Whatever Wednesday - Meatball Soup

I have been sick since Sunday. Thank goodness I picked up the Theraflu from CVS last week. I have been drinking it to relieve my stuffy head. I can’t taste or smell a thing. So last night when I was cooking dinner, I added a few spices here and there, but I didn’t know if it had the right flavor or even if it smelled good. I made meatball soup.  My husband and kids thought it tasted good, but it was fail in my book.

I will post the recipe how it is supposed to be done and not the way I did it last night. This is a great meal to pull from your stockpile.  I didn’t take a picture because, it looked awful. I put the noodles in the slow cooker and cooked them in there instead of cooking them separately and throwing them in at the last minute. They fell apart and were very mushy. It looked like a meat ball mess, instead of meatball soup. It still tasted ok, from what I am told, but it didn’t look so good. We all ate it and little face even had some today for lunch and he ate it all. So he must have liked it. I ate for lunch too, but I couldn’t taste it today either

Soup:

1 Cup pasta 

1 Small Onion

2 Cloves Garlic

1 28oz Can Whole Tomatoes & Juice

2 Small Carrots

3 Cups Chicken Broth or (1 chicken cube with 3 cups water) 

2 Table spoons Italian herb seasoning

Meatballs:

Or you could use frozen meatballs, print $1/2 Armour Meatballs coupon now!
1 lb Ground Meat

2 Tablespoons Parmesan Cheese

1 Egg

½ Cup Bread Crumbs (I used Italian for more flavor)

½ teaspoon Paprika

Salt and Pepper to taste

Meatballs:

Add bread crumbs, egg, and parmesan cheese, paprika and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl and let set for a couple of minutes. Then add the ground meat. Roll into small ½ inch meatballs. Cook the meatballs in the oven at 350 for 30 min and then throw them in your pot. I like to bake mine before. They come out much firmer.

Pasta:

Cook your pasta in water in a separate pot. VERY Important step!

Soup:

Cook onions and garlic in oil over medium heat until translucent. You can puree the tomatoes and carrots in a blender or pour them in the pot with onions and garlic and use an emulsion blender to puree the mixture. I like doing it all in one pot. Less clean up. Now pour in the chicken broth. Let simmer covered for 10-15 Minutes.  Then add the pasta and the meat and let simmer for a few more minutes.

I hope you will try this soup. It really is delicious, just don’t try to cut the steps like did. I also tried to make this in the slow cooker, instead of on the stove. I wanted something to be ready when we got home. On the stove it turns out great. Tuesdays are our long days and we don’t get home until 5:00. Dinner pretty much needs to be ready when I walk in the door. I got a slow cooker cook book for Christmas, I should have gotten a recipe from there instead.

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