Big ol' Pot o' Love

We've had a rough week here in the hills. Frigid temps in the teens or lower, snow and ice and just plain cold. I was also under the weather, so once school was announced closed for the day again tomorrow, I decided to see if I could manage a pot of warmin' up. Since I wasn't really perky, I wanted it simple, filling, satisfying - something my fabulous extended family and kiddos could simply lift the lid off of and help themselves. Minimal mess - but the coolest thing was that once prepped - my family had a yummy meal to which they could help themselves. This makes a good bit - today I was feeding five adults and six children. There are three recipes total, which all work together, but each element can go on it's own, so I'll post them individually.  Of course friend Shane had  to name it - so with some pride on this once here is Hillbilly Minestrone with Meatballs, and Spongebread Squarepats.