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Even at an early age, Cheryl Day was a passionate and practical advocate for agriculture. Check out her viewpoint on current agricultural topics.

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Monster Mash-Meatful Monday

Oct 31, 2011

Is your family Tricking or Treating tonight? Either way satisfy their monster appetite with this naturally nutrient-rich dish, Monster Mash Meatball Soup [Compliments of Beef, It’s What’s for Dinner].

This Hearty soup is fit for any Halloween feast and fueling every goblin in your household with high-quality protein, ten essential nutrients, and complete amino acids in one serving brought to you by lean beef.

Monster Mash Meatball Soup

Ingredients

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

Spooky Decorations:

Dairy Sour Cream Full Moon
Black Olive Bats
Parmesan Cheese Ghosts
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. 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).

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.

Nutrition information per serving:

483 calories; 3 g fat; 4 mg cholesterol; 1776 mg sodium; 36 g carbohydrate; 17 g protein; 8.3 mg niacin; 0.2 mg vitamin B₆; 1.7 mcg vitamin B₁₂; 2.2 mg iron; 4.2 mg zinc.

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

Find more great lean beef recipes at the Beef, It’s What’s for Dinner Website.

Did You Know?

Lean meats contain heme IRON, which is a much more easily absorbed by the body than nonheme iron found in plant foods. Heme iron is important dietary component for cognitive health, including boosting memory and improving the ability to learn and reasoning. A great reason you should include lean meats in your children’s diet every day.