Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

This recipe isn't vegan.  Sometimes, when I know Jeremy wants to eat meat on occasion, I'll make him some.  He was sick a couple weeks ago, and so I thought it'd be nice to make him some homemade chicken noodle soup.  This soup looks similar to Campbell's canned chicken noodle soup, but tastes so much better.  (I did taste the soup, to make sure it was edible).  Baby boys also loved it and couldn't get enough.  The recipe made a huge batch so we froze some and will now have it for a cool fall day in the future (which is coming soon, yay!).  

  

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

from thepioneerwoman

1 whole  fryer chicken, cut up

2 carrots, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

1/2 whole medium onion, diced

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp turmeric

pepper to taste

1/4 tsp thyme

2 tsp parsley

1 lb noodles

3 Tbsp flour

1lb noodles of your choice (I used linguine, I think)

Put all the chicken pieces in a big pot, cover with water and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, turn down the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.  

Remove the chicken from the pot and shred the meat from the bones.  Return the bones to the broth and simmer on low, covered, for 45 more mins. 

Remove the bones with a slotted spoon.  Add the carrots, celery, onions, and all spices to the pot of broth.  Stir and simmer 10 minutes. 

Cook noodles separately until almost done, then add to soup, along with the shredded chicken meat.  Cook for 8-10 mins.  Mix the flour with a little bit of water and stir until smooth.  Add to soup and stir.     Simmer for just another few minutes, until broth has thickened a bit.  Adjust seasonings to taste.  

Vegetarian Green Chili

Sometimes, I highly consider becoming a vegetarian.  I think the only thing really holding me back is my meat-loving husband, because there is no way he's going all veggie anytime soon.  I still have some convincing to do.  I just don't want to mess with having to cook 2 different types of meals each night, or only have a limited recipe list that allows for both meat and meatless options.  I would choose to be a vegetarian for a few different reasons, the main one being it would force me to eat more vegetables.  I really need to make myself eat more veggies, but I'm really bad about actually doing it.  If my food options were limited, I would be more likely to do so.  I realize that you can be a vegetarian and eat very unhealthy also, but I think that I would notice a difference in my energy level and overall wellbeing if I ate nothing but processed junk all the time.  

I saw this recipe in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine, and it intrigued me because, first of all, because almost every single ingredient for this chili is green.  AND it's super spicy.  I love all things hot and spicy, and it was what I craved most during my twin pregnancy.  Jeremy was a little iffy about it, because it did not contain any meat.  "It's not chili if it doesn't have meat".  Those were his words.  I made the chili anyway.  He didn't have words after he ate the first bowl, he only went back for seconds. and thirds.

Vegetarian Green Chili

serves a lot.

2 cups long grain rice

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 bunch green onions, chopped

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 large green peppers, chopped

3 stalks of celery, chopped

12 oz bag of frozen edamame soy beans

1 4.5 oz can of green chills

3 cups veggie broth

16 oz jar of salsa verde (I used a hot version, you can use mild if you'd like!)

6 cups fresh spinach

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

3 avocados, peeled, pitted and chopped

sour cream or greek yogurt

Cook rice according to pkg directions.  In a dutch oven or large soup pot, stir onions and garlic into hot oil and cook over med-hi heat for about 2 minutes.  Add the green peppers and celery.  Cook until crisp/tender, about 5 minutes.  Add soy beans and green chills, cook 5 mins.  Add broth and salsa verde, and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 15 mins.  Stir in spinach.  Cook 1minute.  Remove from heat.  Stir in cilantro and 2 of the chopped avocado pieces.  Top with sour cream/yogurt/avocado pieces.  Serve over rice.

    

White Chili

White Chili.  AKA mexican or summertime chili.  This has been one of our favorite dishes of all time.  I don't really adhere to the unwritten rule of not eating soup or chili unless its cold outside.  Why limit food options according to the weather?  I'm not a fan of not having delicious soups and stews available to me just because it is hot outside.  Take Panera Bread for example.  They have an amazingly delicious and creamy tomato soup.  When is it available?  Only in the fall and winter.  Boo.  In our house, I make whatever I/we feel like eating, no matter of the weather.  I guess this chili could be an exception though, because rather than it being thick, heavy and creamy, it is light and spicy with a hint of lime.

