Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls

Good fall evening lovely blog readers,

First off happy first day of autumn (well it's been a few days, you get the gist). Ma and mine's fave time of year is here so a fair warning you'll be needing that slow cooker a lot this fall. Oh come on it's not that out dated. My friends, it is making a huge comeback and it's the star of tonight's recipe. Now, if you're a fan of the cabbage family (whenever it be the actual food or those cute little dolls) then tonight's recipe is for you. We've got these amazing stuffed cabbage rolls that basically cook themselves in 6 to 8 hours. Convenient? Indeed.

Here's what you'll need:

Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls

Ingredients:
*1 Head of Cabbage
*3 Cups Tomato Juice
*1 8oz. can tomato sauce
*1 egg
*1/2 C. uncooked brown or white rice
*1 envelope Onion soup mix
*1 lb. Ground Turkey or Extra Lean Ground Beef
*1/3 Cup Parmesan Cheese

Directions:
*Peel 8-12 big Leaves off the Cabbage head and place in a microwave safe dish.  Cover in about an inch of water and microwave on high for 2 min.

*In a mixing bowl combine tomato sauce, egg, turkey or beef, rice, onion soup, and cheese, and mix with fingers until well combined.

*Grease your crock pot with some Pam cooking spray.

*Carefully place a ball of the meat mixture into the middle of each cabbage leaf and roll up into a ball, and place on the bottom of your crock pot seam side down.  Do this until all your meat mixture is gone.

*After you have all your cabbage rolls in the crock pot, pour the 3 cups of Tomato Juice on top.

*Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

WW Points: *6 per serving



Now once upon a time when I was a tiny tot I loathed stuffed peppers (they tasted bitter to me) but as I grew up I kinda went in search for the best stuffed peppers. These I have to say take the cake. Super tender and yummy. Oh and that bitterness was a no show.



Tid Bits:
*For our vegetarian friends out there (hey, Judi!) substitute the ground turkey for your fave veggie meat.
*We don't like using the microwave for this recipe. The leaves are just too hard to peel off. Cut the core off and set the cabbage in boiling water it'll make it easier to peel the leaves off.


Ma's Spot:
I have always cooked stuffed cabbage in the oven. I have to say though in the slow cooker I find it more flavorful, tender, and all around better than baking it in the oven. Baking it in the slow cooker I find the meat mixture inside is a lot juicer vs. the oven in which case can make it taste on the dry side. I really enjoyed the onion soup taste within the mixture. I love the fix this and forget it part of it. So on a nice chilly day put this in your crock pot and it will fill your house with the best stuffed cabbage smell.




*SNACK CORNER:* It's time for snack corner! Where we take new snacks in the grocery store and break it down for you. We tell you which are hot and which are not. Let's get to this week's pick:

WW Points: *2 per pouch



Dinah: So tonight we have a fun new treat to try. It's more on the kiddie side but hey it's still nonetheless a snack right? The GoGo Squeeze Apple Apple applesauce on the go is quite cute in nature. It's little, fun to eat, and is hella conveient than grabbing that spoon and cup for your apple fix. I do find that the 12 grams of sugar is kinda high for apple sauce since most grocery stores sell the sugar free stuff. I'd say eat this with the 12 grams in mind but overall this little pouch is cute and tasty too.



Ma: First of all I liked to thank my pal Tina for supplying tonight's snack corner. Then I have a question to our lovely readers. Should connivence override nutrition? Although the apple sauce comes in a wonderful convenient pouch (which is a lot easier than cutting up apples, squeezing lemon juice on them, or sending a whole apple with your child) when you look at the front of the packaging it says no refined sugar, 100% fruit, etc... but this little 3.2 ounce pouch has a whopping 12 grams of sugar. Now I myself would go through the extra work of cutting an actual apple or buying sugar free apple sauce and eating it with a spoon then giving myself or my kids 12 grams of sugar just for connivence. So with everything else don't let the 100% fruit fool you. Read those labels when it comes to snacks for your little ones. Would I buy it again? No. It is convenient but I'd go for the alternatives first.




That's all folks, see you back here in 7 days. Have a great week guys!



Spoons & Spatula's
~Dinah * Ma