Porcupine Meatballs

This recipe is one of mom's that we ate growing up.  I remember having either these or her Swedish meatballs when I was younger.  I'm not sure if we ate them very often once we moved to Nebraska, so the little kids may not remember them.  I serve the meatballs over mashed potatoes and make extra sauce.  I've found that if you follow the recipe as written the meatballs tend to fall apart, so I've made a few adjustments that work for me.  I'll put my changes in parentheses, so you can decide for yourself how you like it better.

This is another one of those recipes for which I tend to have everything on hand.  That's probably because I always have a lot of tomato soup in my cupboard, thanks to our Sunday lunches of grilled cheese and tomato soup!

Porcupine Meatballs

1 can tomato soup (2 cans)
1 lb ground beef (1.5-2 lbs)
1 c minute rice
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/4 cup finely chopped onion (I use the equivalent of dried, minced onions--I think they stick better)
1 tsp salt (I might add more, but don't remember)
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 soup can water (1 can)
1 tsp prepared mustard (2-3 tsp)

Take 1/4 cup of soup, mix with beef, rice, egg, onion and salt.  Brown meatballs in garlic and pam.   Pour off fat, blend in remaining soup, water and mustard.  Cover meatballs, simmer 20 minutes until cooked.

**I add the garlic to the meatballs, not in the pan.
**I take the meatballs out once they're browned and set them aside to mix up the sauce, then add them back in the skillet to simmer with the lid on
**I might add 1/2 cup of the soup to the meatball mix, I can't remember now.  I start with 1/4, and add a little more if necessary so that I have a moist, but not wet meatball.  If it's too dry (especially because of the rice), the meatballs fall apart as you brown and turn them.  Then you end up with browned ground beef in sauce to put over potatoes.