Stuffed Cabbage

Hi everyone!

Today I made Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Watermelon slush to drink
and rolled the remainder of the filling for the rolls into meatballs.

Filling Ingredients For Cabbage Rolls

• 1 Large Head of Cabbage
• 1 Pound ground beef
• 1 Pound ground pork
• 2 Eggs
• ½ cup of uncooked fast cooking rice (Minute Rice)
• 1 Small onion diced
• 3–4 Garlic Cloves chopped

Sauce To Pour Over The Cabbage Rolls

• 1 Large Onion chopped
• 2 Small Cans Tomato Sauce or 1 large can
• 1 Large can of diced or whole tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
• 1 Tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
• ½ Tsp Pepper
• 1 Tsp. Salt
• ¼ - ½ Cup of Brown Sugar

Preparing The Head Of Cabbage

Cut the core off of the cabbage as much as possible. With a small knife I try to dig part of the core out as well. Place cabbage in a large pot of boiling water for about ten minutes or until the leaves are softened enough that you can peel them off the head easily. While your cabbage is in the pot prepare your filling.
Mix all ingredients for filling together making sure that they are well mixed.
Carefully peel off the cabbage leaves making sure you do not tear them. If you happen to tear it do not throw it away as you will want to save it to line the bottom of your roasting pan. Cut off the coarse part. Keep peeling off the leaves until you cannot peel anymore off without tearing. Return the head to the pot of boiling water.

Rolling and Filling Your Cabbage Leaves

Spoon about ¼ cup of your filling into the middle of a leaf. Fold one end and sides over filling and roll. Place on a plate. Keep doing this until all your cabbage rolls are made.
With your leftover cabbage chop into large pieces and line the bottom of a roasting pan.
Place all your cabbage rolls on top of the leaves in the roasting pan with the seam side facing down.

In a saucepan bring all ingredients for the sauce to a boil mixing well. Pour the sauce over your cabbage rolls. Cover the roasting pan with a lid or with aluminum foil.

Bake covered in a 350° oven for one hour.

Uncover and bake in a 250° oven for 1 ½ - 2 hours. Check every once in awhile to make sure the cabbage rolls are not burning or drying out. If they are pour a bit of tomato sauce on them.

 

Note: I omitted the brown sugar and it still came out great. I just rolled the remainder of the filling in to meatballs and put them on a cookie sheet and spread the remainder of the red sauce over them.

 

 

 

 

 

Watermelon Slush

 

Ingredients

• 5 cups diced seedless watermelon
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• Juice of 1 lime, optional

Instructions

• Combine watermelon, sugar, lime juice and 1 cup ice in blender until smooth.
• Serve immediately.

 

Cleaning:

 

I follow the system at www.flylady.net.

 

Today you are going after the trash in the living room. Now you may think you have no trash in these rooms but look under the couch and the chairs. Lift up the cushions and check out what seems to magically get swallowed up in the couch. Check under the end tables and the coffee table. Set your timer for 15 minutes and grab a trash bag and start tossing. You will be surprised at how fast you can do this mission. I bet you all will have time left to spare. Be careful not to lift things that are too heavy and awkward on your mission. Ask for help if you need it!

 

 

Apple Pecan Cheesecake

Hey everyone!

Today I made Apple Pecan Cheesecake with the apples that we picked at the orchard!!

What You Need

1 cup  graham cracker crumbs

3/4 cup  finely chopped Pecans, divided

3 Tbsp.  sugar

1 tsp.  ground cinnamon, divided

1/4 cup  (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, melted

2 pkg.  (8 oz. each) Cream Cheese, softened

1/2 cup  sugar

1/2 tsp.  vanilla

2 eggs

1/3 cup  sugar

4 cups  thin peeled apple slices

 

Make It

HEAT oven to 325°F.
MIX crumbs, 1/2 cup nuts, 3 Tbsp. sugar, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon and butter; press onto bottom of pan. Bake 10 min.
BEAT cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar and vanilla with mixer until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over crust. Mix 1/3 cup sugar and remaining cinnamon in large bowl. Add apples; toss to coat. Spoon over cream cheese layer; sprinkle with remaining nuts.
BAKE 1 hour 10 min. to 1 hour 15 min or until center is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing. Refrigerate 4 hours. 

 

    

Cajun Red Beans and Rice

Hey guys!

