STUFFED CABBAGE

Ingredients:

Packages of love:

2 heads of white cabbage

2 lbs of ground beef

2 eggs

½ cup of breadcrumbs

¼ cup of milk

½ tablespoon salt

½ tablespoon pepper

½ tablespoon garlic powder

½ tablespoon onion powder

Sweet and Sour Sauce:

1 14 oz can jelly cranberry sauce (I prefer Ocean Spray)

1 12 oz jar chili sauce

Directions:

Remove the center core of each head of cabbage. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Once boiling, add one head of cabbage. Check on the cabbage after 10 minutes, the outer layers should be soft enough to start pulling off. Pull off one leaf at a time and set aside. The inner leaves will need to boil longer before you can remove them, so keep checking on the cabbage while you prepare the rest of the meal.

 Meanwhile, dice the 2^nd cabbage head so you have shredded leaves. Set aside.

  In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, breadcrumbs, eggs, milk, salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. Mix well and form into balls. I make about 10 meatballs with 2 lbs of meat, but you can make them as big or as small as you please. Make sure you have enough boiled cabbage leaves per ball and once you do, discard the cabbage and water from the pot.

 Combine the jelly cranberry sauce and jar of chili sauce in the same pot over very low heat. This is crucial because if the heat is too high, your sauce will burn. Once the cranberry has melted, add the shredded cabbage leaves and cover. Cabbage is filled with moisture, so steaming the leaves in the sauce will create water. This is a good thing! Let the sauce and cabbage steam for about 10 minutes, or until the cabbage begins to soften.

 While the cabbage is cooking, begin preparing the packages of love. Place one meatball in the center and fold the sides in and roll up the cabbage so the meatball is tightly packed inside. Place the packages of love, seam side down in the big pot and cover (still on very low heat). Allow the packages to simmer for 1 hour and then serve.