In Which We Eat Soup....Lots of Soup

Riley's tonsils are killing me.  Literally killing me.  He started getting sick in late January and has been on a steady stream of antibiotics ever since then.  Every 10-12 days or so.  It's fantastic.  Did I mention we have a $25 copayment for office visits and a $10 prescription co-pay? He's had one (insufferable) case of strep throat and I've probably spent $400 on it!

Finally, though, the end appears in sight.  We figured out ($75 worth of throat cultures later) that Savannah and Logan are such good sharers that they're strep carriers! No symptoms, but they just constantly have the germs to pass along to their highly susceptible brother.  Whoohoo! (Plus $30 in prescriptions....dear people on Teen Mom, I have no clue how you afford this on minimum wage)

Riley's going in for a consultation tomorrow for a tonsillectomy and he's super excited because for the last week he's basically eaten nothing but broth, yogurt, and popsicles.  Tonight I made my matzo ball soup for him (not on the menu, but I made chicken salad for lunch since my mom was back in town after her trip to Texas and Colorado and that meant I had broth that needed soup!)  I thought I'd share the recipe. I've kind of made this soup up as I go.  My MIL used to make it for passover using Lipton Noodle Soup (not KFP for those of you that care) and it seemed silly I was eating Matzo instead of bread to have noodles in my soup.  Plus, a certain husband that I love really shouldn't have that much salt (mine still has plenty).  I recently discovered they make a Lipton Matzoh Ball Soup that you can get at Safeway during Passover, but Austin said he likes mine the way it is (score one for me!)

 Matzo Ball Soup:
1 chicken, divided into 8 pieces and skinned
water to cover

2 large carrots, sliced
3 stalks celery, sliced
1/4 of an onion, diced
salt and pepper to taste
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup parsley

2 cups matzoh meal
8 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1 box of chicken stock or 3 bullion cubes

In a large stockpot, place the chicken and enough water to cover by 1 inch.  Simmer until fully cooked.  Remove the chicken.  Use for whatever purpose you'd like, retaining 1 cup, chopped.  Strain the liquid and return to the pot. Add the vegetables, bay leaves, salt, pepper, and additional water (up to 2 cups) if required.  Bring to a simmer until veggies are tender, but still firm.  Add the 1 cup of chicken.  

In the meantime, bring the chicken stock and a matching amount of water and 1 teaspoon of salt to a boil.  While you wait, mix the salt, matzo meal, oil, eggs, and water and let them sit in the refrigerator for 15 minutes (or up to an hour).  When the water boils, use oiled hands to roll balls (I like slightly bigger than a golf ball but some people like baseball sized.  Your call).  Reduce the water to a gentle boil and add balls, allowing to cook for 10 minutes.  Transfer cooked balls to vegetable and chicken soup and add the parsley.  

(Note: Matzo Balls suck up copious amounts of salt and liquid.  If you want to cook them in the same pot as your soup, you'll need 2.5 times the liquid you want to end up with for this number of matzo balls)