Hearty Meatball Soup

I've been putting this recipe off for a week because I didn't want to make the meatballs. It wasn't hard, and it's a wonderful dinner. This recipe is from Ida Mae Cross, which I believe is my Aunt Ida & Uncle Veryl.

Here's the full recipe:

1 lb ground beef
1/2 c uncooked rolled oats, quick or old fashioned
1 egg
1/4 c chili sauce
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 T vegetable oil
1 can (16 oz) tomatoes
2 cans (10 1/2 oz) condensed beef broth
1 cup chopped onion
1 c sliced celery
1 bay leaf
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen peas

Combine ground beef, oats, egg, chili sauce, S&P; mix well. Shape into 36 balls. Heat oil in large sauce pan or dutch oven; brown meatballs, about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside. Drain tomatoes (reserving juice); add water to juice until it equals 2 cups. Combine tomatoes, juice, beef broth, onion, celery and bay leaf in saucepan which was used to cook meatballs. Bring to boil; add peas and meatballs. Cover and simmer 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

I made a few changes. I didn't have chili sauce, so I used chili power in the meatballs. And since Andy doesn't like tomatoes, I left those out, but added the leftover picante sauce I had from last night. I also used 32 ounces of beef broth. I guess my meatballs were extra large, because I only had 24.

This was a hearty dinner for an unexpectedly snowy night tonight!

P.S. I bet I would love this with chili sauce!