I also made some cornbread to go with it.  Mexican cornbread to stick with the chili/spicy theme.  The cornbread turned out better than I thought it was going to.  It was sweet and spicy and moist, with bits of corn, chipotle and jalapeno peppers in it.  Not to mention the butter and cheeses.  Can't ever go wrong with butter and cheese.

White Chili

1 lb chicken, cooked and shredded

1medium onion, chopped

3 Jalapenos, minced 

4 garlic cloves, minced

3 tbsp olive oil

3 cans (14 oz) chicken broth

3 cans white navy beans

2 teaspoons oregano

2 teaspoons chili powder (adjust to your spiciness liking)

3 Tbsp lime juice (juice from about 3 or 4 limes)

salt and pepper

Heat up oil in a large pot over medium high heat.  Add the onions and garlic and saute until softened, about 10 mins.  Add in the jalapenos, chicken, and chicken broth, and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, turn heat down to low.  Add in the beans, oregano, and chili powder.  Simmer for about 30 mins.  Add in the lime juice and salt and pepper to taste.

Toppings for the chili:  Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack cheese.  Sour cream.  Salsa.  Guacamole.  All of the above.

Mexican Cornbread

1 cup butter, melted

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

1 can cream style corn

1-2 jalapeno peppers, minced

1-2 chipotle peppers, minced

1/2 cup monterey jack cheese, shredded

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

1 cup flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Grease or butter a casserole dish.  Preheat oven to 300.  With a mixer, beat together butter and sugar.  Beat in eggs one at a time.  Blend in creamed corn, jalapeno and chipotle peppers, and both cheeses.  In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt.  Add this mixture to the corn/pepper/cheese mixture and stir until smooth.  Pour into prepared pan.  Bake for about 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the pan comes out clean.    

Baked Potato Soup

What do you do when you have a whole bag of potatoes but don't want to mash or bake them?  You turn them into soup.  And it turns out more delicious than you expected it to.

I made this soup the night that it snowed a lot in Nashville and the city shut down.  They only thing that I needed to make the soup better was sour cream, which I was out of.  Jeremy wanted the soup really bad, so he volunteered to run to the store and grab some.  How sweet is he?  Later on that same night, I was craving orange juice like crazy and Jeremy decided once again to go out and get me some from the store, only this time, he did not succeed like he did with the sour cream.  He could not even get out of our apartment complex!  There were so many accidents and traffic jams around every outlet from our apartment that we were literally trapped in!  It was kind of exciting.  Glad he had gotten the sour cream beforehand so that we were able to enjoy being trapped in with a white outside and some warm delicious soup in our bowls.  The only thing that would have made it even better is if the power had gone out and we had to light candles...(after the soup was made of course).  I know I may seem strange, but I really like when the power goes out.  It feels cozy and old fashioned to have to do things by candle light, and I always enjoy it.  But the power did not go out.  Bummer.

But the soup was still good.  It was more than good.  Also very easy to make...once I got over the fear of being burnt once again by my blender while pureeing the soup!  I didn't really use a recipe, I just went for it trying to use up things in my kitchen.  I grabbed a leek, some garlic, potatoes and chopped them all up.  Sauteed and boiled, then blended everything together and added baked potato toppings and flavorings.  It was delicious, and the whole batch was gone very quickly.  The only thing missing was bacon bits.  Just wasn't feeling it.  But I'm sure it would have made it awesome!

Baked Potato Soup

1 leek, white and light green parts, thinly sliced.  (an onion would also be a good substitute here, but I like leeks)
2 garlic cloves, minced
3-4 Yukon potatoes, peeled and chopped up into about 1-2 inch cubes
roughly 2 cups veggie broth (chicken broth would probably be fine also)
4 oz sour cream, more for topping
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, more for topping
4 Tablespoons butter, room temp
chives for topping
salt and pepper as needed


Sautee the leek and garlic in olive oil over med-hi heat until lightly browned and softened.  set aside.  Boil potatoes until cooked through (they should be able to be broken apart by a fork), about 20 minutes of boiling.  Drain the potatoes.  Add the potatoes and about a cup of broth to a blender (or be fancy and use an immersion blender to decrease your risk of the blender exploding!)  Blend until pureed.  Add more broth as needed to reach desired consistency  (we liked ours smooth and thick).  Blend in cheddar, butter, and sour cream just until mixed in.  Season the soup with salt and pepper and top with cheese, sour cream chives, or any other toppings you might like.

