Use it up

I’ve been using up things from my freezer. You know the concept….don’t let it stay around so long that it gets freezer burn or looses it’s value as a foodstuff. I moved a roasting chicken from the freezer to the refrigerator three days ago, but by 3:00 this afternoon it had not defrosted enough to roast. I’d left it to Dear Husband to oversee, but I think the US/Canada Olympic hockey game was more pressing.
I was trying to decide what we could do for dinner, running through what was in my refrigerator and pantry. I had hamburger, rice, cabbage, and tomatoes. There was only half a head of cabbage, so I couldn’t really do stuffed cabbage leaves, but I found a recipe for Golumpki casserole on-line, and I decided to wing it. I cooked the casserole for an hour, and it tasted okay, but some of the rice wasn’t cooked through. I wonder if a full head of cabbage would have added more liquid to the casserole, or if a necessary liquid was omitted from the recipe? I’ve added more water (and should have added more salt and pepper), and put it back in the oven to finish cooking. I think it will make an adequate leftover for lunches, and it wasn’t a bad as a “What the heck are we going to have for dinner?” meal.
I want to surf, or check my cookbooks to see if I can find a recipe similar to this that may have more liquid, or less rice in it. Failing that, I’ll just try my hand at cabbage rolls. It’s never too late to learn a new recipe!