Cabbage Rolls

I was given this recipe from a friend who found it on a friend of a friend's site. We both thought it looked really healthy and delicious....So, I gave it a try.

Actual Recipe:
1 head of cabbage
1 egg
1-8oz can tomato sauce
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
1-envelope onion soup mix
1 lb lean ground turkey
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 cups regular V8 juice (see note in directions)

Directions:
-Core your cabbage and save it for the guinea pigs
-Very carefully, peel off large cabbage leaves (8-12) and wash them. You need to lightly steam the cabbage leaves to wilt them enough to handle. You can put the leaves in a covered casserole dish and microwave on high for 2 minutes.
-In a mixing bowl, combine the turkey meat, raw rice, egg, onion soup mix, cheese and the can of tomato sauce. Mix well - the mixture will be like very gloppy meatloaf.
-Using a spoon, scoop about 1/3 cup mixture into each cabbage leaf and roll or fold. Put the stuffed cabbage leaves into the bottom of your crock-pot, seam side down.
-If you cabbage has a bunch of nice leaves, use them all. I (the person we got the recipe from) was stuck with only 8 good ones and got frustrated and fed the rest of the cabbage to the guinea pigs.
-It's okay to stack the rolls on top of each other in the crock-pot.
-Top with 2 cups of V8 juice. I used 2 cups of juice because I made 8 rolls. If you are using more rolls, use another cup of juice. The original recipe called for an entire 46 oz bottle of V8 which is an awful lot. I didn't want to use that much and did not fully submerge my cabbage rolls. They steamed and cooked fine in less juice. Cover crock-pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Ours cooked for exactly 6 hours and the meat was cooked the the rice was tender. That's what you're looking for.

Ready to cook.

Done.

My Version & Opinion:
-I was able to get 10 usable cabbage leaves, so I ended up using 3 cups of V8 juice. I'm thinking I should have at least used 4 cups to submerge them because the bottom ones turned out better cooked than the top ones.
-I didn't realize until I was making the recipe that I didn't have shredded cheese. So, I used just under a 1/3 cup of grated Parmesan cheese. I wonder how differently it would have been if I had been able to use the right kind.
-I think my family is done using ground turkey. I used to be into it and didn't mind substituting it for ground beef every once in a while. But, we've had some bad ground turkey in the past and I've had a few too many recipes that didn't taste good with it that I think I'm done using it. I think we did some of those recipes while I was pregnant and it really created a bad flavor. It just doesn't taste good to me anymore. So, my suggestion is that if you do want to try this recipe and are on the fence about ground turkey - go ahead and try the ground beef with it. It would more than likely taste better to you.
-The rice was not cooked as well and the recipe said it would be. I cooked my batch for 8 hours and the rice still wasn't done. I was afraid it was going to be mushy but I was not home and had to let it cook that long. Maybe more V8 juice would have helped this.

We ate it with mashed potatoes and green beans.
I mixed every bite together to get through it all.

Well, it's not a recipe I am going to be using again. Not even one I want to play with because it put such a poor taste in my mouth. Blah! You win some, you lose some. You got to experiment to find out what works for your family and with this one, I found out what doesn't work. Good luck to the rest of you if you want to try it out.

Vegetarian Chili - WW

Weight Watchers - Points Plus value - 1 cup is 3 points.

I got this recipe at a Weight Watchers meeting a long time ago when they were still doing the old plan. I just made it this week and was happy to see they updated the points value on the recipe to the Points Plus plan when I went to my meeting this morning. It is delicious!

Actual Recipe:

1 can black beans, drained
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can Great Northern white beans, drained
1 - 16 oz can diced tomatoes
1 - 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 diced onion
1 diced green pepper
2 cloves minced garlic
1 1/2 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 Tbsp sugar, optional
chopped carrots and zucchini, optional

Stir Together, simmer 30 minutes

Doesn't that look good?.....Yes, Yes it does!

My Version - Doubled:

2 cans black beans
2 cans kidney beans
2 cans white beans
1 can diced tomatoes & 3 large tomatoes chopped & 1 can stewed tomatoes
in the past I've used 2 quart bottles of home bottled tomatoes, but I didn't have any this time)
2 cans tomato sauce
2 cups water
1 diced onion (don't want it too strong for the kids)
1 diced green pepper (I like them but my husband doesn't care for them, so I compromise)
4 cloves minced garlic
2 Tbsp chili powder (don't want it too strong for my kids)
2 tsp cumin
2 Tbsp sugar (husband said it was a little sweet, so I might leave this out next time)
3 large carrots, chopped
1 large zucchini, chopped

Since this was a doubled recipe, I simmered it for 45 minutes rather than the 30 minutes like the single recipe.