Enjoy!

Turkey and wild rice soup

This post is way overdue.  I made it back when we had leftover turkey from Christmas.  The pictures do not really make the soup look all that appetizing, but let me assure you.  This is quite possibly the.best.homemade.soup.ever.  It's extremely creamy and thick but does not leave you feeling heavy and overstuffed.  Brown rice, veggies, juicy turkey, mild spices and warming broth.  

I made this soup on a saturday night.  We ate it with some rosemary roasted potatoes and crusty bread.  And then we messed up.  And I got real mad.  It was not until the next morning at church that I realized that we had left the soup out on the stove all.night.long.  UUUGGGHH!  For real?  A huge pot of delicious soup ruined.  It was very angering.  I don't even know how we forgot.  I don't even know what we did after dinner that distracted us so much that we forgot to clean up.  Maybe we just passed out from the deliciousness.  That must have been it.   

  

Here is the recipe.  Don't forget to put it in the fridge!

Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

adapted from MyKitchenSnippets

2 cups chopped cooked turkey meat

3 tbsp olive oil

2 stalks celery, diced

3 carrots, diced

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 bay leaves

3 Tbsp flour

1/2 wild rice (I just used brown rice since I was out of wild rice)

6 cups turkey or chicken stock

1 cup cream (You can substitute half and half if you want)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat up oil in a large pot.  Saute the onion, garlic, celery, and carrots for about 10 minutes.  Sprinkle in the flour and continue to stir for 3 mins.  Add in the stock, rice and bay leaves.  Cover the pot and cook on med-low for 45 mins.  Cook until rice is tender.  Add the turkey meat.  Cook for another 10 mins.  Stir in the cream, season to taste, and allow the soup to simmer another 10 mins.  Remove bay leaves and enjoy!

Did I mention how easy this soup is to make?      

Sweet Potato Curry Soup

I got burnt.

It hurt.

It hurt quite a bit.

But the soup was delicious, so it was just about worth it.

Did I just make a rhyme about soup burning me?  Wow.  I'm a dork.

So on to this harmful soup...

Sweet Potato and Curry soup.  It's warm and delicious.  The curry is an amazing match up with sweet potatoes.  That's a sausage ball floating on top, in case you were wondering. 

Ok so these burns...

You cannot really tell all that well from the picture, but this is on my inner arm right after it happened.  It then continued to grow and swell into a huge welt and stayed bright red for the next week and a half.  Not cool.  I also was burnt on my chest, stomach and neck.  How did this happen exactly?  

I blame my dang blender.  After the soup had been cooked and near boiling, I put some of it in the blender to puree.  The first batch went fine.  No explosion and no burns.  But the second batch blew off the top of the blender (I was holding the top down just to be sure that this did not happen).  Our kitchen looked like I had just murdered a pumpkin.  Orange goop was everywhere, including all over me and my long sleeve shirt, which I got burned through.  I immediately screamed and Hubby comes running in the kitchen and starts laughing at an orange-splattered me and kitchen, until he realized that I was burnt.  It was awful, but actually kind of funny too.

Here's the dangerous soup recipe:

Sweet Potato Curry Soup

3 med. sweet potatoes, peeled and diced.

3 Tablespoons butter

1 sm. onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, smashed

1 2-inch piece ginger, peeled and grated

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, plus more for garnish

1 1/2 teaspoon curry powder

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 cups chicken broth

1 1/4 cups chunky applesauce

1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1-2 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Melt 2 Tablespoons butter in a large pot over med. heat.  Add onion and garlic and cook until soft, about 5 mins.  Stir in the ginger, nutmeg, 1 1/4 tsp curry powder, and salt and pepper.  Cook until toasted, 1 min.  Add the diced sweet potatoes, chicken broth and 2 cups water to the pot, cover and bring to a boil over med-hi heat.  Reduce the heat to med low and stir in the applesauce.  Simmer, covered, until sweet potatoes are soft, about 20 mins.  Puree the soup in batches.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  

Heat the remaining 1 Tablespoon butter in a skillet over med heat.  Add the remaining 1/4 tsp curry powder and cook, stirring until browned, just a few minutes.  Remove from heat and add the vinegar.  

