Pasta Meatball Soup

**Anyone coming over from Frugal Follies I apologize for the wrong link.  Clicked too quick!  10 Spring Things is a different post.

I have noticed a trend.  Most of the meals I post here are EASY.  I wonder if that is because I am lazy or just don’t want to spend much time in the kitchen.  Ah well it doesn’t really matter as long as its a good recipe right? 

This is one a friend shared when we were doing a freezer cooking co-op.  It worked great.  There were 8 members & we each would bring 8 batches of a single meal(we decided these together) and then we traded.  So going home, I ended up with 8 different meals ready to pull out of the freezer!  Sometimes we would do 8 batches of 2 different meals & then it was 16 meals in the freezer! 

Now I just do my own freezer cooking with the family & that seems to suit us better and the kids get to learn how to work in the kitchen too!

We still make this recipe but it is so easy that we don’t freeze it.  However I do freeze the leftovers(if there are any) for my son for College Freezer Food.  Waayyy better than dorm food!

Pasta Meatball Soup

1 cup uncooked spiral or shell pasta

1 lb cooked meatballs—I used Aldi’s turkey meatballs

2-14 oz cans chicken broth

1-28 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 cup carrots, sliced in to circles

1-16 oz can Kidney beans, rinsed

1-14 oz jar mushrooms or 4-6 fresh mushrooms

1 cup frozen peas—optional—I always forget this

Directions:

Cook pasta.  Combine other ingredients in stock pot and bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer 5-10 minutes.  Drain pasta & add to the soup.

If you are freezing:  slightly undercook the pasta.  Freeze in separate container from soup.  Combine remaining ingredients, cover, freeze.

To serve from frozen:  thaw soup.  Heat soup to boiling.  Cover and simmer 5-10 minutes.  Add thawed noodles and heat though. Serve.

Pair with a green salad for your own homemade soup & salad lunch or dinner!