Italian Meatball Soup with Baked Hush Puppies

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon. I got off of my lazy butt, went to the kitchen, and threw my family into a whirlwind of flavor! Goodbye, Lazy Sunday! Hello oh Italian Meatball Soup of my dreams!(and thank you Pioneer Woman for blogging about it).


I served my Italian Meatball Soup with delicious Baked Hushpuppies from Perry's Plate. (by the way, I know why they call them hush puppies... these puppies are quiet - har har).

Italian Meatball Soup

Ingredients:
MEATBALLS:

• ¾ pounds Ground Beef
• ½ cups Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 3 Tablespoons Fresh Parsley, Minced
• 1 whole Egg
• 2 cloves Garlic
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• ½ teaspoons Black Pepper
• ¼ teaspoons Ground Oregano
• 2 teaspoons Lemon Juice

 SOUP:

• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 7 cups Low Sodium Beef Stock
• 2 cups Water
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
• 2 tsp dried and ground bay leaves
• ¾ cups Onion, Chopped
• ¾ cups Carrots, Chopped
• ¾ cups Celery, Chopped
• 1 cup Russet Potato, Chopped (DON'T Peel)
• 2 cups Cabbage Chopped
• three-cheese raviolini (optional)

Directions:

To make meatballs, combine all meatball ingredients and mix well. Shape into small balls and chill for 30 minutes. (while these are chilling, move on to the second paragraph to start the soup). After chilling, heat olive oil over medium-low heat in a heavy pot. Briefly brown meatballs, then remove to a plate.

To pot, add beef stock, water, salt, tomato paste, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then simmer 30 minutes. Add onion, carrots, celery, and potatoes. Simmer 15 more minutes. Add cabbage and meatballs. Bring to a boil, then simmer 8 to 10 minutes. In the last 4 minutes, add the raviolini.

Baked Hush Puppies

Ingredients: 

• ½ cups Cornmeal
• ½ cups Flour
• 1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 3 Tablespoons Sugar
• 1 whole Egg Beaten
• 6 Tablespoons Finely Chopped Red Pepper & Jalapeno
• ¼ cups Chopped Green Onion
• ⅓ cups Skim Milk
• 2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
• 2-4 teaspoons Honey

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 425F.  Combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a bowl. Beat egg in a separate bowl. Finely chop red pepper, jalapeno, and green onions.
Combine all ingredients and stir until moistened.

Spoon about 1 Tbsp into each mini muffin cup. We used a regular muffin pan, though, so we put 2 Tbsp of dough into each muffin cup.

Bake at 425F for 15 to 20 minutes for regular muffin pans and about 8 to 12 minutes for mini muffin pans.While they are cooling, drizzle with honey :)

I served my hush puppies and soup with a Caesar salad. 

Reactions:

• Daddy - 'awesome, this is fantabulous (while digging into his second bowl). Feel free to make this whenever you want'
• Mommy - 'Bri, this is one of my favorite meals that you have ever made'
• Bri - 'It warms my cold body right up. It's delicious-o'
• Charis - 'good'
• Kairi - 'Awesomeness. I love the meatballs'
• Jocelyn - 'I didn't really like it'
• Xander - 'The muffins with honey on 'em? Yum yum yum!

Sweet Potato Chili

This is my mama's recipe, but I did help her! :)

This is my favorite variation to traditional chili. The nuts are optional.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 8 garlic cloves, chopped
• 3 tsp ground cumin
• 1.5 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 cups fresh tri-color sweet corn
• 1-14 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1-14 oz can light kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 2-14 oz cans diced fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, torn
• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder (unsweetened)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and finely diced
• 1/2 cup unbroken walnuts
• 1 tablespoon canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce, chopped
• 1/2 cup sour cream mixed with 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 pinches of salt
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 3 radishes, thinly sliced

Directions:
Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Toss in the onions and green pepper and sauté, stirring frequently, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic, cumin seeds, chili powder and oregano. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes.

Stir in the corn and beans. Add the whole can of tomatoes (juice and all) and cinnamon,cocoa powder, and cilantro. then stir in the sweet potatoes and chipotle chilies. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmering. Simmer, stirring frequently, until the sweet potatoes are tender and the chili begins to thicken (20 to 25 minutes).

Just before serving, add salt and stir (it will soften the potatoes even more, so don't add too early). Pour into serving bowls, top with green onions, radish slices and cinnamon sour cream.

Reactions:
We always just gobble this up. Sorry that there haven't been pictures lately, I have been really bad at blogging and just found these in my recipe history. :) We all love this dish, and you can make it as spicy or sweet as you want. It is also a great vegetarian meal for your non-vegetarian, vege-hostile guests and friends. :)