Top the soup with the curry butter, nutmeg, and cilantro.

Enjoy.  And don't get burnt.   

Salsa Verde Chicken Stew

Cold weather = Soup and stew weather.

It's almost Christmas.  My advent calendar tells me so.  Since I have grown up in Michigan all my life, where snow is an annual and reliable occurrence,  Christmas really never does seem complete down here in Tennessee.  If it does ever snow here, it is only like 1 inch, if that.  It hardly sticks and is usually gone within 3 days.  I am used to a snow depth closer to a few feet.  Building igloos and snowmen in the backyard, going snowboarding on school snow days (which did not happen unless snowfall accumulation was >3 feet.),  shoveling driveways all bundled up in our one piece snowsuits, sledding down dead-mans hill on an inner-tube, and diving head first into huge snow drifts were just a few of the favorite snow activities that went on during our Michigan winters.  Since I have moved here to Tennessee, I have not gotten to take part in any of these activities.  Sad.  I did try to sled with a garbage bag when we had a few inches last year, but it was a miserable fail.  I did get to make a small snowman one year in college.  Michigan is freezing!  You do not go outside without at least 4 layers on, plus a coat.  The best thing about the cold is coming inside to have some hot chocolate, hot cider or a nice hot meal that my mom had prepared.

Don't mind the stain up there in the corner.  I also apologize for the yellow tint from my awful kitchen lighting.

It finally snowed here in Nashville.  They made it sound like a enormous storm was on its way and was coming right at us, as if our whole city would be covered in 6 feet of snow.  We got 3 inches.  For Tennesseans, 3 inches is plenty of snow to freak out.  When I say freak out, I mean 50 wrecks on our interstate.  I mean that people stock up on groceries for fear of not being able to leave their homes.  It's so funny to watch!  And very frustrating to drive in.  Those who have braved the drive, go about 15 miles an hour, constantly hitting their brakes (which is worse, if there actually is ice).  I'm not hating on the Tennesseans, I promise.  It's just a completely different reaction to snow then my upbringing.  I did in fact go out on this cold snowy day, to get some craft supplies for the gingerbread house that we are making.  People looked at me like I was crazy when they saw I was actually driving the speed limit and not 20 miles below it.  It's just so funny.  Anywho, got done running around the almost deserted streets of Nashville, came home and made this delicious dish.  Salsa Verde Chicken Stew with Herbed Cornmeal Dumplings.  That's a really long name.  I'm just going to call it Mexican Chicken & Dumplings.  It's soooo good.  Warm spicy and thick.  Will warm you to the bone.  The little cornmeal dough balls are the best.  And it's super spicy, so that's good.

Salsa Verde Chicken Stew with Herbed Cornmeal Dumplings (Mexican Chicken & Dumplings)

from Perfect One-Dish Dinners  

Serves 6.

for the stew:

1/2 stick (4 tbsp) butter

1/2 cup flour

1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth

2 cups salsa verde (you can use a store-bought jar, but I made my own because I like to make things difficult  delicious)

1 can (5oz) evaporated milk

2 chicken breasts, cooked through and shredded 

for the dumplings:

1 cup milk

3 tbsp butter

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1 tbsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions

1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro

For stew:  Heat 1/2 stick butter in a large sauce pan or dutch oven over med-hi heat.  whisk in flour.  mix broth, salsa verde and evaporated milk in all at once.  Whisk vigorously at first, then until mixture simmers and sauce thickens.  Stir in chicken, heat through, and cover to keep warm.  Heat oven to 400 degrees.

For dumplings:  Heat milk and butter in a small saucepan until steamy.  Mix flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, scallions and cilantro in a bowl.  Stir in milk mixture to form a dough.  Make ping pong size balls out of the dough and drop onto the chicken mixture.  Simmer over med-hi heat.  Cover and transfer to the oven and bake until dumplings are cooked through, about 15-20 minutes. 

Serve and be warmed.  

Cinnamon and Spice Chili

Hubby made chili.  The guy that sits around watching tv while I cook and who just randomly throws out very helpful cooking tips that he learned from either his mother, or food network, finally left his favorite chair, went into the kitchen and made an amazing dinner.

