Cabbage Rolls

Tonight I made cabbage rolls for the very first time in my life. Seriously, the trying to pry cabbage leaves off of a head of cabbage without them tearing is a chore. The women folk on my facebook page suggested putting the head of cabbage in hot water and then they should peel right off. Where were those suggestions when I started the process...lol.

I had planned on using my MIL's recipe because honestly, hers are the best I have ever eaten. As usual though I couldn't find the recipe card she had given me, I know the vicinity in which it's located but I just couldn't find it this round...maybe because I was looking to hard. So instead I sort of winged it and came up with my own and let me tell you, I was so darn proud of myself I almost cried. Not as good as my MIL Sue's but they were yummy, especially for my experimentation. Daniel suggested adding more meat next time and I will since I will know then how to get my leaves off in one piece.

Katie's Cabbage Rolls~

Ingredients:
12 cabbage leaves
1 1/2 lb. ground beef, browned (I used only 1 lb. but the boss said to use more)
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
sprinkle or two of ground black pepper
1 cup white rice, cooked as directed on packaging
1- 8oz. can sauerkraut
1- 26oz. can tomato sauce

1 cup chicken or beef broth (plus extra in case needed)

Directions:

1.) Begin by boiling a large pot of water and in a separate skillet begin browning your ground beef. In a smaller pot begin boiling water for your rice.

2.) Add your garlic powder, salt, and black pepper to your ground beef mixture. Drain excess grease and set aside in a mixing bowl to cool. Add rice to water, cover and set aside. Once the rice has absorbed all of the water throw in with your ground beef mixture.

3.) Slowly and carefully pull your cabbage leaves off of the head of cabbage trying to keep them intact.

4.) Dip the cabbage leaves in the boiling water for 2-3 minutes to soften them enough that you can roll them. Drain and allow to cool so that you can handle them.

5.) Turn on your slow cooker to the low setting. Remember cold food into a cold slow cooker, warm food into a warm slow cooker!!

6.) Begin stuffing your cabbage leaves. Add about a scoopful of the meat mixture placing at the bottom of the leave. Tuck in the sides and continue to roll forward. Place each roll in the bottom of the slow cooker slowly building them up as you go along.

7.) Once all of the rolls are in pour in your tomato sauce, sauerkraut, and chicken or beef broth. Take a spoon or some kind of utensil and gently pull your cabbage rolls away from the side of the dish long enough to allow some of the liquids to slowly make it down to the bottom of the dish. Cover and turn to high for four hours or keep at low for eight hours. Keep extra broth on hand in case it appears your cabbage rolls are beginning to dry out. I did ours for four hours so I imagine that after eight the liquid may have all but evaporated out.

Serve alongside a heaping mound of mashed taters and you have yourself one heck of a comfort meal. Throw in some green beans and it becomes that much healthier for you.

Also make sure you take a look at my previous post for something very interesting!!

First Ever Katie's Korner Giveaway

I had full intentions of having my first giveaway back around the time of my 100th post but this little thing called pregnancy got in the way and my blogging had pretty much come to a screeching halt.

Since I am back into the swing of things when it comes to making a mess in my kitchen I figured better late than never!! So starting today and ending on September 15th at midnight I am doing a giveaway...yay!! In order to participate all you have to do is two things; if you haven't already...become a follower of my blog, and leave a comment on this post giving me your favorite pizza recipe. You can either type the recipe out or paste the link of where I can find the recipe. The husband and I have been making more pizzas at home and I would love to branch out to pizza combinations that we haven't yet tried! As a bonus if you mention this giveaway on your own blog you get an extra chance to win, just make sure you mention it when you leave your comment!

Still working on the prize but it will be worth your while and my guess is that it is going to be pizza related. I just love suprises don't you? Also, please be sure you leave me with some way of contacting you should you win and unfortunately, this giveaway is only open to those living within the United States...blame FedEx and their outrageous prices.

Happy posting!

Apple Crisp

We had another family dinner this past Saturday night and since we had yet to make a trip to the grocery I had to come up with something that included ingredients that were currently awaiting use in my pantry. I stumbled across this one and I am so glad I gave it a chance. You will see the few changes I made listed next to the ingredients.

Apple Crisp I
Compliments of Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 pounds apples - peeled, cored and sliced ( used 6 granny smith apples)
  
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 packets instant maple and brown sugar oatmeal ( I only used 2 and used what I had on hand that had cinnamon in it, cinnamon roll and cinnamon and spice)
  
• 1 pinch salt ( I omitted)
  
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts ( I used about a 1/4 cup of pecans, it was all I had)
  
• 1/4 cup maple syrup

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Place apples in a 9x13 inch baking dish. In a bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Stir in flour, instant oatmeal and salt. Fold in walnuts. Sprinkle oatmeal mixture evenly over apples. Drizzle with maple syrup.
3. Bake in preheated oven 50 to 70 minutes, until apples are tender and topping is golden.

