Corn, Mixed Vegetables & Potato Soup

Recently I have enjoyed trying new soups that I tweek to "Our Table of 4" tastes. Last night I made this new soup, "Corn, Mixed Vegetables and Potato Soup".  My husband and daughters just devoured the soup and wanted more. It went excellent with a garden salad for a good "warm" meal.

1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup onions, medium diced
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
4 cups corn (roughly 2 bags, 1 pound each of frozen corn)
A few mixed vegetables
2 1/2 cups potatoes, medium diced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 quart chicken, vegetable or beef stock (we used beef stock since that is what we had on hand)
6 ounces milk or half-and-half (I used a little bit of both to give it a creamier flavor

Heat oil in a stockpot. Saute onions, garlic, and cumin over medium heat until the onions are transluent. Add corn, potatoes, mixed vegetables, salt, pepper, and stock. Bring to a boil and reduce and simmer for 20 minutes. Potatoes will roughly be cooked around this time. Slowly add milk/half-in-half, stir and heat through.

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

We have had great prices in cabbage this year at our local grocery market. It doesn't matter if it is red or green cabbage, it has been great. I have taken on the deal of making stuffed cabbage rolls. Hope you enjoy one of our family favorites.

Stuffed Cabbages Rolls
12 cabbage leaves
 Filling:

• ½ pound ground beef + ½ pound ground pork/sausage
• 3/4 cup cooked rice
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup milk  

Sauce:

• 1 cans (8 ounces ) tomato sauce
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup cold water

Preparation:
Drop cabbage leaves into boiling salted water; cover and cook for 3 minutes. Drain well.

For filling, combine ground beef and ground pork, rice, chopped onion, egg, and salt, pepper, and milk. Mix well and divide into 12 portions. Place a portion into the center of each cabbage leaf. Roll leaf around filling; fasten with toothpick. Place in a baking dish.

For sauce, combine tomato sauce, tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, and 1/2 cup of water and pour over cabbage rolls.

Bake covered in a preheated 350° oven 40 to 45 minutes. Remove rolls and discard toothpicks. Place pan with juices over medium heat or transfer the juices to a saucepan and place over heat; stir cornstarch and water mixture into the sauce; bring to a boil and cook until thickened.