I know that the picture above does not make this chili look very special, but oh man.  It's so good.  It's not very much at all like traditional chili that you may think of...chunky, with a bunch of beans.  Nope. His recipe is spin off of Cincinnati chili, but much much spicier. Most traditional chili dishes are eaten alone, topped with cheese, onions, sour cream, etc.  This one is just fine, actually really good, on it's own, but sometimes we like to put it on top of things, like this:

Hubby style

My style.

The next night we had some leftover chili...so instead of putting the chili on top of something, we put it on the bottom, and topped it with some delicious cornbread.

I attempted to make this leftover dish before church.  For some reason I had a lot of trouble getting the cornbread to cook all the way through.  I was getting so frustrated because it was time to leave for church and the bread was still not done in the middle!  Arghhh!  So I left the pot in the oven, turned the oven off, and went to church, very hungry.  All throughout church I was just thinking at how mad I will be when I get home and the dang cornbread is still not done.  But alas, my anger was in vain.  We got home, took it out of the oven, and it was perfect!  Oh it was so good.  We will definitely be making this.  very often.  

Hubby's Chili

2 lbs lean ground chuck

4 cloves garlic

1/4 onion

1 or 2 tbsp of olive oil

6-oz can of tomato paste

4-5 cups beef stock

2-3 Tbsp cinnamon

1 Tbsp chili powder (more or less to your taste, we added more)

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp salt

few dashes pepper and cayenne.

Put garlic cloves and onion in a food processor (or you could mince them up by hand).  brown and drain the beef.  Put olive oil in a pot, and saute the onion and garlic for about 5 or 6 mins.  Add the beef to the pot.  Add the stock and spices until mixed thoroughly.  Simmer until cooked through, about 15-20 mins.

Cornbread-topped Chili

Leftover chili (we left it in the same pot it was cooked in)

1 1/4 cups sour cream

1 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

1 egg

2 jalapeno peppers, deveined, seeds removed and minced.

1/2 cup sauteed onions

1 cup creamed corn (canned)

1 cup extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 375.  combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a bowl.  Stir both the egg and the sour cream into the dry ingredient mixture.  Add the rest of the ingredients.  (If the batter is really dry, like mine was, add a few tablespoons of milk.)  Pour the batter over the chili.  Bake for 30-45 mins, until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean.  

And there ya have it. easy peasy.  

Chicken Tortilla Soup

My favorite flavors and foods come in waves.  One week I will be crazy about crispy lemon-y green beans tossed with olive oil, the next week I will want nothing to do with those green beans but instead would rather have a bread-and-butter-pickle+peanut butter sandwich (I'm willing to bet that your mouth starting to curl up in disgust, but don't knock it till you try it!).  One week I'll be obsessed with tomatoes and every dish that I make will have the red little fruits as the star, and the next week I will resort to the beloved sweet potato baby food (don't say "eww gross" or make a disgusted face...it's delicious).  My future child(ren) and I will be able to enjoy this little jar of pureed yams together, and I'm pretty pumped about that.  I have a friend that loves to eat mexican, specifically the restaurant known as Mazatlan.  Every time she asks me if I would like to join her for a meal there, she knows that it is about a 50-50% chance that I will either be craving mexican or I won't.    

I don't make mexican food all that often.  Maybe because my taste for it is very on-and-off.  Or maybe because I really only like actual, authentic Mexican food.  Like from Mexico.  All these mexican restaurants in America are very sad excuses for authenticity.  Sorry guys, I mean, good try, it's delicious for the most part, but if you go to Mexico, you will find the real stuff.  When I make mexican food, I like to make it as authentic as possible, but since I'm not a little old latina lady, I know that it is not going to be so.  But every now and then I make a good effort.  Like this Chicken Tortilla Soup.  It's delicious.  The one thing that hubby and I can measure up to in a sense of authenticity is spice.  We love hot and spicy things.  Not your traditional "spicy dish" at say, chili's, pei-wei or whatever chain restaurant you happen to eat at.  The majority of the time that we eat dishes that are labeled spicy, we both agree that it is indeed not actually spicy enough for our tastes.  Where did we acquire such a taste for spice?  We discussed this the other night, and we have no idea.  Neither of our families are really crazy for hotness. We have decided that when we have kids, we will put a dash or two of chili pepper in their baby food to slowly introduce them to spiciness, in hopes that they will grow to like it like we do.  Is that mean?  Nah.

