Holiday Cranberry Meatballs

These meatballs are so delicious everyone will want the recipe.

For the Meatballs:
2 pounds Lean Ground Beef
1 Package Stove Top Stuffing Bread NOT Cornbread
2 eggs
1 cup Water
1 good handful Craisins or dried Cranberries

For the Sauce:
1 16 ounce bottle of BBQ sauce
1 14 ounce can of whole Cranberry Sauce    

In a large bowl, mix all  ingredients until well combined. For appetizer size mini meatballs, form 48 meatballs using a scoop or spoon. For larger meatballs form about 30 meatballs. Place meatballs on a lightly sprayed baking sheet as you form them and bake at 400 degrees F. for about 15 minutes until browned and no longer pink. 

To make the sauce, add BBQ sauce and can of cranberries to a large sauce pan and cook over medium heat until pipping hot.
Allow meatballs to cool so they don't fall apart. Add meatballs to the sauce pan and gently stir to coat.
You're done. It's that simple!
Add picks to the mini meatballs for appetizers or serve over white rice.
ENJOY!

Albondigas Soup

A girl that I play games with on facebook mentioned that she was sick and her husband had brought her albondigas soup? I'd never heard of it. And being an Angelino for most of my life, I thought it was odd I had never even heard the word before. I guess in life you're always missing something, because when I googled it, I found many versions of this wonderful soup. Albondigas simply means meatball, or meatball soup in Spanish. I have to tell you I went straight to work on a version of a recipe that I felt had all the ingredients my family would like. I think I did it. My family loves it! Albondigas soup is truly Mexican soul food. It is colorful, comforting and flavorful. I hope you like this soup as much as we did. It is what I believe, the best of several recipes, all authentic with a few twists and turns of my own. I made it for dinner tonight and it is delicious!

Albondigas Soup
Servings:
8 to 10
Ingredients:

Meatballs
½ pound lean ground beef
1 pound Mexican chorizo sausage *See instructions below to make your own.
1 egg, beaten
2 cloves garlic, minced
¾ cup rice, cooked
1 good handful of cilantro leaf, chopped
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin

Soup
8 cups chicken broth
½ cup onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
2 cans (10 ounce) tomato & green chile mix, such as Rotel (Do not drain)
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 handful cilantro, chopped
2 to 3 zucchinis (depending on size), cubed
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
To make meatballs, combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Roll into balls.
You should make around 25 to 30 meatballs. Place meatballs in a lightly sprayed baking dish and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until browned. Remove and let sit until soup is ready.

In a heavy bottom pot, saute onion until tender. Add broth, carrots, zucchini, celery and cook until soft. Add both cans of tomatoes and green chiles, cumin, oregano and cilantro leaves. Bring to boil and drop baked meatballs in the soup. Return to simmer and cook another 15 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.

*For those of you that don’t care for packaged chorizo: To make your own, use 1 pound ground pork or turkey and add:
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon crushed dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup red wine vinegar

In a bowl, mix all ingredients well and let sit in refrigerator for 2 hours to let flavors to meld, then follow directions above.