Warm up with a bowl of Hearty Meatball Stew!

 Today I am grateful for...

SOUP!

If you were to ask me 

what my favorite meal is, it would definitely be some kind of soup, 

served with some kind of homemade bread or bread sticks. 

 

I can honestly say that I never tire of soup!
Those bowls of comfort and nourishment, 

those pots of soup, that you put whatever veggies/meat that you have in your fridge, you simmer them together and they taste absolutely delicious!  

 Kimmie + a bowl of soup = HAPPINESS!!

 

While most of the soups I make up are really brothy  this is definitely a HEARTY soup to warm you up and give you energy during the fall and winter months.  

My favorite thing about this soup is the variety of veggies in it, 

with my favorite being SWEET POTATOES. 

You wouldn't think that a soup with sweet potatoes in it would be so good, 

but it is and is definitely in our family's top 5 favorite soup recipes.

I have always made my meatballs with ground beef, 

but, I had some excess chicken breasts and so I decided to try grinding them up and made chicken meatballs for one batch of soup.  

Both the beef AND chicken 

 were hits with my family and it's nice to have a meat grinder so that when you get low on ground beef you can grind up chicken breasts instead to add to your recipe.

Meatball Stew with Winter Vegetables
2 medium potatoes diced
2 large carrots diced
1 large onion finely chopped
1 to 2 Tbsp beef Bouillon granules
1-1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
½ tsp. pepper
(seasoned meatballs…recipe below)
2 medium sweet potatoes peeled and cut into ½ inch pieces
3 stalks of celery chopped
1 cup frozen peas
1/3 cup flour
---In a Dutch oven or large pot bring 6 cups of water to boiling. Add in potatoes, carrots, onions, bouillon granules, oregano and basil and pepper. Return to boiling….reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
---Meanwhile, prepare seasoned meatballs. Add in sweet potatoes and celery to hot broth mixture. Add uncooked meatballs a few at a time to the hot broth mixture. Return to boiling and reduce heat and simmer for 15 more minutes, or until veggies are tender and meatballs are fully cooked.
---Stir in frozen peas
---Stir together, ½ cup water with 1/3 cup flour (until it is not lumpy) and stir this into soup…cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 minute more. Enjoy!

SEASONED MEATBALLS
In a bowl mix
1 pound ground beef (OR ground turkey or chicken)
1 beaten egg,
½ cup dry bread crumbs,
1 tsp minced dried onion,
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce,
¼ tsp garlic powder, dash of pepper.
Mix all ingredients well and shape into one-inch balls

Enjoy taking your abundance of veggies 

and making up a hearty pot of soup today!

I hope it becomes a favorite with your family, like it has with ours.