>>>Rolled the mixture in the cabbage leaves (which isnt nearly as easy as it sounds)<<<
I have much more success if I steam the leaves a bit before I try to wrap. Mmmm Mmmm, getting anxious for those cabbages to grow to harvesting size...
Well, yeah the leaves were cooked. I still had trouble doing it. My dad did fine, but between really big hands and lots of practice, that helped.
The other alternative was to line the casserole dish with the leaves, put in the mixture, cover it with more leaves, then put the stewed tomatoes on top, and bake. It kind of made one giant stuffed cabbage.