Monster Mash Meatball Soup

In celebrating the Halloween time, Willy went out and found this recipe on the website "Beef it's Whats for Dinner!" Check it out there is great recipes there.

10-4 Willy
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Total recipe time: 30 minutes Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients

1. 1 package (16 ounces) frozen fully-cooked beef meatballs
2. 1 cup frozen vegetable mixture, such as broccoli, cauliflower and carrots
3. 2 cups water
4. 1 can (14 to 14-1/2 ounces) ready-to-serve beef broth
5. 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes with roasted garlic
6. 3/4 cup uncooked Halloween pasta shapes

Spooky Decorations:
1. Dairy sour cream full moon
2. Black olive bats
3. Parmesan cheese ghosts
4. creepy croutons

Instructions

1. Combine frozen vegetables, water, broth, tomatoes and pasta in large saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 8 minutes or until pasta is just tender.
2. 
   To make black olive bats, thinly slice olives crosswise into rings. Cut rings in half. Place olive slices on top of sour cream full moon to form bat wings.
   
   To make Parmesan ghosts, place ghost shaped cookie cutter on baking sheet. Place shredded Parmesan cheese inside cookie cutter, pressing down slightly with fingers to form shape. Carefully remove cookie cutter and repeat to make desired amount of ghosts. Bake in 350°F oven for 3 minutes. Remove from oven, cool slightly. Remove ghosts with spatula to wire rack; cool completely. Serve with soup.
   
   To make creepy croutons, cut sliced white bread into Halloween shapes with cookie cutters. Place shapes on baking sheet; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake shapes in 350°F oven about 10 minutes or until bread is toasted and cheese begins to brown.">Meanwhile microwave meatballs according to package directions. Add meatballs to soup; simmer 3 minutes or until meatballs are heated through. Garnish with spooky decorations, as desired (see Cook’s Notes).

Nutritional Information Per Serving

Nutrition information per serving: 483 calories; 17 g protein; 36 g carbohydrate; 30 g fat; 1776 mg sodium; 40 mg cholesterol; 8.3 mg niacin; 0.2 mg vitamin B6; 1.7 mcg vitamin B12; 2.2 mg iron; 4.2 mg zinc.

Tip: This recipe is an excellent source of protein, niacin, vitamin B12 and zinc and a good source of vitamin B6 and iron.

Cook's Notes

To make dairy sour cream full moon, spoon small amount of sour cream on top of soup forming full moon shape.

To make black olive bats, thinly slice olives crosswise into rings. Cut rings in half. Place olive slices on top of sour cream full moon to form bat wings.

To make Parmesan ghosts, place ghost shaped cookie cutter on baking sheet. Place shredded Parmesan cheese inside cookie cutter, pressing down slightly with fingers to form shape. Carefully remove cookie cutter and repeat to make desired amount of ghosts. Bake in 350°F oven for 3 minutes. Remove from oven, cool slightly. Remove ghosts with spatula to wire rack; cool completely. Serve with soup.

To make creepy croutons, cut sliced white bread into Halloween shapes with cookie cutters. Place shapes on baking sheet; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake shapes in 350°F oven about 10 minutes or until bread is toasted and cheese begins to brown.