Harrell's Haven : I'm Back...Happy 2014

Hi everyone,

I know it has been a VERY LONG time since I have last posted but so much has happened in my life. Nick and I moved to a new state, we have a new baby, and I am no longer a stay at home mom (full time teacher now). I cannot promise that I can post everyday, but I can try to post at least once a week. For this post, I would like to share two recipes and my weekly menu. I hope you all have enjoyed and will continue to enjoy learning some new recipes.

In 2006, while living in Fort Riley, Kansas, my then neighbor gave me a great recipe for taco soup. I have tweaked the recipe and made it my own; I think my taco soup is pretty darn good if I do say so myself. Although it is very tasty, lately it feels like we have had A LOT of taco soup. Yesterday, I knew I wanted some type of soup, but I also had a taste for nachos. So, I looked through Pinterest and google to find some inspiration. I did find a recipe and of course I tweaked it here and there to make it my own. So, the first recipe is called crock pot Nacho Bell Grande Soup. Enjoy!

Crock-Pot Nacho Bell Grande Soup

Ingredients:

2lbs of ground beef

1 medium onion chopped

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced or 2 tbsp of minced garlic

1 package of low sodium taco seasoning (I love McCormick)

1 (10oz) can of condensed cheddar cheese soup

1 (10oz) can of diced tomatoes with green chilli's (undrained). I like Rotel

1.5 cups of milk

1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

Salsa (any kind you like)

Sour cream (optional)

Directions:
1. Spray your cooking pan with Pam or some type of cooking spray. Cook ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium high heat until thoroughly cooked. I seasoned my meat with season all, garlic powder, black pepper, a dash of crushed red pepper flakes, and accent. When your meat is cooked, drain.

2. Spray crock pot with non-stick spray. Place meat mixture in slow cooker. Add taco seasoning, cheddar cheese soup, Rotel, milk, and shredded cheese. Stir together and cook on low for 3-4 hours.

3. Stir before serving. When I serve mine, I add salsa and sour cream on top. You can use taco shells, tortilla chips, or my favorite Dorito chips. Hope you enjoy :)

The second recipe is a dessert recipe I received from my mother in law. I love this cake. It almost tastes like a lemon cake. This recipe is for an orange cake. It is super good and I know you will love it as much as my family does.

Orange Cake

Ingredients:
1 box of yellow cake mix
1 box of instant lemon jello pudding
3/4 cups of oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup of water
1/4 cup of orange juice with no pulp
dash of milk

Directions:

1. Grease and flour a pan (I used my square Pampered Chef stone). Preheat oven to 350 degrees or 325 for glass pans. Mix all your ingredients together well (I just add a dash of milk to make sure my cake is moist). Bake cake for 35-40 minutes.

2. Immediately after you remove the pan from the oven, punch holes over the entire cake (you can you a fork or a toothpick). Pour the following topping all over the cake. It will be absorbed leaving only a slight glaze.

Glaze topping ingredients:

2 cups of powdered sugar

1/3 cup of orange juice

2 tsp of water

2 tbsp of softened butter

*Mix butter with powdered sugar before adding juice.