Today I made "Cajun Red beans and Rice"


Ingredients

1lb bag of dry red kidney beans

1lb smoked sausage

2 onions, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 6oz can tomato paste

1 8oz can tomato sauce

1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes (do not drain)

2 cups of water

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cajun seasoning

1/2 tsp black pepper

Cooked White Rice for serving

 

 

                                            (pictured are the red beans and smoked sausage)

 

 

Place the dry beans in a large bowl and cover with water. Let soak for at least 8 hours. Ideally, overnight. The next day, discard remaining soaking water. Pour beans into your slow-cooker. To them, add the chopped onions, garlic, salt, Cajun seasoning, and pepper.
Then add your sausage, tomato paste, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes (with juice), and water. Stir to combine everything. Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours until beans are soft.
Serve over white rice.

Note: This one is a bit time consuming, as you have to start it the night before but it was well worth it :0) (I did serve it over white rice, not pictured.)

 

 

Cleaning:

 

We are back in the master bedroom and now we are going after the dusties! Let's grab those feather dusters or dust rags and dust the bedroom furniture. This means to pick up anything that is on these surfaces and dust underneath of them, also to dust the lamps and the decorative items as well.
Look around your bedroom and see if you missed any dust, if you were paying for a hotel room on vacation would you want to pay for a room with dust?

 

 

 

Mongolian Beef

Hi everyone!

Today I made Mongolian Beef

ingredients

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 pound steak (sirloin or flank), sliced thinly
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon sauce such as sambal oelek 
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 1 teaspoon ginger, grated
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/3 cup water or beef broth
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/4 cup green onion, sliced

directions

1. Heat the oil in a pan over medium-high heat, add the beef and saute until just cooked, about 2-4 minutes.
2. Add the mixture of the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, brown sugar, chili sauce, garlic, ginger and the mixture of the cornstarch and water to the pan and cook until it thickens a bit, about a minute.
3. Remove from heat, mix in the sesame oil and serve over white rice or noodles, quinoa, etc. garnished with the green onions.

Note: I omitted the Sambal Oelek (bc i don't know what the heck that is lmao) but it still came out really good.

Cleaning:

I follow the system at www.flylady.net and the mission for today is:

Still working on the theme of our bedrooms being a retreat, we are going to focus on the "stuff" that is hanging around in our bedroom that need to be put away but we just have not gotten around to. Set your timer for 15 minutes and go to it. Hang up the clothes, put the laundry basket of clothes away, take the coffee mug on the nightstand to the kitchen and turn around and come right back, don't get sidetracked. Better yet, have an empty laundry basket and toss in the things that do not belong in your room and then take the basket around the house and deliver the items. Put things away and get the things that don't belong out of there.

Broccoli and Cheddar Soup

Hey everyone,

I'm gonna give this a shot!

On this blog I will primarily post about recipes, but will add some cleaning and beauty stuff as well..

Today I made: Broccoli and Cheddar Soup

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

1 Tablespoon melted butter

1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups half-and-half cream

2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth

1/2 pound fresh broccoli florets

1/4 teaspoon Allspice

1 pinch ground cloves

1 1/2 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese

salt and pepper, to taste

shredded Parmesan cheese, if desired

1. In a small skillet, heat 1 Tablespoon butter. Add onions and saute until tender. Set aside.
2. In a large pot, whisk together 1/4 cup butter and flour over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Continue stirring while adding the half-and-half cream. Whisk in the chicken broth and continue to simmer over medium-low heat for 20 minutes.
3. Stir in the broccoli and cooked onions. Cook over low heat 20-25 minutes or until broccoli is tender.
4. Stir in Allspice, ground cloves, salt and pepper. Add shredded cheese and stir until melted.  Ladle into serving bowls and top with shredded Parmesan cheese if desired

Note: I left out the ground cloves and next time I will leave out the Allspice bc I didn't care for the taste that it gave. Also, it was a pretty thick soup. Overall pretty good, though.

Cleaning:

I follow the Flylady system at www.flylady.net and this is the mission I will be doing today :0)



Your mission for today is to grab a trash bag, set the timer for 15 and start tossing anything that is trash. Just toss toss toss. Sometimes we have hidden trash in our bedrooms, things that are disguising themselves as necessary items but really they are trash. Toss those magazines, the junk mail that has been tossed in a pile, the old perfumes that are never worn but still have a place on your dresser, the old clothes that are on the chair that need to be donated or tossed but are still there, empty tissue boxes etc. Toss toss toss!
Look around your bedroom and ask yourself if there is anything laying around that you would consider trash if it was in a hotel room. Your bedroom should be your very favorite retreat!