italian meatball soup...

I'm not gonna say much about this soup, except this...
You need it in your life!

Trust me!

It's hearty, flavorful, comforting, and it will warm your soul! No joke.

So, lets make it!

First, you need to mince up 4 tablespoons of fresh Italian Parsley.
Regular parsley will work just fine too.
Measure out 1 teaspoon of Peppercorn's.
And grab a couple of Bay Leaves... 2 to 3 depending on their size.


Cut a square of cheesecloth.

Place the parsley, peppercorn
and bay leaves on the cheesecloth.


And tie it up in a cute little bundle.


Next, get some heat going under your pot.

Pour in 7 cups beef stock.
And 2 cups (1 can) beef broth.


Add 2 cups water... I realize this photo only measures 1 1/2 cup,
but I added more after I snapped it.

What can I say, I was distracted by a certain toddler.



Add 1/2 tsp. salt.

Please don't pay attention to my un-manicured hands... to bad
I can't measure with my toes because I just got a pedicure
and my tootsies are looking pretty good, if I do say so myself.


2 Tablespoon tomato paste...


And your cute little herb/spice bundle.

Give it a good stir and bring it to a boil.

After it's boiling, turn your heat down a bit and let it simmer
for about 30 minutes.

This is going to make your house smell wonderful.

Now, go ahead and pour yourself a nice glass of red...
because you deserve it by golly!

Then grab your cutting board and knife...
We're gonna do some choppin' baby!

Chop up half of an onion (I used yellow)... you can certainly
use more if your family loves onions. But remember, I'm
married to a guy who's not a big fan... "it's a texture thing".

Chop up about 4 cloves of garlic...
use more if you love, love, love the stuff!

Chop up about 3/4 cup carrots and 3/4 cup celery.

And about 1 cup potato...
I told ya we were gonna do some choppin'!

Whew! Now have a sip of your red stuff and inhale the goodness...
because right about now your mouth should be watering.

Now, put all the chopped veggies and garlic in your
simmering pot, and give it a good stir.

Bring it back to a boil and let it simmer for about another 30 minutes.
Just until the veggies are fork tender.

While the veggies are simmering go ahead and chop
up about 1 to 1 1/2 cups cabbage.

OK friends, here's where *I* cheated. The original recipe called
for homemade Italian meatballs... but who has time for THAT?
Well I, most days, don't... especially with all the choppin' this
soup calls for. So, I just picked up a bag of pre-made meatballs
and called it day!

OK... so now, we're gonna remove the little herb bundle
and toss it out. It did its job, and now it's old and tired.
The goodness it left behind, our taste buds will rejoice!

After the veggies are tender, throw in your chopped cabbage
and about half the bag of Italian pre-made meatballs...
more if you want more!

Now let everything meet and greet, simmer, and
get all happy for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Go ahead and light a candle, and have a few more sips of your red stuff.
It's the right thing to do on a cold winter night.


Ahhhhhhhh... smells heavenly.

Sprinkle some grated Parmesan and minced parsley over the top.

Serve with crusty Italian bread.

YUM!

Italian Meatball Soup

7 c. beef stock
2 c. beef broth
2 c. water
1/2 tsp. salt
2 T tomato paste
3/4 c. onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3/4 c. celery, chopped
3/4 c. carrots, chopped
1 c. potato, chopped
1 to 1 1/2 c. cabbage, chopped
About 20 to 30 meatballs
Parmesan Cheese, grated... to serve

Tied in a cheesecloth:
4 T fresh minced Italian parsley
2 to 3 bay leaves
1 tsp. peppercorn

Bring beef stock, beef broth, water, salt, tomato paste, and herb
bundle to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Add the onions, garlic, carrots, celery, and potato's and simmer for
another 30 to 40 minutes... or until the veggies are fork tender.

Remove the herb/spice bundle. Discard.

Add in the cabbage and meatballs and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

Serve with grated Parmesan and minced parsley over top.


Enjoy!
xo

give 'em a box...

Why is it that kids like to play with boxes?


You supply them with plenty of perfectly fun, educational, soft, busy toys.


But no.


They find a box and you can't get them to play with anything else.

Hello?

Jude!


Look! Let's "hoop it"!


Let's go for a spin in your Cozy Coupe...


Look! It's your choo choo train!


C'mon little guy, let's go get your guitar like daddy's...
Ahh, look! THAT got his attention...




Hello?

Where you going?


Um, yeah, ok.
I don't get it, but ok.
Enjoy your box!

xo
Ralonda

guitar pickin'...

Because it's Wednesday. The middle of the week. Hump day.
Because I realize my grammar and punctuation make no sense...
but that's ok, because I don't make sense most of the time.

Because the new year is still, well, NEW.

Because my man has been sick at home for the past two days...
and you know he's not feeling well if he ignores his guitar.

Because I got some extremely lovely compliments from several
random people about JB already this week.

I would just like to say...
I love my guitar pickin' man.