So anyway, this soup.  It's good.  I also made homemade tortilla strips to go with it.  store-bought would be fine too I suppose. 

PS.  I'm not hating on American Mexican food, or those who are sensitive to spice!  Please don't take offense.  I enjoy it myself at times.  

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Adapted from Honey&Jam

6 (6-inch) corn or flour tortillas
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 medium jalapeño chile, chopped (leave some seeds if you want more spice)
4 cups chicken broth
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained (I used fire roasted)
1 can of diced tomatoes and green chiles, drained
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken 

Chili powder
1 ripe medium avocado
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (queso fresco would also be delicious)
Chopped fresh cilantro
1 lime, cut into wedges

I made the tortilla strips by cutting the tortillas.  then place them on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and bake @ 350 for about 10 mins, until they are nice and crisp.
Heat oil  in saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook onion in oil 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic and chiles; cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until vegetables are crisp-tender. Stir in broth, tomatoes and salt. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 15 minutes. Add chicken; heat until hot.  Add chili power to taste.
Top with avocado, cheese, cilantro, tortilla strips and lime slices.  

Meatball Soup

I'm about to embark on a new adventure in my life.  I got at job in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) and my first day is Tuesday.  Am I extremely nervous?  Yes.  Not only am I nervous to be handling the sickest of the sickest newborn babies, with all their wires, tracheostomies, feeding tubes, and whatever else these tiny human beings may have going on, but because for the past year and a half my nursing experience has revolved around taking care of adults.  Big diapers, not little ones.  Most of my patients (except for the unconscious or nonverbal ones) were able to tell me what they wanted or needed.  The little ones, not so much.  Everything I do will affect them so differently. And dealing with their parents will probably be the most challenging.  Momma's don't like their babies being sick, and I'm sure they will be so many overbearing moms that will make me feel inadequate.  I'm also a little worried about not liking the job.  I mean, I love babies and I love kids.  I just don't know that I will love sick babies and kids.  We'll see what happens.

I'll have the opportunity to see the beautiful miracle of life beginning, the unfortunate illnesses that often affect that new life, and sometimes see the sadness that comes with the loss of that life shortly after it had began.  I imagine this job is very rewarding, very stressful and also very devastating.  So after a long day of work and possibly having dealt with all of these emotions in one shift, a sweet husband and a comforting soup are 2 things that I will be looking forward to coming home to.  This is where the meatball soup steps in.  

I know this looks odd.  It is a cheesecloth, filled with spices/herbs.  That's parsley peaking out.

This soup is delicious.  Very warm and yummy, perfect for a chilly autumn day.  We really have not had that pleasure show up yet here in Nashville.  It has cooled down, but still not chilly enough for fall.  The soup is good anyway.  A beef broth base with veggies and cute little meatballs.  

I know the meatballs don't look very good, but trust me, they're delicious.

Italian Meatball Soup

adapted from ThePioneerWoman

for the meatballs:

3/4 lbs ground beef

1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

3 Tbsp parsley, minced

1 egg

2 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 oregano

2 tsp lemon

for the soup:

3 tbsp olive oil

7 cups low sodium beef broth

2 cups water

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp tomato paste

3/4 cup onion, chopped

3/4 cup carrots, chopped

3/4 cup celery, chopped

1 cup russet potato, chopped

1/2 lb cabbage, sliced (I omitted the cabbage, b/c I knew hubby would not like it, but I'm sure it would be delicious)

grated parmesan cheese, for serving

tied in a cheesecloth:

4 tbsp fresh parsley, minced

2 whole bay leaves

1 tsp peppercorns

to make meatballs, combine all meatball ingredients and mix well.  shape into little balls and chill for 30 mins.  

After chilling, heat oil over med-low heat in a large pot.  briefly brown meatballs, and set aside.  

To the pot, add the stock, water, salt, tomato paste and herb bag.  Bring to a boil.  Simmer 30 mins.  

Add onion, carrot, celery and potatoes.  Simmer 15 mins. remove herb bag.  Add cabbage and meatballs.  Bring to a boil.  simmer 10 mins.  

Serve with cheese.  

**We also added a few dashes of chili powder to our soup.  because we like things with a little heat.