Albondigas anyone?

I tried my hand for the first time in making albondigas. I know! Crazy huh? I'm mexican and have never made it. I had watched my mom make it for many years, but I never made it on my own for my family. With a little help from my sister who gave me the ingredients list, I would like to say I make one mean pot of soup. Now, I will give you the ingredients and a rough "guesstimate" of the amounts, but really, you have to taste as you go. Here it goes ....
For meatballs:
1 1/2 - 2lbs of ground beef(80-20%)
1 egg
1/2 tbsp salt and pepper
1 - 2 tbsp bread crumbs (I use a Italian blend)
1/4 c fresh chopped cilantro
1 finely minced Roma tomato
2 green onion (including green steams)
2 tbsp of uncooked rice

Stock:
8 - 10 cups of water (or more) pretty much fill your stock pot to the rim
1-2 tbsp chicken or beef bouillon
1 can of tomato sauce (small can )
2 potatoes cubed
2 carrots cubed
1 can whole corn
salt and pepper to taste
In a large stock pot add water, bouillon, and tomato sauce. Bring to a rapid boil. While waiting for water to boil, start on the meatballs. Mix all meatball ingredients together and form meatballs. I like to make the meatballs golf ball size but you could make them larger if you wish (cook them a bit longer if you choose to make them large). Drop balls in boiling water to cook between 15-25 minutes. Once some of meatballs start rising to the top of the water, add potatoes, and carrots and continue to boil (medium-high). Make sure you cut the veggies around the same size so they can cook evenly. At this time you could add any additional veggies such as squash (my mom adds mexican squash). Once the veggies are cooked all the way, I add my corn and let them get hot. Before you serve, make sure the meatballs are cooked through as well as the "hard" veggies.Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with some Spanish rice inside the bowl and viola, you have a traditional Mexican meatball soup. Also, you could add a squeeze of lemon and a scoop of salsa in your bowl like my sister Sabrina does.

I remember my mom making this soup on cold and or rainy days. Coming home from school on those days was always a treat for us. I remember the windows in the kitchen and living room fogging up cause the house would be warm and toasty. I hope you enjoy this as much as our family does and hopefully start a tradition with your family. Blessings!