Tackle It Tuesday--Stuffed Peppers and Cabbage

Scroll down for the Freezer Stuffed Pepper and Cabbage recipe!

I've been "food hording" as Toni likes to joke. Over the summer, we went blueberry picking and both of us put up blueberry jelly. Plus pineapple-jalapeno jelly. (which is great on sesame seed bagels with cream cheese!) OH YUM!

Then she gives me this EASY apple butter recipe and brings me a sample of what she made!! Oh Lord help me the stuff was good! So of course, I had to get apples.

Apple butter cooking

This week:

• I put up 18 jars of apple butter (and one for my fridge right now!)
• I made stuffed peppers and cabbages for a meal and lots of extras for the freezer
• Folded ALL of the laundry Toni has seen (twice now) on the couch in my entryway (next to the laundry room.)
• Shopped and stocked up on canned goods.
• Will make canned apple pie filling with the rest of my apples

I stuffed 14 peppers and 20 cabbages. (I held out and cooked 2 peppers and 2 cabbages for dinner last night and froze the rest.) That peppers will be 10 meals (we each eat a half at dinner and save the rest for leftovers.) The cabbages will yeaild 10 meals as well. --Your mileage may vary. Plus, I had some extra cabbage and meat left over, so I chopped the cabbage and mixed it with the meat and froze it to use as a "stuffed cabbage casserole" one night.

Zane doesn't eat these, so we make him something else, usually leftovers or a corn dog or something easy.

Ground beef = $10 (we bought a 1/4 freezer beef, it averages $2/lb.)
peppers= $3 for 14 at the local farmer's market
cabbage= $1 per head
stewed tomatoes= $.50/can=$2
rice= like pennies? we'll call it $.50
eggs= maybe $.50
sleeve or two of crackers=maybe $.50
5lb bag of potatoes= $1.25
tomato soup = $.50
Cup of V-8 = $.50

That's less than $20. We'll call it $20 though.

We're talking less than $.90 per meal here folks!

Of course that's for Phil and I. Double or triple that for your family and we're still not spending a whole lot of money!







Stuffed Peppers and Cabbages recipe

For kids who don't like the peppers or cabbage, my mom used to make porcupine balls and we LOVED them. Just make some meatballs out of the mixture and freeze or bake unstuffed. It was one of my favorite meals growing up.

5lbs ground beef
4 14oz cans stewed tomatoes
6 servings minute rice (cooked)
5 eggs
1 or 2 sleeve(s) of saltine crackers
Salt and pepper

1. Cook the rice according to the package directions.
2. Put stewed tomatoes in a large bowl and smoosh with a potato smasher (or give a zap in the blender)
3. add in eggs and mix
4. add in salt and pepper to your tastes and mix
5. add in rice and mix
6. add in ground beef and mix (you have to use your hands)
7. If mixture seems too wet, crush the saltines and mix them in
8. Stuff the peppers
9. Stuff the cabbages

You're done! Freeze them and you've got a nice meal when you're ready.

To cook:
I put mine in a large loaf pan and cover with a can of tomato soup mixed with some V-8. Bake at 350 for about an hour fresh, about an hour and a half/two hours if frozen. You can always cut one in half to make sure the hamburger's done. They won't dry out with the tomato soup and V-8 in them (put a lot, almost cover them completely.)

I serve with homemade mashed potatoes and green beans.





You can see all of my tackles here.