That's it. Enjoy the rest of your week.
Ralonda



Oh, and maybe because I just realized Valentine's Day is a month away!

hee hee hee


Hey, what can I say... HE always gives me the best Valentine's Day gifts!
Although, last years might be a little hard to beat.

creamy baked potato soup

Are you freezing my friend? M, m, mee too!

Here's a soup that's sure to warm your heart and soul...
and your taste buds... and your tootsies... and your hiney. Trust me.
It's also super-duper easy to make. Trust me.
We're friends here, right? I wouldn't lie to me friends!
Oh, and it *might* be a tad bit fattening... but who's worried about THAT?!

*Creamy Baked Potato Soup*

8 cups diced yellow potato's
1 stick of butter
2 can chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken
1/2 cup heavy cream, half & half, or milk...
whatever you have on hand.
8 oz. cream cheese
2 Tbsp. onion powder
2 Tbsp. garlic powder... or less if you're not a fan of garlic.
Salt & pepper to taste

*For Garnish... optional*
Cooked bacon
Shredded cheddar cheese
Chives
Sour Cream
French bread

~Just throw everything in a pot (except the garnishes...
but you already knew that), bring to a boil, then simmer
on med-low heat for about 20 minutes! Voila!

See, how easy was that!


Now enjoy!

Ralonda

happy new year...

Happy 2010 from my family to yours!

I usually don't make New Year Resolutions...
but since 2009 wasn't so nice to me,
I thought I'd try a different approach this year.

New years resolutions...
~blog more!
~be kinder to my old body,
ie; exercise, eat more fruits & veggies, drink more water, get more fresh air!
~try lots more recipes... w/ veggies!
~take more pictures and learn more about photography!
~do more things for ME!

My homeboy's and girl... the ones that still live at home anyway.
Theron is sixteen, Jude is thirteen months,
Haley is thirteen, and Jackson is fourteen.

Yes, that's three teens and a toddler under one roof!
Now you get why I NEED to do more things for ME! ;)

just sayin'
Ralonda

cake balls...

Hello blogger friends and blog readers (if I have any left)!
I truly have not dropped off the planet.

As much as I love blogging, I just simply don't have
enough hours in my day to do it as much as I would like.

Yes, it disappoints me... but I have something else
much more precious that occupies my every waking hour!

He'll be a year old in a few weeks... I can't believe it!

Oh, wait! This blog post is titled "cake balls"...
I'm sorry. See what I mean? My every waking hour!

Now lets see... I made these little round cake things last weekend
for my daughter and her friends Halloween party. I posted a few
pics of them on my facebook page and got a huge demand for the recipe.
I tried to explain in a "comment" box, but it's kinda hard without pictures.
Which is what brings me here today... So, here goes!

*Cake Balls*

You're gonna need-

*A box of your favorite cake mix... I like red velvet!
*A can of your favorite frosting (not the whipped kind)... I like cream cheese!
*Almond Bark... there's a pic of it below.

OK... lets make some cake balls!

Open and prepare your cake according to the box directions.


Bake it according to what type of pan you use.
No special tricks here!

Let it cool to room temp.
I use a fork and poke a bunch of holes
in it to help it cool faster.


After it's cooled, take your fork and start
breaking/crumbling the cake until the whole
cakes looks like this.

Take your frosting. Open it.
Take a little taste... just to make sure it's good!

After you preform the "quality taste test",
drop by spoonfuls onto the crumbled cake.

Mix it altogether.

This can take a little bit of gentle hand mixing...

You want it to look like this!

OK... here's trick # 1!

After you get the frosting worked into the cake,
pop it in the freezer on top of the Totino's Pizzas.

Then feed your baby his lunch, give your baby a bath
(because he's now covered in food and has mashed it in his ears),
run the vacuum and take a quick shower yourself!

After about an hour you'll remember you were doing something.

Oh yeah... CAKE BALLS!

Don't panic... it's OK!

Take the cake mixture out of the freezer.

See, it's ok.

Lay down some wax paper.

Trick # 2... Melon Baller!

Scoop...

Transfer to your hands...

And roll into little balls... ahh perfect!

The cake is better to work with when it's cold.

When your hands start looking like this,
the cake is getting too warm and soft.

Time to pop it back in the freezer for about 10 to 15 min.

Ahhh... much better. This is after about 6 or 7 balls.

Keep doing this until you're done.

One box of cake mix will make about 60 to 65 cake balls.

I didn't get a picture of the finished rolled balls.
Something about having to clean up... well, you don't want to know.

After you get all the cake rolled into balls, pop them back in the freezer.
Then, change your baby's, scoop out the cat box, wash your hands, take
a couple of heartburn meds, and dry your hair!

Now, open up the Almond Bark.

Break apart about half of it into a microwave safe bowl.

Melt, stir, melt, stir...

Toss about 3 to 4 cake balls into the melted Almond Bark.

Coat them completely...

You'll have to work at a fast pace before the chocolate sets.
I used two spoons and transferred the cake ball back and forth.

After it's coated, set it on the wax paper.

This might be a good time to sprinkle on
some sprinkles or some kind of decoration.
That is, if you want.

They set up quickly.

YUM... Cake Balls!

Enjoy!
xo
Rolo