Grandma Banks Cabbage Casserole

When I was a kid and would go to my cousin's house, his grandma Banks would make stuffed cabbage rolls - they were to die for!  My Mom got the recipe and made them periodically at our house.  I've made them but not often as they do take a little bit of time to roll up the cabbage.  Recently I saw on Facebook, a recipe for Cabbage roll casserole.  Instead of rolling the rolls you just make it layered like any hotdish/casserole.  The ingredients were different than Grandma Banks' cabbage rolls so I decided I would try hers casserole style.  Here is what I did:

Ingredients:
1 medium cabbage
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground sausage
1 cup of uncooked instant rice
46 oz of tomato juice
cayenne or red pepper to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp)
2 14oz cans of sauerkraut
1 large chopped onion (her recipe actually called for 2 lg onions but 1 seemed sufficient.
Tabasco sauce to taste (I used 1 tsp)

In large pan/pot brown hamburger, sausage, and onions.  Drain off fat.
Drain the cans of sauerkraut and add to the burger mix.  Next add in the tomato juice, cayenne, tabasco, and rice, let simmer.
While meat mix is simmering, rinse cabbage and chop up into coarse pieces.  Drain any water out of the rinsed cabbage and pat dry with paper towels.
In a 9x13 casserole dish you will make the first layer with cabbage, second layer with meat mixture (make sure your meat layers totally cover the cabbage as that is what cooks it), then layer with cabbage again, and last layer with meat mixture.  Cover with tin foil, bake at 375 degrees for 45 min.  I actually ended up with enough ingredients to make both a 9x13 pan and a 9x9 pan.

This stuff is freezes well and tastes just as good (if not better) the second time around!