Mini Meatball Soup

I enjoy having soup for dinner. It is a great way to get the family to eat their vegetables and a variety of them.

When the kids were little, soup was a great way to easily get the kids tender vegetables and meat that they could eat. I would prepare soup and then, pull out the meat and vegetables leaving the broth behind. I also would get the salad bar when we went out, so that I could give them the tender peas and diced fruit from the salad bar, along with the stuff in soup.

When it comes to having soup for dinner, it needs to be hearty. We like to pair it with a side salad (more veggies!) and bread (to soak up the broth and to give you something to really sink your teeth in).

A soup that we tried recently is Mini Meatball Soup. I liken it to an Italian Wedding soup. The vegetables are a little different and it only has one meat. I have made this following the meatball recipe below and using ground chicken and the next time, I made up a larger than normal batch of meatballs following my Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe using ground turkey and set them aside for soup the next day. You probably could even use premade meatballs if you don't want to mess with preparing them, although, I prefer homemade meatballs.

You can save time by dicing the vegetables and making the meatballs ahead of time. I also have been known to leave the soup on a medium high heat after adding the meatballs and pasta and serving it then. Of course, the longer you can let it simmer the more flavors will develop and the more tender the meatballs, pasta and vegetables will be.

Mini Meatball Soup

Servings 6

1 pound ground turkey (or chicken)
1 egg
1/4 cup bread crumbs
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 small onion diced
10 baby carrots diced
2 stalks celery diced
3 cloves garlic minced
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
8 cups chicken broth
1 cup small pasta like Ditalini
2 cups baby spinach
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Combine the ground meat, egg, bread crumbs, Paremsan cheese, garlic, Italian Seasoning, and parsley flakes in a bowl. Form into mini meatballs and cook over medium heat until cooked, turning after a few minutes.

In a large pan, heat the oil and add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Saute for 4-5 minutes, with constant stirring. Add the tomatoes and chicken broth. Slowly bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Add meatballs and pasta. Cover and cook for 20 minutes. Add spinach. Cook until the spinach is wilted. Season with salt and pepper as needed.

Serve with fresh shredded Parmesan cheese.

Disclaimer

Taco Filled Pasta Shells

When it comes to family dinner, the one thing that I like to do is to take familiar ingredients and combine them into different dishes. Being married to an Italian, pasta is a staple in our diet. I didn't grow up eating a lot of pasta - I think we might have had spaghetti every couple of weeks and occasionally, some lasagna. As such, I feel the need to find different flavors for pasta so that I can include it more frequently in the menu.

(must not have snapped a picture after adding the cheese and baking!)

Taco Filled Pasta Shells

20 ounces ground turkey
1 envelope taco seasoning mix
4 ounces neufchâtel cheese
1/2 (12-ounce) box American Beauty Large Shells (15 shells)
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup salsa
1 cup taco sauce
1 cup multi-cheese shredded cheese
1 ounce crushed tortilla chips (24 chips)

Cook the meat until no longer pink, drain. Add taco seasoning, following packet instructions. Add cream cheese to the pan, cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until melted. Transfer to a bowl and allow to chill for an hour.

Cook shells according to package directions. Drain, toss with butter.

Spoon salsa into a greased 9" square baking dish. Fill each shell with meat mixture. Set into dish on top of the salsa. Repeat. Once all shells are filled, top the dish with the taco sauce.

Cover with foil and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover the dish, sprinkle with cheese and crushed ships. Bake 15 minutes.

Serve with sour cream and onion.

According to my recipe software, a serving, of 3 shells is just under 500 calories.

Disclaimer

Beef Taco Skillet

This recipe was inspired by Campbell's Beef Taco Skillet. A few weeks ago, they had a recipe in the Parade magazine that I snipped out with plans to make it. As I made it, I thought it needed a bit of pizzazz and so I modified the recipe to make it more my own.

Beef Taco Skillet
1 # Ground Meat
1 packet taco seasoning
1 can Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup
1 c Salsa
1/2 c water
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 green chili (canned), diced
5 flour tortillas, cut into 1" pieces
1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese

Brown your ground meat and drain. Add in the taco seasoning packet and cook down according to packet directions.

Stir in soup, salsa, water, tomatoes, and chili.

Mix and then add tortillas mixing them into the sauce. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and cook for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and serve.

I had already prepared, seasoned taco meat in the freezer, so this meal was very quick to put together. I pretty much put everything in, brought to a boil, and then cooked 5 minutes. So, in about 10 minutes, I had dinner on the table. The salsa and chili pepper gave it a really nice flavor. I served it with chips on the side.


Disclaimer