your family.

Cabbage Rolls

1 egg
1/4 C water
1 C cooked rice
1/4 C onions
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. thyme
1 lb. raw beef or beef/pork mixture
3 (8 oz.) cans tomato sauce
3 Tb. brown sugar
3 Tb. lemon juice
1 head cabbage

Submerge the whole head of cabbage in gently boiling water. Let sit just a few seconds so the cabbage becomes limp but not cooked. Pull off a leaf at a time, submerge again, and pull off the next leaf . . .until you have peeled off most of the useable large leaves. (I got about 20 leaves from a small-ish head)

Mix the egg, water, rice, onions, salt, pepper and thyme. Add the meat (I used beef only in mine). Take a leaf of cabbage (cut out the hard core if desired - it's hard to chew) put a spoonful of the meat mixture on it, fold the sides in and roll up. Use an amount of meat that matches the size of your cabbage leaf. Secure the roll with a toothpick. Continue using all of your meat and cabbage leaves.

Mix together the tomato sauce, brown sugar and lemon juice. Then choose cooking method #1 or #2. Serve with mashed potatoes or rice.


Cooking method #1: Put your cabbage rolls in a large pot or skillet on the stove. Cover with the sauce, bring to a boil. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer for 1 hour. Remove the lid the last 5 or 10 minutes.

Cooking method #2: Put all of your cabbage rolls in a 9x13 pan. Cover with the sauce and bake in a 350 degree oven, covered with foil for 1 1/2 hours (or up to 3 hours). Remove the foil and continue cooking a few more minutes to allow the sauce to reduce down slightly.

Note: This recipe makes plenty so invite your neighbors over when you make these!