Easy Stuffed Cabbage Casserole~~Starting with Leftovers and The Weekly Menu

You would think that after a few years of having an empty nest I would learn to cook for only two.  It's very hard for me.  Perhaps because, even though the kids are grown and gone, I still often find myself with a full table at dinner time.

On those occasions that I don't have a full table, I adjust by planning my leftovers ahead of time. Should we just have a little dinner leftover, I will often reheat or repurpose it for lunch the following day.  When I know that we are going to have leftovers because I am making a roast, perhaps, I plan out 2 or 3 meals for that week starting with the main meal. 

So a Busy Day Pot Roast  that is dinner one evening.

Becomes BBQ Beef on another night.

And the base for a Beef Pot Pie on a third night.

So a few days ago when I wanted to make Bierocks for our Oktoberfest Celebration I knew that I was going to have leftovers.  I wanted to halve the recipe for the Bierocks but my burger comes in 1 lb. packages so I knew that I was going to have to use up the other half a pound in another recipe of some sort.

I had started making the filling for the Bierocks using only half the ingredients required for a full recipe, when it occurred to me that all of these ingredients are in my Stuffed Cabbage recipe.  I added the rest of the burger, more onion and more cabbage to the pan and let it cook down for the Bierocks.

I used half of the mixture as the filling for eight Bierocks which fed Frank, Melody and I for dinner one night and Frank for lunch the following day.

A couple of days later, I put the remaining beef and cabbage mixture into a casserole with some canned tomatoes and rice. I use a Royal Rice Blend that has 4 different kinds of rice, that have been parcooked so only take 15 minutes cooking time to finish.  If you are using another kind of rice you will want to cook it prior to adding it to the casserole. All the flavors of stuffed cabbage without the effort of stuffing and rolling the leaves.

There was enough in the casserole to feed four people for dinner or Frank and I for dinner one evening and lunch the following day.

That is 8 meals from one pound of burger.  If you are watching your budget,  you can feed a family of four two delicious meals during the week with very little time, effort or expense.  

Happy Friday everyone.....Enjoy your weekend.  You will find my Weekly Menu following this recipe.

Easy Stuffed Cabbage Casserole

1/2 lb lean ground beef

1/2 an onion, diced

3 c. shredded cabbage

1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes with juices

1/3 c. Royal Rice Blend or 1 c. cooked rice

1/3 c. water if using Royal Rice Blend

salt and pepper to taste

Place ground beef and onions in a large skillet over med high heat.  Season with salt and pepper and cook until onions are softened and burger is crumbled and browned.  Add the cabbage and continue to cook until wilted. Add tomatoes with their juices, rice and water, if needed.  Stir to combine 

Turn into an 8" casserole or baking pan. Cover and bake in a preheated 350* oven for 25-30 minutes, until rice is cooked and casserole is heated through.  Print Recipe

The Weekly Menu 

Soup Saturday

Pumpkin Soup

Grilled Tomato and Cheese Sandwiches

Sunday

Choir Picnic for Lunch (Apple Almond Streusel Bars)

Dinner at Rebecca's (Apple Turnovers)

Meatless Monday

Roasted Cauliflower Steaks

Taco Tuesday

Chile Colorado Burritos

Wednesday

Beet Gnocchi

Thursday

Leftovers before Choir

Friday

Wedding