May 13: Hearty Meatball Stew

Today I made this stew from the 'hearty stews and chilies' section in the winter part of the cookbook. I started it at about noon:

In a bowl I mixed up 3 pounds of ground beef, 3 eggs (should have been 4, but hubby ate one for breakfast), 1/2 cup of milk, 1/4 cup of Romano cheese, a cup of Italian bread crumbs, and 2 tsp each of salt, pepper, and garlic salt:

I formed that into 2 inch balls and browned them in a skillet with 2 tbsp olive oil:

I put the meatballs in the Crock Pot:

Then I stirred in 2 c. water, 2 c. beef broth, a can of stewed tomatoes, 2 cans of tomato paste, a cup of chopped carrots, a cup of chopped onions, 1/2 cup of chopped celery, and a tablespoon of Italian seasoning:

I cooked it on low for about 5 hours:

This soup was very delicious! Our whole family really liked it. There were only two things I would change: first, I would put the soup part in the Crock Pot first and stir it up before adding the meatballs - it was hard to stir in the tomato paste without breaking them; second, the vegetables were still crunchy, so I would cook it for maybe 8 hours instead of 4 to 6. If I make those changes, I would definitely make this one again.