Cake Balls and Meatball Soup

Repost originally from November 20, 2010.

I have been wanting to try these since a friend made these for her boys' birthday party, so when we needed a treat to make the oldest's birthday special at school, we dove right in. And I do mean that literally. The fun thing about cake balls is that you really get to use your hands! The oldest really enjoyed helping!

Step 1: Bake a cake mix according to directions and allow to cool. 

Step 2: Dump that cake into a large bowl and mix thoroughly with a whole container of icing.

We used a strawberry cake mix and a strawberry icing.

During this process I caught myself complaining that the little flakes in the strawberry cake mix were actually strawberry candy and had absolutely no nutritional value. Then, abashedly, I realized these cake balls are for fun and are not meant to be anywhere near healthy!!

 Step 3: Form icing and cake mix into small balls (an inch or inch and a half in diameter).

Step 4: Place cake balls in freezer for an hour or more to harden. 

Believe me, you don't want to leave this step out! I couldn't figure out why my cake balls were falling apart, so I called the friend I mentioned above. She soon set me straight, and the frozen cake balls were much easier to work with!

 Step 5: Melt chocolate chips on the stove top according to the directions on the bag. Place cake balls into chocolate and gently roll with a spoon. Scoop out of chocolate, place on wax paper or foil. Stick a lollipop stick into the top and sprinkle (if desired) with colored sprinkles.

There are tons of variations for these out there; I can imagine these as a big hit at any party!

And as for real food this week, how about a little meatball soup? (I guess I'm in to eating round items this week!) I put this together with some corn muffins last night for a great rainy day meal:

Meatball Soup

1 pound turkey

2 t Italian seasoning

1/2 cup cracker crumbs

1 cup parmesan cheese

1 egg

Mix ingredients for meatballs, form balls and brown on the stove.

1 gallon water

2 cans diced Italian seasoning tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce

6 beef bullion cubes

8 oz. elbow pasta

3 carrots, diced

1 cup frozen corn

Bring water and next 3 ingredients to a boil. Add carrots and meatballs. After 3 minutes add elbow pasta. After 3 more minutes add frozen corn. Quickly bring back to a boil. Simmer all ingredients for another 10 to 20 minutes.

For the rest of the week we'll be having leftovers, homemade pizza, zucchini bread, green beans and baked chicken, and taco salad.

Have fun and enjoy!

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