Opinion:

We like to add corn to our chili, but I didn't do it this time. I think if you do add 1-2 cans of corn, then you should add a point to your WW amount because corn does count towards your tracking efforts. We like this stuff, that's why I made a double batch. I like to keep home made chili in the freezer for when we either want chili for dinner or when we have baked potatoes. Left overs are just as good with this recipe. My 15 year old picky eater niece was over for dinner that night and she ate it all up. That was a nice compliment to my healthy eating styles. My husband likes it too (of course, like any man, he wouldn't mind if there was meat in it, but he's okay with this recipe because there is so many other things in it that he doesn't complain).

Easy to prep, easy to cook and SO DELICIOUS!!!
Very few points for so much flavor! 1 cup = 3 points plus value.

Lasagna - Macey's Ad

In the Macey's grocery store food ads I cut out the Crock Pot Lasagna recipe and tried it out. This is one that I tried to play with a little bit and wish I didn't. It was still good but would have been better if I had followed all the ingredients as directed. Doesn't really matter on what brand you use, but the amounts would have made a difference.

Actual Recipe:

1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 - 29 oz Western Family Tomato Sauce
1 - 6 oz Western Family Tomato Paste
1 - 16 oz Western Family Cottage Cheese
1 - 5 oz BelGioioso Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 - 8 oz Western Family Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 - 16 oz American Beauty Lasagna Noodles (uncooked)

Directions:

-Brown ground beef, chopped onion and smashed garlic in frying pan
-Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1 Tbsp dried oregano
-Cook until meat sauce is warm
-Spoon a layer of meat sauce onto the bottom of the crock pot
-Add a double layer of uncooked lasagna noodles (break to fit) and top with a layer of the cheeses
-Repeat with sauce, noodles and cheeses until all are used up
-Add 1/2 cup water around the outside edge of the lasagna
-Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours
-Serves 6

Ready to cook.

Done.

My Changes:

-I used a package of frozen beef I had in the freezer which I had already cooked up with minced onions, so I didn't worry about the garlic
-I didn't have a 29 oz can of tomato sauce so I used 4-6oz cans which equals 24 oz - I now wish I had a 29 oz can or at least one more 6 oz can to use...It needed a little more sauce.
-I was planning on just creating 3 combo layers but ended up with a few extra noodles, so I tried to spread the sauce out at the end to create one more layer - I should have just been more generous with them in the beginning or just left them out. They weren't quite done on the top because there weren't enough toppings on them.
-I used 1/4 cup of water around the edges instead of 1/2 cup. I shouldn't have adjusted this. The noodles needed the extra moisture, especially since I didn't have enough sauce. I was just worried about adding too much water because of a previous recipe that I had done that had a pool of water at the end.
-I thought it would be good with chopped up mushrooms - and I was right about that change. It was delicious and I wish I had chopped up and added a lot more than I did.

Opinion:

Don't play with this recipe too much if you can avoid it. Doesn't matter what brand of items you use, I just copied the recipe as it was written. Keep in mind that it will serve at least 6 people. It created a lot of left overs for my family of 5 (3 of which are under 5). But, it was delicious and the next time I do this, it will be done correctly.

Just Chicken

We like to buy chicken when we can get it on sale, cook it up, chop it up and keep it in the freezer in 2 cup or 2 breast amounts. Then, whatever I'm making that includes chicken, I don't have to worry about cooking the chicken first or pulling out the canned stuff. Works great in casseroles, soups, tacos, etc.... We also like to do this with hamburger in the one pound amounts in Ziploc Freezer bags. Anyway, I usually end up putting 3-4 chicken breasts in a lid covered pan and slaving over the stove or constantly checking it or setting the timer to remind me I have chicken cooking on the stove. Then I have to start it all again to finish cooking the rest of the chicken that I have. This is a slow cooker recipe - put the chicken in, cook for 3-4 hours on high and then turn it off. Cut up the chicken and all done. My husband did this for me on a day that I had to work, but at least it "tastes like chicken."

Recipe:

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp chicken bouillon
Salt and pepper
1 tsp paprika
1/2 cup water

Layer chicken breasts in slow-cooker, sprinkling bouillon, salt, pepper, and paprika over each layer. Pour water around edges. Cover and cook on high 3-4 hours or low 6-7 hours. Remove chicken. Allow to cool 10 minutes. Slice chicken into 1/2-inch slices.

Ready to cook.

Done.

Then, do whatever you want with the chicken. Put it in some gravy and serve over rice for dinner, package it up for the freezer like I do, put it in your favorite recipe....whatever. Easy!

Chicken Tortilla Mix - Pictures

Finally found the pictures for this yummy recipe I posted earlier.

Ready to cook.

All cooked and ready to shred chicken.

All shredded and ready to eat in burritos. Yummy.
Don't forget, the left overs taste great in chicken tortillas for another dinner.