This was really good and I wish we would have had some vanilla ice-cream to go along with it. It would have also been much better with more pecans...I forgot just how good pecans are in things. This is definitely one to try out during your fall festivities, I can see it now, getting fresh apples from your local orchard and then sitting around a nice campfire as you eat this with a nice warm mug of apple cider. Can you tell fall is my absolute favorite time of year??

Basil Pesto Chicken Sandwich

Since I find myself wanting to get back in the kitchen and cooking again, Thursday afternoon I sat at work wondering what I could pick up at the store for dinner that night. I stumbled upon this recipe over at Cassie Craves so I figured I would make it with a few changes of my own. I thought it was yummy and so did Daniel, he is eating his as I type this (leftovers).

Basil Pesto Chicken Sandwich~
Makes 4

Ingredients:
3 lg. chicken breasts
3 tbsp. Good Seasoning Garlic and Herb
extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp. mayo
1 tbsp. basil pesto
2 roma tomatoes
8 slices provolone cheese
4 hoagie buns

Directions:
1.) In a large skillet add a few drizzles of extra virgin olive oil over medium high heat.
2.) Sprinkle your garlic and herb seasoning generously over your chicken breasts and add to skillet. Brown on both sides and then continue cooking in a preheated oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for twenty to thirty minutes.
3.) In a small bowl mix mayo and basil pesto and set aside. Slice tomatoes.
4.) Pull chicken back out of the oven and begin building your sandwich. Slice each piece of chicken on the diagonal and layer first, top with two pieces of cheese, three slices of tomato, and then on the opposite side of the bread slather on your basil pesto mayo.
5.) Place on a baking sheet and put back in the oven until your cheese has melted and the bread is slightly toasted.

I served ours with french fries and it was yummy in my tummy.

Heartbeat

Today was our 12 week check up that should have been done almost three weeks ago but got cancelled and then rescheduled...oops, so that meant we finally got to hear our little one's heartbeat. I went in wondering if they would be able to find it being that we are only at 15 weeks and plus my belly is where I store all of my extra poundage, but they found it right away and confirmed that yes, there is still someone growing inside of me. The heartbeat was at 155 which is good and everything including my blood pressure checked out normal. If I am correct the heartbeat was lower than what it was the first time they checked it during out ultrasound so my first thought is that it is a boy, darn it. But the kind lady who was standing in line in front of me at Subway over heard my conversation with my sister giving her all of the details. I got off the phone and the lady excused herself and said "I couldn't help but over hear you, I am 18 weeks pregnant and we just found out we're having a little girl and her heartbeat was 151." So I guess that means we still have a shot even though the more stories I hear the less credibility I give to the old heartbeat wives tale. The big ultrasound is in four weeks, I don't know how I am going to wait that long. I keep telling everyone that since I have already reached my out of pocket maximum for the year thanks to my $6,000 a pop Remicade treatments that I may just have to develop some severe cramping and make my way over to the hospital for a short visit...lol. How wrong of me is that? LOL What an impatient Mother is willing to do for an answer. On the bad side of things it looks like my gall bladder is on it's way out, they are trying to get the baby delivered first and then take it out so let's keep our fingers crossed that everything remains calm like it has done since I have gotten pregnant.

Bedding

We've picked our bedding and here within the next month or so are going to begin the big nursery project. I absolutely cannot wait until that room is done and I can go in there and sit waiting until the day I get to lay my little one down in his or her crib. This bedding is one that we had originally picked but after Babies R Us decided to no longer sell it we settled for something else at Wal-Mart. Well low and behold I ran across our first pick today at a different store that we will be registering at as well and I was so excited I just had to call Daniel and tell him the good news. I gave him two options, we can either do this one no matter what sex the baby is or we can go crazy and do pinks and purples if we're having a girl, needless to say he said a big fact NO to the pinks and purples so this is the winner no matter what. What do you think??

This one was our back up plan and the one we already showed everyone...oops.

I like the farm animals so much better Baby B is going to be a little cowgirl or cowboy!

Belly Shot #1, Week 14

As promised here is belly shot number one. Please keep in mind that there is a reason why the camera is mine and that I am the photographer in this household, the husband doesn't a put a lot of effort into it and is having a hard time grasping why we are even taking belly shots...MEN!! You'll notice I had an intruder in the picture, we woke him from his slumber and as you can see he is feeling much better than what he was last Saturday after having his gut cut wide open to remove a sock that wouldn't come back out on it's own. This isn't the greatest of shots, I was told to move my hands...lol. I think I look bigger towards the top of my tummy than what I do towards the bottom so I don't know what's going on. We will see how I continue to progress.